MIS Exam 1

How many of the top degrees in demand are technology related?

4/10

what era are we in right now

the big tech era

what industry is the biggest right now in the S&P500

Information Technology

what major makes the most money

MIS

how long will MIS jobs be around?

demand for workers in these occupations will be driven by the continuing need for businesses, government agencies and other organizations to adopt and utilize the latest technologies

how much are information technology jobs projected to grow

15% adding 682,800 new jobs from 2021-2031

what is digital transformation

a process that aims to improve an organization “by triggering significant changes to its properties through combinations of information, computing, communication and connectivity technologies”

what is the SMACIT acronym

social, mobile, analytics, cloud and the Internet of Things

what percent of firms are failing at digital transformation

72%

how is technology changing the accounting, marketing and transportation industries

accounting: AI is doing audits remotely

marketing: content generation

transportation: amazon drivers are hired and fired by bots

what are some of the new technologies

generative AI, internet of things and cloud computing and software

what have new technologies done

• fueled globalization

• redefined concepts of software and computing

• crushed costs

• fueled data-driven decision-making

  • automating work

who were most of the world’s most successful technology created by

young people in college

what does IPO mean?

initial public stock offering, the first time a firm makes shares available via a public stock exchange, also known as “going public”

what is the largest IPO of all time?

Alibaba- the world’s most valuable retailer from China

What other country is on the rise in the technology industry?

India- starting to match China in consumer internet influence

how can mobile money help in African countries?

it cuts the corruption of transactions- especially in paychecks

what is the Internet of Things

a vision where low-cost sensors, processors and communication are embedded into a wide array of products and out environment, allowing a vast network to collect data, analyze input and automatically coordinate collective action

who are some of the college kids/young people who started major companies

Bill Gates- Microsoft

Michael Dell- Dell Computers

Mark Zuckerberg- Facebook

Steve Jobs- Apple

Sergey Brin and Larry page: Google

Kevin Systrom- Instagram

what is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

also known as Sarbox or SOX; US Legislation enacted in the wake of the accounting scandals of the early 2000’s

* raises executive and blrd responsibility and ties criminal penalties to certain accounting and financial violations
* seen as raising the stakes for mismanagement and misdeeds related to a firm’s accounting practices

is technology taking over just the tech industry?

no all industries will eventually be affected by the tech era that we are in right now

as a manager, what is the most valuable yet most difficult skill to master

the ability to size up a form’s strategic position and understand its likelihood of sustainability

what is sustainable competitive advantage?

financial performance that consistently outperforms industry averages

who is the father of the value chain and the 5 forces concepts

michael Porter

according to Porter, what is the reason so many firms suffer aggressive, margin-eroding competition

they have defined themselves according to operations effectiveness rather than strategic positioning

what is operational effectiveness

performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them

what is a commodity

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

* the more commoditized an offering, the greater the likelihood that competition will be based on price

what is the fast follower problem?

exists when savvy rivals watch a pioneer’s efforts, learn form 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

what is augmented reality

a technology that superimposes content, such as images or animation, on top of real-world images

what is strategic positioning

performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different way

what was the CEO of Fresh Direct’s goal in launching the firm

addressing the gaping quality gap between store-bought produce and the goods that the restaurant were using

what is Fresh Direct?

a website offering a product mix heavy on fresh produce as well as one-click menus and semi-prepared specials in New York

what is the percentage of food waste at fresh direct compared to other grocers

Fresh Direct food waste is about 1% and other grocers throw out 1 in 7 truckloads of food delivered to stores

what are inventory turns

sometimes referred to as inventory turnover, stock turns or stock turnover. The number of times inventory is sold or used during a given period

* a higher figure means that a firm is selling product quickly

what kind of food does Fresh Direct specialize in selling

perishable food

who does fresh direct buy from

directly from the suppliers- eliminating the middle men when possible

what are slotting fees?

the payments by suppliers for prime shelf space

what is straddling

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

why can’t traditional grocers copy Fresh Direct’s delivery business

it would leave them straddling two markets and they would be unable to gain optimal benefits from either

who is Fresh Direct’s biggest rival?

Amazon Fresh

why do consumers not like Amazon Fresh

early reviews have criticized the firm for a poor online shopping experience and an uneven selection

what is resource-based view of competitive advantage

the strategic thinking approach suggesting that if a firm is to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, it must control an exploitable resource or set of resources, that have four critical characterisitics

* must be valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and nonsubstitutable

what is dense wave division multiplexing

a technology that increases the transmission capacity (and hence speed) of fiber-optic cable. Transmissions using fiber are accomplished by transmitting light inside “glass” cables .

what is an imitation-resistant value chain

a way of doing business that competitors struggle to replicate and that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role

what is the value chain

the set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered to customers

what are the 5 primary components of the value chain

inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and support

what are the secondary components of the value chain

firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology/R&D and procurement

what is a brand

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

what does a strong brand do

proxies quality and inspires trust

what is viral marketing

leveraging consumers to promote a product or service

what are scale advantages

advantages related to size

what are economies of scale

when costs can be spread across increasing units of production or in serving multiple customers

what does scalable mean

firms that benefit from scale economies as they grow is referred to as being scalable

the scale of technology investment required to run a business can also act as a what?

barrier to entry, discouraging new, smaller competitors

what are switching costs

the cost a consumer incurs when moving from one product to another

being aware of major sources of competitive advantage can help managers how?

recognize an organization’s opportunities and vulnerabilities and brainstorm winning strategies

what are secondary value activities?

activities that provide the inputs and infrastructure so the primary activities can take place

what are primary value activities

represents the flow of goods and services

goal is to create value that exceeds the cost of conducting that activity

why would we use the value chain framework

to consider a firm’s differences and distinctiveness compared to rivals

reveal operational weaknesses

what are network effects

also known as Metcalfe’s Law or network externalities; when the value of a product or service increases as its number of users expands

what are distribution channels

the path through which products or services get to customers

what are application programming interfaces (APIs)

programming hooks or guidelines published by firms that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task such as send or receive data

what are affiliates

third parties that promote a product or service, typically in exchange for a cut of any sales

what are non-practicing entities (NPE)

commonly known as patent trolls, these firms make money by acquiring and asserting patents, rather than bringing products and services to market

what does private mean

“to go private” or “take a firm private” buying a publicly traded firm’s shares

what is the most popular frameworks for examining a firm’s competitive environment

Porter’s 5 Forces

what are Porter’s 5 forces (Industry and Competitive analysis)

a framework considering the interplay between the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitute goods or services, the bargaining power of buyers and the bargaining power of suppliers

what is price transparency

the degree to which complete information is available

what is information asymmetry

a decision situation where one party has more or better information than its counterparty

what do switching costs weaken

buyer bargaining power

what are the two most pressing problems for Big Apple shoppers

selection is limited and prices are high

what is a product market fit

a key concept in entrepreneurship and new product development that conveys the degree to which a product satisfies market demand

what is a data asset

competitive advantage related to data which the firm can leverage and which rivals are not able to match

what is the 4th industrial revolution

rapid change to technology, industries and societal patterns and processes due to increasing interconnectivity and intelligent technologies

* analytics, algorithms and artifical intelligence

what do analytics, algorithms and artifical intelligence reduce the need for

managers and professionals to coordinate and control work

intelligent tech is doing what the the hierarchy

flattening it

what is computing hardware

the physical components of information technology, which can include the computer itself plus peripherals such as storage devices

what is software

a computer program or a collection of programs. a precise set of instructions that tells hardware what to do

what is the operating system

the software that controls the computer hardware and establishes standard for developing and executing applications

* provides a common set of controls for managing computer hardware

what are applications

includes desktop applications, enterprise software, utilities, and other programs that perform specific tasks for users and organizations

what is user interface (UI)

the mechanism through which users interact with a computing device, includes elements of the graphical user interface (GUI) such as windows, scroll bars, buttons, menus etc.

what is firmware

software stored on nonvolatile memory chips (as opposed to being stored on devices such as hard drives or removable discs)

what are embedded systems

special-purpose software designed and included inside physical products

what is a platform

products and services that allow for the development and integration of software products and other complementary goods

what is desktop software

applications installed on a personal computer, typically supporting tasks performed by a single user

what is enterprise software

applications that address the needs of multiple users throughout an organization or work group

• software package that intergrates the many functions of a business

• SAP and Oracle

what is a software package

a software product offered commercially by a third party

what is enterprise resource planning (ERP)

a software package that integrates the many functions of a business

what is customer relationship management (CRM)

systems used to support customer-related sales and marketing activities

what is supply chain management (SCM)

systems that can help a firm manage aspects of its value chain, from the flow of raw materials into the firm, through delivery of finished products and services at the point-of-consumption

what are business intelligence (BI) systems

systems that use data created by other systems to provide reporting and analysis for organizational decision-making

what is a database management system (DBMS)

sometimes referred to as database software; software for creating, maintaining and manipulating data

* can be set up to work with several applications both within and outside the firm

what is distributed computing

a form of computing where systems in different locations communicate and collaborate to complete a task

what is a server

software context: a program that fulfills the requests of a client

* hardware context: a computer that has been configured to support requests from other computers

what is a client

a software program that makes requests of a server program

the world wide web is what kind of system

a client-server system

* client makes the request and the server receives and attempts to fulfill that request

what is an application server

software that houses and serves business logic for use (and reuse) by multiple applications

what are web services

small pieces of code that are accessed via the application server, and permit interoperable machine to machine interaction over a network

what are application programming interfaces (APIs)

programming hooks or guidelines, published by firms that tell other programs how to get a service to perform a task such as send or receive data

what is a service-oriented architecture (SOA)

a robust set of Web services built around an organization’s processes and procedures