Management Information Systems - MBA 703

Management Information Systems (MIS)

A business function, like accounting and human resources, which moves information about people, products, and processes across the company to facilitate decision-making and problem-solving

Big Data

a broad term for datasets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate.

Internet of Things (IoT)

a world where interconnected, Internet-enabled devices or "things" can collect and share data without human intervention

Information systems literacy

Broad-based understanding of information systems that includes behavioral knowledge about organizations and individuals using information systems as well as technical knowledge about computers.

Computer literacy

The ability to use computers for basic tasks, such as developing documents, sending emails and searching the internet for information.

Cloud Computing

the practice of using a network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

raised the executive and board responsibilities and ties criminal penalties to certain accounting and financial violations.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

a systematic process of ensuring that your firm comes up at or near the top of lists of typical search phrases related to your business

search engine marketing (SEM)

a type of web advertising whereby companies pay for keywords that are used to catch consumers' attention while browsing a search engine

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

a company-wide business strategy designed to optimize profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction by focusing on highly defined and precise customer groups

Knowledge Management Systems

software that stores and organizes expertise possessed by individual employees so that the knowledge can be shared and used by others

sustainable competitive advantage

Something the firm can persistently do better than its competitors. Difficult to achieve due to the rapid emergence of new products and new competitors

Operational Effectiveness

performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them

Value Chain

the series of internal departments that carry out value-creating activities to design, produce, market, deliver, and support a firm's products

Five Forces Model

A framework that identifies five forces that determine the profit potential of an industry and shape a firm's competitive strategy.

Commodity

a product that is the same no matter who produces it, such as petroleum, notebook paper, or milk

fast follower problem

Exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn from their successes and missteps, then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product at a lower cost before the first mover can dominate.

Strategic Positioning

Performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different way.

Resource-based view

A model that argues that rare and inimitable resources help firms maintain competitive advantage. Valuable, Rare, Imperfectly Imitable, Non-Substitutable

Straddling

Attempts to occupy more than one position, while failing to match the benefits of a more efficient, singularly focused rival.

Value

the amount of money that a customer is willing to pay for a resource, product, or service

Primary Activities

firm activities that add value directly by transforming inputs into outputs as the firm moves a product or service horizontally along the internal value chain (Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales, Service)

Support Activities

firm activities that add value indirectly, but are necessary to sustain primary activities (Firm Infrastructure, Human Resource Management, Technology Development, Procurement)