MIS Chapter 3 (1/2) – Flashcards

Economic theory that veiws the firm as a nexus of contractsamong self-interested individuals who must be supervised and managed.

involves comparing the effciency and effectiveness of your business processes against strict standards and then measuring peformance against those standards.

are usually identified by consulting companies, research organizations, governement agencies, and industry associations as the most successful solutions or problem-solving methods for consistently and effectively achieving a business objective.

is another term for these loosely coupled but interdependent networks of suppliers, distributors, outsourcing firms, transportation service firms, and technology manufacturers.

is a business framework devised by Michael Porter. Model used to describe the interaction of external influences, specifically threats and opportunities, that affect an organization's strategy and ability to compete.

is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader.

are substitute products that perform as well or better than anything currently produced.

directly links consumer behavior to distribution and production and supply chains.

is the ability to offer individually tailored products or services using the same production resources as mass production.

Business models based on a network may help firms strategically by taking advantage of network economics. In traditional economics— the economics of factories and agriculture— production experiences diminishing returns. 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 outputs. This is the law of diminishing returns, and it is the foundation for most of modern economics.

is a stable, formal social structure that takes resources from the environment and processed them to produce outputs.

are most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm's products and services, which create value for the customer. Primary activities include inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and services.

Competitive strategy for creatign brand loyalty by developing new and unique products and services that are not easily duplicated by competitors.

Precise rules, procedures and practices that have been developed to cope with expected situations.

A movement from one level of sociotechnical system to another. Often required when adopting strategic systems that demand changes in the social and technical elements of an organization.

Activities that make the delivery of a firm's primary activities possible. Consist of the organization's infrastructure, human resourse, technology, and procurement.

The expense a customer or company incurs in the lost time and expenditure of resources when changing from one supplier or system to competing supplier or system.

Economic theory stating that firms grow larger because they can conduct marketplace transactions internally more cheaply than the can with external firms in the marketplace.

Model that 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 toachieve a competitive advantage.

Customer-driven network of independent firms who use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service for a subscription basis.

Organization using networks to link people, assets and ideas to create and distribute products and services without being limited to traditional organizational boundaries or physical location.