ISM Exam 1: Chapter 3
Which of the following statements regarding AllRoad's analysis of competitive forces is correct?
AllRoad judges the threat from substitutes as weak and the threat of new entrants as strong
Porter's five competitive forces can be grouped into which of the following two types?
Bargaining power forces and competitive forces
Which of the following statements is correct regarding the relationship between business processes and value chains?
Business processes implement value chains or portions of value chains.
In the 2 x 2 matrix depicting Porter's four competitive strategies, which of the following correctly identifies the two horizontal axis and the two vertical axis labels?
Cost, differentiation, industry-wide, and focus
Consider two companies that have the same set of value chain activities. Which of the following statements regarding business processes and information systems in these two companies is correct?
Each company will implement these value chain activities using business processes that are consistent with its respective competitive strategy
Which of the following statements is correct regarding the relationship among value chains, business processes, and information systems?
Each value chain in a company is supported by one or more business processes
What must a company do if a value chain's margin is negative?
Either the value must be increased, or the costs of the value chain need to be reduced
An information system can be part of a product (product implementation) or it can provide support for a product or service (process implementation). Which of the following is NOT a process implementation?
Enhance products and services.
Which of the following is a correct statement regarding competitive forces in Porter's model?
If customers are loyal to the company or brand, then the strength of the competitive forces is low.
Which of the following should be the first stage in a typical planning process used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems?
Industry Structure
Which of the following correctly sequences the stages in a typical planning process used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems?
Industry Structure dash Competitive Strategy dash Value Chains dash Business Processes dash Information Systems
Which of the following should be the final stage in a typical planning process used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems?
Information systems
Which of the following is NOT a primary activity in a value chain?
Inventory management
Which of the following incorrectly describes the generic value chain?
It is applicable only to manufacturing
An information system can be part of a product (product implementation), or it can provide support for a product or service (process implementation). Which of the following is NOT a product implementation?
Lock in suppliers
Which of the following is NOT one of the four general competitive strategies?
Longest value chain across the industry
Which of the following is NOT a factor to consider in analyzing industry structure as part of an organization's information systems planning process?
Lowest cost IT vendors
Which of the following statements is NOT correct regarding the ways in which information systems (IS) can provide competitive advantages to a company?
Strategies and business processes can generate competitive advantages, but IS cannot
Porter's model of business activities includes linkages, which are interactions across value activities. Which of the following is NOT an example of linkage across value activities?
The addition of new potential customers to a manufacturing company's database in the sales and marketing function
Consider two companies that have different strategies but identical value chain activities related to their respective strategies. Which of the following statements is correct?
The business processes used in these two companies will be different
Consider the shipping company ABC, Inc., which has developed and implemented a web-based information system to handle customer interactions in scheduling a shipment. Which of the following statements correctly describes how this information system provides competitive advantages to ABC, Inc.?
The information system helps to differentiate the ABC package delivery product from competitors that do not have a similar system
Which of the following is NOT a valid characteristic of support activities in the generic value chain?
They are business functions that relate directly to the production of the organization's products or services
Which of the following is NOT one of the factors that Porter cites that must be consistent with an organization's strategy if that organization is to be effective?
The organization's information systems
Which of the following is NOT a valid use of Porter's competitive forces model?
To determine the year that the industry will become obsolete
How do companies use Porter's 5 forces model?
To help them determine the potential profitability of an industry and as a way of understanding their competitive environments
Information systems can provide competitive advantages to a company by all of the following ways EXCEPT ________.
establishing low switching costs for customers
To those in the MIS field, Porter's requirements for an organization to be effective means that all information systems in the organization must ________.
facilitate the organization's competitive strategy
Value chains exist in service-oriented companies. The difference between a value chain in a manufacturing company and one in a service company is that most of the value in a service company is generated by all of the following EXCEPT ________.
inbound and outbound logistics
Porter's competitive strategy that is industry-wide and achieves differentiation for the company is to ________.
provide better products and services across the industry
To maintain a strategy that is competitive, AllRoad must ________.
understand 3D printing technology and be prepared to address changes in the competitive forces of customer bargaining power and competitive threats as it relates to this technology area
