The language of business and management, and of infor mation technology, is being employed across all sectors of economic and social activity. In recent years computers and information technology (IT) in general have moved from being a scarce resource to being a more generally available commodity, without a corresponding increase in understanding of how the new generation of tools can be used. IT is available on individual desktops, supporting decision making and communication, but often conven tional organizations have failed to adapt, individuals lack competence and confidence, and senior managers lack both the strategic insight to develop appropriate strategies and the humility to accept that they need to learn. As each sector, whether business, education, public sec tor management or the community and voluntary sector, realizes that the potential of IT is not being exploited to the full, calls are issued for the development of new "hybrid managers", a term coined to describe the gap in understanding and competence that is to be filled. The two editors work in the hybrid field of business information technology, which is a melting pot of ideas and experience from numerous traditional disciplines. The pace of change is such that no one individual could ever be abreast of all technical and business develop ments, but the field is now sufficiently mature for us to identify certain underlying issues and principles, and areas of research for the coming years.

Section I. Fundamentals of Business Information Technology

Editorial Overview
1. Declarative Programming
Section II. Information Systems and IT Strategies
Editorial Overview
2. The Strategic Importance of Executive Information Systems
3. Information Systems Methodologies
4. Electronic Messaging
5. Strategic Management of Information Technology Investments
Section III. Artificial Intelligence and Knowledge Based Systems
Editorial Overview
6. Artificial Intelligence in Business and Industry
7. Commercial Expert Systems
8. Expert Systems: Changing Perspectives in Applications in the Automotive Industry
9. Neural Networks in Business: A New Paradigm in Artificial Intelligence
Section IV. Hybrid Managers
Editorial Overview
10. Hybrid Managers in Information Technology
11. Information Technology Adds Value to Management Education
12. Is a "Hybrid Manager" Enough?
13. Undergraduate Hybrids
Section V. Knowledge Based Training Systems
Editorial Overview
14. Towards Knowledge Based Hypermedia
15. An Intelligent Computer Based Training System: Evaluation and Development
16. Modality of Knowledge Based Training Systems: A KADS Approach
Section VI. Human Centred Systems
Editorial Overview
17. Human Centred Systems: Foundational Concepts and Traditions
18. Information Technology in the Community and Voluntary Sector
19. The Human User Interface
References
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