BIS Chapter 3 – Flashcards

Which of the following is NOT a factor to consider in analyzing industry structure as part of an organization's information systems planning process? A)Threat of new entrants B) Bargaining power of supplies C) Threat of substitutions D) Bargaining power of customers E) Lowest cost IT vendors

Which of the following should be the final stage in a typical planning process used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems? A) Information systems B) Value Chains C) Industry structure D) Competitive strategy E) Business processes

Which of the following correctly sequences the stages in a typical planning process used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems? A) Information systems - business process - industry structure - competitive strategy - value chains B) Competitive strategy - industry structure - information systems - business processes - value chains C) Value Chains - business processes - information systems - industry structure - competitive strategy D) Information systems - industry structure - competitive strategy - value chains - business processes E) Industry structure - competitive strategy - value chains - business processes - information systems

Which of the following is NOT one of the four general competitive strategies? A) Better products/services across the industry B) Better product/services within an industry segment C) Lowest cost within an industry segment D) Longest value chain across the industry E) Lowest cost across the industry

Which of the following should be the first stage in a typical planning used by many organizations to develop plans for their information systems? A) Industry structure B) Value Chains C) Business processes D) Competitive strategy E) Information systems

Which of the following is a correct statement regarding competitive forces in Porter's model? A) If customers are loyal to the company or brand, then the strength of the competitive forces is high B) If the cost of switching to another vendor are high, then the loyalty of the customers are low C) If the costs of switching to another vendor are high, then the strength of the competitive forces is high? D) If the costs of switching to another vendor are low, then the strength of the competitive forces is low E) If customers are loyal to the company or brand, then the strength of the competitive force is low

Which of the following statements regarding AllRoad's analysis of competitive forces is correct? A) AllRoad judges the threat from substitutes as strong and the threat of new entrants as strong B) AllRoad judges the threat from substitutes from weak and the threat of new entrants as weak C) AllRoad believes that it can ignore potential threats from substitutes and new entrants D) AllRoad judges the threat from substitutes as weak and the threat of new entrants as strong E) AllRoad judges the threat from substitutes as strong and the threat of new entrants as weak

How do companies use Porter's 5 forces model? A) To select which new products should be developed and brought to market B) To determine which information systems will best fit their company's needs C) To choose the best vendor for the acquisitions of IT systems for their firm D) To help them determine the potential profitability of an industry and as a way of understanding their competitive environments E) To understand the structure of their industry

Porter's five competitive forces can be grouped into which of the following two types? A) Business process and information systems B) Rivalries and value chains C) Strategies and tactics D) Industry Size and competitor strength E) Bargaining power forces and competitive forces

Which of the following is NOT a valid use of Porter's competitive forces model? A) To determine how profitable an industry is B) To determine the characteristics of an industry C) To identify sources of strong competition D) To determine how sustainable an industry's profitability will be E) To determine the year that the industry will become obsolete

Which of the following is NOT one of the factors that Porter cities that must be consistent with an organization's strategy if that organization is to be effective? A) The organization's objectives B) The organization's goals C) The organizations activities D) The organization's culture E) The organization's information systems

To those in the MIS field, Porter's requirement for an organization to be effective means that all information systems in the organization must ____________ . A) network together via the Internet's TCP/IP protocols B) Facilitate the organization's competitive strategy C) be protected behind the company's firewall D) be procured from a single vendor E) Differentiate the organization from its competitors

Porter's competitive strategy that is industry-wide and achieves differentiation for the company is to ________ . A) achieve maximum market share B) eliminate competitors by hostile take-overs C) provide better products and services across the industry D) avoid integration of information systems E) attain maximum profitability

To maintain a strategy that is competitive, All Road must: A) understand 3D printing technology and use it to become the lowest cost provider of products and services in its industry B) understand 3D printing technology and be prepared to address changes in the competitive forces of customer bargaining power and competitive threats as it relates to this technology area C) convert its information systems from 2D to 3D printing technologies D) understand 2D printing technology and be prepared to address when the company should change to 3D technology E) understand 3D printing technology and ensure that all of its information systems can support this technology

In the 2 x 2 matrix depicting Porter's four competitive strategies, which of the following correctly identifies the two horizontal axis and the two vertical axis labels? A) Profit, revenues, cost, and technologies B) Cost, derivatives, processes, and technologies C) Strategy, tactics, cost, and technologies D) Differentiation, profit, focus, and technology-wide E) Cost, differentiation, industry-wide, and focus

Which of the following incorrectly describes the generic value chain? A) it includes five primary activities B) it is applicable only to manufacturing C) it includes four support activities D) it is a network of value-creating activities E) it consists of both primary activities and support and activities

Porter's model of business activities include linkages, which are interactions across value activities. Which of the following is NOT an example of linkage across value activities? A) a manufacturing system that uses the production plan to determine raw material needs and then use the material needs to schedule purchases B) A sales representative in a manufacturing company using information about supply chain disruptions affecting inbound logistics to accurately specify a delivery time frame in a customer's contract C) A manufacturing system that uses sales forecasts to plan production D) The addition of new potential customers to a manufacturing company's database in the sales and marketing function E) Manufacturing systems that use linkages to reduce inventory costs

Which of the following is NOT a primary activity in a value chain? A) operations/manufacturing B) customer service C) inbound logistics D) outbound logistics E) inventory management

Which of the following is NOT a valid characteristic of support activities in the generic value chain? A) they add value, albeit indirectly B) they facilitate the primary activities C) they are business functions that relate directly to the production of the organization's products or services D) they contribute only indirectly to the production, sale, and service of the product E) they have costs associated with them

Value chains exist in service-oriented companies. The difference between a value chain in a manufacturing company and one in a service company is that most of the value in a service company is generated by all of the following EXCEPT: A) marketing B) inbound and outbound logistics C) sales D) operations E) service activities

What must a company do if a value chain's margin is negative? A) The company must immediately re-engineer all of its business processes and modernize all of its information systems or it will soon be bankrupt B) Nothing, negative margins indicate an efficiently performing value chain C) By speeding up inbound logistics and slowing down outbound logistics, the company can make this margin positive D) Nothing, a value chain describes logistics and the Chief Financial Officer will be responsible for producing positive margins E) Either the value must be increased or the costs of the value chain to be reduced

Consider two companies that have the same set of value chain activities. Which of the following statements regarding business process and information systems in these two companies is correct? A) Each company will implement these value chain activities using business process that are consistent with its respective competitive strategy B) The two companies will operate identical information systems C) Because differentiation is one of Porter's competitive strategies, the companies will realize that they cannot both use the same value chain activities,so they will both change their activities. D) Two companies in the same industry can never have the same set of value chain activities. E) The two companies are so similar that they will in fact merge into new enterprise, and then all activities, processes, and information systems will become standardized.

Which of the following statements is correct regarding the relationship among value chains, business processes, and information systems? A) Each value chain in a company is supported by one or more business processes B) Information systems determine the structure of the company's value chains C) Business processes determine the structure of the company's value chains D) After selecting its main information systems vendor, a company then crafts its strategies, value chains, and business processes to conform to that vendor's IT systems E) Value chains do not, and cannot, influence a company's business processes and information systems

Consider two companies that have different strategies but identical value chain activities related to their respective strategies. Which of the following statements is correct? A) Two companies that have different strategies cannot possibly have the same value chain activities B) The information systems in these two companies must be identical because their value chain activities are identical C) Because the industry structure is the same for these two competing companies, both information systems and business process will be identical if their value chain activities are identical D) Value chains determine strategies; therefore, if the two companies have identical value chain activities, then they must have identical strategies E) the business processes used in these two companies will be different

Which of the following statements is correct regarding the relationship between business processes and value chains? A) Business processes and value chains are two entirely different and totally unrelated concepts in business management B) Business processes implement value chains or portions of value chains C) Business processes determine value chains that in turn determine strategies D) Business processes determine strategies that in turn determine the value chain E) Primary activity in the value chain determines the business processes and the secondary activities determine the required information systems

An information system can be part of a product (product implementation) or it can provide support for a product or service (process implementation). Which of the following is NOT a process implementation? A) establish alliances B) lock in suppliers C) Raise barriers to entry D) reduce costs E) enhance products and services

Which of the following statements is NOT correct regarding the ways in which information systems (IS) can provide competitive advantages to a company? A) IS can provide the framework for two or more companies to work closely together, forming an alliance B) IS can help to differentiate a company's products and services form its competitors C) IS can help to make it difficult or expensive for a customer to switch to a competitor D) IS can help to create new products and services E) Strategies and business processes can generate competitive advantages, but IS cannot

An information system can be part of a product (product implementation), or it can provide support for a product or service (process implementation). Which of the following is NOT a product implementation? A) create a new service B) lock in suppliers C) Enhance products and services D) create a new product E) differentiate products and services

Consider the shipping company ABC, Inc., which has developed and implemented a web-based information system to handle customer interactions in scheduling a shipment. Which of the following statements correctly describes how this information system provides competitive advantage to ABC, Inc.? A) Although the interface is fun for customers to use, it actually increases the amount of work that a customer must perform to schedule a shipment B) The information system helps to differentiate the ABC package delivery product from competitors that do not have a similar system C) Because anyone can access the World Wide Web, this system enables ABC, Inc., to "steal" customers away from competitors D) The system does not provide competitive advantages to ABC, Inc. It was developed and implemented because the company's Chief Information Officer thought that the technology was interesting. E) This system increases net costs to ABC, Inc., so in fact it is a competitive disadvantage

Information systems can provide competitive advantages to a company by all of the following ways EXCEPT: A) reducing operating costs B) establishing low switching costs for customers C) enhancing an existing product or service D) providing excellent customer care and easy to use web site that promotes customer loyalty and helps to lock in existing customers E) facilitating interactions between companies to support alliances

The generic value chain consists of _____ activities and four support activities. A) two customer service B) four logistics C) several marketing D) five primary E) two operations

Relative to value chain activities, the acquisition of parts to build your primary product would be ______ . A) operations B) inbound logistics C) manufacturing D) outbound logistics E) support activities