This text presents coverage of technical and managerial concepts relating to the use of computers in business. It focuses on material that managers need to know and reflects trends in global economy, distributed systems, end-user computing, group decision support systems, multimedia, executive IT, expert systems, and strategic and competitive advantages of administrative systems. The book aims to prepare graduates to participate in information systems development and show how they can offer an immediate contribution to their employers. It illustrates concepts and encourages problem-solving with realistic examples, case applications, chapter projects, management problems and application briefs. New to this edition is a general update on client-server computing, groupware, communications, end-user computing, multimedia, executive information systems and expert systems. In addition, there are also more real-world applications and improved coverage of human and organizational systems implementation issues.