Chapter 1

Question 0

What is data?

Answer 0

Raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event or object. (e.g. Order date, amount sold, customer number, quantity ordered)

Question 1

What are the core drivers of the Information Age?

Answer 1

1. Data
2. Information
3. Business Intelligence
4. Knowledge

Question 2

What is information?

Answer 2

Data converted into a meaningful and useful context. (e.g. best-selling product, best customer, worst-selling product, worst customer)

Question 3

What is business intelligence?

Answer 3

Information collected from multiple sources that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making. (e.g. Best-selling product by month compared to sports season and city team wins and losses)

Question 4

What is knowledge?

Answer 4

The skills, experience, and expertise, coupled with information and intelligence, that creates a person’s intellectual resources. (e.g. Listing products that are about to expire first on the menu or creating them as a daily special to move the product)

Question 5

What is a knowledge worker?

Answer 5

Individual valued for their ability to interpret and analyze information.

Question 6

What is human resources?

Answer 6

Maintains policies, plans, and procedures for the effective management of employees.

Question 7

What is sales?

Answer 7

Performs the function of selling goods or services.

Question 8

What is marketing?

Answer 8

Supports sales by planning, pricing, and promoting goods or services.

Question 9

What is accounting?

Answer 9

Records, measures, and reports monetary transactions.

Question 10

What is Management Information Systems (MIS)?

Answer 10

A business function, like accounting and human resources, which moves information about people, products, and processes across the company to facilitate decision-making and problem-solving.

Question 11

What is a Chief Information Officer (CIO)?

Answer 11

Oversees all uses of IT and ensures the strategic alignment of IT with business goals and objectives.

Question 12

What is a Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)?

Answer 12

Responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing the organization’s knowledge.

Question 13

What is a Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)?

Answer 13

Responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information.

Question 14

What is a Chief Security Officer (CSO)?

Answer 14

Responsible for ensuring the security of IT systems.

Question 15

What is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO)?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is a business strategy?

Answer 16

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

• Developing new products or services
• Entering new markets
• Increasing customer loyalty
• Attracting new customers
• Increasing sales

Question 17

What is competitive advantage?

Answer 17

A product or service that an organization’s customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor.

Question 18

What is first-mover advantage?

Answer 18

Occurs when an organization can significantly impact its market share by being first to market with a competitive advantage.

Question 19

What is competitive intelligence?

Answer 19

The process of gathering information about the competitive environment to improve the company’s ability to succeed.

Question 20

What is the five force model?

Answer 20

• Rivalry amongst Existing Competitors
• Buyer Power
• Threat of Substitute Products or Services
• Supplier Power
• Threat of New Entrants

Question 21

When is “Threat of substitute products or services” high and low?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What is buyer power? Examples?

Answer 22

The ability of buyers to affect the price of an item.

• Switching cost: Manipulating costs that make customers reluctant to switch to another product.
• Loyalty program: Rewards customers based on the amount of business they do with a particular organization.

Question 23

What is supplier power?

Answer 23

The supplier’s ability to influence the prices they charge for supplies.

Question 24

When is “Threat of New Entrants” high and low?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What is a entry barrier?

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What is product differentiation?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

What is Porter’s Three Generic Strategies?

Answer 27

• Cost Leadership: Broad market, low cost (e.g. Wal-Mart)
• Differentiation: Broad market, high cost e.g. Neiman Marcus)
• Focused strategy: Narrow market, low or high cost
• • e.g. Payless Shoes (low cost), Tiffany & Co. (high cost)

Question 28

What is value chain analysis?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

What are the primary value activities?

Answer 29

• Inbound logistics: acquires raw materials and resources, and distributes.
• Operations: transforms raw materials or inputs into goods and services
• Outbound logistics: distributes goods and services to customers
• Marketing and sales: Promotes, prices, and sells products to customers
• Service: Provide customer support

Question 30

What are support value activities?

Answer 30

• Firm infrastructure: includes the company format or departmental structures, environment, and systems
• Human resource management: Provides employee training, hiring, and compensation
• Technology development: Applies MIS to processes to add value
• Procurement: Purchase inputs such as raw materials, resources, equipment, and supplies