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Six-Component Model of an Information System

A vis-network diagram of the six components of an information system arranged as a complete graph (K6) — every component is connected to every other component, because in a working information system, every component depends on every other one. Click any node to see (a) a one-sentence definition, (b) a concrete example from the currently selected scenario, and (c) what breaks if that component is missing. Toggle the scenario dropdown to see the same six roles played by very different actors in three different organizations.

Learning Objective

Given a real-world organizational task, students can identify which entity in the scenario plays each of the six component roles (Hardware, Software, Network, Data, User, Business Process).

  • Bloom Level: Apply
  • Bloom Verb: Identify
  • Library: vis-network

Preview

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How to Use

  1. Pick a scenario from the dropdown in the upper-right panel (hospital admission, loan approval, or course registration).
  2. Click any of the six nodes in the graph.
  3. The right panel reveals the component's definition, a concrete example from that scenario, and a one-line answer to "What breaks if this component is missing?"
  4. Switch scenarios while a node is selected to see how the same role plays out in a completely different organizational context.

Why a Complete Graph?

Every component is connected to every other component (15 edges total) because the components are interdependent. Upgrading one without considering the other five is the most common rookie failure mode in IS projects. A new server (hardware) that the old database (software) cannot exploit, a new application that the user is not trained for, a redesigned process that fights the existing software — these are not three different mistakes; they are the same mistake.

Lesson Plan

Pre-class (5 min). Read the Computers, Programs, and Information Systems and The Six Components sections of Chapter 1.

In-class (10 min).

  1. Project the MicroSim. Start in Hospital Admission mode.
  2. Ask the class to predict, before clicking, what Network might mean in the hospital scenario. Then click the Network node and compare.
  3. Switch to Loan Approval. Click the same six nodes in the same order. Discuss: which component felt the most different? Which felt the least different?
  4. Switch to Course Registration. Have students nominate one "what-breaks" answer they think their classmates will guess wrong.

Post-class (10 min). Students choose any organizational task from their own life (ordering food delivery, booking an exam, returning a library book) and write one paragraph identifying the entity that plays each of the six roles.

References

  • Kroenke, D. M. & Boyle, R. J. Using MIS — the canonical five-component formulation that this six-component model extends.
  • Laudon, K. C. & Laudon, J. P. Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm — the modern six-component view (Hardware, Software, Data, Network, People, Process).
  • Chapter 1: Foundations of Information Systems