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Which type of system would you use to determine what trends in your supplier's industry will affect your firm the most in five years?

ESS

Strong linkages to customers and suppliers decrease switching costs.

FALSE

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

FALSE

Information systems consist of all the hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives.

False

Information systems literacy describes the behavioral approach to information systems, while computer literacy describes the technical approach.

False

Describe at least three of the general information skills essential for all business careers.

General information skills essential for all business careers include (1) understanding how information systems and technologies can help firms achieve business objectives such as operational efficiency, developing new products and services, and maintaining customer intimacy. Also essential is (2) understanding the central role of databases in a modern firm as well as (3) developing skills in the analysis of information in order to help firms understand and make sense out of their environments. (4) All business majors need to be able to work with specialists and system designers who build and implement information systems. This is necessary to ensure that the systems that are built actually service business purposes and provide the information and understanding required by managers and employees. In addition, students need to (5) understand how information systems work in relation to social and community issues, including ethical issues and how systems must meet requirements for reporting to government regulators and the public.

How does collaborative business culture and business processes differ from "command-and- control" firms?

In command-and-control organizations, the top leaders determine all the really important matters and then order lower-level employees to execute senior management plans. The job of middle management is to pass messages back and forth up and down the hierarchy. Command-and-control firms require lower-level employees to carry out orders without asking too many questions, with no responsibility to improve processes, and with no rewards for teamwork or team performance. If workgroups need help from another work group, that is something for the bosses to figure out. Employees never communicate horizontally, always vertically, so management can control the process. A collaborative business culture and business processes are very different. Senior managers are responsible for achieving results but rely on teams of employees to achieve and implement the results. Policies, products, designs, processes, and systems are much more dependent on teams at all levels of the organization to devise, to create, and to build. Teams are rewarded for their performance, and individuals are rewarded for their performance in a team. The function of middle managers is to build the teams, coordinate their work, and monitor their performance. The business culture and business processes are more social. In a collaborative culture, senior management establishes collaboration and teamwork as vital to the organization, and it actually implements collaboration for the senior ranks of the business as well.

Discuss at least three key technology trends that raise ethical issues. Give an example of an ethical or moral impact connected to each one.

Key technology trends include the following: (1) Computer power doubling every 18 months: ethical impact - because more organizations depend on computer systems for critical operations, these systems are vulnerable to computer crime and computer abuse; (2) Data storage costs are rapidly declining: ethical impact-it is easy to maintain detailed databases on individuals-who has access to and control of these databases? (3) Data analysis advances: ethical impact-vast databases full of individual information may be used to develop detailed profiles of individual behavior; (4) Networking advances and the Internet: ethical impact-it is easy to copy data from one location to another. Who owns data? How can ownership be protected? and (5) Mobile device growth impact: ethical impact-Individual cell phones may be tracked without user consent or knowledge. The always-on device becomes a tether.

Define operational excellence. How can information systems help achieve it?

Operational excellence is the achievement of higher levels of productivity and efficiency. Information systems can help achieve operational excellence by improving communications to suppliers and optimizing the supply chain. Information systems could help managers communicate with workers more efficiently, enable technological innovation in products, minimize warehouse overhead, and streamline distribution.

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.

TRUE

Product differentiation is one of the four basic competitive strategies.

TRUE

The value chain model classifies all company activities as either primary or support.

TRUE

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

TRUE

Value chain analysis is useful at the business level to highlight specific activities in a business where information systems are most likely to have a strategic impact. Discuss this model, identify the activities, and describe how the model can be applied to the concept of information technology.

The value chain model highlights activities in a business where competitive strategies can best be applied and where information systems are most likely to have a strategic impact. This model identifies specific, critical leverage points where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance its competitive position. The value chain model views the firm as a series or chain of basic activities that add a margin of value to a firm's products or services. These activities can be categorized as either primary activities or support activities. Primary activities are most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm's products and services, which create value for the customer, including inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. Support activities make the delivery of the primary activities possible and consist of organization infrastructure (administration and management), human resources, technology (improving products and the production process), and procurement. In value chain analysis, you ask at each stage of the value chain, "How can we use information systems to improve operational efficiency and improve customer and supplier intimacy?" The model allows you to critically examine how you perform value-adding activities at each stage and how the business processes might be improved. You can ask how information systems can be used to improve the relationship with customers and with suppliers who lie outside the firm value chain, but belong to the firm's extended value chain where they are absolutely critical to your success. Here, supply chain management systems that coordinate the flow of resources into your firm, and customer relationship management systems that coordinate your sales and support employees with customers are two of the most common system applications that result from a business value chain analysis.

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

They can establish new relationships with suppliers.

An extranet is a private intranet extended to authorized users outside the organization.

True

As a result of new public laws, accountants are beginning to perform more technical duties, such as auditing systems and networks.

True

Identifying a problem includes agreeing that a problem exists.

True

People, organizations, and information technology are all dimensions of information systems.

True

The feature of social institutions that means mechanisms are in place to determine responsibility for an action is called:

accountability

Benchmarking:

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

A network requires at least three computers and a shared resource.

false

A payroll system is a typical example of an MIS.

false

A safe harbor is informal permission to reuse data, given with knowledge of all the facts needed to make a rational decision.

false

BPM ends once the new processes are both implemented and accepted.

false

Benchmarks are specific standards for business processes set by industry leaders.

false

Business processes are those logically related tasks for accomplishing tasks that have been formally encoded by an organization.

false

Business processes that impede organizational responsiveness are a source of competitive strength for a company.

false

Data is information that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful to human beings.

false

ESSs are designed to serve the middle management of the organization.

false

Every business process is tied to one specific functional area.

false

IT managerial jobs are outsourced easily because of the universal standards used by the Internet.

false

In today's legal climate, there is little incentive for firms to cooperate with prosecutors investigating financial crimes at their firm.

false

Middle management is responsible for directing the day-to-day activities of the business.

false

Most American and European privacy law is based on a set of five principles called COPPA.

false

Most MISs use sophisticated mathematical models or statistical techniques.

false

Political conflict is an example of the people dimension of business problems.

false

Purchase of information systems hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment will constitute more than half of all capital investment in the United States in 2015.

false

Studies show that less than one-quarter of a business firm's profits can be explained by alignment of IT with business.

false

Systems analysts are highly trained technical specialists who write the software instructions for computers.

false

The Copyright Office began registering software programs in the 1990s.

false

The key concepts in patent law are originality, novelty, and value.

false

The most significant barrier to successful business process change is, ironically, management itself.

false

Whereas marketing and financial careers have been transformed by the growth in information systems, thus far the job of management has remained relatively unaffected.

false

The ethical "no free lunch" rule states that:

if something someone else has created is useful to you, it has value, and you should assume the creator wants compensation for this work

Which of the following is not a file-sharing service?

pandora

A business model describes how a company produces, delivers, and sells a product or service to create wealth.

true

A drawback to copyright protection is that the ideas underlying the work are not protected, only their manifestation in the work.

true

A firm can be said to have competitive advantage when it has access to resources that others do not.

true

A web beacon is a tiny object embedded in email messages and web pages that is designed to monitor online Internet user behavior.

true

An understanding of enterprise-wide systems for customer relationship management is one of the skills relevant to careers in marketing.

true

Computer abuse involves the commission of acts involving the computer that may not be illegal but are considered unethical.

true

Copyright is the legal protection afforded intellectual property such as a song, book, or video game.

true

Decision-support systems often use information from external sources.

true

Developing a new product, fulfilling an order, and hiring a new employee are all examples of business processes.

true

ESSs are designed to incorporate data about external events, but they also draw summarized information from internal MIS and DSS.

true

Encouraging employees to adapt to new business processes is an important factor in change management.

true

End users are representatives of departments outside of the information systems group for whom applications are developed.

true

Ethics refers to the principles of right and wrong that can be used by individuals to make choices to guide their behavior.

true

European countries do not allow businesses to use personally identifiable information without consumers' prior consent.

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.

true

In a firm hierarchy, responsibility and accountability is concentrated at the top.

true

In order to understand how a specific business firm uses information systems, you need to know something about the history and culture of the company.

true

Information supplied by an enterprise system is structured around cross-functional business processes.

true

Knowledge management systems and customer relationship management systems are both types of enterprise applications.

true

Liability refers to the existence of laws that permit individuals to recover damages done to them by other actors, systems, or organizations.

true

Operational-level manufacturing systems provide transaction-level information that enable monitoring of the daily activities of a business.

true

Probably the best single way to reduce quality problems is to reduce cycle time.

true

Professionals have special rights and obligations because of their claims to knowledge, wisdom, and respect.

true

Some experts believe exposure to computers makes people dumb.

true

Supply chain management systems are more externally oriented than enterprise systems.

true

The most common type of computer-related RSI is CTS.

true

The primary goal of social business is to deepen interactions with employees and customers.

true

What are some of the potential health risks associated with use of computers?

A common occupational disease today is repetitive stress injury (RSI). RSI occurs when muscle groups are forced through repetitive actions often with high-impact loads (such as tennis) or tens of thousands of repetitions under low-impact loads (such as working at a computer keyboard). The incidence of repetitive stress syndrome is estimated to be as much as one-third of the labor force and accounts for one-third of all disability cases. The single largest source of RSI is computer keyboards. The most common kind of computer-related RSI is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), in which pressure on the median nerve through the wrist's bony structure, called a carpal tunnel, produces pain. The pressure is caused by constant repetition of keystrokes. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome include numbness, shooting pain, inability to grasp objects, and tingling. Millions of workers have been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. It affects an estimated 3 percent to 6 percent of the workforce. RSI is not the only occupational illness computers cause. Back and neck pain, leg stress, and foot pain also result from poor ergonomic designs of workstations. Computer vision syndrome (CVS) refers to any eyestrain condition related to display screen use in desktop computers, laptops, e-readers, smartphones, and handheld video games. CVS affects about 90 percent of people who spend three hours or more per day at a computer. Its symptoms, which are usually temporary, include headaches, blurred vision, and dry and irritated eyes.

What is BPM? What are the steps involved in practicing BPM?

BPM is business process management, and is the practice of continuously improving business processes. The steps in BPM are (1) identifying processes for change, (2) analyzing existing processes, (3) designing the new process, (4) implementing the new process, and (5) continuous measurement.

Which of the following would be primarily responsible for enterprise-wide governance and usage of information to maximize the value of an organization's data?

CDO

Why are "conversations" relevant to social business?

Customers, suppliers, employees, managers, and even oversight agencies continually have conversations about firms, often without the knowledge of the firm or its key actors (employees and managers). Supporters of social business assert that if firms could tune into these conversations, they will strengthen their bonds with consumers, suppliers, and employees, increasing their emotional involvement in the firm.