CMIS 342 Exam 1
Book Industry
What is the largest book publisher and bookseller in the United States today? Would it surprise you to learn that the answer is Amazon, a software company? Amazon's core capability is its software engine, which can sell virtually anything online without building or maintaining any retail stores. Now, even books themselves have become software products, known as electronic (or digital) books, or e-books. (In the fall of 2016, electronic books were gaining in popularity, but approximately 80 percent of book sales were still for print books. Interestingly, according to a 2016 study, 92 percent of American college students prefer a print book to an electronic version of it.) Consider the Borders bookstore chain. In 2001, Borders agreed to hand over its online business to Amazon because Borders was convinced that online book sales were nonstrategic and unimportant. Ten years later, Borders filed for bankruptcy.
1. The Informed User—You! 2. IT Offers Career Opportunities 3. Managing Information Resources
Why Should I Study Information Systems? (3)
•IT may reduce the number of middle managers. •IT will provide managers with real-time or near real-time information, meaning that managers will have less time to make decisions. •IT will increase the likelihood that managers will have to supervise geographically dispersed employees and teams.
3 Potential IT impacts on managers?
•IT may eliminate jobs. •IT may cause employees to experience a loss of identity. •IT can cause job stress and physical problems, such as repetitive stress injury.
3 Potential IT impacts on nonmanagerial workers?
Functional Area Information Systems (FAIS)
A collection of application programs in a single department or functional area
Database
A collection of related files or tables containing data
Network
A connecting system (wireline or wireless) that permits different computers to share resources
Software
A program or collection of programs that enable the hardware to process data
Dashboards
A special form of IS that support all managers of the organization by providing rapid access to timely information and direct access to structured information in the form of reports. Presents structured, summarized information about aspects of business important to executives. Example - Status of sales by product
Agriculture Industry
Agriculture is increasingly powered by software, including satellite analysis of soils linked to per-acre seed selection software algorithms. Precision agriculture also makes use of automated, driverless tractors controlled by global positioning systems and software. (Precision agriculture is based on observing, measuring, and responding to inter- and intra-field variability.)
Data
An elementary description of things, events, activities, and transactions that are recorded, classified, and stored but are not organized to convey any specific meaning
Computer Based Information System
An information system that uses computer technology to perform some or all of the its intended tasks Collects, processes, stores, analyzes, and disseminates information for a specific purpose The purpose has been defined as getting the right information to the right people at the right time in the right amount and in the right format Need to differentiate data, information, and technology
Electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems
An interorganizational information system that enable organizations to conduct transactions, called business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce, and customers to conduct transactions with businesses, called business-to-consumer (B2C) electronic commerce.
Business Process
An ongoing collection of related activities that create a product or service of value to the organization, its business partners, and/or its customers 3 Fundamental Elements
Drones
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that either is controlled by pilots from the ground or autonomously follows a preprogrammed mission. Commercial drones are used for a wide variety of business purposes, in contrast to drones used by hobbyists for recreational purposes. Let's examine three interesting uses of drones. Sensors on drones, coupled with data analytics (see Chapter 12), are extending precision agriculture beyond simply monitoring crops. Drones help farmers increase crop yields by optimizing the fertilizer mix for different parts of a field down to the square meter. They similarly help winemakers increase yields by precisely controlling drip irrigation down to the individual vine ("more crop per drop"). The energy industry uses drones for applications beyond monitoring and inspecting pipelines. In Alaska, BP (www.bp.com) uses drones to monitor its gravel-extraction operations to comply with environmental guidelines. ConocoPhillips (www.conocophillips.com) and Chevron (www.chevron.com) use drones in the Arctic to help search for new sources of oil. First Solar (www.firstsolar.com) uses drones to inspect for faulty solar panels. Uber is so successful in Mexico City that the company feels comfortable enough in using drones to tease drivers who are stuck in gridlocked traffic. One drone carried an ad saying, "Driving by yourself?" The idea was to guilt the driver into carpooling with UberPOOL.
Procedures
Are the instructions for combining the above components to process information and generate the desired output
Business Process Improvement
BPI An incremental approach to move an organization toward business process centered operations Focuses on reducing variation in process outputs by identifying the underlying cause of the variation Six Sigma is a popular methodology for BPI 5 basic phases of successful BPI
Baxter
Baxter is a new kind of industrial robot by Rethink Robotics (www.rethinkrobotics.com) that sells for $25,000. Humans share a workspace with Baxter, making it an excellent example of a social, collaborative robot. Baxter works right out of the box and can be integrated into a factory's workflow in about one hour. Another benefit of Baxter is that other factory workers can train it. In November 2014 Rethink Robotics announced its new Robot Positioning System for Baxter. This system enables Baxter to adapt to changing, real-world environments such as tables and benches being moved. The new system highlights a huge advantage for companies that acquire Baxter. Because so much of Baxter's capabilities are contained in its software, when the robot is upgraded it tends to increase in value. However, Baxter does raise the question of the future of low-skilled labor in the United States: How fast will Baxter replace these workers, and what will they do after they are replaced?
Video Industry
Blockbuster—which rented and sold videos and ancillary products through its chain of stores—was the industry leader until it was disrupted by a software company, Netflix (www.netflix.com). In mid-2016, Netflix had the largest subscriber base of any video service with millions of subscribers. Meanwhile, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy in February 2011 and was acquired by satellite television provider Dish Network (www.dish.com) a month later.
Breadth of Support of Information Systems
Certain information systems support parts of organizations, others support entire organizations, and still others support groups of organizations. This section addresses all of these systems.
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Education
College graduates owe approximately $1.3 trillion in student debt, a crippling burden for many recent graduates. Consider UniversityNow (www.unow.com), founded to make college more accessible to working adults by offering online, self-paced degrees. Two key characteristics distinguish UniversityNow from an increasing number of rivals: (1) very low fees (as little as $2,600, which includes tuition and books for as many courses as students can complete in one year) and (2) fully accredited degrees, from an associate's degree to an M.B.A.
Knowledge
Consists of data and/or information that have been organized and processed to convey understanding, experience, accumulated learning, and expertise as they apply to a current business problem
Hardware
Consists of devices such as the processor, monitor, keyboard, and printer
IT Changes the Manager's Job
Decision making is the most important managerial task IT changes the way managers make decisions - IT provides near-real-time information - Managers have less time to make decisions - IT provides tools for analysis to assist in decision making
Electronic Commerce System
Enables transactions among organizations and between organizations and customers. Example - www.dell.com
Emergence of Cognitive Computing: IBM Watson
IBM (www.ibm.com) developed Watson specifically to answer questions on the quiz show Jeopardy! In February 2011, Watson competed on Jeopardy! against former winners Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. Watson won the game series and received the first prize of $1 million. (In Jeopardy!, the host reads the answer, and the contestants must then provide the correct question.) Watson is an application of advanced natural language processing, information retrieval, knowledge representation and reasoning, and machine learning technologies to the field of open-domain (general) question answering. The system is capable of answering questions posed in natural language. IBM has labeled the type of processing demonstrated by Watson as cognitive computing. Four main capabilities distinguish Watson as a cognitive system: •The ability to understand human language, with all its nuance and ambiguity. •The ability to learn and absorb information. •The ability to formulate hypotheses. •The ability to understand the context of a question.
Monitoring Process Performance
IS evaluates information to determine how well a process is being executed Evaluations occur at two levels *Process level (the process as a whole) *Instance level (specific task or activity) Monitoring identifies problems for process improvement
Executing the Business Process
IS helps this area of business by... Informing employees when it is time to complete a task Providing required data Providing a means to complete the task
IT Impacts Employees at Work
IT Impacts Employees' Health & Safety - Job Stress - Long-term use of the keyboard & mouse Ergonomic products protect computer users. - Wrist support. - Back support. - Eye protection filter (optically coated glass). - Adjustable foot rest. IT Provides Opportunities for People with Disabilities - Speech-recognition for employees unable to type due to physical impairment - Audible screen tips for employees who are visually impaired
IT Affects Our Quality of Life
IT has changed the way we work - Smartphones provide constant access to text, email, and voice communications - The lines between time at work and leisure time at home have become blurred - Surveys indicate employees take laptops and smartphones on vacation
IT Offers Career Opportunities
IT is vital to modern business providing many lucrative career opportunities Programmers, business analysts, systems analysts, and designers Chief Information Officer (CIO) - executive in charge of the IS function Career opportunities will remain strong in the future
IT Reduces the Number of Middle Managers
IT makes middle managers more productive - increase the number of employees that can report to a single manager Consequently, IT reduces the number of middle managers required - cuts down on the number of promotions
IT Impacts Healthcare
IT used in Healthcare to: - Make better/faster diagnoses - Streamline the process of researching & developing new drugs - To enhance the work of radiologists - Allow surgeons to use virtual reality to plan complex surgeries & use robots to remotely perform surgery The Emergence of Cognitive Computing: IBM Watson
Lowebots
In August 2016, Lowe's announced that 11 of the firm's store locations in San Francisco, California, will employ LoweBots, which are multilingual, autonomous customer assistance robots.
Walmart shopping cart robots
In September 2016, Walmart obtained a patent for a system that allows shopping carts to drive themselves. The system attaches to shopping carts, allowing the carts to drive freely around the store, assist customers, and move safely into docks instead of clogging up parking lots. The carts can also potentially move containers; scan, retrieve, and deliver products; check inventory; and retrieve trash.
Automobile Industry
In modern cars, software is responsible for running the engines; controlling safety features; entertaining passengers; guiding drivers to their destinations; and connecting the car to mobile, satellite, and GPS networks. Other software functions in modern cars include Wi-Fi receivers, which turn your car into a mobile hot spot; software, which helps maximize fuel efficiency; and ultrasonic sensors, which enable some models to parallel park automatically. The next step is to network all vehicles together, a necessary step toward the next major breakthrough: self-driving, or driverless cars. The creation of software-powered driverless cars is already being undertaken at Google as well as at several major car companies, and interestingly, Apple.
1. IT Impacts Entire Industries 2. IT Reduces the Number of Middle Managers 3. IT Changes the Manager's Job 4. Will IT Eliminate Jobs? 5. IT Impacts Employees at Work
In what 5 ways does IT impact Organizations?
Procurement Process
Includes all of the tasks involved in acquiring needed materials externally from a vendor. Procurement comprises five steps that are completed in three different functional areas of the firm: 1. Warehouse 2. Purchasing 3. Accounting.
Software Industry
Incumbent software companies such as Oracle and Microsoft are increasingly threatened by software-as-a-service (SaaS) products (e.g., Salesforce.com) and Android, an open-source operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance (www.openhandsetalliance.com). (We discuss operating systems in Technology Guide 2 and SaaS in Technology Guide 3.)
People
Individuals who use the hardware and software, interface with it, or utilize its output.
New (Consultative) Functions of the MIS Department
Initiating and designing specific strategic information systems Incorporating the Internet and electronic commerce into the business Managing system integration including the Internet, intranets, and extranets Educating the non-MIS managers about IT Educating the MIS staff about the business Partnering with business-unit executives Managing outsourcing Proactively using business and technical knowledge to seed innovative ideas about IT Creating business alliances with business partners
Fulfillment Process
Is concerned with processing customer orders 1. Fulfillment is triggered by a customer purchase order that is received by the sales department 2. Sales then validates the purchase order and creates a sales order. The sales order communicates data related to the order to other functional areas within the organization, and it tracks the progress of the order 3. The warehouse prepares and sends the shipment to the customer. 4. Once accounting is notified of the shipment, it creates an invoice and sends it to the customer. 5. The customer then makes a payment, which accounting records.
Managing Information Resources
Is difficult and complex because: - IS has an enormous strategic value to organizations - IS's are very expensive to acquire, operate, and maintain - Evolution of the MIS function within the organization MIS personnel vs. end users Changing Role of the IS Department - Traditional Function of the MIS Department - New (Consultative) Functions of the MIS Department MIS provides what users see on their computer screens.
Recruiting Industry
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is disrupting the traditional job recruiting industry. For the first time, employees and job searchers can maintain their resumes on a publicly accessible website that interested parties can search in real time.
1. IT can cause health problems for individuals 2. IT can place employees on constant call 3. IT can potentially misinform patients about their health problems
List 3 negative societal effects of the increased use of information technology.
1. IT can provide opportunities for people with disabilities. 2. IT can provide people with flexibility in their work (e.g., work from anywhere, anytime). 3. Robots will take over mundane chores. 4. IT will enable improvements in healthcare.
List 4 positive societal effects of the increased use of information technology.
Human Resources use of IT
Manage the recruiting process, analyze and screen job applicants, and hire new employees. They also employ IT to help employees manage their careers, to administer performance tests to employees, and to monitor employee productivity. Finally, they rely on IT to manage compensation and benefits packages.
Production and Operations Management use of IT
Managers also use IT to manage their relationships with their customers. In manufacturing, managers use IT to process customer orders, develop production schedules, control inventory levels, and monitor product quality. They also use IT to design and manufacture products. These processes are called computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM)
Accounting and Finance use of IT
Managers use IT systems to forecast revenues and business activity, to determine the best sources and uses of funds, and to perform audits to ensure that the organization is fundamentally sound and that all financial reports and documents are accurate
Marketing use of IT
Managers use information technology to perform the following functions: •Product analysis: Developing new goods and services. •Site analysis: Determining the best location for production and distribution facilities. •Promotion analysis: Identifying the best advertising channels. •Price analysis: Setting product prices to obtain the highest total revenues
Supply Chain Management System
Manages flows of products, services, and information among organizations. Example - Walmart Retail Link system connecting suppliers to Walmart
Traditional Function of the MIS Department
Managing systems development and systems project management Managing computer operations, including the computer center Staffing, training, and developing IS skills Providing technical services Infrastructure planning, development, and control
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
Michael Hammer & James Champy, 1993, Reengineering the Corporation BPR A radical redesign of an organization's business processes to increase productivity and profitability Examines business processes with a "clean slate" approach
Cross Functional Process
No single functional area is responsible Steps executed in a coordinated, collaborative way Procurement & Fulfillment Cross-functional processes
1. Hardware 2. Software 3. Database 4. Network
Of the 6 Components of CBIS which 4 are the IT components?
The Robot Revolution is Here Now
Once restricted largely to science fiction movies, robots that can perform practical tasks are becoming more common Baxter LoweBots Walmart shopping cart robots Drones Autonomous Vehicles
Major Capabilities of Information Systems
Perform high-speed, high-volume numerical computations. Provide fast, accurate communication and collaboration within and among organizations. Store huge amounts of information in an easy-to-access, yet small space. Allow quick and inexpensive access to vast amounts of information, worldwide. Interpret vast amounts of data quickly and effi ciently. Automate both semiautomatic business processes and manual tasks
Capturing & Storing Process Data
Processes generate data - Dates, times, product numbers, quantities, prices, addresses, names, employee actions IS's capture & store process data (aka, transaction data) Capturing & storing data provides immediate, 'real time' feedback
Knowledge Workers
Professional employees that are experts in a particular subject area (e.g., financial and marketing analysts, engineers, lawyers, and accountants.)
Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Provide communication among functional area ISs Integrates all functional areas of the organization. Example - Oracle, SAP system Microsoft Office
Information
Refers to data that have been organized so that they have meaning and value to the recipient
Financial Services Industry
Software has transformed the financial services industry. Practically every financial transaction (for example, buying and selling stocks) is now performed by software. Also, many of the leading innovators in financial services are software companies. For example, Square (https://squareup.com) allows anyone to accept credit card payments with a mobile phone.
Functional Area Information Systems
Summarize data and prepare reports, primarily for middle managers, but sometimes for lower-level managers as well Supports the activities within specific functional area. Example - System for processing payroll
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
Support the "real time" monitoring, collection, storage, and processing of data from the organization's day to day operations Collects data continuously, typically in real time—that is, as soon as the data are generated—and it provides the input data for the corporate databases Example - Walmart checkout point-of sale business events
Interorganizational Information Systems (IOS)
Supports many Interorganizational operations Information systems that connect two or more organizations Examples: - Supply Chain Management (SCM) - Electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems
Expert Systems
Systems that attempt to duplicate the work of human experts by applying reasoning capabilities, knowledge, and expertise within a specific domain Mimics human expert in a particular area and makes decisions. Example - Credit card approval analysis
Business Intelligence
Systems that provide computer-based support for complex, nonroutine decisions, primarily for middle managers and knowledge workers.
IT Services IT Personnel IT Components
The IT Infrastructure consists of what 3 Things?
Will IT Eliminate Jobs?
The competitive advantage of replacing people with IT & machines is increasing rapidly Increasing the use of IT in business also: - Creates new job categories - Requires more employees with IT knowledge and skills
Motion Picture Industry
The process of making feature-length computer-generated films has become incredibly IT intensive. Studios require state-of-the-art information technologies, including massive numbers of servers, sophisticated software, and an enormous amount of storage (all described in Technology Guide 1). Consider DreamWorks Animation (www.dreamworksanimation.com), a motion picture studio that creates animated feature films, television programs, and online virtual worlds. For a single motion picture, the studio manages more than 500,000 files and 300 terabytes (a terabyte is 1 trillion bytes) of data, and it uses about 80 million central processing unit (CPU; described in Technology Guide 1) hours. As DreamWorks executives state, "In reality, our product is data that looks like a movie. We are a digital manufacturing company."
Customer Satisfaction
The result of optimizing and aligning business processes to fulfill customers' needs, wants, and desires
Productivity
The result of optimizing each individual's work processes.
Cost Reduction
The result of optimizing operations and supplier processes
Quality
The result of optimizing the design, development, and production processes
Cycle and Fulfillment Time Reduction
The result of optimizing the manufacturing and logistics processes
Differentiation
The result of optimizing the marketing and innovation processes
Marketing Industry
Today's largest direct marketing companies include Facebook (www.facebook.com), Google (www.google.com), and Foursquare (www.foursquare.com). All of these companies are using software to disrupt the retail marketing industry.
Legal Profession
Today, electronic discovery (e-discovery) software applications can analyze documents in a fraction of the time that human lawyers would take, at a fraction of the cost. For example, Blackstone Discovery (www.blackstonediscovery.com) helped one company analyze 1.5 million documents for less than $100,000. That company estimated that the process would have cost $1.5 million had it been performed by lawyers. Law firms are now beginning to use a new artificial intelligence software package called ROSS (www.rossintelligence.com). For example, law firm BakerHostetler has hired ROSS to serve as a legal researcher in bankruptcy cases.
Videogame Industry
Today, the fastest-growing entertainment companies are videogame makers—again, software. Examples are: Zynga (www.zynga.com), the creator of FarmVille; Rovio (www.rovio.com), the maker of Angry Birds; and Minecraft (www.minecraft.net), now owned by Microsoft (www.microsoft.com).
#3 Information security analyst #7 Software engineer #8 Computer systems analyst
Top Job Rankings: Forbes (out of 10)
#1 Software engineer #7 IT Analyst
Top Job Rankings: Money
#3 Computer systems analyst #13 Software developer #20 Web developer #29 IT manager
Top Job Rankings: U.S. News & World Report (out of 100)
Music Industry
Total U.S. album sales peaked at 785 million units in 2000, which was the year after Napster was created. (Recall that Napster allowed anyone with a computer and a reasonably fast web connection to download and trade music for free.) From 2000 to 2016, the major music labels (companies) worked diligently to eliminate illegal downloading and sharing, but album sales continued to decline. The result was that the music labels earned about $8 billion less in annual retail sales in 2016 than they did in 2000. Also, before 1999 six major music labels dominated the industry. By 2015, a series of mergers had created the "Big Three" music labels: Warner Music Group (www.wmg.com), Universal Music (www.universalmusic.com), and Sony (www.sonymusic.com). These large changes in the music industry were due to the emergence of digital music streaming technologies over the Internet. Two digital-streaming business models emerged: Internet radio companies such as Pandora (www.pandora.com) that allow subscribers to passively listen to music that is customized for their tastes, and interactive companies such as Spotify (www.spotify.com) and Apple's iTunes (www.apple.com/itunes) that allow users to pick songs. Internet radio companies can operate under a government-mandated license that dictates how much they have to pay. In contrast, interactive companies must make deals with labels and music publishers in order to license music for legal use in the United States.
1. Transaction processing systems (TPS) 2. Functional area information systems (FAISs) 3. Interorganizational information systems (IOSs) 4. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) 5. Electronic commerce (e-commerce) 6. Office automation systems (OASs) 7. Business intelligence (BI) 8. Expert systems (ESs)
What are 8 computer-based information systems in an organization.?
1. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems 2. Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
What are the 2 Information Systems that support the entire system?
1. Inputs - Materials, services, and information that flow through and are transformed as a result of process activities 2. Resources - People and equipment that perform process activities 3. Outputs - The product or a service created by the process
What are the 3 Fundamental Elements for a Business Process?
1. IT Affects Our Quality of Life 2. The Robot Revolution Is Here Now 3. IT Impacts Healthcare
What are the 3 Importances of Information Systems to Society?
1. Competitive advantage 2. Cross-Functional Processes 3. Information Systems and Business Processes
What are the 3 Types of Business Processes?
1. Executing the business process 2. Capturing and storing process data 3. Monitoring process performance
What are the 3 areas of business processes where IS plays a vital role?
1. Accounting 2. Finance 3. Production & Operations Management 4. Marketing 5. HR
What are the 5 Types of Functional Area Information Systems (FAIS)? Enterprise Resource Planning Systems?
1. Hardware 2. Software 3. Database 4. Network 5. Procedures 6. People
What are the 6 Components of Computer Based Information Systems?
1. Customer Satisfaction 2. Cost Reduction 3. Cycle and fulfillment time reduction 4. Quality 5. Differentiation 6. Productivity
What are the 6 Measures of Excellence in Executing Business Processes?
1. Clerical Workers 2. Knowledge Workers 3. Functional area information systems 4. Business Intelligence (BI) 5. Expert Systems (ES) 6. Dashboards (aka Digital Dashboards)
What are the 6 Types of Support for Organizational Employees?
1. The process begins when the warehouse recognizes the need to procure materials, perhaps due to low inventory levels. The warehouse documents this need with a purchase requisition, which it sends to the purchasing department 2. In turn, the purchasing department identifies a suitable vendor, creates a purchase order based on the purchase requisition, and sends the order to the vendor 3. When the vendor receives the purchase order, it ships the materials, which are received in the warehouse 4. The vendor then sends an invoice, which is received by the accounting department 5. Accounting sends payment to the vendor, thereby completing the procurement process
What are the steps of the Procurement Process?
Fashion Industry
Women have long "borrowed" special-occasion dresses from department stores, buying them and then returning them after wearing them for one evening. Now, Rent the Runway (www.renttherunway.com) has redefined the fashion business, making expensive clothing available to more women than ever before. The firm is also disrupting traditional physical retailers. After all, why buy a dress when you can rent one for a very low price? Some department stores feel so threatened by Rent the Runway that they have reportedly told vendors that they will remove floor merchandise if it ever shows up on that company's website (see Chapter 12 opening case).
The Informed User
You benefit more when you understand what is "behind" IT applications You can provide valuable input You can recommend and help select IT Applications You will be aware of new technology You understand how IT improves performance Understanding IT is very beneficial to entrepreneurs
Closing Case The United States Postal Service Uses Information Technology to Modernize
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Autonomous Vehicle
•Human error accounts for more than 90 percent of automobile crashes. •Each year there are 6 million vehicle crashes reported to law enforcement. •Approximately 33,000 Americans and 1.25 people worldwide die each year in automobile crashes. •With mobile devices providing a distraction, U.S. highway fatalities increased 8 percent in 2016, the largest increase in 50 years. •The average car in the U.S. is used 8 percent of the time. These statistics offer compelling reasons for autonomous vehicles and development of these vehicles is proceeding rapidly. For example, Uber's first self-driving cars arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in August 2016. These cars were Volvos supervised by humans in the driver's seat. Fully automated, all-electric, public, 24-seat, driverless cabs are operating in Singapore. Finally, in October 2016, an Uber self-driving truck delivered 50,000 cans of beer at the end of a 120-mile, two-hour journey. There is some bad news, however. A Tesla Model S driver died after crashing in the Netherlands and another fatality was blamed on a Tesla car in China. It will probably be a long time before we see robots making decisions by themselves, handling unfamiliar situations, and interacting with people. Nevertheless, robots are extremely helpful in various environments, particularly those that are repetitive, harsh, or dangerous to humans.
