BCIS 5311 - Quiz Chapter 3

A machine bureaucracy is a knowledge-based organization where goods and services depend on the expertise and knowledge of professionals.

False

Which of the following statements about disruptive technologies is not true?

Firms that invent disruptive technologies as first movers always become market leaders.

Which of the following statements about Porter's competitive forces model is not true?

In a free economy, there are very low barriers to entry in all industries.

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

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

Which of the following represent the primary activities of a firm?

Inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service

Which of the following statements about organizations is not true?

Informal groups tend to be more stable in terms of longevity and routineness than organizations.

Which of the following statements information technology's impact on business firms is not true?

Information technology helps firms reduce environmental scanning.

Which of the following statements about the technical view of organizations is not true?

It emphasizes group relationships, values, and structures.

Amazon's use of the Internet as a platform to enhance customer convenience illustrates which of the following strategies?

Low-cost leadership

Which of the following is a competitive force that has challenged the music industry?

Substitute products or services

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

True

Mass customization offers individually tailored products or services using the same resources as mass production.

True

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

True

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

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

Walmart's continuous replenishment system is an example of a firm using information systems to:

achieve low-cost leadership.

Which of the following is not a mediating factor that impacts an organization's relationship with information technology?

agency costs

All of the following are competitive forces in Porter's model except:

disruptive technologies

Information systems enhance core competencies by:

encouraging the sharing of knowledge across business units.

The value chain model:

highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies can best be applied.

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

increases as more people use them.

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

intensive customer data analysis.

The four major competitive strategies are:

low-cost leadership, product differentiation, focus on market niche, and strengthening customer and supplier intimacy.

Mintzberg classifies a large bureaucracy existing in a slowly changing environment that produces standard products and is dominated by centralized management as a(n):

machine bureaucracy

The Internet increases the bargaining power of customers by:

making information available to everyone.

Firms use a ________ strategy to provide a specialized product or service for a narrow target market better than competitors.

market niche

The ability to offer individually tailored products or services using the same production resources as bulk production is known as:

mass customization

According to the ________ definition of organizations, an organization is seen as a means by which capital and labor are transformed by the organization into outputs to the environment.

microeconomic

Struggles for resources, competition, and conflict within an organization that result from divergent viewpoints about how resources, rewards, and punishments should be distributed are an example of which of the following?

organizational politics

________ is a competitive strategy for creating brand loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that are not easily duplicated by competitors.

product differentiation

Under Mintzberg's classification of organizational structure, knowledge-based organizations fall under the category of:

professional bureaucracies.

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

provide mass customization.

The parts of an organization's infrastructure, human resources, technology, and procurement that make the delivery of the firm's products or services possible are known as ________ activities.

support

The expenses incurred by a customer or company in lost time and resources when changing from one supplier or system to a competing supplier or system are known as:

switching costs

Which of the following is a support activity in a firm's value chain?

technology

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

the law of diminishing returns.

When a firm buys on the marketplace what it cannot make itself, the costs incurred are referred to as ________ costs.

transaction

The ________ model identifies specific, critical leverage points where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance its competitive position.

value chain

A(n) ________ 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.

value web

According to agency theory, the firm is viewed as a(n):

"nexus of contracts" among self-interested individuals.

Which of the following is an example of synergy in business?

Bank of America acquiring Countrywide Financial Corporation to reach a large pool of new customers

Which of the following statements about business processes is not true?

Business processes are typically unaffected by changes in information systems.

Which of the following is an example of a divisionalized bureaucracy?

Fortune 500 firm

Which of the following statements about Porter's competitive forces model is not true?

In a free economy, there are very low barriers to entry in all industries.

Which of the following statements about features of organizations is not true?

Organizations generally change much faster than environments.

A company's competitive advantages ultimately translate into higher stock market valuations than its competitors.

True

The Internet of Things is an example of how the Internet is changing competition within industries and creating new products and services.

True

A(n) ________ is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader.

core competency

Which of the following is not a mediating factor that impacts an organization's relationship with information technology?

Agency costs

Which of the following statements about strategic information systems is not true?

Almost all a business firm's profits can be explained by alignment of IT with business.

Which of the following would a company employ to measure and compare its business processes to similar processes of other companies within their industry?

Benchmarking