CTS 115 - Ch. 1- 10 - Key Terms

entry barrier

A feature of a product or service that customers have come to expect and entering competitors must offer the same for survival

Business Strategy

A leadership plan that achieves a specific set of goals or objectives

Benchmarking

A process of continuously measuring system results, comparing those results to optimal system performance (benchmark values), and identifying steps and procedures to improve system performance

project

A temporary activity a company undertakes to create a unique product, service, or result

Managment Information Systems (MIS)

Business function, like accounting and human resources, which moves information about people, products, and processes across the company to facilitate descision making and problme solving

Efficiency MIS metrics

Measure the performance of MIS itself, such as throughput, transaction speed, and system availability

Metrics

Measurements that evaluate results to determine whether a project is meeting its goals

unstructured data

Not defined, does not follow a specified format, and is typically freeform text such as emails, Twitter tweets, text messages

product differentiation

Occurs when a company develops unique differences in its products or services with the intent to influence demand

Prescriptive Analytics

Techniques that analyze input data and yield a best course of action.

Descriptive Analysis

Techniques that describe past performance and history

Predictive Analytics

Techniques that use models constructed from past data to predict the future or to ascertain the impact of one variable on another.

inbound logistics

The area of logistics that involves bringing raw materials, packaging, other goods and services, and information from suppliers to producers.

knowledge assets

The human, structural, and recorded resources available to the organization; also called intellectual captial

Key performance indicators (KPIs)

The quantifiable metrics a company uses to evaluate progress toward critical success factors

Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

The rate at which the net present value of an investment equals zero

Business Analytics (BA)

The scientific process of transforming data into insight for making better decisions

Supplier Power

The suppliers' ability to influence the prices they charge for supplies

Value Chain Analysis

Views a firm as a series of business processes that each add value to the product or service

Big Data

a collection of large, complex data sets, including structured and unstructured data, which cannot be analyzed using traditional database methods and tools

System

a collection of parts that link to achieve a common purpose

Variable

a data characteristic that stands for a value that changes or varies over time

Report

a document containing data organized in a table, matrix, or graphical format allowing users to easily comprehend and understand information

competitive advantage

a feature of a product or service on which customers place a greater value than they do on similar offerings from competitors

Stakeholders

a person with an interest or concern in something, especially a business.

Business unit

a segment of a company (such as accounting, production, marketing) representing a specific business function

Business Process

a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order

Information Age

a time when infinite quantities of facts are widely available to anyone who can use a computer

snapshot

a view of data at a particular moment in time

Systems Thinking

a way of monitoring the entire system by viewing multiple inputs being processed or transformed to produce outputs while continuously gathering feedback on each part

Internet of Things (IoT)

a world where interconnected, Internet-enabled devices or "things" can collect and share data without human intervention

common data repository

allows every department of a company to store and retrieve information in real-time allowing information to be more reliable and accessible

Business facing process

also called back-office processes, are invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business; they include goal setting, day-to-day planning, giving performance feedback and rewards, and allocating resources

Customer facing process

also called front-office processes, result in a product or service received by an organization's external customer

Porter's Five Forces Model

analyzes the competitive forces within the environment in which a company operates to assess the potential for profitability in an industry (buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute products or services, threat of new entrants, and Rivalry among existing competitors)

Benchmarks

baseline values the system seeks to attain

core processes

business processes, such as manufacturing goods, selling products, and providing service, that make up the primary activities in a value chain

supply chain

consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in obtaining raw materials or a product

dynamic process

continuously changing and provides business solutions to ever-changing business operations

switching costs

costs that make customers reluctant to switch to another product or service

Machine-generated data

created by a machine without human intervention

Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

crucial steps companies perform to achieve their goals and objectives and implement their strategies

Human-generated data

data that humans, in interaction with computers, generate

chief automation officer

determines if a person or business process can be replaced by a robot or software

outbound logistics

distributes goods and services to customers

module software design

divides the system into a set of functional units (named modules) that can be used independently or combined with other modules for increased business flexibility

Porter's Three Generic Strategies

generic business strategies that are neither organization nor industry specific and can be applied to any business, product, or service (broad cost leadership, broad differentiation, and focused strategy)

CRM reporting technologies

help organizations identify their customers across other applications

CRM analysis technologies

help organizations segment their customers into categories such as best and worst customers

return on investment

indicates the earning power of a project

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

integrates all departments and functions throughout an organization into a single IT system so that employees can make decisions by viewing enterprise-wide information on all business operations

Sales analytics

involves gathering, classifying, comparing, and studying company sales data to analyze product cycles, sales pipelines, and competitive intelligence

Customer analytics

involves gathering, classifying, comparing, and studying customer data to identify buying trends, at-risk customers, and potential future opportunities

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

involves managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organization to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organization's profitability

Supply Chain Management

involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability

chief intellectual property officer

manages and defends intellectual property, copyrights, and patents

Goods

material items or products that customers will buy to satisfy a want or need

Effectiveness MIS metrics

measure the impact MIS has on business processes and activities, including customer satisfaction and customer conversion rates

first-mover advantage

occurs when a company can significantly increase its market share by being first with a new competitive advantage

information silo

occurs when one business unit is unable to freely communicate with other business units making it difficult or impossible for organizations to work cross-functionally

Marketing and Sales

promotes, prices, and sells products to customers

service

provides customer support after the sale of goods and services

data

raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event or object

RFM formula

recency, frequency, monetary value

Machine to Machine (M2M)

refers to devices that connect directly to other devices

Chief Data Officer (CDO)

responsible for determining the types of information the enterprise will capture, retain, analyze, and share

Chief Security Officer (CSO)

responsible for ensuring the security of MIS systems and developing strategies and MIS safeguards against attacks from hackers and viruses

Chief Information Officer (CIO)

responsible for overseeing all uses of MIS and ensuring that MIS strategically aligns with business goals and objectives

loyalty programs

reward customers based on their spending

SWOT analysis

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

Services

tasks that businesses perform for consumers

Buyer power

the ability of buyers to affect the price they must pay for an item

Business Process Reengineering

the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises

Fact

the confirmation or validation of an event or object

MIS skills gap

the difference between existing MIS workplace knowledge and the knowledge required to fulfill the business goals and strategies

market share

the portion of a market controlled by a particular company or product.

competitive intelligence

the process of gathering information about the competitive environment, including competitors' plans, activities, and products, to improve a company's ability to succeed

Production

the process where a business takes raw materials and processes them or converts them into a finished product for its goods or services

Productivity

the rate at which goods are produced or services performed

Analytics

the science of fact-based decision making

Operations

transforms raw materials or inputs into goods and services

static process

uses a systematic approach in an attempt to improve business effectiveness and efficiency continuously

chief user experience officer

will create the optimal relationship between user and technology

structured data

Data that has a defined length, type, and format and includes numbers, dates, or strings such as Customer Address.

Support Value Activities

Found along the top of the value chain and includes business processes, such as firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, and procurement, that support the primary value activities.

Primary Value Activities

Found at the bottom of the value chain, these include business processes that acquire raw materials and manufacture, deliver, market, sell, and provide after-sales services.

CRM predicting technologies

Help organizations make predictions regarding customer behavior such as which customers are at risk of leaving

Knowledge Facilitator

Helps harness the wealth of knowledge in the organization

Rivalry among existing competitors

High when competition is fierce in a market and low when competitors are more complacent

Threat of new entrants

High when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers

Threat of substitute products or services

High when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alternatives

knowlede worker

Individuals valued for their ability to interpret and analyse information

Business Intelligence (BI)

Information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors, partners, and industries that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making

Dynamic report

Changes automatically during creation. Can include updating daily stock market prices or the calculation of available inventory.

Static Report

Created once based on data that does not change; can include a sales report from last year or salary report from five years ago

Information

Data converted into a meaningful and useful context

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

Responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing the organization's knowledge

Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)

Responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Responsible for ensuring the throughput, speed, accuracy, availability, and reliability of IT

Knowledge

Skills, experience, and expertise coupled with information and intelligence that creates a person's intellectual resources