Chapter Assignments - Week 2

Chapter 2 - Review Questions

2.1.
Compare and contrast the characteristics of the operational, managerial, and
executive levels of an organization.

Operational Level - This is where the routine, day-to-day business

processes and interactions with customers occur. Information
Systems at this level are designed to automate repetitive
activities. Structured Decisions: are those in which the
procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in
advance. Since these decisions are so straightforward, they can
be programmed into operational information systems to avoid
human intervention.
Managerial Level - At the managerial level, functional managers
(Marketing managers, finance managers, etc.) focus on
monitoring and controlling operational-level activities and
providing information to higher levels of the organization. They
focus on effectively utilizing and deploying organizational
resources to achieve the objectives of the organization. SemiStructured Decisions: some procedures to follow for a given
situation can be specified in advance but not to the extent where
a specific recommendation can be made. Key Performance
Indicators (KPI's): The metrics deemed most critical to assessing
progress toward a certain goal. Typically displayed on a
performance dashboard.
Executive Level - Managers focus on long-term strategic
questions facing the organization. (ex. Which products to make
and which countries to compete in.) Executive level decisions deal
with complex problems with broad and long-term ramifications for
the organization. Unstructured Decisions: few or no procedures to
follow for a given situation can be specified in advance.

2-4. How do an organizations resources and capabilities result in a competitive

advantage?

Competitive advantage is a firms ability to do something better,

faster, cheaper, or uniquely when compared with rival firms in the
market. The resources usually included are:
o Quality
o Service
o Low costs
o Innovation

Brand Value

2.6.
What is freeconomics, and what are several approaches for applying its
concepts to various industries?
Freeconomics is the leveraging of digital technologies to provide
free goods and services to customers as a business strategy for
gaining competitive advantage.
o Advertising-Free services provided to customers and paid for by a
third party. ex: Yahoos banner ads.
o Freemium-Basic services are offered for free. ex: Skype.
o Cross-Subsidies-Sale price of one item is reduced in order to sell
something else of value. ex: free Wii for those willing to buy 5
new games.
o Zero Marginal Cost-Products are distributed to customers
without an appreciable cost to anyone. ex: video content on
YouTube
o Labor Exchange-Services are provided to the customers; the act
of using the services creates value for the company. ex: Googles
411 service.
o Gift Economy-Environments are created that allow people to
participate and collaborate to create something of value for
everyone. ex: Wikipedia.
2.7.
Why is successful application of innovative technologies and systems often
difficult?
Successful application of innovative technologies and systems often
difficult for the following reasons:

2.8.

2.9.

The advantages gained from innovations are often short-lived.

Risky.
Foreseeing the future is not always possible.
Process requirements.
Resource requirements.
Risk tolerance requirements.
What is the innovators dilemma?
The innovators dilemma is the notion that disruptive innovations
can cause established firms or industries to lose market dominance,
often leading to failure.
Describe the disruptive innovation cycle.
The disruptive innovation
cycle is a model suggesting that the extent to which modern
organizations use information technologies and systems in timely,
innovative ways is the key to success.

Chapter 3 Review Questions

3-1. How do applications support organizational business processes?

They help to automate business processes, and enable processes

that would otherwise not even be possible. For example,
accountants have for centuries used thick books for maintaining the
accounting records of a business; automating the associated tasks
using accounting software applications not only has helped to make
the tasks less effortful and reduce error rates, but in addition allows
quick analysis of accounting records.

3-3. Describe the key functions of system software?

System software is the collection of programs that control the basic

operations of computer hardware. Here are some of the key
functions:
o Input from a keyboard or mouse.
o Reading from and/or writing to a storage device (such as a
hard disk drive).
o Presenting information via the monitor.

3-4. For which purposes are data stored in organizations?

There are typically three distinct purposes for storing data in

organizations:
o Operational (processing transactions or for data analysis)
o Backup (short term copies of organizational data)
o Archival (long-term copies of organizational data)

3-6. How does computer networking work?

Computer networking is the sharing of data or services. The easiest

way to understand computer networking is through the human
communication model. Suppose you are at a job fair in France after
graduation. You need information about different employers. The
first requirement for a network-information to share-has now been

met. After contacting a few potential employers, a company sends

you information about its hiring process (the encoded message) via
e-mail. This is the second requirement: a means of transmitting the
coded message. The internet is the pathway or transmission medium
used to contact the receiver. Transmission media refers to the
physical pathway-cable(s) and wireless-used to carry network
information. At this point, you may run into difficulties. If the
potential employer has sent you information in French, you may not
understand what they have written-that is, decode their message-if
you dont speak French; if the message is not understood by the
receiver, there is no communication.
You must establish a language of communication.

3-10. What are the problems associated with software obsolescence?

Some of the problems associated with software obsolescence are:

o Obsolescence has become one of the main problems that will
impact a system during its life cycle. When an electronic or
mechanical component becomes obsolete and there is no more
stock available, the system cannot be maintained according to
the original planning. Analogously, the software obsolescence
prevents the software from being maintained accordingly. In
addition, anyone can argue there is little awareness about the
obsolescence problems affecting software and the price in
properly disposing obsolete software and hardware.

3-11. Describe the characteristics of the cloud computing model.

The five characteristics of the cloud computing model are:

o On-demand self-service
o Broad network access
o Resource pooling
o Rapid elasticity
o Measured service