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C) value chain analysis
D) strategic systems analysis
61) The most successful solutions or methods for achieving a business objective are called
A) value activities.
B) best processes.
C) core competencies.
D) best practices.
62) How are information systems used at the industry level to achieve strategic advantage?
A) by building industry-wide, IT-supported consortia and symposia
B) by raising the bargaining power of suppliers
C) by encouraging the entry of new competitors
D) by enforcing standards that reduce the differences between competitors
63) A collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value
chains to produce a product or service for a market collectively is called a(n)
A) industry value chain.
B) business ecosystem.
C) value web.
D) consortia.
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64) If two organizations pool markets and expertise that result in lower costs and generate
profits it is often referred to as creating
A) a value web.
B) a value chain.
C) synergies.
D) core competencies.
65) An example of synergy in business is
A) Amazon’s use of the Internet to sell books.
B) JP Morgan Chase’s mergers with other banks that provided JP Morgan with a network
of retail branches in new regions.
C) Blockbuster combining traditional video rental with online video rental.
D) Walmart’s order entry and inventory management system to coordinate with suppliers.
66) An information system can enhance core competencies by
A) providing better reporting facilities.
B) creating educational opportunities for management.
C) allowing operational employees to interact with management.
D) encouraging the sharing of knowledge across business units.
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67) The more any given resource is applied to production, the lower the marginal gain in output,
until a point is reached where the additional inputs produce no additional output. This is
referred to as
A) the point of no return.
B) the law of diminishing returns.
C) supply and demand.
D) network inelasticity.
68) Network economics
A) applies the law of diminishing returns to communities of users.
B) applies traditional economics to networked users.
C) sees the cost of adding new members as inconsequential.
D) balances the high cost of adding new members to a community against the lower cost of
using network infrastructure.
69) A virtual company
A) uses the capabilities of other companies without being physically tied to those
companies.
B) uses Internet technology to maintain a virtual storefront.
C) uses Internet technology to maintain a networked community of users.
D) provides entirely Internet-driven services, or virtual products.
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70) An example of a keystone firm within a business ecosystem is
A) Apple and software application writers in the mobile platform ecosystem.
B) GUESS and the fashion ecosystem.
C) Citibank and the ATM ecosystem.
D) American Airlines and the computerized reservation ecosystem.
71) The emergence, for Amazon.com, of new competitors in the sphere of online shopping
illustrates what disadvantage posed by the use of information systems to achieve
competitive advantage?
A) E-commerce is affected by the law of diminishing returns.
B) Internet technologies are universal, and therefore usable by all companies.
C) Internet shopping produces cost transparency.
D) The Internet enables the production or sales of substitute products or services.
72) You are consulting for a beverage distributor who is interested in determining the benefits it
could achieve from implementing new information systems. What will you advise as the
first step?
A) Identify the business ecosystem the distributor is in.
B) Implement a strategic transition to the new system.
C) Perform a strategic systems analysis.
D) Benchmark existing systems.
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73) Disruptive technologies are tricky. Firms that invent disruptive technologies as
______________________________________________________________.
A) as “first movers” always benefit if they lack the resources to exploit the technology or
fail to see the opportunity.
B) as “first agents” do not always benefit if they lack the resources to exploit the
technology or fail to see the opportunity.
C) as “first movers” do not always benefit if they lack the resources to exploit the
technology or fail to see the opportunity.
D) as “first agents” always benefit if they lack the resources to exploit the technology or
fail to see the opportunity.
74) A/An ________________describes a young, small firm in a fast-changing environment. It
has a simple structure and is managed by an entrepreneur serving as its single chief
executive officer.
A) Machine bureaucracy
B) Divisionalized bureaucracy
C) Entrepreneurial structure
D) Adhocracy
75) Using computer links to external suppliers, the Chrysler Corporation can achieve economies
by obtaining more than 70 percent of its parts from the outside. ____________________
make it possible for companies such as Cisco Systems and Dell Inc. to outsource their
production to contract manufacturers such as Flextronics instead of making their products
themselves.
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A) Information systems
B) Divisionalized systems
C) Entrepreneurial systems
D) Knowledge systems
76) Information systems can reduce the number of levels in an organization by providing
managers with in- formation to supervise larger numbers of workers and by giving lower-
level employees more decision- making authority. This process describes a process of
______________________.
A) Flattening Organizations
B) Fattening Organizations
C) Forming Organizations
D) Feeding Organizations
77) Information systems can reduce the number of levels in an organization by providing
managers with in- formation to supervise larger numbers of workers and by giving lower-
level employees more decision- making authority. This process describes a process of
______________________.
A) Flattening Organizations
B) Fattening Organizations
C) Forming Organizations
D) Feeding Organizations
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78) The availability of Internet and networking technologies have inspired strategies that take
advantage of firms’ abilities to create networks or network with each other. Network-based
strategies include the use of ___________________________________ ecosystems.
A) network economics, a simulated company model, and business
B) network economics, a virtual company model, and business
C) network economics, a virtual company model, and political
D) network economics, a simulated company model, and political
79) Successfully using information systems to achieve a competitive advantage is challenging
and requires precise coordination of ________________________.
A) network economics, organizations, and management
B) technology, organizations, and management
C) technology, organizations, and political
D) a simulated company model, technology, and management
80) _______________________is another term for these loosely coupled but interdependent
networks of suppliers, distributors, outsourcing firms, transportation service firms, and
technology manufacturers.
A) Management ecosystem
B) Technology ecosystem
C) Political ecosystem
D) Business ecosystem
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81) Research on project implementation failures demonstrates that the most common reason for
failure of large projects to reach their objectives is _______________________________.
A) the political resistance to change and also failure of the technology.
B) not the political resistance to change but failure of the technology.
C) the failure of the technology, and also organizational and political resistance to change.
D) not the failure of the technology, but organizational and political resistance to change.
82) In a ____________________such as a hospital, it is not unusual to find parallel patient
record systems operated by the administration, doctors, and other professional staff such as
nurses and social workers.
A) professional small business
B) professional theocracy
C) professional adhocracy
D) professional bureaucracy
83) Capital and ________ are the primary production inputs that the organization uses to create
products and services.
84) Organizational ________ describes the divergent viewpoints about how resources, rewards,
and punishments should be distributed, and the struggles resulting from these differences.
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85) New technologies that radically change the business landscape and environment are referred
to as ________.
86) ________ are the expenses incurred by a customer or company in lost time and resources
when changing from one supplier or system to a competing supplier or system.
87) The ________ model 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.
88) A(n) ________ activity is a part of the organization’s infrastructure, human resources,
technology, and procurement that makes the delivery of the firm’s products or services
possible.
89) A(n) ________ is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to
coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service for a market.
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90) A(n) ________ is an activity at which a firm excels as a world-class leader.
91) Sociotechnical changes affecting a firm adopting new information systems requiring
organizational change can be considered ________.
92) In the ___________________ definition of organizations, capital and labour are
transformed by the firm through the production process into products and services.
93) _____________________ change requires changes in who owns and controls information,
who has the right to access and update that information, and who makes decisions about
whom, when, and how.
94) _________________________— sometimes called standard operating procedures—are
precise rules, procedures, and practices that have been developed to cope with virtually all
expected situations.
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95) Information systems are key instruments for_____________________________, helping
managers identify external changes that might require an organizational response.
96) As ___________________ costs decrease, firm size (the number of employees) should shrink
because it becomes easier and cheaper for the firm to contract for the purchase of goods and
services in the marketplace rather than to make the product or offer the service itself.
97) Differentiate between the technical and behavioral definitions of an organization.
98) You are advising the owner of Smalltown Computer, a new, local computer repair store that
also builds custom computers to order. What competitive strategies could Smalltown
Computer exert? Which ones will it have difficulty exercising?
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99) You are consulting with the owner of Better Bodies, a national chain of gyms. What
strategies might Better Bodies use in applying information services to achieve a competitive
advantage?
100) The text describes Michael Porter’s view of the Internet as somewhat negative. What
negative influences does Porter see? Describe several positive influences the Internet has on
business. Do these outweigh the negative influences?
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101) Value chain analysis is useful at the business level to highlight specific activities in the
business where information systems are most likely to have a strategic impact. Discuss this
model, identify the activities, and describe how the model can be applied to the concept of
information technology.
102) How is the concept of core competency relevant to Smalltown computer, a local computer
repair store that builds custom computers? Give examples.
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103) How is Internet technology useful from a network economics perspective? Give examples.
104) Define and describe a business ecosystem. Give an example of a business ecosystem.
Laudon/Laudon/Brabston, Management Information Systems, Seventh Canadian Edition
105) Describe in detail the major factors to determine when performing a strategic systems
analysis.
106) Describe how information systems can be used to achieve strategic advantage at the
industry level?
107) New information system applications require that individual routines and business processes
change to achieve high levels of organizational performance. Why is this change so difficult
in an organization?
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108) How do disruptive technologies radically change the business landscape and environment?