Chapter 4 - Leveraging Technology Flashcards
Important Technology Concepts
- Complementary Products: products often sold separately but used in combination creating demand for one another.
○ Ex. video games and consoles.
○ Ex. Smartphone with Telus/Rogers - Installed Base: number of users of a particular technology or the number of units of a product that are currently in use.
§ An app developer should consider (between Android and IOS) users which has the largest installed base (most users, more customers). - Virtuous Cycle: the more complementary goods -> more popular that technology becomes -> larger installed base.
- Network Effects: phenomenon whereby a product gains more value as more people use it.
- Social media platforms, they’re valuable because a lot of people use them. If no one uses them, you wouldn’t use it either.
It is important to have the right kind of information when making decisions that can be risky. These insights may help better serve customers, leapfrog competition, reduce risks associated with major investments:
- Internal company records
- Market research projects
- Published news and research
- Analysis of competitors
It is important to have the right kind of information when making decisions that can be risky. These insights may help better serve customers, leapfrog competition, reduce risks associated with major investments:
- Internal company records
- Market research projects
- Published news and research
- Analysis of competitors
Management Information Systems (MIS)
- A technology system providing managers and employees with the information needed to perform their jobs with efficiency.
- Typically an integrated computer database that provides two key benefits over manual methods of processing information:
-Huge amounts of data can be processed quickly, which expands and accelerates the ability to uncover key insights that can improve decision-making.
-Timely and useful info that can be distributed automatically.
MIS (3 Simple Points)
-Collect
-Process
-Present
Types of Management Information Systems
- “MIS” generically can refer to any number of systems that exist at a company.
- Specific type of information usually depends on their work function - financial, operations, marketing, or human resources.
- Cloud Computing: a network of remote servers hosted on the internet that store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or personal computer.
○ Ex. Microsoft’s OneDrive, Apple’s iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
Green IT: term used to describe the practice of environmentally sustainable computing.
Three Common Business Models That Leverage Connectivity:
- Online-Only Retailing: a fully online business where company was conceived to sell online.
§ Shopify, WIX, works with digital and online physical products. - Click-and-Mortar Retailing: partially online business used by traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to sell online as a secondary channel.
§ Large businesses that also use online websites (like BestBuy) - Business-to-Business (B2B) Procurement: an online model used by companies to move their supply chain ordering processes online.
Can decrease cost and more accuracy.
Common Revenue Models to Ensure Viability:
- Advertising-Based Model: revenue model where content or functionality is offered to users for free and company sells advertising for revenue.
§ Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Google, news articles, etc. - Fee-Based Content Free: revenue model where users are charged a fee to access new research, entertainment, or other types of content.
- Netflix
- Freemium: revenue model where a certain amount of content is offered for free, advertising-based model is used in order to access premium content that requires subscription. - Fee-Based Platform: revenue model where companies offer users functionality and/or connectivity in exchange for a fee.
§ Sharing content, conducting transactions
§ Kijiji, Vimeo
§ Commonly use freemium system as well.
Strategic Considerations for Online Businesses
The idea that regardless of the business model used, companies need to consider their strategies more carefully when they choose to move online. They may have competitions and need to ensure they have features catering to its accessibility.
Six Categories of Online Marketing Techniques
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO): used to improve search engine ranking by optimizing structure of website, keywords, number of links from other sites, and a variety of other techniques.
- Online Ads (usually Pay Per Click (PPC)): method of online advertising where they only pay when a consumer clicks on the ad.
- Content Marketing: online marketing technique that uses blogs, videos, infographics, and other content to engage customers.
- Social Media Marketing: online marketing that involves interacting with customers on social media.
- Lead Generation: often involves creating a landing page where its only purpose is to incentivize customers to provide their email address or other contact info.
§ Sign up for discount - Email Marketing: often used to complement traditional offline marketing activities, especially businesses that sell physical products.
Web Analytics
collection and analysis of data related to a website or other online marketing activities.
○ Number of visitors on site
○ Most visited pages on site
○ Time spend on page
○ Path users took through the site
○ Number of customers who placed an item in cart but left it without checking out.
Interacting with Stakeholders Using Online Tools
(Companies often use online tools to:)
- Improve customer service
- Manage company reputation
- Gather product and marketing insights
Improve Customer Service (Social Media)
- How companies use social media platforms to see how their customers see their products.
When there is a bad review or experience a customer had, many can see it which companies try to avoid.
Crowdsourcing
involves outsourcing tasks to a group of people in order to tap into the peoples’ ideas.
○ Valuable marketing information can also be gathered through crowd voting.
○Lay’s did the “Do Us a Flavour” contest, made people vote for the best flavour.
Using Mobile Technology for Business
Mobile users interact with devices differently from desktop users. Companies must adapt to the increase of mobile users by:
- Optimizing website design and functionality
- Ensuring compatibility
- Simplifying payment options
