Info Systems Quiz 3

Organization

a stable, formal structure that takes resources from the environment and processes them to produce outputs; formal social structure that processes resources from environment to produce outputs; a formal legal entity internal rules and procedures as well as a social structure; a collection of rights, privileges, obligations and responsibilities that is delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution; capital and labor: primary production factors from the environment which gets turned into products and services which are consumed by environment in return for supply inputs

Routines

precise rules, procedures, and practices that have been developed to cope with virtually all expected situations; leads to high efficiency and productivity, which leads to the firm reducing its costs; standard operating procedure

Disruptive Technologies

Technologies with a disruptive impact on industries and businesses, rendering existing products, services, and business models obsolete; substitute products that perform as well as or better than existing product; technology that brings sweeping change to businesses, industries, markets

Entrepreneurial Structure

A young, small firm is a fast-changing environment. It has a simple structure and is managed by an entrepreneur serving as its single chief executive officer.

Machine Bureaucracy

Large bureaucracy existing in a slowly changing environment, producing standard products. It is dominated by a centralized management team and centralized decision making.

Divisionalized Bureaucracy

A combination of multiple machine bureaucracies, each producing a different product or service, all topped by one central headquarters.

Professional Bureaucracy

Knowledge-based organization where goods and services depend on the expertise and knowledge of professionals. Dominated by department heads with weak centralized authority.

Adhocracy

Task force organization that must respond to rapidly changing environments. Consists of large groups of specialists organized into short-lived multidisciplinary teams and has weak central management.

Transaction Cost Theory

Economic theory stating that firms grow larger because they can conduct marketplace transactions internally more cheaply than they can with external firms in the marketplace, firms seek to economize on transaction costs

Agency Theory

Economic theory that views the firm as a nexus of contracts among self-interested individuals who must be supervised or managed; firms experience agency costs which rise as firm grows; IT reduce agency costs, making it possible for firms to grow without adding to the costs of supervising and without adding employees

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

Product Differentiation

Competitive strategy for creating brand loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that are not easily duplicated by competitors, use information systems to differentiate products and enable new services and products

Efficient Customer Response System

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

Mass customization

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

Customer Experience Management

Management of all the interactions between a customer and a company throughout their entire business relationship

Low-cost Leadership

Use information systems to produce products and services at a lower prices and competitors while enhancing quality and level of service

Focus on market niche

use information systems to enable a focused strategy on a single market niche; specialize

Customer and supplier intimacy

use information systems to develop strong ties and loyalty with customers and suppliers

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 be best applied to achieve a competitive advantage

Primary Activities

activities most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm’s products and services which create value for the customer; include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales, and marketing, and service

Support Activities

Activities that make the delivery of the primary activities possible and consist of the organization infrastructure, human resources, technology, and procurement

Benchmarking

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

Best Practices

The most successful solutions or problem-solving methods that have been developed by a specific organization or industry

Value Web

Customer driven network of independent firms who use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service for a market

Core competency

is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader

Network Economics

refers to market situations where the economic value being produced depends on the number of people using a product.

Platforms

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

Environmental Scanning

Info systems helping managers identify external changes that might require an org response

First Movers

inventors of disruptive technologies, may not benefit if they lack the resources or vision

Fast Followers

firms with the size and resources to capitalize on that technology

Organizational factors in planning a new system

environment; structure (hierarchy, specialization, routines, business processes); culture and politics; type of organization and stye of leadership; main interest groups affected by system; attitudes of end users; tasks, decisions, and business processes the system will assist

Efficient Customer Response System

directly links consumer behavior to distribution, production, and supply chains

Customer Experience Management

Management of all the interactions between a customer and a company throughout their business relationship

Features of Organizations

use of hierarchical structure; accountability, authority in a system of impartial decision making; adherence to the principle of efficiency; routines and business processes; organizational politics, culture, environments, and structures

Business processes

collection of routines

business firm

collection of business processes

organizational politics

divergent viewpoints lead to political struggle, competition, and conflict; political resistance greatly hampers organizational change

organizational culture

encompasses set of assumptions that define goal and product, may be powerful unifying force as well as restraint on change

organizational environments

reciprocal relationship; organizations are open to and dependent on the social and physical environment; organizations can influence their environments; environments generally change faster than organizations; information systems can be instrument of environment scanning ( act as a lens)

Organizational Structure

entrepreneurial, machine bureaucracy, divisionalized bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, adhocracy

economic impacts

IT changes the relative costs of capital and the costs of information; information systems technology is a factor of production like capital and labor; IT affects the cost and quality of information and changes the economics of information, information technology helps firms contract in size because it can reduce transaction costs

Organizational and Behavioral Impacts

IT flattens organizations: decision making is pushed to lower levels, fewer managers are needed

Post Industrial Organizations: organizations flatten because in postindustrial societies, authority increasingly relies on knowledge and competence rather than formal positions