CH. 1

In a SWOT analysis, which of the following could you discover as potential inner weaknesses (harmful)?

Damaged Reputation

An overview of systems thinking includes input, process, output, and finances.

F

Businesses rarely need to update business strategies as the business environment remains relatively stable.

F

Competitive intelligence is information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors, partners, and industries that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making.

F

Decreasing customer loyalty, increasing costs, and decreasing sales are all examples of business strategies.

F

Descriptive analytics is the scientific process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions.

F

Knowledge workers are individuals valued for their ability to mitigate risk and implement critical human resource rules and regulations.

F

Porter's Five Forces Model outlines the process for a sales strategy.

F

Predictive analytics is a world where interconnected, Internet-enabled devices or "things" can collect and share data without human intervention.

F

Structured data extracts information from data and uses it to predict future trends and identify behavioral patterns.

F

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to devices that connect directly to other devices.

F

The chief data officer is responsible for overseeing all uses of MIS and ensuring that MIS strategically aligns with business goals and objectives.

F

Unstructured data extracts information from data and uses it to predict future trends and identify behavioral patterns.

F

Using only data and information to make decisions and solve problems is the key to finding success in business. These are also the only core drivers of the information age and the building blocks of business systems.

F

Zappos is not a technology company; its primary business focus is to sell books.

F

Mark Peterson identified the Porter's Five Forces Model which analyzes the competitive forces within a business environment.

F (Porter)

Polaroid had a unique competitive advantage for many years until it forgot to observe competitive intelligence. The firm went bankrupt when people began taking digital pictures. Polaroid provides a great example of Porter's supplier power.

F (Threat of substitute or products or services)

When evaluating the value chain, which of the following is included in the support value activities?

Firm Infrastructure

Assume you are in the business of producing and selling t-shirts. If you could produce more t-shirts with the same input what would happen to your productivity and profits assuming the price of your t-shirts remains the same?

Increase in productivity, increase in profits

Predictive analytics extracts information from data and uses it to predict future trends and identify behavioral patterns.

T

Predictive analytics use techniques that extract information from data and use it to predict future trends and identify behavioral patterns.

T

Product differentiation occurs when a company develops unique differences in its products or services with the intent to influence demand.

T

Supplier power is one of Porter's five forces and it measures the suppliers' ability to influence the prices they charge for supplies (including materials, labor, and services).

T

The business decisions made by the human resources department include employee data, promotion data, and vacation data.

T

There are many challenges to changing doctors, including transferring medical records and losing the doctor-patient relationship along with the doctor's knowledge of the patient's history. Changing doctors provides a great example of switching costs.

T

Waiting tables, teaching, and cutting hair are all examples of services that people pay for to fulfill their needs.

T

With the Five Forces Model, companies should watch the forces in the market. If the forces are strong, competition generally increases; and if the forces are weak, competition typically decreases.

T

Which of the following provides an accurate definition of systems thinking?

a way of monitoring the entire system by viewing multiple inputs being processed or transformed to produce outputs while continuously gathering feedback on each part

According to Porter, companies that wish to dominate broad markets should operate using a __________ strategy.

cost leadership with a low cost

Broad differentiation, broad cost leadership, and __________ create the three generic strategies identified by Porter.

focused strategy

What is the support value activity that provides employees with training, hiring, and compensation?

human resource management

Some industries' competition is much more intense than others. Retail grocery stores such as Kroger, Safeway, and Albertson's in the United States experience fierce competition and offer similar marketing campaigns to compete. What is this an example of in terms of Porter's Five Forces?

rivalry among existing competitors

When reviewing Porter's value chain analysis, which of the below provides customer support after the sale of goods and services?

service

In a SWOT analysis, opportunities and threats originate __________ an organization.

outside (externally)

In a SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses originate __________ an organization.

outside (externally) (why?)

Goods are material items or products that customer's will buy to satisfy a want or need.

T

In a SWOT analysis potential external threats are harmful when they identify all threats or risks detrimental to your organization, including new market entrants, substitute products, employee turnover, differentiating products, shrinking markets, adverse changes in regulations, economic shifts, and so on.

T

In a SWOT analysis potential internal weaknesses are harmful when they identify all key areas that require improvement. Weaknesses focus on the absence of certain strengths, including absence of an Internet marketing plan, damaged reputation, problem areas for service, outdated technology, employee issues, and so on.

T

Knowledge assets, also called intellectual capital, are the human, structural, and recorded resources available to the organization.

T

Machine to machine (M2M) refers to devices that connect directly to other devices.

T

Assume you are in the business of producing and selling cars. If you could produce more cars with the same input what would happen to your productivity and profits assuming the price of your cars remains the same?

Increase in productivity, increase in profits

In a SWOT analysis, which of the following could you discover as potential external opportunities (helpful)?

New Markets

A SWOT analysis evaluates an organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to identify significant influences that work for or against business strategies.

T

A SWOT analysis will evaluate potential internal strengths, internal weaknesses, and external opportunities.

T

A dynamic report can include updating daily stock market prices or the calculation of available inventory.

T

A fact is the confirmation or validation of an event or object. In the past, people primarily learned facts from books.

T

Attracting new customers, decreasing costs, and entering new markets are all examples of successful business strategies.

T

Choosing not to fire a sales representative who is underperforming knowing that person is experiencing family problems is a form of knowledge.

T

Companies today are successful when they combine the power of the information age with traditional business methods.

T

Competitive advantages provide the same product or service either at a lower price or with additional value that can fetch premium prices.

T