Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy (Definitions)

Agency Theory

Economic theory that views the firm as a nexus of contracts among self

Benchmarking

Setting strict standards for products, services, or activities and measuring organizational performance against those standards

Best Practices

The most successful solutions or problem

Business Ecosystem

Loosely coupled but interdependent networks of suppliers, distributors, outsourcing firms, transportation service firms, and technology manufacturers

Competitive Forces Model

Model used to describe the interaction of external influences, specifically threats and opportunities, that affect an organization’s strategy and ability to compete

Core Competency

Activity at which a firm excels as a world

Disruptive Technologies

Technologies with disruptive impact on industries and businesses, rendering existing products services, and business models obsolete

Efficient Customer Response System

System that directly links consumer behaviour back to distribution, production, and supply chains

Mass Customization

The capacity to offer individually tailored products or services using mass production resources

Network Economics

Model of strategic systems at the industry level based on the concept of a network where adding another participant entails zero marginal costs but can create much larger marginal gains

Organization

A collection of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that are directly balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution

Platforms

Business providing information systems, technologies, and services that thousands of other firms in different industries use to enhance their own capabilities

Primary Activities

Activities most directly related to the production and distribution of a firm’s products or services

Product Differentiation

Competitive strategy for creating brand loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that are not easily duplicated by competitors

Routines

Precise rules, procedures, and practices that have been developed to cope with expected situations

Strategic Transitions

A movement from one level of sociotechnical system to another. Often required when adopting strategic systems that demand changes in the social and technical elements of an organization

Support Activities

Activities that make the delivery of a firm’s primary activities possible. Consist of the organization’s infrastructure, human resources, technology, and procurement

Switching Costs

The expense a customer or company incurs in lost time and expenditure of resources when changing from one supplier or system to a competing supplier or system

Transaction Cost Theory

Economic theory stating that firms grow larger because they can conduct marketplace transactions internally more cheaply then they can with external firms in the marketplace

Value Chain Model

Model that highlights the primary or support activities that add a margin of value to a firm’s products or services where information systems can best be applied to achieve a competitive advantage

Value Web

Customer

Virtual Company

Organization using networks to link people, assets, and ideas to create and distribute products and services without being limited to traditional organizational boundaries or physical location