Chapter 3 DSS 200

The Nike Vapor Talon is an example of which of the following?

3-D printing

Which of the following illustrates the use of information systems to strengthen customer and supplier intimacy?

A PC manufacturer's use of information systems to facilitate direct access from suppliers to production schedules

Which of the following illustrates the use of information systems to focus on market niche?

A hot tub dealer's use of information systems to determine which models and options its customers are most likely to buy

Which of the following illustrates the use of information systems to achieve product differentiation?

A shoe manufacturer's use of information systems in selling custom, made-to-order shoes directly to customers

Based on your reading of the chapter case, which of the following did Datacard implement to increase revenue, customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and employee productivity?

BPR

Which of the following statements about BPR is not true?

BPR is the easiest type of BPM to implement.

How are information systems used at the industry level to achieve strategic advantage?

By building industry-wide, IT-supported consortia and symposia

You are the production manager for a manufacturer of bicycle parts. Which of the following tools or technologies would you use to improve production precision?

CAD software

Which of the following is not one of the four basic strategies a company can employ to deal with competitive forces?

Compete on employee loyalty

Caterpillar Corporation is example of which of the following?

Domestic exporter

________ systems are those in which development occurs at the home base, but operations are handed over to autonomous units in foreign locations.

Duplicated

All of the following could be considered substitute products for industrial electricity generation except:

Ethanol

Which of the following is not one of the competitive forces in Porter's model?

External environment

BPM ends once the new processes are both implemented and accepted. (T/F)

False

Benchmarks are specific standards for business processes set by industry leaders. (T/F)

False

In a transparent marketplace, there is high product differentiation. (T/F)

False

Quality control is the sole goal of six sigma. (T/F)

False

Strong linkages to customers and suppliers decrease switching costs. (T/F)

False

Studies show that less than one-quarter of a business firm's profits can be explained by alignment of IT with business. (T/F)

False

TQM derives from concepts developed by Japanese quality experts. (T/F)

False

The activities that measure the performance of your business processes against strict standards are called best practices. (T/F)

False

The inventors of a disruptive technology typically benefit the most from the technology; and it is rare that fast followers catch up quickly. (T/F)

False

The law of diminishing returns does not apply to traditional products. (T/F)

False

The more people that use Microsoft Office software and related products, the lower its value. (T/F)

False

The most significant barrier to successful business process change is, ironically, management itself. (T/F)

False

Which of the following is the first step in BPM?

Identify processes for change

Which of the following statements about network economics is not true?

In network economics, the marginal cost of adding new members to the network is higher than the marginal gain.

Which of the following technologies permits service calls to U.S. companies to be answered in India just as easily and inexpensively as if the help desk were in the United States?

Internet telephony

Which of the following companies used benchmarking to achieve an order-shipping accuracy of 99.9 percent?

L.L. Bean

________ is the ability to offer individually tailored products or services using the same production resources as bulk production.

Mass customization

Which of the following is pursuing a transnational strategy?

Nestle

A manufacturer of deep-sea oil rigs may be least concerned about which of these marketplace forces?

New market entrants

Which of the following industries has the lowest barrier to entry?

Small retailer

Final assembly of iPhones occurs in which of the following countries?

South Korea

To what competitive force did the printed encyclopedia industry succumb?

Substitute products or services

Seeing quality as the responsibility of all people and functions in an organization is central to the concept of:

TQM

Which of the following statements about cycle time is not true?

The fewer steps in a production process, the more likely that an error will occur.

Which of the following can force a business and its competitors to compete on price alone?

Transparent marketplace

A firm can be said to have competitive advantage when it has access to resources that others do not. (T/F)

True

A primary challenge in BPM is employee resistance. (T/F)

True

A value web is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service for a market. (T/F)

True

Business process reengineering involves the radical redesign of business processes. (T/F)

True

Franchisers are firms that have their product created, designed, financed, and initially produced in the home country but rely heavily on foreign personnel for further production, marketing, and human resources. (T/F)

True

In the value chain model, primary activities are those that are most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm's products and services. (T/F)

True

Probably the best single way to reduce quality problems is to reduce cycle time. (T/F)

True

Product differentiation is one of the four basic competitive strategies. (T/F)

True

The Internet has intensified competitive rivalry. (T/F)

True

The effect of the Internet has been to increase a company's bargaining power vis-à-vis its suppliers. (T/F)

True

The power of customers is one of the competitive forces that affect an organization's ability to compete. (T/F)

True

The value chain model classifies all company activities as either primary or support. (T/F)

True

When the output of some units can be used as inputs to other units, synergies develop, which can lower cost and generate profits. (T/F)

True

Which of the following statements about 3-D printing is not true?

Unlike traditional techniques, 3-D printing results in some wasted material.

Which of the following is not a true statement about value webs?

Value webs are inflexible and cannot adapt quickly to changes in supply and demand

The most successful solutions or methods for achieving a business objective are called:

best practices

A firm that locates all systems development and operations at its headquarters is using a ________ system configuration.

centralized

Benchmarking:

compares the efficiency and effectiveness of your business processes against strict standards

BPM tools can do all of the following except:

create a digital model of a part, product or structure

In a ________ system configuration, separate information systems are designed and managed by each foreign unit.

decentralized

The ________ strategy is characterized by heavy centralization of corporate activities in the home country of origin.

domestic exporter

All of the following are psychological aspects of quality except:

effective marketing

An information system can enhance core competencies by:

encouraging the sharing of knowledge across business units

Hilton Hotels' use of customer information software to identify the most profitable customers to direct its services to is an example of using information systems to:

focus on market niche

________ typically develop a single information system, usually at the home base, and then replicate it around the world.

franchisers

The value chain model:

helps a firm identify points at which information technology can most effectively enhance its competitive position

All of the following are ways to improve quality except:

implementing a new information system.

In network economics, the value of a commercial software vendor's software products:

increases as more people use them

An information system can enable a company to focus on a market niche through:

intensive customer data analysis

A virtual company:

is also known as a virtual organization.

Internet technology

makes it easy for rivals to compete on price alone

The Internet raises the bargaining power of customers most effectively by:

making information available to everyone

When a firm provides a specialized product or service for a narrow target market better than competitors, they are using a ________ strategy.

market niche

All of the following have been disruptive technologies except:

minicomputers

A firm can exercise greater control over its suppliers by having:

more suppliers

The ________ strategy concentrates financial management and control out of a central home base while decentralizing production, sales, and marketing operations to units in other countries.

multinational

The support activities of a firm include:

organization infrastructure, human resources, technology, and procurement

All of the following are considered primary activities of a firm except:

procurement

Walmart's continuous replenishment system allows it to do all of the following except:

provide mass customization

The reduction of errors to 3.4 defects per million opportunities is central to the concept of:

six sigma

When the output of some units can be used as inputs to other units, or if two organizations pool markets and expertise that result in lower costs and generate profits, ________ are created.

synergies

According to the chapter case, the Nike+ ecosystem is part of which of the following larger phenomena?

the internet of things

The idea that the more any given resource is applied to production, the lower the marginal gain in output, until a point is reached where the additional inputs produce no additional output, is referred to as:

the law of diminishing returns

Which of the following is not an advantage for new companies entering the marketplace?

they can establish new relationships with suppliers

The emergence of software as a web service has acted as a disruptive technology for:

traditional boxed software companies

Customer definitions of the quality of a product include all of the following except:

uniformity of the prodcut

A ________ is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value chains to produce a product or service for a market collectively.

value web