MIS 3305 Test 1

How did Apple trump Google to become the dominant mapping platform on iOS?

Apple's control of IOS gave it control of the distribution channel to reach its users, kicking Google out as the default mapping app and capturing the majority of user engagement

Porter's Five Forces

Model developed by strategy expert Michael Porter that identifies five competitive forces that influence planning strategies; Power of Suppliers, Power of Buyers, Threat of Substitute Products, Potential New Entrants, Rivalry Among Existing Competitors

Collaborative filtering is a classification of software that:

Monitors trends among customers to personalize an individual customer's experience

Moore's Law corollary that is taking place with people too. As technology becomes fast and cheaper and developments like open source software, cloud computing, software as a a service, and outsourcing push technology costs __

More

The Hardware Layer Cake

TOP TO BOTTOM: User, Applications, Operating Systems, Hardware

Extensible Markup Language

Tagging language that can be used to identify data fields made available for use by other applications

T/F: Businesses that have favorable economies of scale are sometimes referred to as being highly scalable

True

T/F: China has the most Internet users worldwide

True

T/F: Firms are using social media to generate sales, improve their reputations, better serve customers, and innovate

True

T/F: Firms must invest in techniques to improve quality, lower cost, and design efficient customer experiences

True

T/F: Firms that build an imitation-resistant value chain develop a way of doing business that others struggle to replicate

True

T/F: IPO markets need new firms, and the tech industry is a fertile ground that continually sprouts new businesses like no other

True

T/F: Many firms choose not to implement operational components of ERP software and instead elect to create their own propriety solutions in part because they see their uniqueness in certain operations areas as key to creating difficult-to-imitate competitive advantages.

True

T/F: Market entry is NOT the same as building a sustainable business and just showing up does not guarantee survival

True

T/F: The marginal costs of digital goods is effectively zero

True

T/F: The tech-centric consulting practices of firms such as Deloitte Consulting and Accenture are larger than the accounting firms where they were initially launched

True

Computing hardware

the physical components of information technology which can include the computer itself plus peripherals such as storage devices, input devices like the mouse and keyboard, output devices like monitors and printers, networking equipment, etc.

Churn Rate

the rate at which customers leave a product or service

Forces accelerating and lowering costs of entrepreneurship

crowdfunding, cloud computing, App Store, 3D printing, social media

Master Data

data that is relatively stable, customers, vendors

Transaction Data

data that is temporary, customer orders, purchase orders

Channel Conflict

exists when firm's potential partners see that firm as a threat

FreshDirect

farm to fork supply chain, prepares its own goods, stores in a warehouse, higher turnover, lower prices

Michael Porter said that...

firms suffer margin-eroding competition because they define themselves according to operational effectiveness instead of strategic positioning

A Server is used in two ways:

hardware context and software context

Sharing Economy Business

peer to peer, connecting buyers and sellers

Strategic Positioning

performing different activities better than rivals, or the same activities in a different way, should create a difficult to copy strategy

Operational Effectiveness

performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them

Application Software

performs functions for the user, desktop software

Hardware

physical components of information technology; CPU, RAM, ROM, storage devices, input devices, output devices

Social media is now the

preferred communication tool

Platforms

products that allow for the development of software products and other complementary goods

Long Tail

refers to an extremely large selection of contents or products, a phenomenon whereby firms can make money by offering a near-limitless selection

Disintermediation

removing an organization from a firm's distribution channel; collapses the path between supplier and customer

The First Sale Doctrine only applies to ____ products and you must have a ___ to stream the bits (media)

Physical, license

Having a bigger customer base enables firms to

- Have better cost structure - Have better profit prospects - Offer better pricing

Atoms to Bits

a shift from physical to digital products

network externalities

a situation in which the usefulness of a product increases with the number of consumers who use it

Coopetition

a situation where firms may both cooperate and compete with one another

Software Package

a software product offered commercially by a third party

Client

a software program that makes requests of a server program

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

a tagging language that can be used to identify data fields made available for use by other applications

Augmented Reality

a technology that superimposes content, such as images and animation on top of real-world images

Imitation Resistant Value Chain

a way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate and frequently involves technology in a key enabling role

Economies of Scale

cost advantages reaped by companies

Marginal Costs

costs associated with each additional unit produced

Fixed Costs

costs that do not vary according to production volume

Media industry is an oligopoly with only a few media conglomerates controlling over ____% of media consumed

90%

VRIO

A framework to determine the competitive potential of a resource; Value, Rare, Inimitable, Organized

Internet of Things

A vision where low-cost sensors, processors, and communication are embedded into a wide array of products, allowing a vast network to collect data, analyze input, and automatically coordinate collective action.

Value Chain

Another framework used to determine all activities needed to create a product or service to add margin of value; divided into Primary and Secondary

___ grew to the most valuable firm in the US due to its handheld consumer electronics

Apple

APIs

Application Programming Interface, programming guidelines that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task

Brand Power =

Buying Power

T/F: In recent years, activity has dramatically declined in areas of intellectual property, patents, piracy, and privacy

False

T/F: Network externalities exist when a product or service becomes less expensive as more people use it

False

T/F: The United States holds the number one ranking in Internet access speeds

False

The Harvard Business Review declared ____ the "Sexiest Job of the Twenty-First Century"

Data Scientist

T/F: For today's collegiate job seeker, public participation in social media is strongly discouraged

False

Fast Follower Problem

Exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn from their successes and missteps, then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product at a lower cost before the first mover can dominate.

Two main technologies replaces EDI

Extensible Markup Language and Javascript Object Notation

Secondary Value Chain Components

Firm Infrastructure, HR, Technology, Procurement

___ is now the world's most profitable media company

Google

Many business students aspire to careers in investment banking. Tech firms may very well influence their careers, given that the tech sector comprises a high number of ____ and ____

IPOs (initial public stock offerings), and Merges and Acquisitions

ERP Software Benefits

Improved process, better decision making, global integration, reduced IT maintenance, real time access to data.

Primary Value Chain Components

Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales, Support

FlipKart

India's largest online store

An organization's ___ department ensures that systems get build and keep running. It also takes on strategic roles targeted at proposing solutions for how technology can give the firm a competitive edge

Information Systems

IPO

Initial public offering, the first time a firm offers a public stock exchange , known as "going public"

Tech impact is reaching even beyond the confines of Earth itself. According to an example in your chapter, how was a tool on the International Space Station recently acquired?

It was printed on-demand using 3D printing technology

Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Customer Relationship Management, and personalized systems are all central components of the new ___ toolkit

Marketing

Digital Distribution Pertaining to Netflix

Netflix must store the content and they do not have the cloud storage to do so, so they use Amazon's services

Two Types of Software

Operating System and Application Software

Michael Porter

Professor at Harvard, developed the Value Chain and Porter's Five Forces

___ refers to a technology which can be used to "track your luggage at the airport"

RFID

Examples of ERP Systems

SAP, Oracle's NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365

ERP Functions

Sales, inventory, manufacturing, HR, purchasing, order tracking, decision support

The danger of Operational Effectiveness is

Sameness

Who are the Big ERP Vendors?

Sap, Oracle, Microsoft

Two Critical Factors of the Long Tail

Selection attracts customers and the Internet allows large-selection inventory that offline firms can't match

While the size of the tail in the long tail phenomenon is disputable, one fact that is critical to remain above this debate is that:

Selection attracts customers, and the Internet allows large-selection inventory efficiencies that offline firms can't match

Web Services

Small pieces of code that are accessed via the application server, and permit interoperable machine-to-machine interaction

Application Sever

Software that houses and serves business logic for user and reused by multiple applications

Experts in the area of __ specialize in technology for competitive advantage

Strategy

This piece of US legislation was enacted in the wake of the accounting scandals of the early 2000s. Although often criticized, its also seen as raising the stakes for mismanagement and misdeeds related to a firm's accounting practices

The SOX Act

Which of the following is a radical change brought about by new technologies?

The growth of privacy and security concerns

Application Programming Interface

a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications

Examples of Operating Systems

Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Unix

First Sale Doctrine

a US Supreme Court ruling stating that an individual who knowingly purchases a copy of a copyrighted work from the copyright holder receives the right to sell, notwithstanding the interests of the copyright owner

Collaborative Filtering

a classification of software that monitors trends among customers and uses this data to personalize an individual customer's experience

Software

a collection of programs that tell a computer what to do

Information Asymmetry

a decision situation where one party has more or better information than its counterparts

Distributed Computing

a form of computing where systems in different locations communicate and collaborate to complete a task

Bandwidth Caps

a limit imposed by the ISP on the total amount of traffic that a subscriber can consume

Javascript Object Notation (JSON)

a popular data interchange format, JSON is a technology standard often used to format data when being sent or received via APIs

Server

a program that fulfills the requests of a client

A/B Test

a randomized group of experiments used to collect data and compare performance among two different groups

Service-oriented architecture (SOA)

a robust set of web services built around an organization's processes and procedures

Scale Advantages

advantages related to size

Strategic Differences

advantages that rivals will struggle to match

Crowdsourcing Tools

allow firms to reach out for expertise beyond their organizations

Tata Consultancy Services

an Indian Technology firm, number 2 in the world

Over the Top

an industry term referring to media services that are provided over the internet

Desktop Software

applications installed on a personal computer, typically supporting tasks performed by a single user, word, photo editor, computer games

Enterprise Software

applications that address the needs of multiple users throughout an organization or work group

Straddling

attempt to occupy one or more position while failing to match the benefits of a more efficient rival

How can Competitive Advantage be gained through the Value Chain?

by linking activities more cheaply and expertly then competitors

Danger of relying on technology

can be matched quickly

Total Quality Management

commitment to customer focused performance that enhances quality and continuos improvement

Non-Practicing Entities

commonly known as patent trolls, these firms make money by acquiring patents rather than brining products and services to market

Applications

includes the desktop applications, enterprise software, utilities, and other programs that perform specific tasks for users and organizations

Netflix enjoys a triple scale advantage by being the first:

largest customer base, network of distribution centers, largest selection

Sources of Switching Costs

learning costs, information and data loss, financial commitment, contractural commitment, search costs, loyalty programs

Cinematch is a proprietary recommendation system that...

led to supplier power and used algorithms to personalize recommendations

Viral Marketing

leveraging consumers to promote a product or service, little advertising costs

Netflix dominance was due to

leveraging technology and timing

Economies of Scale are attained by...

leveraging the cost of an investment across increasing units of production

Windowing

making content available to a given distribution channel for a specified time window, usually under a different revenue model

Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, and Customer Relationship Management systems all

manage information and customer data

Incompatible management information systems can hinder ___

mergers and acquisitions

Many telecom firms began digging up the ground and laying webs of fiberglass to meet the growing demand for Internet connectivity. However, rivals and startups began to imitate these firms and soon these new assets were not so rare and each day they seemed to be less valuable. It can be inferred from this example that:

resource-based thinking can help avoid the trap of carelessly entering markets simply because growth is spotted

First Sale Doctrine

ruling that states that a firm can distribute physical copies of legally acquired copyrighted products

Electronic Data Interchange

set of standards for exchanging messages containing formatted data between computer applications

Configuration Data

settings to define the business, fiscal year, chart of account

Database Management Systems

software for creating, maintaining, and manipulating data; considered an application

ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning)

software packages that integrate many functions of a business

Firmware

software stored on nonvolatile memory chips, many products can be upgraded online

Operating System

software that controls the hardware, schedules tasks, manages memory, controls devices

Embedded Systems

special-purpose software designed and included inside physical products, make devices "smarter" and diagnose problems

Supply Chain Management

systems that can help a firm manage aspects of its value chain through delivery of finished products at the point of consumption

Switching Costs

the cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another, either monetary or situational

Price Transparency

the degree to which complete information is available

Supply Chain

the flow of materials, information, and services from suppliers to manufactures to the end customer

User Interface

the mechanism through which users interact with a computing device, includes elements of the graphical user interface such as windows, scroll bars, buttons, touch screens, etc.

Distribution Channels

the path through which products or services get to customers

"Atoms to Bits"

the shift from physical to digital products

Resource Based View of Competitive Advantage

the strategic thinking approach suggesting that if a firm is to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, it must control an exploitable resource

Brand

the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service

Affiliates

third parties that promote a product or service, typically in exchange for a cut of sales

The Goal of the Value Chain

to create value that exceeds the cost of conducting that activity

Business Intelligence Systems

use data created by other systems to provide reporting and analysis for organizational decision-making

Apps perform the work that

users and firms are directly interested in accomplishing

Four Key Characteristics of Resource Based Competitive Advantage

valuable, rare, inimitable, nonsubsitutable

sustainable competitive advantage

when a firm's financial performance consistently outperforms industry averages

Network Effects

when the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expand