MIS Final Exam Study Questions
Explain first mover and fast follower positions. Compare and contrast between these positions.
First mover advantage is a company that can gain market share and competitive advantage by being first to market with a new or innovative product/service. Fast follower advantage are followers who are a close second, third, or fourth to the market, before the market is flooded with too many competitors.
Explain, compare, and contrast between the characteristics of valuable information.
Valuable Information: · Accessible: info should be easily accessible by authorized users · Accurate: accurate info is error free · Complete: complete info contains all the important facts · Economical: info should be relatively economical to produce, must balance value of info with cost of producing it · Flexible: can be used for a variety of purposes · Relevant: must be relevant to the decision maker · Reliable: can be depended on; reliability depends on source of the info · Secure: should be secure from access by unauthorized users · Simple: not overly complex, too much info can cause info overload · Timely: delivered when it is needed · Verifiable: you can check it to make sure it is correct
Explain, with examples, the 'threat of substitute products/services.'
Fears or threats of substitute products/services include butter and margarine, coffee and tea. These are alternative products or services that meet and satisfy the same demands or wants of a customer.
Know what CRUD is. Who is responsible for performing CRUD?
CRUD is the 4 DBMS operations: Create, Read, Update, and Delete. Database developers are responsible for performing CRUD.
What are the three levels of value that can be obtained from improving/changing business processes? Or, what are the three types of business process change that an organization would typically engage in?
1) Operational value from incremental 'business process improvements' using automation (i.e., change individual tasks in a process from manual to technology-enabled). 2) Managerial value from streamlining by reducing bottlenecks and redundancies in a set of interrelated processes (i.e., reconsider/change the layout of tasks in a process or set of related processes, feeling free to eliminate or realign tasks as needed, to make the overall process(es) more efficient and leading to better outcomes). 3) Strategic value from business process reengineering (BPR) to completely overhaul existing business processes (start a new process from scratch, throwing out old obsolete processes, to achieve major gains in productivity and competitive standing - tends to be transformative for the industry as a whole).
Explain why competitive advantage is temporary.
- Other competitors can imitate the basis for competition. - Market and economic factors could change, causing the firm to lose its basis for competition. - The profile of the typical customer may change. - New technology may render older bases of competition obsolete.
Benefits of business processes:
1) business processes allow the work to be carried out efficiently by allowing greater practice, 2) processes are important drivers/ enablers of strategy (the business strategy of a company is implemented through a set of business processes that are aligned to the strategy; these processes are how the company achieves its chosen strategies), 3) Documenting processes allows for greater fairness, e.g., in hiring/firing processes, so that the company cannot get sued for allegations of unfair practices. 4) Allows managers to analyze and evaluate performance on a particular work and evaluate the quality of outcome realized from this work. 5) Can serve as a useful teaching/training tool for teaching others how a certain job is done, 6) Establishing business processes helps improve learning and creativity by simplifying complex tasks.
3 Broad reasons to why 'Intro to MIS' is important:
1. Ultimate in job security - marketable skills - by helping you learn abstraction, systems thinking, collaboration, and experimentation. 2. Background to assess, evaluate, and apply emerging information systems technology to business. 3. Many MIS-related jobs available with strong market growth
What is MIS?
3 elements - management and use, information systems, and strategies
What is a database management system (DBMS); what is its purpose? Know some examples of DBMS
A DBMS is a software program used to create, process, and administer a database. Its purpose is to store data and process the database. Examples - Db2, Access, SQL Server, Oracle Database.
What is a business process?
A business process is a standardized set of activities that accomplishes a specific task. It transforms inputs into outputs for other users, programs, or processes to use.
What is a database? What does it consist of? Know the definitions and meanings of each of the components.
A database is a system that organizes and keeps track of things. It consists of tables or files plus the relationships among rows in tables plus metadata (data that describes data).
What is a system (with examples)?
A system is a group of components that interact to achieve some purposes, examples - cell phone, computer, camera
Explain the difference between a system and systems thinking.
A system is just a set of interrelated components that work together to accomplish a common goal while systems thinking is the individual components of a system working together, which are interconnected, to make up a system
4 non-routine cognitive skills
Abstract reasoning, systems thinking, collaboration, and ability to experiment
What is an Executive Information System (EIS)? How does it differ from MIS and DSS?
An EIS is a specialized DSS that supports senior-level executives in decision making. It provides executives with easy access to internal and external information that is relevant to their critical success factors. Key difference from DSS - typically contains data from external sources as well as rom internal sources.
5-component framework
An assembly of hardware, software, data, procedures, and people that produces information
When should an organization engage in a BPR initiative?
An organization should engage in a BPR initiative when the existing process is broken or old or unable to utilize new technology in current form.
What are application programs/database applications? What do they provide?
Application programs provide security, data consistency, and special-purpose processing. Database applications are a collection of forms, reports, queries, and application programs that serves as an intermediary between users and database data. They provide more informative and more easily updated database table data.
What are ACID properties?
Atomicity: Focuses on each individual transaction in a database. This property of a TPS/database says that partial transactions are not allowed to be performed on a database. In other words, a complete transaction is the lowest order of change or activity that can be allowed to happen on a database. A single transaction can often involve multiple steps. Atomicity says that all of those steps will need to be performed each time a new transaction is performed on the database. If the database were to malfunction in the middle of a transaction, when only some of the steps of the transaction had been completed but not others, then those completed steps would also be returned back to the state before the transaction had begun. It is the all-or-nothing rule. The word atomicity comes from "atom." Just like an atom is the smallest unit/level to which matter can be broken down, so also a whole transaction is the smallest unit of change that can happen on a database. Consistency: Focuses on the state of the database in between two different transactions, i.e., right after a transaction is completed; or right after a transaction has been completed AND before the next transaction has begun. Consistency says that after a transaction is completed a database should be in a valid state of existence, which is basically one of two states- a) either a new valid state, conforming to the changes dictated by a complete transaction, or b) the original state of the database before the transaction had occurred. Isolation: Focuses on the state of the database while a transaction is still in progress. It prevents two transactions from simultaneously occurring on a database, and simultaneously accessing the same set of data stored in the database. When one transaction is already in progress, the Isolation property makes sure to keep out of access to the database, all other transactions that may need any part of the data that is already in use by the first transaction. Durability: Focuses on the long-term state of the database. If the computer system crashes or there is a power failure, causing the database to prematurely shut down, Durability says that the data that is already stored in the database will still be preserved and accessible once the problem was corrected and the system was restored back to operation.
Explain what is BI, and what is its purpose.
BI is business intelligence which it uses data to drive decision-making.
Define and discuss examples of bottlenecks and redundancies.
Bottlenecks occur when resources reach full capacity and cannot handle additional demands; they limit throughput and impede operations. The way to remove the bottleneck is to use technology to add more capacity to the resource so that it can handle additional demands. Redundancy when a task or activity is unnecessarily repeated. (e.g., sales dept and accounting dept are both checking customer credit history). Technology can be used to document outcome of a single credit check and sharing that outcome with all concerned parties to eliminate the need for a different department to run the credit check again.
What is business process modeling? What is a business process model? What is the significance or importance of constructing these... in other words, what value/benefits can be gained from constructing business process models?
Business process modeling is showing the actual flowchart or map of a business process, showing the inputs, task sequences, decision points, and outputs in structured form. A business process model is the process of creating a detailed flowchart or model of a business process. Benefits: - Helps create a visually intuitive representation of the business process - So, then everyone can have the same understanding of the process - The drawing helps reveal where problems in the process are, so that they can be corrected Models are a good communication mechanism across different decision-makers and users
Explain the connection between value chains, business processes, and information systems.
Business processes implement value chains or portions of value chains, so each value chain is supported by one or more business processes.
Explain, with examples, buyer power and supplier power, as well as the relationships between these two forces.
Buyer power is the ability of the buyer to negotiate a better deal from the supplier, e.g. - in auctions. Supplier power is the ability of the supplier to negotiate a better deal from the buyer, e.g. - steel, companies need steel to build offices and buildings so steel companies can up the price. The relationship between them is that they are inversely proportional to each other.
Database terminology and their meaning, as discussed in class - row/record, column/attribute, entity, field, etc. What do each of these terms mean/represent, and where can you find them in the database?
Bytes or characters of data are grouped into columns or also called fields. Columns or fields are then grouped into rows or also called records. You can find these on a table in a database.
What are the two main ways of classifying business processes? (intra-departmental versus inter-departmental and customer-facing versus business-facing)
Classification 1: Intra-departmental processes are contained entirely within a single department and Inter-departmental processes span multiple departments. Classification 2: Customer-facing processes result in a product/service received by the organization's external customer (front office processes). Business-facing processes are invisible to the external customer but essential to effectively running the business (back-office processes).
Explain what is competitive advantage.
Competitive advantage is when an organization is better able to attract customers to buy its own products/services compared to those of its competitors.
Explain the three key types of analyses provided by EIS, namely consolidation, drill down, and slice-and-dice. Be prepared to come up with examples of each type of analysis. Alternatively, be able to identify which type of analysis is represented by an example that is provided to you. Also know the purpose of each analysis and when (i.e., for what decisions/questions) to choose one analysis versus the other. Compare and contrast between these three types of analyses.
Consolidation: Accumulation of information and simple roll-ups to complex groupings of information. Senior executives can use this analysis to make broad strategic decisions, like which products should I continue to offer nationwide, or regionally, and in what amounts. Drill-down: Details, and details of details, of information (opposite of consolidation). Senior executives can use this type of analysis to decide upon specific tactical plans of action for how to execute the broad strategic directions that they set earlier using the consolidation analysis. Slice-and-dice: Looking at information from different perspectives.
Explain what is meant by customer-facing business processes versus business-facing business processes. How are they different from each other?
Customer-facing processes result in a product/service received by the organization's external customer (front office processes) Examples - marketing campaigns and customer service. Business-facing processes are invisible to the external customer but essential to effectively running the business (back-office processes) Examples - purchasing raw materials, strategic planning, and budget forecasting.
What are DSS, what are the key characteristics or functions of these systems? What types of decisions do they help support?
DSS are an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to support problem-specific decision making. Focus is on decision making effectiveness, "doing the right thing". People need to analyze large amounts of information. People must make decisions quickly. People must apply sophisticated analysis techniques, such as modeling and forecasting, to make good decisions. People must protect the corporate asset of an organization's information. Key functions: Sensitivity Analysis - what impact do small changes in one part of the model have on other parts of the model? What-if Analysis - If I change the assumptions in my model (different scenario), what impact would that have on the proposed solution? Goal-Seeking Analysis - What inputs are necessary to achieve a target goal, such as a desired level of output?
What are the differences between MIS versus DSS?
DSS: Real time help with problem solving Interactive: Managers can ask different questions and obtain answers from the system as needed, for example by doing "what-if" analysis Dynamic: The information provided changes according to the problem you are facing MIS: Routine periodic reports regarding of when manager needs the information Non-interactive: Managers can only get pre-printed reports at the pre-determined intervals of time, regardless of what specific questions they may have at a particular point in time. Cannot do "what-if" analysis. Static: Pre-set pieces of information are provided in the report regardless of need
What are data flows and sequence flows? (textbook, p. 32) Know about the meaning of other symbols in a business process model as well (the Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) framework provided in your textbook)... As a few examples: What is a 'data repository', what is an 'activity/task', etc. in a business process model? How is a 'sub-process' different from an 'activity' in a business process model? What are the distinctive aspects of a 'decision' symbol in a business process model?
Data flows represent the movement of data items among activities and repositories. Sequence flows depict the logical flow from one activity to another. A data repository in a BPM contains not only data from prior purchases but also the results of vendor sales calls, vendor mailings, prior buyer searches of vendor and product data on the internet, and so forth. The difference between a sub-process and an activity is that a sub-process can be repeated multiple times while a specific activity can only be performed once. The distinctive aspects of a 'decision' symbol is that it is a purple diamond that says "Reject?" on it.
Explain the concept of a digital dashboard and how it helps with senior executive-level decision-making.
Digital Dashboard integrates information from multiple components and tailors the information to individual preferences.
Explain what a digital dashboard is, what it looks like, and how it is used.
Digital Dashboards are an integral feature of EISs. These consist of large LCD display screens (like TV screens) that integrate information from multiple components and tailor the presentation of this information to individual preferences. Digital dashboards commonly use indicators to help executives quickly identify the status of key information or critical success factors. This is real-time information, aggregated from a variety of sources and constantly refreshed right there, so that the senior executive can track several key performance indicators in real-time and make quick changes in decision-making based on what is actually happening out there on the ground right this minute. Digital dashboards, whether basic or comprehensive, deliver results quickly. As digital dashboards become easier to use, more executives can perform their own analysis without inundating IT personnel with questions and requests for reports. According to an independent study by Nucleus Research, there is a direct correlation between use of digital dashboards and companies' return on investment (ROI). Digital dashboards help executives react to information as it becomes available and make decisions, solve problems, and change strategies daily instead of monthly.
What are Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems? What is the motivation behind why ERP systems came into existence in organizations?
ERP systems are a set of integrated programs that manages the vital business operations for an entire multisite, global organization. ERP systems can help people understand how the organization is performing from an enterprise-wide perspective. ERP systems provide organizations with information that was previously difficult, if not impossible, to obtain allowing the organization to perform more efficiently and effectively. Better performance usually means higher profits, which pleases stakeholders and investors.
How do ERP systems relate to TPS?
ERP systems relate to TPS because ERP systems provide a common platform to bring together individual TPSs so that they can work together, providing the company with enormous competitive advantage.
Forms, Reports, Queries... what are these? What are their purposes?
Forms are used to view data; insert new, update existing, and delete existing data. Reports are structured presentations of data using sorting, grouping, filtering, and other operations. Queries are search based upon data values provided by the user.
The hierarchy of data elements in a database... starting from characters/bytes at the lowest level, to fields, records, files, etc.
Hierarchy: 1. Table or File 2. Records or Rows 3. Fields or Columns 4. Bytes or Characters Relationships among rows in tables are created by repeating columns across tables.
Difference between IT and IS?
IT is only made up of hardware, software, and data; while IS is made up of IT (hardware, software, and data) and also procedures and people.
What is a monopoly industry versus a monopsony industry? How are they different? Be able to provide examples of each.
In a monopoly industry a single seller controls or dominates the supply of goods and services (one supplier interacts with multiple buyers). In a monopsony industry a single buyer controls or dominates the demand for goods and services (one buyer interacts with multiple suppliers). Monopoly dominates the supply of goods and services, and monopsony dominates the demand for goods and services.
Explain what is information and how is information created from data?
Information is data organized in a meaningful manner. Information is created from the organization of data in a way to show how the raw facts are related.
3 different applications of systems thinking in managing with IS.
Information system design and implementation, information system use, and information system repair and maintenance/problem solving.
Explain the input, process, output, and feedback framework.
Inputs are systems components that bring data/information into the system for processing. Process are the systems components that perform some computations/calculations/manipulations on incoming data/ information to generate output. Output is system components that display, store, or distribute processed data/ information produced by system as output. The feedback is a type of output component that provides information about correct functioning of input and processing steps and ensures that desired outcomes are not accompanied by undesirable consequences.
Explain what is meant by intra-departmental business processes versus interdepartmental business processes. How are they different from each other? Which is more common?
Intra-departmental processes are contained entirely within a single department and Inter-departmental processes span multiple departments. Intra-departmental business processes are more common.
In the context of the threat of substitute products/services, what is the danger of cannibalization?
Introducing another similar product to one of its own, to then not sell as good as its own product.
What is the significance of business-facing business processes? If these types of processes are ignored, what consequences can result for the organization?
It is performed in the back-office, so not in front of the customer but it is essential to effectively running the business. Forecasting and strategizing. The business will not run efficiently.
What is the significance or importance of customer-facing business processes to an organization?
It is performed in the front-offices, so usually performed in front of the customer.
What are some features of EISs that help with supporting senior executives' decision-making needs, given the unique constraints that senior executives face (see previous bullet-point)?
It is tailored to individual executive users Extract, filter, compress, and track critical data Provide on-line status access, exception reporting, and drilldown (access detail or data that underlie summarized data User-friendly and require little or no training to use Present graphical, tabular, and/or textual information
In Porter's generic strategies framework, what does it mean to be "stuck in the middle?" Why should it be avoided?
It means to try and pursue all the strategies. You should avoid it because pursuing all these strategies will lead to low performance and efficiency.
Explain what knowledge is. What is its purpose? How does it differ from data and information? How does it connect to BI?
Knowledge represents the skills, experience, and expertise of the decision-maker with a respect to a particular subject, coupled with the decision-makers information and intelligence. Emphasis on the experience, education, and intelligence of the decision-maker; an individual driven concept. Knowledge is what allows a decision-maker to transform business intelligence insights into decisions. People knowledgeable in different domains may end up with different decisions using the same business intelligence.
What are similarities between MIS and DSS?
MIS & DSS: Managerial Helps with decision making and problem solving Uses data collected and stored by TPS, to generate information Common database containing organizational data is used as input
What are Management Information Systems (MIS)? What types of decisions are they designed to support? What do MIS use as inputs? What types of reports are generated by these systems?
MIS are technologies that enable the use of data captured and stored by the TPSs to help decision-making and problem solving. MIS provides routine periodic summary reports that have the same information at periodic intervals. Used to make operational decisions, such as by a floor supervisor to make sure their manufacturing plant is working as expected. MIS provide two types of reports, namely Summary Reports and Exception Reports. Both of these provide summarized views and trends of past occurrences. The key difference is that Summary Reports contain information about normal activities conducted during the period of reporting, or things that are to be expected. Examples of items included in Summary Reports: amount of finished goods produced, total sales for the period, total number of employees working on the shift, etc.), Number of products sold, Prior period's profit, Total sales for a period, Sales rep's order statistics, Sales per client. Exception Reports include summarized information about out of the ordinary or abnormal activities that occurred during the work period. For example, Higher (or lower) than permissible unit cost; Lower than permissible quantity of production; Sales reps on leave or vacation; Sales reps who did not meet their quota; Machine breakdowns; Employee overtime; Faulty finished goods.
Difference between the 3 elements
Management and use, Information systems, and strategies. Management and use means develop, maintain, and adapt, it means to create an information system that meets your needs, take an active role in systems development. Information system - business processes need information technology. Strategies -information systems exist to help people in a business to achieve the business' strategies.
4 laws that summarize rapid advancements in core aspects of computing:
Moore's Law - processing speed, the speed of a computer doubles every 18 months Kryder's Law - storage capacity, that the storage density on magnetic disks is increasing at an exponential rate Nielson's Law - data communications, network connection speeds for high-end users will increase by 50% per year. Metcalfe's Law - data communications, states that the value of a network is equal to the square of the number of users connected to it
Briefly explain what 'Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)' means... Remember that OLAP is another name for slice-and-dice analysis.
Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) is a category of software tools that provides an analysis of data stored in a database.
Know the different types of decisions that are made in each type of decision-making. Be able to explain the key characteristics of each type of decision (i.e., structured, semi-structured, unstructured, highly unstructured) and also be able to compare and contrast between them.
Operational - structured, data is present and hence mostly preferred in multitasking processes Managerial - semi-structured and unstructured, transaction is not by default but is get adapted from DBMS but data concurrency is not present Strategic - highly unstructured, no transaction management and no concurrency are present
What types of technologies are used to support each type of decision and each type of decision-making
Operational decision-making involves structured decisions, which are supported by Transaction Processing Systems (TPS). Managerial decision-making involves two different types of decisions, each supported by a different type of information system... semi-structured decisions supported by Management Information Systems (MIS) and unstructured decisions supported by Decision Support Systems (DSS). Finally, strategic decision-making is characterized by highly unstructured decisions, which are supported by Executive Information Systems (EIS).
Know the three different types of decision-making - operational, managerial, and strategic - and the objectives and characteristics of each type of decision-making. Explain how these three types of decision making relate to each other.
Operational decisions are decisions made while executing day-to-day core activities. They are routine structured decisions. Managerial decisions deal with constantly homing a company's operations to make sure the company can keep up with competition. They range from semi-structured to unstructured decisions and affect medium range organizational plans. Strategic decisions involve developing overall business strategies and goals as part of the company's strategic plan. They are highly unstructured decisions. These three different types of decision making relate to each other by building on each other.
For the purposes of value chain analysis, how does Porter define the terms 'value' and 'margin?'
Porter defines the term value as the amount of money that a customer is willing to pay for a resource. Porter then defines margin as the difference between the value that an activity generates and the cost of the activity.
For the value chain of a manufacturing company, know the main types of primary value activities and support value activities
Primary - inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, and marketing and sales Support - infrastructure, human resources management, and procurement
What are primary keys and foreign keys?
Primary keys are fields that uniquely identify a record in the data file/data table. A foreign key is the primary key of another table that is repeated in the current table to link the two tables.
Know what primary value activities and support value activities are, and how they are different from each other.
Primary value activities are activities that directly impact the goals and objectives of the business. Support value activities are activities that facilitate the performance of primary value activities but are not directly tied to the bottom-line. They are different from one another because support activities back up the primary value activities or the main goals and objectives of the business while primary activities solely rely on the goals and objectives of the business.
What is the purpose of a database? Why do we need to use a database, rather than a single file system, like Excel?
Purpose is to organize and keep track of things. A database can keep track of multiple themes unlike a single file system like excel where it can only store one.
Define data and explain with examples.
Raw facts about something of interest. Examples - people, places, events, transactions, objects, etc.
Explain how data can be distinguished from raw facts.
Raw facts simply exist in nature; data are only those raw facts that are relevant to decision-making.
Single-themed versus multiple-themed data. What do these mean, what type of data management tool to use for each, and why?
Remember that a theme is the same as an entity, which is something (anything) about which we want to collect data. Multithemed data is multiple data types stored in a database that are related to each other and a single themed data is just a single piece of data on something.
Explain sensitivity analysis, what-if analysis, and goal-seeking analysis.
Sensitivity Analysis - what impact do small changes in one part of the model have on other parts of the model? What-if Analysis - If I change the assumptions in my model (different scenario), what impact would that have on the proposed solution? Goal-Seeking Analysis - What inputs are necessary to achieve a target goal, such as a desired level of output?
Explain and differentiate between the different steps involved in creating and maintaining a strategy for competitive advantage. What is the focus and the purpose of each step in the strategy, and what tool/framework is available for performing each of the steps?
Step 1: Industry level; to determine the competitive attractiveness of an industry in which the organization wishes to compete; Porter's 5 -forces model. Step 2: Broad (macro) organizational level; to determine the broad strategic direction on which a company would compete within the chosen industry; Porter's generic strategies. Step 3: Narrow (micro) process-level view within the organization; to track how well the organization is executing the broad strategy chosen in step 2, by systematically studying internal processes; value chain analysis (also developed by Porter)
What is the nature of strategic decision-making, and what is required to make strategic decisions? Explain some key feature of strategic decisions. What type of information system is required to make strategic decisions?
Strategic decision making is a continuous process involving the creation of strategies to attain goals; it is continuous because it can be adapted according to collected feedbacks so that it becomes more efficient. They are highly unstructured decisions, meaning that no rules or procedures exist to guide decision-making. It involves combining business intelligence about the world around you and the knowledge, experience, and intuition of the decision-maker to come up with a strategy that the decision maker believes would be most effective in moving the company forward. These decisions are not made frequently, and they are extremely important to the long-term future of the company. This type of decision is made by senior level executives, presidents, CEOs, using a type of IS called Executive Information Systems (EIS.)
What is structured data?
Structured data is data in the form of rows and columns. Most of the time structured data means tables in a relational database, can refer to spreadsheet data as well. 80% of data today is unstructured.
Explain systems thinking conceptually, practically, and operationally.
Systems thinking conceptually is the process of understanding how things influence each other within the whole. Systems thinking practically is a problem-solving approach: any problem in a system is viewed as "belonging" to the system as a whole, rather than to the part of the system where the problem can be seen or where it first arose. Systems thinking operationally is built around the notion that individual components of a system can be understood in terms of their relationships to one another, rather than in isolation.
What are transaction processing systems (TPS), what are they used for, and what are their key characteristics?
TPS are technologies used to capture, store, and maintain all the data that is generated in business transactions by an organization. TPS has 4 main characteristics referred to as the ACID properties: atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability.
What are the differences between TPS versus MIS and DSS?
TPS: Operational Keeps track of routine transactions Collects, stores, and maintains data Common database containing organizational data is produced as output MIS & DSS: Managerial Helps with decision making and problem solving Uses data collected and stored by TPS, to generate information Common database containing organizational data is used as input
Know Porter's generic strategies framework, what it is, and why it is used. The 2 dimensions along which choices need to be made; the four different strategies that result
The 2 Dimensions: Size of the target market How you will compete in the market The 4 strategies that result: Cost leadership Strategy Differentiation Strategy Focus Strategy (low cost) Focus Strategy (differentiation)
Explain what is an As-Is process model and a To-Be process model.
The As-Is process model shows a process in its current state while a To-Be process model shows the process in a desired future state.
How do the information systems within a company relate to its competitive strategy?
The competitive advantage of a company determines the structures, features, and functions of every information system. So, an information system is made up of what the company uses to have a competitive advantage.
What are some characteristics of decision-making at the strategic level? Or, what are some characteristics of senior executive-level decision-making? Or, why is it difficult to support senior executives in their decision-making needs?
They determine the direction and destination of the company. Have only limited computer skills Little time for discussing information needs Little time for training Other established methods for obtaining information Information requirements that are diverse and difficult to satisfy
Explain the overall intuition underlying Porter's five forces model
To encourage decision makers to think more broadly about the sources of competition in an industry. Porter's 5-forces model provides a way for organizations to think more broadly about their sources of competition, beyond the traditional view of looking only to competitors as sources of competition. The 5-forces model shows that a firm's profitability may be undermined by more than just their competitors, i.e., more than just the companies that are directly competing with them (direct competitors, btw, are reflected in the fifth force in the model, 'Rivalry among existing competitors')... an organization's buyers, suppliers, alternative products/services that meet the same customer need, as well as the threat of future companies entering the industry to grab market share, are all other sources that can erode a firm's profitability or competitive advantage.
What is value chain analysis? What is its purpose? How can organizations use it to improve their competitive positioning?
Value chain analysis is looking at all internal processes or value activities and seeing how much value each one is adding to the overall value of the company. Its purpose is to see how activities are performing or doing to add value to the overall company, so it remains at a positive overall value. Organizations can use it to improve their competitive positioning by having activities that directly impact goals and objectives of the business and have activities that facilitate the performance of primary value activities, so have sub-activities that help add value to primary value activities.
Know the general idea of how value chain analysis is performed, and what its purpose is
Value chain analysis is performed by developing a detailed internal competitive strategy, so you can evaluate what you do on an ongoing basis to make sure that you are successful at implementing your competitive strategy.
Explain variables and constants, and their relationship to data.
Variables are something that can have more than one value, a data category that can take on many values (ex. Student names, prices per unit of a set of products). Constants are a data item that can only take on a single value, each individual value within a data category (ex. the name of a single student, the price per unit of a particular brand of coffee on Aug 18, 2018).
Explain the characteristics of data used to support BI.
Volume - large amounts of data Variety - data/information collected from inside and outside organizations, customers, employees, suppliers, markets, partners, politics, industries Velocity - real-time, fast speed Veracity - accurate, truthful
Explain, compare, and contrast between the three types of workers that can be found in the information age
White-collar workers - work primarily with data and information - Information workers: synonymous with white-collar workers; primary aspect of their jobs involves the use, collecting, manipulating and storing, maintaining of data, information in some fashion - Knowledge workers: subject of information workers; apply specialized subject - area expertise to information to create new knowledge or insights or solutions or decisions; also called "subject-area experts" Blue-collar workers - working with data/information is not the primary aspect of their jobs, although they need knowledge to do their jobs, and data/information may be produced as a by-product of their jobs.
How do databases, database management systems, and database applications (on the user's end, with their forms, reports, queries, and application programs) work together?
o On a personal computer (e.g., Microsoft Access, which serves one decision-maker at a time) o Over an organizational network (slide 14) which connects the databases server and the users' computers Over the Internet (slide 17) where some application code is placed on both users' computers and database server computer
Know the three different types of relationships that could be included in a model:
positive linear relationships, negative linear relationships, and nonlinear relationships.