Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology Concepts

Flashcards focusing on key vocabulary from the lecture notes to assist students in reviewing concepts related to information systems and competitive advantage.

Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Financial performance that consistently outperforms industry averages.

Operational Effectiveness

Performing tasks better than rivals but may lead to aggressive competition.

Strategic Positioning

Performing different activities than rivals or the same activities in a different way.

Commodity

A basic good that can be interchanged with nearly identical offerings by others.

Fast Follower Problem

Occurs when competitors enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product.

Imitation-Resistant Value Chain

A way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate, involving technology.

Value Chain

Set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers.

Network Effects

When the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands.

Switching Costs

Costs incurred by consumers when switching from one product to another.

Resource-Based View of Competitive Advantage

A strategic approach suggesting firms must control valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and nonsubstitutable resources.

Patents

Protection granted for innovations deemed useful, novel, and nonobvious, preventing copycat exploitation.

Differentiation

The process of distinguishing a product or offering from others to make it more attractive.

Technology/Research and Development

A component of the value chain focused on innovation, design, and creation of new products.

Brand

The symbolic embodiment of all the information connected with a product or service.

Scale Advantages

Advantages related to size, allowing businesses to spread costs across more units.

Loyalty Programs

Incentives provided by businesses to retain customers and encourage repeat purchases.