E-Business Lecture 2

Question 1

Definition of “Value Chain”

Answer 1

Model that describes a series of value-adding activities connecting a company’s supply side with its demand side.

Provides managers with a tool to analyze and, if necessary, redesign their internal and external processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness

Question 2

What are “primary activities” in the value chain

Answer 2

They have a direct relationship, potential or actual, with the organisation’s customers. They contribute directly to getting goods and services to the customer

Question 3

What are “support activities” in the value chain

Answer 3

They provide the inputs and infrastructure that allows primary activities to be performed

Question 4

Name the 5 “primary activities” in the value chain

Answer 4

1. Inbound Logistics
2. Operations
3. Outbound Logistics
4. Marketing & Sales
5. Service

Question 5

Name the 4 “supporting activities” in the value chain

Answer 5

1. Firm Infrastructure (Managerial)
2. Human Resource Management
3. Product / Technology Development
4. Procurement

Question 6

Definition of “Supply Chain”

Answer 6

Network of facilities & distribution options for procurement & acquisition of material, processing & transformation of the material into intermediate & finished products & finally the physical distribution of the finished tangible products to the customers

Question 7

What does a supply chain consist of?

Answer 7

Geographically dispersed facilities where raw materials, intermediate products and finished products are acquired, transformed, stored or sold and transportation links connecting the facilities along which products flow

Question 8

What is a “Value Chain Analysis” and what does it consist of?

Answer 8

Starts by identifying the activities of the firm and then studies the economic implications of those activities.

Consists of:

1. Defining the strategic business unit
2. Identifying critical activities
3. Defining products
4. Determining the value of an activity

Question 9

A business process consist of one or more related activities that together respond to a business requirement for action.

What 4 things does it do?

Answer 9

1. Defines the results to be achieved, the context of the activities, the relationships between activities and the interactions with other processes and resources
2. May receive events that alter the state of the process and the sequence of activities
3. May produce events for inputs to other systems or processes
4. May invoke applications to perform computational functions and it may post assignments to human work lists to request actions by human actors

Question 10

Definition of a “process”

Answer 10

Any sequence of steps that is initiated by an event, transforms information, materials, or business commitments and produces an output

Question 11

Definition of a “workflow”

Answer 11

Sequence of processing steps during which information and physical objects are passed from one processing step to the other. It links together technologies and tools able to automatically route events and tasks with programs or users

Question 12

Definition of “Process-oriented workflows”

Answer 12

They are used to automate processes whose structure is well defined and stable over time, which often coordinate activities executed by different machines and which only require minor user involvement

Question 13

What are the 4 characteristics of Business Processes?

Answer 13

1. Processes exist within an environment
2. Every process has a customer and is initiated by a customer order
3. Every business process implies processing
4. Communication is an important part of any business process
5. Workflows/processes have inventories or queues
6. Workflows/processes have decision points
7. Every process delivers a product

Question 14

What are the 3 types of Business Processes/Workflows?

Answer 14

1. There are workflows where information processing supports a physical process and workflows where information processing is the process itself
2. The structuring of workflows will differ dependent on the degree of repetition and on the level of expertise or knowledge required to execute the process
3. The level of anticipation of the stimulus that triggers the process determines the extent to which an organization can be prepared for in time execution of a specific process

Question 15

Name the 3 types of e-Business relationships?

Answer 15

1. Operational level
2. Tactical inter-firm
3. Strategic level

Question 16

Definition of “operational level relationship”?

3 problems

Answer 16

Companies decide internally what they need & next look outside to see who can deliver. There is no sharing of information between buyers & sellers. They only information exchanged concerns the orders place.

Problems:

1. Independence
2. Uncertainty
3. Absence of opportunities to plan ahead

Question 17

Definition of “tactical inter-firm relationship”?

Answer 17

Agreements for a period about amount and type of products to buy (or sell), manufacturing series and reservation of production capacity, moments of delivery, inventories to be kept

Question 18

Definition of “strategic level relationship”?

Answer 18

Companies act collaboratively in a specific market where they produce specific products The supplier develops, designs & produces specific components for the buying organization.

Also called: Value Added Partnership!