Deck 2: The Information Systems Strategy Triangle

Question 1

The general manager for a retail clothing outlet was recently cited as saying, "IT is the cornerstone of our company. All of our decisions are based on the sophisticated systems that we have deployed throughout our organization. IT drives our decisions." What position should the manager hold regarding IT and its influence on decision making?

A) IT should drive business decisions.
B) Organizational goals should drive IT decisions.
C) Organizational strategy should drive IS decision making.
D) Business strategy should drive IS decision making
E) All strategy should be driven by IT strategy.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Organizational, cultural, and control variables are considered the ________ used by decision makers to effect change in their organization.

A) collaboration tools
B) managerial levers
C) events
D) IS
E) organization objectives

Answer 2

B

Question 3

By using IS to achieve economies of scale and generate operating efficiencies, Walmart epitomizes which one of Porter's generic strategies?

A) Differentiation
B) Focus
C) Cost leadership
D) Broad focus
E) Cost differentiation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The "Managerial Levers" concept is useful for the following reasons:

A) Management can find what "levers" to push to force people to do what they want.
B) Management should not make a change unless they align multiple issues, such as tasks, measures, values, incentives, etc.
C) System investments need to be financially highly leveraged.
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 5

Significant changes in IS should trigger a reassessment of the _____________.

A) business strategy
B) social strategy
C) process strategy
D) data strategy
E) system strategy

Question 6

A bank provides its customers mobile applications that significantly simplify traditional banking activities. For example, a customer can use a smartphone to take a picture of a check and electronically deposit into an account. This unique service demonstrates the bank's desire to practice which one of Porter's strategies?

A) Differentiation
B) Focus
C) Cost leadership
D) Broad focus
E) Cost differentiation

Question 7

General managers should take an active role in decisions about information systems. This is vital because:

A) The IS department cannot be trusted to make good decisions.
B) The IS department has not been trained to make general business decisions.
C) The IS department does not have the company's best interests as its focus.
D) Information systems are designed to support business objectives.
E) Information systems are normally incongruent with business strategies.

Question 8

The physical means by which information is exchanged among hardware components is called _______.

A) hardware
B) software
C) networking
D) personnel
E) data

Question 9

The ____________ is a plan articulating where a business seeks to go and how it expects to get there.

A) vision statement
B) mission statement
C) stakeholder statement
D) stockholder statement
E) business strategy

Question 10

When a company's business strategy and technology strategy are intertwined, this situation is known as _______.

A) convergence
B) alignment
C) dynamic
D) differentiation
E) technologically adjusted

Question 11

Google has disrupted a number of industries, particularly the advertising and software industries. Google's ability to quickly and aggressively provide new products and services is best described by:

A) Porter's Generic Strategies
B) The Hypercompetition Model
C) The Information Systems Strategy Triangle
D) The Social Business Strategy
E) Customer Relationship Management

Question 12

To remain competitive, an organization's business strategy must adapt and respond to all of the following variables. Which variable in particular does IS help to determine?
1) Market forces
2) Customer demands
3) The capabilities of the organization
4) The organization's mission
5) Organizational design

A) Market forces
B) Customer demands
C) The capabilities of the organization
D) The organization's mission
E) Organizational design

Question 13

Through the use of various technologies, a ski resort tracks the slopes each customer skis and the times he or she skis them. Skiers then have the ability to view this information online, and can choose to seamlessly share their accomplishments on Facebook. In addition, photographers positioned at the resort post pictures on Facebook for the skier. This ski resort has worked hard to develop a strong:

A) IS Strategy
B) Social business strategy
C) Business strategy
D) Organizational strategy
E) Customer strategy

Question 14

All of the following are likely causes of Kaiser Permanente's difficulties before their new KPHealthConnect EXCEPT for:

A) Bonus incentives not matching strategy
B) The alignment of the Information Systems Strategy Triangle
C) The failure of automated systems
D) The leadership and organizational culture
E) Patient service processes needing to be updated and streamlined

Question 15

This framework is called the ____________________ because it relates business strategy with IS strategy and organizational strategy.

A) Porter's Generic Framework
B) Hypercompetition Model
C) Information Technology Matrix
D) IS Strategy Model
E) Information Systems Strategy Triangle

Question 16

A social business strategy is designed to use social IT tools for all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Collaborating with stakeholders
B) Building deeper connections with stakeholders
C) Innovating with stakeholders
D) Excluding stakeholders
E) Networking with employees, customer and/or suppliers

Question 17

A general manager should:

A) Rely on IS personnel to make IS decisions
B) Ignore how IS are used and managed
C) Have a deep technical knowledge of IS
D) Understand the use and consequences of technologies relevant to the business
E) Not be expected to ask or understand technology related questions

Question 18

Organizations seek to gain a competitive advantage by differentiation, cost, or _________.

A) service
B) focus
C) profit
D) value
E) speed

Question 19

The organizational strategy should ideally _____ the IS strategy.

A) drive
B) complement
C) dictate
D) ignore
E) sustain

Question 20

Before Kaiser Permanente adopted its new business strategy, its IS Strategy Triangle was out of __________.

A) control
B) alignment
C) adjustment
D) scope
E) specification

Question 21

A social business strategy needs to align itself with the organization's IT strategy but not the business strategy.

Question 22

Which one of the following is NOT part of the information systems strategy matrix?

A) Hardware
B) Software
C) Networking
D) Personnel
E) Data

Question 23

When an organization qualifies its product or service in a way that allows it to appear unique in the marketplace, this is called:

A) Focus
B) Differentiation
C) Cost Leadership
D) Business Strategy
E) Mission

Question 24

Which is not a question that can be used to understand organizational design?

A) Who holds the decision rights to critical decisions?
B) What are the characteristics, experiences, and skill levels of the people within the organization?
C) Where is the organization's headquarters located?
D) What are the key business processes?
E) What is the culture of the organization?

Question 25

Once a firm is out of alignment, it does not mean that it has to stay that way.

Question 26

Business strategies based on hypercompetition focus on customer satisfaction and profit maximization but also build in a component of business intelligence. Business intelligence helps an agile organization to:

A) Predict and respond to new opportunities
B) Use current information technologies less extensively
C) Manage internal challenges
D) React to supplier demands
E) Collaborate

Question 27

There has been accelerated competition among market leaders concurrent with the increases in the quality and quantity of IT investments.

Question 28

Technology guru Tim O'Reilly said this about the publishing industry: "To adapt, publishers need to cannibalize their own business, experimenting with new forms, new formats, and new business models." This statement is consistent with:

A) Generic framework
B) Focus strategy
C) Hypercompetition
D) Direct strategy
E) Porter's generic strategies

Question 29

According to Porter's Generic Strategies Framework, a company that limits its scope to a narrower segment of the market is exercising this type of strategy.

Question 30

GE recognized that it could only sustain its competitive advantage for a limited time as competitors attempted to outmaneuver them. What was the model that Welch applied to help solve this problem?

A) Destroy your organization
B) Grow your organization
C) Destroy your system
D) Grow your system
E) Destroy your business

Question 31

The managerial lever includes organization, control, and ___________________________.

Question 32

The IS strategy drives the business strategy.

Question 33

Apple's introduction of the iPhone while iPod sales were still very strong is an example of DYB.

Question 34

The managerial levers identifies the crucial, interrelated components for designing an organization. The components include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Decision rights
B) Social media
C) Business processes
D) Incentives and rewards
E) Performance measurement and evaluation

Question 35

The _______________ framework suggests that the speed and aggressiveness of the moves and countermoves in any given market create an environment in which advantages are "rapidly created and eroded."

Question 36

L.L. Bean is an online/catalog retail company that aggressively uses tools like instant messaging to communicate with customers regarding potential purchases and uses Facebook for branding activities. This use of technology supports which strategy?

A) IS strategy
B) Business strategy
C) Organizational strategy
D) Mission strategy
E) Social business strategy

Question 37

A clear and compelling statement that unifies an organization's efforts and describes what the organization is all about is called its _________.

Question 38

Hypercompetition refers to where a firm obtains more than 5 strong competitors.

Question 39

To avoid unwanted consequences, altering the IT Strategy requires adjustments to the organizational strategy.

Question 40

The plan an organization uses to provide information systems and services:

A) Cost Leadership
B) Differentiation
C) Focus
D) IS Strategy
E) Business Diamond

Question 41

Social business opportunities fall into one of three categories: collaboration, engagement or ______.

Question 42

Dell's original business strategy was to only sell custom-built computer systems directly to customers. Dell now sells to major retail outlets such as Walmart and Best Buy. Which one of Porter's generic strategies was Dell exhibiting when only selling directly to the customer? And which one of Porter's generic strategies is Dell demonstrating today? Explain your answers.

Question 43

CRM stands for ________________.

Question 44

What is alignment in the context of the Information Systems Strategy Triangle and why is it important for a business to be in alignment?

Question 45

GE employees develop a DYB strategy to destroy an existing competitive advantage so that they can then find fresh new ways to serve the customer by next applying a ________ strategy.

Question 46

Today's market place is considered to be a very competitive and dynamic environment. Explain what this means and give examples of this competitive dynamic.

Question 47

In order to assess the critical issues in information management, a manager should know the IS infrastructure components. These are hardware, software, network and _______.

Question 48

Is a company more likely to adjust its mission statement or its business strategy? Explain your answer.

Question 49

Match the following goals with the UPS strategy it represents.

Question 50

The IS strategy can affect and is affected by changes in a company's business and _______ strategies.

Question 51

According to Porter, a company that makes its services available 24/7 would be practicing a _________ strategy.

Question 52

List the three categories of social business opportunities and give an example of each.