Mis 301 Section K midterm exam study guide

______ is financial performance that consistently outperforms the industry average. A) Relative cost advantage B) Strategic positioning C) Superior value chain analysis D) Sustainable competitive advantage E) Operational effectiveness

Sustainable competitive advantage

_____ are costs that customers incur when moving from one product to another. A) Fixed costs B) Marginal costs C) Loyalty costs D) Variable costs E) Switching costs

Switching costs

T/F A larger number of skilled workers who can use a given technology exists as a result of network effects.

True

T/F An exabyte is bigger than a petabyte.

True

T/F Apple created a robot with twenty-nine free-standing arms that can disassemble, repurpose, and recycle components in returned iPhones.

True

T/F Channel conflict is when firms see distribution partners as potential rivals.

True

T/F Cloud computing and software as a service are turning sophisticated, high-powered computing into a utility available to even the smallest businesses and non-profit organizations.

True

T/F Digital downloads are booming. Sales in Apple's AppStore, alone, would be big enough to be a Fortune 500 firm if these sales were broken out and ranked as a separate company.

True

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

True

T/F Flash memory is non-volatile memory.

True

T/F Flash memory is solid-state memory.

True

T/F For years, Netflix was known for best-in-class service, regularly and repeatedly ranking atop multiple customer satisfaction surveys.

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 In an example of how Moore's Law and buying at scale can reduce costs, the original MagicBand prototype came in at around $35 but costs fell below $5 by the rollout.

True

T/F In the previous decade, tech firms have created profound shifts in the way firms advertise and individuals and organizations communicate.

True

T/F Internet and tech-leveraging businesses are said to be highly scalable when profit margins often improve as firms leverage their infrastructure base across a growing number of customers.

True

T/F Many say we are currently in the sixth wave of computing can be considered the era of pervasive computing, where technology is fast and so inexpensive that it is becoming ubiquitously woven into products.

True

T/F Modern supercomputing is typically done via a technique called massively parallel processing.

True

T/F Moore's Law will likely come to an end during your lifetime.

True

T/F Much of the infrastructure used by Netflix to deliver streaming is actually provided by Amazon.

True

T/F Much of this waste ends up in China, South Asia, or sub-Saharan Africa, where it is processed in dreadful conditions.

True

T/F Netflix doesn't actually own full, worldwide rights to many "Netflix Original" titles like House of Cards.

True

T/F Netflix doesn't just see growth as a way to advance profitability; it sees it as a vital competitive asset to keep competitors at bay.

True

T/F One yet-to-be-proven technology that could blow the lid off what's possible today is quantum computing.

True

T/F Rapid obsolescence of technology products contributes to the growing problem of e-waste management.

True

T/F The Apple Store represents a key distribution channel for the firm and the single most successful retail chain as defined by sales per square foot in the United States.

True

T/F The Kickstarter effort Cognitoy was able to get supercomputer smarts inside a child's toy by leveraging IBM's Watson Cloud.

True

T/F The apparel industry in particular has been plagued by accusations of sweatshop labor and unsafe working conditions.

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

T/F When offerings are roughly the same, they are more commodity than differentiated.

True

T/F While competitors falter, Zara is undergoing one of the fastest global expansions the fashion world has ever seen, opening one store per day and entering new markets worldwide with ninety-six markets so far.

True

T/F Zara encourages employee use of technology by tying employee salaries to sales performance.

True

T/F Zara saves money on advertising in part because limited runs of unique items encourage repeat visits, lessening the need to run sales and ad campaigns.

True

To avoid the hardware cost of getting its content to the television, the firm developed a software platform and makes this available to manufacturers seeking to include Netflix access in their devices.

True

Advertising can build _____, but brands are built through _____. customer loyalty; funding awareness; customer experience recognition; viral campaigns image; television promotion product value; pricing strategies

awareness; customer experience

Moving first pays off when lead time is used to create: A) affiliate programs. B) critical resources for competitive advantage. C) multiple variants of the same product. D) information asymmetry in the market. E) network effects.

critical resources for competitive advantage.

The term __________________________________ refers to taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent and contracting it out to an undefined generally large group of people in the form of an open call

crowdsourcing

Zara designs follow evidence of: A) partnerships with leading designers. B) partnerships with a global network of fashion magazine editors. C) designs made by artificial intelligence, rather than human fashion designers. D) trends created at catwalk fashion shows. E) customer demand.

customer demand.

In retail, and the fashion industry, in particular, there is a saying: inventory = _____________. A) the route to fashionable profits. B) death. C) the lifeblood of our business. D) just another line in a database.

death

dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM)

dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) A technology that increases the transmission capacity (and hence speed) of fiber-optic cable. Transmissions using fiber are accomplished by transmitting light inside "glass" cables. In DWDM, the light inside fiber is split into different wavelengths in a way similar to how a prism splits light into different colors.

Firms that manufacture products where silicon-based components represent a large portion of the product's cost of goods are likely to carry as little inventory as possible because:

depreciation rates of chip-based electronics are high.

Removing an organization from a firm's distribution channel thereby collapsing the path between supplier and customer is known as _____.

disintermediation

economies of scale

economies of scale When costs can be spread across increasing units of production or in serving multiple customers. Businesses that have favorable economies of scale (like many Internet firms) are sometimes referred to as being highly scalable.

Discarded, often obsolete, technology is more generally known as _____.

electronic waste

The _____ problem exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn from their successes and missteps, and then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product at a lower cost. A) copyright infringement B) circumnavigation C) first-mover D) fast follower E) side step

fast follower

Cameras, MP3 players, USB drives, and mobile phones often use _____ which holds data even when the power is off.

flash memory

With _____, firms place special software on its existing PCs or servers that enable these computers to work together on a common problem.

grid computing

Performing the same tasks better than how rivals perform them is known as ______. A) network effects B) operational effectiveness C) operational positioning D) strategic positioning E) strategic effectiveness

operational effectiveness

Transaction processing systems that capture customer purchases are known as: A) point-of-sale systems. B) ad hoc reporting systems. C) logistical value chains. D) grid computing systems. E) data aggregation systems.

point-of-sale systems

Contract manufacturing is the process by which: A) firms only work with contracted union workers. B) firms own and operate their own plants. C) firms use contract workers to produce their goods. D) manufacturing is done using child labor. E) production is outsourced to third-party firms.

production is outsourced to third-party firms.

Moore's Law corollary that is taking place with people, too. As technology becomes faster and cheaper and developments like open source software, cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), and outsourcing push technology costs even lower, tech skills are being embedded inside ___________ job functions. A) Less OR B) More

More

Advantages related to a firm's size are referred to as _____. A) scale advantages B) location advantages C) absolute advantages D) growth advantages E) switching advantages

Scale advantages

The three sources of scale advantage which the Netflix DVD-by-mail business had over rivals imitating its effort were:

a warehouse network, customer base, and long tail selection.

augmented-reality

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

Internet of Things (IoT)

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

APIs

APIs Programming hooks, or guidelines, published by firms that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task such as send or receive data. For example, Amazon provides APIs to let developers write their own applications and websites that can send the firm orders.

scale advantages

Advantages related to size.

Netflix uses its substantial data asset to: recommend movies. A) tailor promotions of existing content. B) drive software redesign and improve the user experience. C) all of the above D) none of the above E) evaluate potential licensing deals.

All of the above

Which of the following factors shifts bargaining power to the suppliers of streaming video content? A) The content is most often unique and highly differentiated. B) A small number of suppliers control content, creating an oligopoly. C) Streaming goods are licensed for a fixed time period vs. DVDs that can be used as long as they are owned. D) A growing number of buyers increases demand. E) All of the above

All of the above

Which of the following help Zara respond quickly to fashion trends? A) Robots to cut fabric B) All of the above C) Vertical integration D) Robots to dye fabric E) PDA data

All of the above

Which of the following is true about Zara RFID use? A) Vertical integration allows the firm to reuse tags for big savings. B) It can help retail locations rapidly take inventory. C) All of the above D) It can help staff identify the location of items a customer may be interested in, even if it's at another store or distribution center. E) Tags are removed at the point of purchase to protect customer privacy.

All of the above

Jeff Bezos is credited as the founder of _____. A) Zappos B) Amazon C) Google D) Napster E) Facebook

Amazon

FreshDirect should be safe from competition with traditional grocery stores (since they would be straddling two models instead of getting FreshDirect's singular efficiency), and new startups are likely going to struggle to match FreshDirect's scale and brand. However, Amazon presents a particularly strong challenger to FreshDirect. Why? A) Amazon's drones will offer faster delivery than FreshDirect trucks. B) Amazon has deep pockets and is aggressively seeking to expand into groceries. C) Amazon and Google have partnered to create a joint venture combining their strengths to create an online grocery powerhouse. D) Amazon's president, Jeff Bezos, grew up on a farm and has deep knowledge and personal relationships that will help implement a farm-to-table rival.

Amazon has deep pockets and is aggressively seeking to expand into groceries

Another contributor to the easy with a which young entrepreneurs can have success is low-cost distribution to massive markets worldwide. This is enabled by: A) Esoko and M-Pesa B) app stores C) big data and business analytics D) legacy systems

App Store

Which of the following describes the relationship between Apple's iOS and Google Maps. A) 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. B) Apple was able to leverage the success of Apple Maps to create a successful mapping product on Android, rivaling Google's in reach. C) Apple's initially poor map offering caused many users to delete Apple Maps, leading to Google's dominance of mapping on iOS. D) Google's dominance of apps and its offering mapping before Apple's market entry has helped keep it the dominant mapping option 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

What is management information system ?

Applications of technology in the business domain to help achieve better processes and competitive advantages.

straddling

Attempts to occupy more than one position, while failing to match the benefits of a more efficient, singularly focused rival.

T/F Zara sees the link between online and off-line sales as being fluid. Thus, they have a system that blends online and off-line sales.

False

_____ refer(s) to a limit imposed by the Internet service provider on the total amount of traffic that a given subscriber can consume.

Bandwidth caps

Which of the following is one of Porter's five forces? A) Bargaining power of buyers B) Marketing segmentation C) Brand recognition D) Eliminating competition E) Value chain

Bargaining power of buyers

A firm's__________is the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service. A) brand B) strategy C) marketing D) vision

Brand

T/F Zara's efficiency allows it to increase markdowns.

False

Why did it seem that Gap was plagued by a lack of accurate data? A) It could not estimate the cost of advertising, especially online advertising. B) It had no idea what contract manufacturers would charge the firm. C) It had no idea what prices its retail store operations were charging around the globe. D) By using contract manufacturers and seasonal orders, the firm was forced to place bets on guesses of what customers would be interested in, months in advance. E) All of the above

By using contract manufacturers and seasonal orders, the firm was forced to place bets on guesses of what customers would be interested in, months in advance

Many firms are developing so-called "C-level" specialties in emerging areas with a technology focus, such as _____. A) CEO B) CMO D) CFO E) CISO F) COO

CISO

_____ is a marketing term referring to the rate at which customers leave a product or service.

Churn rate

_____ refers to replacing computing hardware that a firm might otherwise purchase with a service delivered online.

Cloud computing

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

Collaborative filtering

_____ are products or services that are nearly identically offered from multiple vendors. A) Commodities B) Veblen goods C) Complementary goods D) Luxury goods E) Giffen goods

Commodities

Non-Practicing Entities

Commonly known as patent trolls, these firms make money by acquiring and asserting patents, rather than bringing products and services to market.

T/F Zara's efficiency is due, in part, because technology allows the firm to manufacturers fewer unique fashion items than rivals like Gap and H&M.

False

The Harvard Business Review declared _______________ the "Sexiest Job of the Twenty-First Century." A) entrepreneur B) programmer C) chief privacy officer D) data scientist E) SUBMITNEXT

Data Scientist

___________________________________________ are driving discovery and innovation, redefining modern marketing, and creating a shifting knife-edge of privacy concerns that can shred corporate reputations if mishandled. A) Esoko and Zaad B) Data analytics and business intelligence C) Legacy systems D) Government regulations

Data analytics and business intelligence

Sometimes technology can sound geeky and so technical that executives might think that it doesn't require managerial or investor attention. However, many investing in the telecom sector suffered from a lack of insight into how a key technology was impacting their industry. Telecom firms failed to anticipate the impact of a technology known as ____________ which enabled existing fiber to carry more transmissions than ever before. A) cloud computing B) open source software C) dense wave division D) multiplexing (DWDM) E) radio frequency identification (RFID)

Dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM

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.

T/F Zara is able to save costs in many parts of its business, but the firm's highly automated, tech-centric model does mean tech spending is heavier than rivals. Despite this, the tradeoff is worth it, given other savings.

False

T/F Another bonus of the system: since it was based on web technology and apps, costs were especially low, coming in under budget at less than $10 million total.

False

T/F Businesses benefit from economies of scale when the cost of an investment can be spread across increasing units of operational effectiveness or in serving a small supplier base.

False

T/F Cluster computing utilizes a cluster of software and processor resources within individual PCs.

False

T/F Creating MyMagic+ was easy because systems were built from scratch, minimizing the amount of work integrating the new effort with existing systems.

False

T/F Facebook leads social media innovation and rarely imitates products from competitors.

False

T/F Firms such as Walmart and JCPenny have had greater success deploying RFID because they work so closely with a diverse group of product suppliers.

False

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

False

T/F France and China demonstrate that Netflix will have an even easier time expanding internationally than in the US, as these nations have less restrictive laws as a result of not having Hollywood-sized domestic media industries.

False

T/F FreshDirect's tech-efficient model actually leads to lower margins than its traditional grocery peers, but the firm makes this up with a greater sales volume.

False

T/F In an effort to promote much-needed industry diversity, many tech firms and heavy users of tech have launched programs specifically targeted at skills development, hiring of women, and hiring of groups that would foster ethnic diversity of their workforce.

False

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

False

T/F In tech circles, low latency is not good.

False

T/F It is unlikely that Internet giants Uber and Airbnb will ever be displaced because these firms own such large and expensive inventories of infrastructure (e.g. automobiles and hotels).

False

T/F Most successful firms typically leverage a single key resource for competitive advantage to create lasting, above-average industry profits.

False

T/F Multicore processors have been a boon to technology firms, since any software executing on a multi-core system runs faster by a multiple of the number of cores (e.g. quad core chips run traditional software 4 times as fast).

False

T/F Netflix has been able to rapidly add the streaming business with similar cost economics and product offerings because the fundamentals of this business are very similar to the firm's DVD-by-mail business, just streamed over the Internet.

False

T/F One sign of the global digital divide is that the slow rate at which electronic banking and financial services have proliferated to nations such as Kenya.

False

T/F OpenTable's network effects are due entirely to the large number of consumers who use the service.

False

T/F Silicon chips are preferred over solid-state electronics devices that are more likely to fail and draw greater amounts of power.

False

T/F Technology means FreshDirect's labor costs are higher than rivals', but the firm makes up for this in other ways.

False

T/F Technology products are considered to be price inelastic.

False

T/F The "First Sale Doctrine" refers to an over-100-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows Netflix to stream a nearly unlimited catalog of movies and television programs.

False

T/F The Netflix DVD-by-mail allowed users to pay per movie, akin to rental but with the efficiencies of an Internet business with inventory delivered via the mail.

False

T/F The founding technology entrepreneurs behind many leading firms, such as Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook, got their start in their early 30s, leveraging university study and knowledge from their first post-college jobs to create disruptive new firms.

False

T/F The price/performance curves shown in this chapter allow the manager to calibrate precise estimates on future computing capabilities and costs.

False

T/F Your firm had better lawyer up! Studies have shown that patents are the single most-important factor for enabling a firm to profit from innovations.

False

sustainable competitive advantage

Financial performance that consistently outperforms industry averages.

What are the six components of information systems ?

Hardware Software Networking Data (base) People Procedures

What are the five components of an information system? A) Computers, keyboard, mouse, display, hard drive B) Hardware, software, data, people, and procedures C) CPU, floating point processor, internal cache, RAM, hard drive D) Computers, networking, technicians, operators, support staff

Hardware, software, data, people, and procedures

Which of the following factors can weaken buyer bargaining power? A) Availability of substitute technologies B) High switching costs C) Small customer base D) Multiple suppliers E) Weak network effects

High Switching Costs

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 __________________. A) Bank loans, money market funds B) IPOs (initial public stock offerings), M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deals C) debits, credits D) exchange risk, capital expenditure

IPOs (initial public stock offerings), M&A (mergers and acquisitions) deals

An organization's _____ department ensures that systems get built and keep running. It also takes on strategic roles targeted at proposing solutions for how technology can give the firm a competitive edge. A) maintenance B) manufacturing C) information systems D) engineering E) business intelligence

Information System

Which of the following refers to an integrated solution that combines the five components of hardware, software, data, procedures, and people? A) Value chain B) Cloud computing C) Server virtualization D) Information system E) Multiplexing

Information system

IPO

Initial public stock offering, the first time a firm makes shares available via a public stock exchange, also known as "going public."

Which of the following observations is true? A) Timing and technology are sufficient to yield sustainable competitive advantages. B) Barring a few exceptions, most established offline firms have caught up with today's Internet leaders. C) The barriers to entry for most firms that compete on technology-alone are always extremely high. D) Internet businesses have relatively low barriers to entry. Low entry barriers nearly guarantee the success of Web-based business models.

Internet businesses have relatively low barriers to entry.

In the 1990s, wave four of evolving computing came in the form of _________________.

Internet computing

What is considered the most influential piece of open source software was created by ________________ of _____________________. A) Linus Torvalds of Finland B) Sean Parker of Viejo, California C) Bill Gates of Microsoft D) Steve Wozniak of Apple

Linus Torvalds of Finland

Why study Management Information systems?

Makes you an informed users Creates a career opportunities Understand your information resources

Facebook was founded by _____. A) Catherine Cook B) Mark Zuckerberg C) Tony Hsieh D) Sheryl Sandberg

Mark Zuckerberg

Search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), customer relationship management (CRM), and personalization systems are all central components of the new _____ toolkit. A) finance B) operations C) marketing D) human resources E) accounting

Marketing

____________ are special-purpose computing devices that don't have an operating system and can't do as much as general purpose computers or smart phones.

Microcontrollers

The phenomenon of _________________________ exists when the value of a product or service increases along with a growing number of users. A) scale economies B) strategic positioning C) straddling D) switching costs E) network effects

Network Effect

How is new technology changing business landscapes ?

New technologies have fueled globalization, redefined our concepts of software and computing, crushing costs, fueled data-driven decision-making, and raised privacy and security concerns.

The rise of _____ software has lowered computing costs for startups to blue chips worldwide. commercial open source off-the-shelf customized proprietary

Open Source

_____ are handheld computing devices meant largely for mobile use outside an office setting. A) Desktops B) POS systems C) PDAs D) DWDMs E) Laptops

PDAs

What are the two information systems Zara uses to gather data in-store, and what is the purpose of the data gathered by each. A) PDAs gather information on inventory moves, RFID gathers information on preferences B) PDAs gather information on sales, POS gathers information on customer preferences C) PDAs gather information on customer preferences, POS gathers information on sales D) RFID gathers information on customer preferences, PDAs gathers information on sales E) Artificial intelligence designs fashions, Web site usage gather customer profiling information for SEO

PDAs gather information on customer preferences, POS gathers information on sales

Non-Practicing Entities(NPEs), more commonly known as _________, hold intellectual property not with the goal of bringing novel innovations to market but instead in hopes that they can sue or extort large settlements from others. Market holders start-up stoppers patent trolls exploiters SUBMITNEXT

Patent trolls

Strategic positioning

Performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different way.

operational effectiveness

Performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them.

Which of the following is a significant advantage of the long tail model on which Netflix is based?

Scale advantage

Which of the following has been a consistent source of concern related to the use of contract manufacturers in the apparel industry? A) They regularly inflate their service charges. B) Their use by firms leads to lower profit margins. C) They increase the price of goods thus resulting in a fall in sales. D) They increase the cost of production. E) Poor practices put workers at risk and threaten the brand of partners leveraging their services.

Poor practices put workers at risk and threaten the brand of partners leveraging their services.

______ is the rate at which the demand for a product or service fluctuates with price change.

Price elasticity

For providers of commodity products, how does the Internet typically impact price transparency and information asymmetry? A) Both price transparency and information asymmetry decrease. B) Price transparency decreases while information asymmetry increases. C) Both price transparency and information asymmetry decrease. D) Both price transparency and information asymmetry increase E) Price transparency increases while information asymmetry decreases

Price transparency increases while information asymmetry decreases

Name the technology that makes Zara's inventory smart is called _________.vertical integration A) PDAs B) all of the above C) RFID D) DWDM E) cloud computing

RFID

_______________ refers to a technology which can (among other things) be used to "track your luggage at the airport". A) IPO B) SEM C) SEO D) RFID

RFID radio frequency identification

Which of the following is the temporary storage that provides fast access for executing computer programs and files?

Random-access memory

The resource-based view of competitive advantage states that for a firm to maintain sustainable competitive advantage it must control a set of exploitable resources that have four critical characteristics. What are these characteristics? A) Operational effectiveness, strategic positioning, scale, distribution channels. B) Inventory turns, high margins, long account payable periods, brand building relationships. C) A website, an app, cloud-based systems, a savvy technology staff. D) Rareness, value, imperfect imitability, non-substitutability.

Rareness, value, imperfect imitability, nonsubstitutability

What is data?

Raw facts information processed into something meaningful knowledge used to create actionable recommendations

Which of the following refers to a substance such as silicon dioxide that is used inside most computer chips and is capable of enabling as well as inhibiting the flow of electricity?

Semiconductor

Which technology is cited as raising the ethics and service bar for modern managers? 1. Social media 2. Bitcoin 3. Cloud computing 4. Outsourcing

Social Media

Another reason that is fueling the boom in fast-growing technology services is ___________________, which, when done right, can virally spread awareness of a firm with nary a dime of conventional ad spending. A) "the cloud" (or cloud computing) B) bitcoin C) social media D) legacy systems

Social media

inventory turns

Sometimes referred to as inventory turnover, stock turns, or stock turnover. It is the number of times inventory is sold or used during a given period. A higher figure means that a firm is selling products quickly.

YouTube was started by _____ and _____. A) Sergey Brin; Larry Page B) Jerry Yang; David Filo C) Kevin Rose; Mark Zuckerberg D) Steve Chen; Chad Hurley E) Catherine Cook; Shawn Fanning

Steve Chen; Chad Hurley

_____ refers to attempts by an organization to occupy more than one position while failing to match the benefits of a more efficient, singularly focused rival. A) Slotting B) Straddling C) Segmenting D) Merging E) Branding

Straddling

______ is performing different tasks than rivals or the same tasks in different ways. A) Operational effectiveness B) Strategic effectiveness C) Strategic positioning D) Vertical integration E) Multi-tasking

Strategic positioning

Experts in the area of _____ specialize in technology for competitive advantage. A) database design B) strategy C) hardware D) user-interface design E) process design

Strategy

_________________ was once the domain of governments and high-end research labs, performing tasks such as simulating the explosion of nuclear devices, or analyzing large-scale weather and climate phenomena.

Supercomputing

We're in a golden age of tech entrepreneurship where ________________ means a startup can rent the computing resources one previously had to buy at great expense. A) "the cloud" (or cloud computing) B) open source software C) the sharing economy and collaborative consumption D) big data and business analytics

The Cloud (or Cloud computing)

The phrase ____________________ is often used to refer to the emergence of technology in products where low-cost sensors, computing, and communication put embedded smarts in all sorts of mundane devices so that these products can communicate with one another for data collection,

The Internet of Thing

This piece of U.S. legislation was enacted in the wake of the accounting scandals of the early 2000s. Although often criticized, it is also seen as raising stakes for mismanagement and misdeeds related to a firm's accounting practices. A) The Sherman Antitrust Act B) The Fair Labor Standards Act C) The Civil Rights Act D) The Sarbanes-Oxley Act E) The Norris-LaGuardia Act

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Marketing managers need to understand key assets they need for the digital age. What key asset did Netflix embarrassingly fail to secure when rebranding the DVD-by-mail business as Qwikster?

The Twitter account

switching costs

The cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another. It can involve actual money spent (e.g., buying a new product) as well as investments in time, any data loss, and so forth.

Which of the following is a radical change brought about by new technologies? A) The growth of privacy and security concerns. B) A decline in efficient and effective customer service. C) Reduced spending on advertising. D) The transformation of ordinary computing into a luxury available only to the largest businesses. E) The proliferation of telecommunications into the hands of a few.

The growth of privacy and security concerns

distribution channels

The path through which products or services get to customers.

What is technology ?

The practical application of knowledge.

Although Netflix had a larger distribution network than rivals, other firms could build a similarly large warehouse network. What additional advantage made this more profitable for Netflix than newcomers?

The size of the firm's customer base, which enabled economies of scale.

Which of the following facts is true with respect to the current electronic waste scenario?

There is more gold in one pound of electronic waste than in one pound of mined ore.

Technology experts in the area of _____ work to make sure systems are intuitive and easy to use. A) hardware B) business analytics C) user-interface design D) database design E) open source software

User-Interface design

When a single firm owns several layers in its value chain, it is said to be: A) unilaterally invested. B) privately owned. C) logistically stacked. D) publicly subscribed. E) vertically integrated

Vertically integrated

The term _________________ refers to leveraging consumers to promote a product or service. A) the collaboration economy B) network effects C) viral marketing D) social sharing

Viral Marketing

affiliates

affiliates Third parties that promote a product or service, typically in exchange for a cut of any sales.

Economists often consider that the marginal costs of digital goods

are effectively zero

The shift from physical to digital product offerings is often described as a shift from

atoms to bits.

When firms find themselves in situations where they are both competitors and partners, the situation is called _____.

coopetition

Cable subscribers who drop premium cable channels are referred to as _____.

cord shavers

Streaming content has increased a viewing habit of consumer multiple episodes or whole seasons of programing, known as:

binge watching

brand

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

Zara's limited production runs cause customers to: A) buy the products right away at full price. B) migrate to other brands with better availability. C) stock up on latest clothes, and thus, visit stores less often. D) wait until products go on sale. E) provide better feedback on what they wish to see in stores

buy the products right away at full price.

In the chip industry, "fabs" are:

chip manufacturing factories

While Gordon Moore's paper originally stated that Moore's Law meant a doubling of transistor density roughly every two years, and some suggest a doubling every two and a half years, the managerial definition of Moore's Law that you'll often see appearing in the trade press is:

chip performance per dollar doubles every 18 months

commodity

commodity A basic good that can be interchanged with nearly identical offerings by others--think milk, coal, orange juice, or to a lesser extent, Windows PCs and Android phones. The more commoditized an offering, the greater the likelihood that competition will be based on price.

Netflix has had to craft different kinds of _________________ to maintain its spot as the world's largest streaming service. A) technical shifts B) subscriptions C) content D) competitive advantages E) business models

competitive advantages

imitation-resistant value chain

imitation-resistant value chain A way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate and that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role.

Technology such as the Vitality Corp. GlowCap applies technology to:

improve patient adherence to prescription schedules.

A decision situation where one party has more or better information than its counterparty is known as _____. A) price transparency B) information overload C) information asymmetry D) data hoarding E) market manipulation

information asymmetry

The phrase __________ refers to the number of times inventory is sold or used during the course of a year. A) churn rate B) return on investment C) inventory turns D) total cost of inventory E) economy of scale

inventory turns

Managers looking for advice on properly dealing with obsolete technology hardware can:

investigate resources provided by the Basel Action Network. look for partners with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. consult the e-Stewards program. seek advice from the International Association of Electronics Recyclers.

The process of separating out the densely packed materials inside tech products, so that value in e-waste can be effectively harvested is an extremely _____ process.

labor-intensive

Coordinating and enabling the flow of goods, people, information, and other resources among locations is known as _____. A) point-of-sale management B) logistics C) a value chain D) vertical integration E) inventory turn

logistics

The _____ is considered the brain of a computing device.

microprocessor

Moore's Law typically applies to _____.

microprocessors and chip-based storage

One way to address the problem of densely packed, overheating chip designs is with _____________.

multicore microprocessors

Microprocessors with two or more (typically lower power) calculating processor cores on the same piece of silicon are known as:

multicore processors.

network effects

network effects Also known as Metcalfe's Law, or network externalities. When the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands.

Storage that retains data even when powered down is called:

nonvolatile memory.

resource-based view of competitive advantage

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, or set of resources, that have four critical characteristics. These resources must be (1) valuable, (2) rare, (3) imperfectly imitable, and (4) nonsubstitutable.

The amount earned from an expenditure is known as: A) switching cost. B) inventory turn. C) scale advantage. D) return on investment. E) prepaid expense.

return on investment

Firms enjoy _____ when they are able to leverage the cost of an investment across increasing units of production.

scale economies

While some debate the size of the "long tail," one fact that is critical to keep above this debate is that:

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

The Fair Factories Clearinghouse provides resources for:locating low-cost contract manufacturers. A) soliciting bids for contract manufacturing. B) following the progress of contracted projects. C) buyers to come together to reduce prices. D) all of the above. E) sharing audit information on contract manufacturers.

sharing audit information on contract manufacturers.

The price/performance improvements in Moore's Law apply to:

silicon-based computing and storage components.

_____ refer(s) to the payments made by suppliers to retailers for prime shelf space. A) Acquisition fees B) Skimming price C) Royalty D) Franchisee fees E) Slotting fees

slotting fee

Streaming licensing fees have become an important part of studio profitability, and an increase in Netflix __________ offers the firm even more leverage.

streaming scale

For Zara, _________has made all the difference in its rise to dominate the fashion industry. A) product placement B) technology C) location D) pricing

technology

The multiple-brain approach to solving problems is not suitable for problems:

that are linear.

The advancing price/performance curve of technology is empowering the planet. Underscoring this, economist Jeffrey Sachs has stated that "____________ is the single most transformative technology for world economic development."

the cell phone

Moore's Law occurs because:

the distance between pathways inside silicon chips is getting smaller.

The phenomenon whereby firms can make money by selling a near-limitless selection of less popular products is known as _____.

the long tail

A value chain refers to: A) he range of products and services offered by a firm over a fixed period of time. B) the set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers. C) the lead time required for a product, ranging from its ideation to its purchase by a customer. D) the network of subsidiaries owned by a corporation. E) the changes passed on from one production process to another that ultimately results in creation of the final goods.

the set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers.

The __________is the set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers.

value chain

value chain

value chain The set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers.

viral marketing

viral marketing Leveraging consumers to promote a product or service.

An industry practice whereby content is available to a given distribution channel for a specified time period, usually under a different revenue model is known as _____.

windowing