IS-109
Oppdateres.
IS-100
Har jobbet med review questions kapittel 2 (oppdateres fortløpende) og lest kapittel 3-4
Review questions chapter 2 page 116
1. List the management levels and their corresponding information systems solutions.
Operational level – information systems at this level are designed to automate repetitive activities, such as sales transaction processing, and to improve the efficiency of business processes at the customer interface.
Managerial/tactical level – Information systems here are used not used for the same repetitive routines as on the operational level. For instance could an information system here be used to bring a manager analytics, forecast on sales/income, inventory levels, or overall production capacity.
Executive/strategic level – At this level information systems are designed to help with unstructured decisions. They can be used to obtain aggregate summaries of trends and projections of the future. They provide KPIs that are focused on balancing performance across the organization, other KPIs are used to benchmark the organization’s performance against its competitors.
2. Compare and contrast automating and learning.
Automating – The automating perspective of technology is that it’s there to help complete a task faster, more cheaply, or with a greater accuracy or consistency.
Organizational Learning – Using information systems to learn and improve. By analyzing information created when automating a process, improved understanding about the underlying work processes can be developed.
The learning mentality builds on the automating mentality because it recognizes an organization to use past behavior and information to improve its business processes.
3. List five general types of organizational strategy.
- Broad differentiation
- Focused differentiation
- Focused low-cost leadership
- Overall low-cost leadership
- Best-cost provider
4. What are the sources of a competitive advantage?
Quality (Toyota), service (IBM), low cost, proprietary (manufacturing technology, formula or algorithm i.e. Coca-Cola), innovation (Apple), brand (Nike), and value (Nintendo)
.5. How can information systems add value to a business organization?
Information systems can add value to a business organization in several ways. You can:
1) implement enterprise resource planning system to reduce costs and be able to react more quickly; implement Web site to offer better service to customers.
2) Improve Web site to reach customers and differentiate product; use inventory control system to lower costs and better manage excess capacity.
3) Implement customer relationship management system to serve customers better; implement computer-aided design and/or computer-aided manufacturing system to improve product quality.
4) Use Internet to establish closer electronic ties with suppliers and to create relationships with new suppliers located far away.
5) Use decision support system and customer purchase database to better assess trends and customer needs; use computer-aided design systems to redesign products.
6. What is a business model and what are its primary components?
A business model is a summary of a business’s strategic direction that outlines how the objectives will be achieved; a business model specifies how a company will create, deliver, and capture value.
Key components of a business model: Customer segments, value proposition, channels, customer relationships, revenue streams, key resources, key activities, key partners, cost structure.
7. Describe the multidomestic business strategy and how it affects the flow and control of information.
The multidomestic business strategy is particularly suited for operations in markets differing widely. It uses a loose federation of associated business units, each of which is rather independent in their strategic decisions. In other words, the degree of integration is very low, and the individual subunits can respond quickly to their respective market demands. Multidomestic companies can thus be extremely flexible and responsive to the needs and demands of local markets, and any opportunities arising in the local markets can be quickly seized. However, working in a decentralized fashion, much of the knowledge generated is retained at the local subsidiaries, and knowledge transfer between the individual subsidiaries is often limited, leading to inefficiencies and mistakes that potentially can be repeated across subsidiaries. In sum, for companies following a multidomestic business strategy, very little data and control information flow between the home and subsidiary locations.
8. Why is successful application of innovative technologies and systems often difficult?
Information systems are often bought from or built by someone else. They are often either purchased from a vendor or developed by a consultant or outsourcing partner. In these situations, the information systems are usually not proprietary technologies owned by the organization. For example, although a soft-drink company can patent the formula of a cola or a pharmaceutical company can patent a new drug, an organization typically cannot patent its use of an information system, particularly if someone else developed it. The data in the system may be proprietary, but the information system typically is not. One classic counterexample, however, is Amazon.com’s patented “one-click” ordering process that has been successfully defended in the courts.
9. List the key requirements for implementing innovative projects.
Process requirements – To deploy innovative information systems well, people in the organization must be willing to do whatever they can to bypass and eliminate internal bureaucracy , set aside political squabbles, and pull together for the common good.
Resource requirements – Organizations deploying the system must also have the human capital necessary to deploy the new systems. The organization must have enough employees available with the proper systems knowledge, skills, time, and other resources to deploy these systems.
Risk tolerance requirements – The organization members must have the appropriate tolerance for risk and uncertainty as well as the willingness to deploy and use new systems that may not be as proven and pervasive as more traditional technologies.
10. Using past examples, explain what is meant by a disruptive innovation.
Disruptive innovations are new technologies, products, or services that eventually surpass the existing dominant technology or product in a market. For example, retail giant Sears nearly failed in the early 1990s when it did not recognize the transformational power of the disruptive innovation discount retailing; today, discounters like Walmart and segment-specific stores like Home Depot dominate retailing. In addition I can mention the collapse of 1970’s midrange computer giant Digital Equipment Company (DEC) clearly illustrates the innovator’s dilemma. DEC was ultimately surpassed in the marketplace by microprocessor-based computers, with the microprocessor being the disruptive innovation.
11. Describe the competitive forces model.
12. What is freeconomics, and what are several approaches for applying its concepts to various industries?