MIS 301 EXAM #1 || very Flawless.
In the past decade, how has technology helped bring about radical changes across industries and
throughout societies? correct answers -the way firms advertise
- the way individuals & organizations communicate
-fueled globalization & data-driven decision making
- redefined concepts of software and computing
- raised privacy & security concerns
-crushed costs
What is the impact of a disruptive technology? What is its trajectory? Why do we care? correct
answers First, they come to market with a set of performance attributes that existing customers
don't value. Second, over time the performance attributes improve to the point where they invade
established markets.
- found in many innovations that have brought about the shift from analog to digital
- trajectory: fast/cheap technology advancement
mental model correct answers explanation of someones thought process/ how something works
in the real world
- IS are defined by mental models of their designers (both business and technical)
disruptive technology correct answers an innovation that helps create a new market and value
network, and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing an earlier
technology
To what degree has technology permeated every management discipline? Be able to give a few
examples of how technology has changed areas such as finance, marketing, operations,
accounting, etc. correct answers - Finance: IPOs (Initial public stock offerings) use tech industry
as fertile ground for new firms. --> Need to understand role of tech to accurately guess how
much a company is worth.
- Accounting: The numbers used by accountants are all recorded, stored, and reported by
information systems, and the reliability of any audit is inherently tied to the reliability of the
underlying technology.
- Marketing: The ability to track customers, analyze campaign results, and modify tactics has
amped up the return on investment of marketing dollars, with firms increasingly shifting
spending from tough-to-track media such as print, radio, and television to the Web. Also, word
of mouth through social media is big.
What kinds of jobs are available to someone with an IT background? correct answers - those that
require heavy programming skills to those that are focused on design, process, project
management, privacy, and strategy
- ex. programmers, user-interface design, process design, chief information officer, chief
technology officer, etc
sustainable competitive advantage correct answers financial performance that consistently
outperforms their industry peers
,operational effectiveness correct answers refers to performing the same tasks better than rivals
perform them
--> sometimes hard bc easy to mimic technology
fast follower problem correct answers exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn
from their successes and missteps, then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior
product at a lower cost.
strategic positioning correct answers refers to performing different activities from those of rivals,
or the same activities in a different way
How is operational effectiveness different than strategic positioning? correct answers -
operational effectiveness can be easily matched, and therefore is not a sufficient way of yielding
sustainable dominance over competition, but strategic positioning is because it is creating
advantages that competitors struggle to match.
To what degree can technology-based competition create operational effectiveness? correct
answers technology can also play a critical role in creating and strengthening strategic
differences
What are the four characteristics of a resource that might possibly yield sustainable CA? correct
answers (1) valuable
(2) rare
(3) imperfectly imitable (tough to imitate)
(4) nonsubstitutable
straddling correct answers attempts to occupy more than one position while failing to match the
benefits of a more efficient, singular focused rival
resource-based view of competitive advantage correct answers strategic thinking approach
saying that if a firm is to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, it must control a set of
exploitable resources that have four critical characteristics: valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable,
nonsubstitutable.
Why is technology critical to enabling competitive advantage? What are some examples of firms
that have used technology to organize for sustained competitive advantage? correct answers
technology is almost always mandatory in imitation-resistant value chain
- ex. FreshDirect, Amazon, Zara
Imitation-resistant value chain correct answers a way of doing business that others will struggle
to replicate
value chain correct answers The set of interrelated activities that bring products or services to
market
-Primary components:
, Inbound logistics—getting needed materials and other inputs into the firm from suppliers
Operations—turning inputs into products or services
Outbound logistics—delivering products or services to consumers, distribution centers, retailers,
or other partners
Marketing and sales—customer engagement, pricing, promotion, and transaction
Support—service, maintenance, and customer support
- Secondary components:
Firm infrastructure—functions that support the whole firm, including general management,
planning, IS, and finance
Human resource management—recruiting, hiring, training, and development
Technology / research and development—new product and process design
Procurement—sourcing and purchasing functions
brand correct answers the symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product
or service
- can be an exponentially powerful resource for competitive advantage
What is the relationship between timing, technology and the creation of resources for CA? what
resources should be built in CA? correct answers - Put simply, it's not the time lead or the
technology; it's what a firm does with its time lead and technology.
- Moving first pays off when the time lead is used to create critical resources that are valuable,
rare, tough to imitate, and lack substitutes. Anything less risks the arms race of operational
effectiveness. Build resources like brand, scale, network effects, switching costs, or other key
assets and your firm may have a shot.
viral marketing correct answers leveraging consumers to promote a product or service
scale advantages correct answers advantages related to a firm's size
economies of scale correct answers when costs can be spread across increasing units of
production or in serving multiple customers. When favorable, known as being highly scalable
switching costs correct answers when consumers incur an expense to move from one product or
service to another.
commodities correct answers products or services that are nearly identically offered from
multiple vendors
differentiation correct answers the making of a product different from other similar products
network effects correct answers when a product or service becomes more valuable as more
people use it
- sometimes called network externalities or Metcalfe's Law
