Increasingly high demands are made on business managers to develop process and product innovations in rapidly changing, global markets. There is a considerable range of strategic responses which may improve operational effectiveness and address threats and opportunities in the business environment. Underpinning many of these strategies is information technology. This unit introduces terminology and basic principles of information systems to help managers understand how information technology can be used to formulate responses to strategic and operational challenges. Using leading edge thinking and practice in information and knowledge management, we focus on understanding business issues and requirements and linking these to the potential of information technology.