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fact

answer

the confirmation or validation of an event or object. In the past, people primarily learned facts from books. Today, by simply pushing a button people can find out anything, from anywhere, at any time.

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the information age

answer

we live in this age, when infinite quantities of information of facts are widely available to anyone who can use a computer. The impact of information technology on the global business environment is equivalent to the printing press's impact on publishing and electricity's impact on productivity.

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data

answer

a core driver of information systems; raw facts that describe the characteristics of an event or object. In the information age, successful managers compile, analyze, and comprehend massive amounts of data daily, which helps them make more successful business decisions.

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information

answer

a core driver of information systems; this is data converted into a meaningful and useful context. The truth about it is that its value is only as good as the people who use it. People using the same information can make different decisions depending on how they interpret or analyze the information. Thus it only has value insofar as the people using it do as well.

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variable

answer

this is a data characteristic that stands for a value that changes or varies over time; price and quantity can vary over time. Changing variables allows managers to create hypothetical scenarios to study future possibilities. Manipulating variables is an important tool for any business.

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business intelligence

answer

a core driver of information systems; information that is collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, competitors, partners, and industries that analyzes patterns, trends, and relationships for strategic decision making. This manipulates multiple variables and in some cases even hundreds of variables including such items as interest rates, weather conditions, and even gas prices; both internal and external variables to anticipate business performance. Used to define the future of business, analyzing markets, industries, and economies to determine the strategic direction the company must follow to remain profitable.

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knowledge

answer

a core driver of information systems; includes the skills, experience, and expertise, coupled with information and intelligence that creates a person's intellectual resources. 'Knowledge workers' are individuals valued for their ability to interpret and analyze information, they use business intelligence along with personal experience to make decisions based on both information and intuition, a valuable resource for any company.

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system

answer

a collection of parts that link to achieve a common purpose. Successful companies operate cross-functionally, integrating the operations of all departments, these are the primary enabler of cross-functional operations. 'Systems thinking' is a way of monitoring the entire system by viewing multiple inputs being processed or transformed to produce outputs while continuously gathering feedback on each part.

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feedback

answer

the information that returns to its original transmitter (input, transform, or output) and modifies the transmitter's actions. This helps the system maintain stability. In this way, systems thinking provides an end-to-end view of how operations work together to create a product or service. Business students who understand this thinking are valuable resources because they can implement solutions that consider the entire process, not just single components.

question

Management Information Systems (MIS)

answer

a business function, like accounting or human resources, which moves information about people, products, and processes across the company to facilitate decision making and problem solving; incorporates systems thinking to help companies operate cross-functionally. Can be an important enabler of business success and innovation, useful as a tool that is most valuable when it leverages the talents of people who know how to use and manage it effectively.

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Chief information officer (CIO)

answer

MIS department roles and responsibilities; is responsible for overseeing all uses of MIS and ensuring that MIS strategically aligns with business goals and objectives.

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Chief knowledge officer (CKO)

answer

MIS department roles and responsibilities; is responsible for collecting, maintaining, and distributing company knowledge.

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Chief privacy officer (CPO)

answer

MIS department roles and responsibilities; is responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal use of information within a company.

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Chief security officer (CSO)

answer

MIS department roles and responsibilities; is responsible for ensuring the security of business systems and developing strategies and safeguards against attacks by hackers and viruses.

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Chief technology officer (CTO)

answer

MIS department roles and responsibilities; is responsible for ensuring the speed, accuracy, availability, and reliability of the MIS.

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business strategy

answer

a leadership plan that achieves a specific set of goals or objectives such as: developing new products or services, entering new markets, increasing customer loyalty, attracting new customers, increasing sales, decreasing costs.

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competitive advantage

answer

a feature of a product or service on which customers place a greater value than they do on similar offerings from competitors. Providing the same product or service either at a lower price or with additional value that can fetch premium prices.Unfortunately, these advantages are typically temporary, because competitors often quickly seek new ways to duplicate them.

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first-mover advantage

answer

occurs when a company can significantly increase its market share by being first with new competitive advantage.

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competitive intelligence

answer

the process of gathering information about the competitive environment, including competitors' plans, activities, and products, to improve a company's ability to succeed. It means understanding and learning as much as possible as soon as possible without it occurring outside the company to remain competitive.

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Porter's Five Force Model

answer

Michael Porter, a university professor at Harvard Business School, identified the following pressures that can hurt potential sales: (1) knowledgeable customers can force down prices by pitting rivals against each other, (2) influential suppliers can drive down profits by charging higher prices for supplies, (3) competition can steal customers, (4) new market entrants can steal potential investment capital, (5) substitute products can steal customers.

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buyer power

answer

the ability of buyers to affect the price they must pay for an item. Factors used to assess this power include number of customers, their sensitivity to price, size of orders, differences between competitors, and availability of substitute products. If this power is high, customers can force a company and its competitors to compete on price, which typically drives price down.

question

switching costs

answer

one way to reduce buyer power is to manipulate _____ ___, costs that make customers reluctant to switch to another produce or service.These costs include financial as well as intangible values.

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loyalty programs

answer

companies can also reduce buyer power with ____ ____, which reward customers based on their spending. The airline industry is famous for its frequent-flyer programs, for instance. Because of the rewards travelers receive, they are more likely to be loyal to give most of their business to a single company.

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supply chain

answer

a ___ ___ consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in obtaining raw materials or a product. In a typical chain, a company will be both a supplier (to customers) and a customer (of other suppliers). 'Supplier power' is the suppliers' ability to influence the prices they charge for supplies (including materials, labor, and services.) Can influence the industry by: charging higher prices, limiting quality or services, or shifting costs to industry participants.

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threat of substitute products or services

answer

this threat is high when there are many alternatives to a produce or service and low when there are few alternatives from which to choose. A company can reduce the threat of substitutes by offering additional value through wider product distribution.

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threat of new entrants

answer

this threat is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers to joining a market. An 'entry barrier' is a feature of a product or service that customers have come to expect and entering competitors must offer the same for survival.

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rivalry among existing competitors

answer

this is high when competition is fierce in a market and low when competitors are more complacent. Although competition is always more intense in some industries than in others, the overall trend is toward increased competition in almost every industry.

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product differentiation

answer

occurs when a company develops unique differences in its products or services with the intent to influence demand. Companies can use differentiation to reduce rivalry.

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business process

answer

a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order. Once a firm identifies the industry it wants to enter and the generic strategy it will focus on, it must then choose the business process required to create its products or services.

question

value chain analysis

answer

to identify competitive advantages, Michael Porter created ___ ___ ____, which views a firm as a series of business processes that each add value to the product or service. The 'value chain' groups a firm's activities into two categories, primary and support value activities. A useful tool in for determining how to create the greatest possible value for customers, create competitive advantage with cost advantage or product differentiation.

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inbound logistics

answer

primary value activity; acquires raw materials and resources and distributes to manufacturing as required.

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operations

answer

primary value activity; transforms raw materials or inputs into goods and services.

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outbound logistics

answer

primary value activity; distributes goods and services to customers.

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marketing and sales

answer

primary value activity; promotes, prices, and sells products to customers.

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service

answer

primary value activity; provides customer support after the sale of goods and services.

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firm infrastructure

answer

support value activity; includes the company format or departmental structures, environment, and systems.

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human resource management

answer

support value activity; provides employee training, hiring, and compensation.

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technology development

answer

support value activity; applies MIS to processes to add value.

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procurement

answer

support value activity; purchases inputs such as raw materials, resources, equipment, and supplies.

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operational

answer

part of the decision-making process; at this level, employees develop, control, and maintain core business activities required to run day-to-day operations. Operational decisions are considered 'structured decisions', which arise in situations where established processes offer potential solutions. These decisions are made frequently and are almost repetitive in nature; they affect short-term business strategies. Reordering inventory and creating the employee staffing and weekly production schedules are examples of routine structured decisions.

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managerial

answer

part of the decision-making process; at this level, employees are continuously evaluating company operations to hone the firm's abilities to identify, adapt to, and leverage change. A company that has a competitive advantage needs to constantly adjust and revise its strategy to remain ahead of fast-following competitors. These decisions cover short and medium-range plans, schedules, and budgets along with policies, procedures and business objectives for the firm. Considered 'semistructured decisions; they occur in situations in which a few established processes help to evaluate potential solutions, but not enough to lead to a definite recommended decision.

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strategic

answer

part of the decision-making process; at this level, managers develop overall business strategies, goals, and objectives as part of the company's strategic plan. They also monitor the strategic performance of the organization and its overall direction in the political, economic, and competitive business environment. Considered highly 'unstructured decisions', occurring in situations in which no procedures or rules exist to guide decision makers toward the correct choice. They are infrequent. extremely important, and typically related to long-term business strategy.

question

project

answer

a temporary activity a company undertakes to create a unique product, service, or result.

question

metrics

answer

measurements that evaluate results to determine whether as project is meeting its goals. Two core metrics are 'critical success factors' and 'key performance indicators'.

question

critical success factors (CSFs)

answer

aspect of metrics; the crucial steps companies perform to achieve their goals and objectives and implement their strategies. Factors include: create high-quality products, retain competitive advantage, reduce product costs, increase customer satisfaction, hire and retain the best business professionals.

question

key performance indicators

answer

aspect of metrics; the quantifiable metrics a company uses to evaluate progress toward critical success factors. They are far more specific, indicators include: turnover rate of employees, % of help desk calls answered in the first minute, number of product returns, number of new customers, average customer spending.

question

market share

answer

a KPI focusing on the external aspect of business, is ____ ____, or the proportion of the market that a firm captures. Measures a firm's external performance relative to that of its competitors.

question

return of investment (ROI)

answer

a common internal KPI, ___ __ ______, which indicates the earning power of a project. We measure it by dividing the profitability of a project by the costs.

question

efficiency MIS metrics

answer

a metric that measures the performance of MIS itself, such as throughput, transaction speed, system availability, information accuracy, and response time. Focuses on the extent to which a firm is using its resources in an optimal way. \"Doing things right.\"

question

effectiveness MIS metrics

answer

a metric that measures the impact MIS has on business processes and activities, including customer satisfaction, customer conversion rates, usability, and financial aspects. Focuses on how well a firm is achieving its goals and objectives. \"Doing the right things.\"

question

online transaction processing (OLTP)

answer

the capture of transaction and event information using technology to (1) process the information according to defined business rules, (2) store the information, and (3) update existing information to reflect the new information. During this process, the organization must capture every detail of transactions and event.

question

transaction processing system (TPS)

answer

the basic business system that serve the operational level (analysis) and assists in making structured decisions. The most common form is an operational accounting system such as a payroll system or an order-entry system.

question

source document

answer

using systems thinking, the inputs for a TPS are ____ _____, the original transaction record.

question

analytical information

answer

encompasses all organizational information, and its primary purpose it to support the performance of managerial analysis or semistructured decisions. Includes transactional information along with other information such as market and industry information. Examples of this information include: trends, sales, product statistics, and future growth projections.

question

online analytical processing (OLAP)

answer

the manipulation of information to create business intelligence in support of strategic decision making. Decision support systems (DSS), model information using this type of process, which provides assistance in evaluating and choosing among different courses of action. DSSs enable high-level managers to examine and manipulate large amounts of detailed data from different internal and external sources.

question

what-if analysis

answer

checks the impact of a change in a variable or assumption on the model. A user is able to observe and evaluate any changes that occurred to the values in the model, especially to a variable such as profits.

question

sensitivity analysis

answer

a special case of what-if analysis, is the study of the impact on other variables when one variable is changed repeatedly. Is useful when users are uncertain about the assumptions made in estimating the value of certain key variables.

question

goal-seeking analysis

answer

this analysis finds the inputs necessary achieve a goal such as a desired level of output. Instead of observing how changes in a variable affect other variables, this analysis sets a target value, or goal, for a variable and then repeatedly changes other variables until the target value is achieved.

question

optimization analysis

answer

type of analysis, is an extension of goal-seeking analysis. Finds the optimum value for a target variable by repeatedly changing other variables, subject to specified constraints. By changing revenue and cost variables in this analysis, managers can calculate the highest potential profits.

question

executive information system (EIS)

answer

a specialized DSS that supports senior-level executives and unstructured, long-term, nonroutine decisions requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight.These decisions do not have right or wrong answer, only efficient and effective answers. Moving through the organizational pyramid, the information goes from fine to coarse; 'granularity' refers to the level of detail in the model or the decision-making process.

question

consolidation

answer

the aggregation of data from simple roll-ups to complex groupings of interrelated information. For example, data for different sales representatives can then be rolled up to an office level, then a state level, then a regional sales level.

question

drill-down

answer

enables users to view details, and details of details, of information. This is the reverse of consolidation; a user can view regional sales data and then go down all the way to each sales representative's data at each office. This capability lets managers view monthly, weekly, daily or even hourly information.

question

slice-and-dice

answer

the ability to look at information from different perspectives. One slice of information could display all product sales during a given promotion. Another slice could display a single product's sales for all promotions. This process if often performed along a time axis to analyze trends and find time-based patterns in the information.

question

artificial intelligence

answer

executive information systems are starting to take advantage of this to facilitate unstructured strategic decision making. 'AI' simulates human thinking and behavior, such as the ability to reason and learn. Its ultimate goal is to build a system that can mimic human intelligence.

question

intelligent systems

answer

various commercial applications of artificial intelligence. They include sensors, software, and devices that emulate and enhance human capabilities, learn, or understand from experience, make sense of ambiguous or contradictory information, and even use reasoning to solve problems and make decisions effectively.

question

expert systems

answer

computerized advisory programs that imitate the reasoning processes of experts in solving different problems. Typically, they include a knowledge base containing various accumulated experience and a set of rules for applying the knowledge base to each particular situation. These systems are the most common form of AI in the business arena.

question

neural network

answer

a category of AI that attempts to emulate the way the human brain works. Neural networks analyze large quantities of information to establish patterns and characteristics in situations where the logic or rules are unknown. Features include: learning and adjusting, lending to massive parallel processing, functioning without completely structured information, coping with huge amounts of info with dependent variables, analyzing nonlinear relationships.

question

fuzzy logic

answer

a mathematical method of handling imprecise or subjective information. The basic approach is to assign values between 0 and 1 to vague or ambiguous information. 0 represents information not included, while 1 represents inclusion or membership.

question

genetic algorithm

answer

an artificial intelligence system that mimics the evolutionary survival-of-the-fittest process to generate increasingly better solutions to a problem. Is essentially an optimizing system: it finds the combination of inputs that gives the best outputs. Can find and evaluate solutions within decision-making environments with thousands of solutions, and much faster than a human.

question

intelligent agents

answer

a special-purpose knowledge-based information system that accomplishes specific tasks on behalf of its users. A simple example is a 'shopping bot', which is a software that will search several retailer websites and provide a comparison of each retailer's offerings including price and availability.

question

virtual reality

answer

a computer-simulated environment that can be a simulation of the real world or an imaginary world. A fast-growing area of AI that had its origins in efforts to build more natural, realistic, multisensory human-computer interfaces. Enables telepresence where users can be anywhere in the world and use virtual reality systems to work along or together at a remote site.

question

As-Is process models

answer

model representing the current state of the operation that has been mapped, without any specific improvements or changes to existing processes. Business process modeling usually begins with a functional process representation of 'what' the process problem is.

question

To-Be process models

answer

model showing the results of applying change change improvement opportunities to the current As-Is process model. This approach ensures that the process is fully and clearly understood before the details of a process solution are decided upon.This process shows 'how' the 'what' is to be realized.

question

streamlining

answer

improves business process efficiencies by simplifying or eliminating unnecessary steps. Implementing this combats bottlenecks and redundancy. 'Bottlenecks' occur when resources reach full capacity and cannot handle any additional demands; they limit throughput and impede operations. 'Redundancy' occurs when a task or activity is unnecessarily repeated.

question

business process re-engineering (BPR)

answer

the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. Companies need breakthrough performance and business process changes just to stay in the game.

question

business process management systems (BPM)

answer

until recently, business-based process improvement initiatives focused on improving workflow or document-based processes that were completed by hand. Now, however, this system focuses on evaluating and improving processes that include both person-to-person workflow and system-to-system communications. These systems include advanced features such as enhanced process modeling, simulation, execution, and monitoring, providing a high level of flexibility while reducing costs. Is a way to build, implement, and monitor automated processes that span organizational boundaries.

question

CPU (central processing unit)

answer

the actual hardware that interprets and executes the program (software) instructions and coordinates how all the other hardware devices work together. The CPU is built on a small flake of silicon and can contain the equivalent of several million transistors. Are unquestionably one of the 20th century's greatest technological advances.

question

primary storage

answer

the computer's main memory, which consists of the random access memory (RAM), the cache memory, and the read-only memory (ROM) that is directly accessible to the central processing unit (CPU)

question

secondary storage

answer

equipment designed to store large volumes of data for long-term storage (e.g. diskette, hard drive, memory card, CD). Storage capacity is expressed in bytes: KB, MB, GB, TB, Petabytes (PB), and Exabytes (EB).

question

control unit

answer

one of two primary CPU components; interprets software instructions and literally tells the other hardware devices what to do, based on the software instructions.

question

arithmetic-logic unit

answer

one of two primary CPU components; performs all arithmetic operations (for example, addition and subtraction) and all logic operations (such as sorting and comparing numbers).

question

clock speed

answer

CPU speed factor; the speed of the internal clock of a CPU that sets the pace at which operations proceed within the computer's internal processing circuitry.

question

word length

answer

CPU speed factor; number of bits (0s and 1s) that can be processed by the CPU at any one time. Computers work in terms of bits and bytes using electrical pulses that have two states: on and off.

question

bus width

answer

CPU speed factor; the size of the internal electricity pathway along which signals are sent from one part of the computer to another. A wider bus can move more data, hence faster processing.

question

chip width line

answer

CPU speed factor; the distance between transistors on a chip. The shorter the chip line width the faster the chip since more transistors can be placed on a chip and the data and instructions travel short distances during processing.

question

RAM (random access memory)

answer

the computer's working memory, in which program instructions and data are stored so that they can be accessed directly by the CPU via the processor's high speed external data bus. Often called read/write memory, it's temporary memory which is erased once the computer is turned off.

question

ROM (read-only memory)

answer

the portion of a computer's primary storage that does not lose its content when one switches off the power. Contains essential system programs that neither the user nor the computer can erase. Since the computer's internal memory is blank during start-up, the computer cannot perform any functions unless given start-up instructions, these instructions are stored here.

question

cache memory

answer

a type of high-speed memory that a processor can access more rapidly than main memory. Built directly into the CPU's circuits.

question

magnetic medium

answer

a secondary storage medium that uses magnetic techniques to store and retrieve data on disks or tapes coated with magnetically sensitive materials. 'Magnetic tape' is an older secondary storage medium that uses a strip of thin plastic coated with a magnetically sensitive recording medium.

question

hard drive

answer

a secondary storage medium that uses several rigid disks coated with a magnetically sensitive material and housed together with the recording heads in a hermetically sealed mechanism. Performance is measured in terms of access time, seek time, rotational speed, and data transfer rate.

question

application software

answer

used for specific information processing needs, including payroll, customer relationship management, project management, training, and many others.

question

benchmarking

answer

process of continuously measuring system results, comparing those results to optimal system performance, and identifying steps and procedures to improve system performance. Help assess how an MIS project performs over time.

question

table tags

answer

HTML; all attributes and table component tags. ,,

,

question

image tags

answer

HTML;

question

hypertext links

answer

HTML; link within a web page and to other web pages and documents.

question

header tags

answer

HTML; , the largest thru

, smallest.

question

list tags

answer

HTML; both ordered and unordered, their attributes and component tag.

question

web page formatting and structure tags

answer

HTML; ,. . bgcolor background text link.

question

font tag and its attributes

answer

HTML; . Size ranges from 1, smallest, to 7, largest.

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