Deck 3: Strategic Use of Information Resources

Question 1

Many companies like Zara use POS to capture information on what has sold, to whom and when. This use of technology to realize efficiencies supports which one of Porter's value chain activities?

A) Outbound Logistics
B) Marketing & Sales
C) Operations
D) Service
E) Human resources

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Facebook has for some years offered services that many individuals have adapted to, making it difficult for them to choose another social networking site. It can be said that Facebook has protected itself well from which competitive force since the beginning?

A) Bargaining power of suppliers
B) Threat of substitute products
C) Potential threat of new entrants
D) Bargaining power of buyers
E) Industry collaboration

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Zara strategically uses information technologies to do all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Bring new products quickly to market, meeting customer demands
B) Support a continuous flow of information from stores to manufacturers to distributors
C) Maintain a rich, centralized repository of customer data
D) Build silos of responsibilities with limited interaction between store managers, designers and market specialists
E) Keep its inventory levels very low (relative to other retailers)

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Which model is best used to understand the ways in which information technologies allow a firm to both attain and sustain a competitive advantage?

A) Porter's Competitive Forces
B) Porter's Value Chain
C) The Information Systems Strategy Triangle
D) The Network Effect
E) The Resource-Based View

Question 5

The ____________ view considers activities that create, deliver, and support a company's product or service.

A) product and service
B) creation, delivery, and support model
C) Asset-based
D) Resource-based
E) Porter value chain

Question 6

A firm releases a new technology only to have a competitor implement a similar technology with more features and value to the consumer. This would be which type of risk?

A) Demonstrating bad timing
B) Awakening a sleeping giant
C) Mobile-based alternative removes advantages
D) Running afoul of the law
E) Implementing IS poorly

Question 7

Porter's value chain framework suggests that a competitive advantage can stem from:

A) Lowering costs and adding value
B) Reducing isolated costs
C) Disregarding customer data
D) Optimizing internal costs
E) Improving customer service

Question 8

Two automobile manufacturers are working together to develop hybrid technology. This type of relationship between the two automobile manufacturers is best described as:

A) Co-opetition
B) Strategic alliance
C) Competition
D) Collaboration
E) Business strategy

Question 9

This risks of using information resources include all of the following except:

A) Demonstrating bad timing
B) Awakening a sleeping giant
C) Implementing IS poorly
D) Missing cooperative opportunities
E) Failing to deliver what users want

Question 10

The Nike + iPod Sports Kit is a sensor in your shoe that syncs with your iPod and provides details about your workout. This inter-organizational relationship affords both Nike and Apple a business advantage. This relationship between Nike and Apple is best described as:

A) Strategic alliance
B) Co-opetition
C) Collaboration
D) Dependence
E) Competition

Question 11

Partnering with a competitor is becoming more and more common in today's integrated, technology-based environment. This type of collaboration with a competitor is uniquely described as:

A) Co-opetition
B) Integrated supply chain
C) Business process
D) Strategic alliance
E) Value proposition

Question 12

Which part of the value chain includes the manufacturing of goods?

A) Inbound Logistics
B) Outbound Logistics
C) Operations
D) Service
E) Organization

Question 13

Suppose Zara has a linked supply chain with Silk City, a fabric supplier. Zara and Silk City use IT to seamlessly exchange data, communicating requirements as well as delivery expectations. The relationship between Zara and Silk City is best described as:

A) Strategic alliance
B) Co-opetition
C) Collaboration
D) Dependence
E) Competition

Question 14

While information systems can be used to gain a strategic advantage, they have inherent risks. Hershey Foods, for example, crippled its Halloween sales when its complex IS system failed to support its supply and inventory needs during peak production season. This is an example of which specific IS risk?

A) Awaking a sleeping giant
B) Implementing IS poorly
C) Demonstrating bad timing
D) Running afoul of the law
E) Mobile-based alternative removes advantages

Question 15

All of the following benefit from the network effect EXCEPT:

A) Wikis
B) Twitter
C) Email
D) Facebook
E) Network bandwidth

Question 16

Kodak was once the largest supplier of photographic film. In 2004 it was dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after having been listed for 74 years. Kodak failed to use IT to fend off which one of the following of Porter's 5 competitive forces?

A) Bargaining power of suppliers
B) Threat of substitute products
C) Potential threat of new entrants
D) Bargaining power of buyers
E) Industry collaboration

Question 17

Which one of the following risks can threaten the IS of a company in a highly regulated industry such as financial services or health care?

A) Demonstrating bad timing
B) Awakening a sleeping giant
C) Mobile-based alternative removes advantages
D) Running afoul of the law
E) Implementing IS poorly

Question 18

Which one of the following is not considered to be a primary activity of the value chain of a firm?

A) Inbound Logistics
B) Service
C) Sales & Marketing
D) Technology
E) Operations

Question 19

Which "view," applied in the area of Information Systems, helps identify two subsets of information resources: those that enable a firm to attain competitive advantage and those that enable a firm to sustain the advantage over the long-term?

A) Resource-Based View
B) Information-System View
C) Information-Resource View
D) System-Based View
E) Organization View

Question 20

A company that is in a market with few buying options for the consumer is enjoying a high amount of which one of Porter's Five Competitive Forces?

A) Bargaining power of suppliers
B) Threat of substitute products
C) Potential threat of new entrants
D) Bargaining power of buyers
E) Industry competitors

Question 21

An inter-organizational relationship that affords one or more companies in the relationship a strategic advantage:

A) Co-opetition
B) Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
C) Supply Chain Management (SCM)
D) Information Resources
E) Strategic Alliance

Question 22

SCM stands for ________________.

Question 23

Zara's use of information resourses has given it a substantial advantage over its competitors.

Question 24

This is a collection of firms that, using technology, extend their business relationships and connect their value chains.

Question 25

A link beween a firm's IS strategy and business strategy focuses more on its external requirements than internal requirements.

Question 26

The supply chain:

A) Points out the concept of weak link in an ordering process
B) Helps us understand how value is built inside a single firm.
C) Is composed of several value chains linked into a larger chain (a chain within a chain).
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 27

In order to maximize the effectiveness of an organization's business strategy, the manager must be able to identify and use information resources.

Question 28

A firm that acquires a supplier is looking to reduce the "bargaining power of suppliers" force.

Question 29

Porter's five "Forces," used so often in the text for analysis of IT applications, include all of the following except:

A) Threat of substitute products
B) Bargaining power of suppliers
C) Bargaining power of customers
D) New entrants
E) Switching costs

Question 30

Which is not a prescribed area of focus for gaining competitive advantage?

A) Strongholds
B) Cost/Quality
C) Deep Pockets
D) Timing/Know-how
E) Insider Information

Question 31

Which is not a competitive force:

A) Bargaining power of buyers
B) Bargaining power of competitors
C) Threat of substitute products or services
D) Rivalry among existing firms
E) Threat of entry of new competition

Question 32

Unlike most assets, information resources do not lose value over time.

Question 33

Salesforce.com is an example of SAAS (Software as a service).

Question 34

Supply Chain Management (SCM) consists of technological components as well as a process that brings together information about customers, sales and marketing.

Question 35

A strategy where companies cooperate and compete at the same time with companies in its value net:

A) Co-opetition
B) Teamwork
C) Classwork
D) Strategic Alliance
E) Risk

Question 36

A link between a firm's IS strategy and organizational strategy focuses more on its external requirements than internal requirements.

Question 37

List the three IS tools used to optimize the operations of a firm's value chain.

Question 38

Which of the following is a support activity of the Value Chain Model?

A) Operations
B) Facilities
C) Organization
D) Informatics
E) Outbound Logistics

Question 39

Which of the following is NOT a primary activity of the Value Chain model?

A) Inbound Logistics
B) Operations
C) Outbound Logistics
D) Purchasing
E) Marketing and Sales

Question 40

The three major categories of IT capabilities are technical skills, management skills, and relationship skills.

Question 41

Match Zara's primary activity to the Porter's value chain activity it represents.

Question 42

Provide an example of two companies that have built a strategic alliance. Briefly explain the benefits of the relationship.

Question 43

Identify each resource below as an IT asset or an IT capability.

Question 44

For a company whose main product is information (like a financial services company), the company must co-create its ________ strategy and ________ strategy.

Question 45

Why is it that more and more firms need to co-create their business and IS strategy?
Matching

Question 46

List a Web 2.0 technology and how it benefits from the network effect.

Question 47

Match the technology with the era it dominated.

Question 48

Information resources are defined as the available data, technology, people, and ______ available in an organization to be used by managers to complete business tasks.

Question 49

List one externally managed IT resource a company may use and how it provides a strategic advantage.

Question 50

Match Zara's use of IT to the competitive force it influences.

Question 51

Explain how Zara has aligned its information systems strategy with its business strategy

Question 52

Provide an example of two companies that have built an effective co-opetition. Briefly explain the benefit of the relationship.

Question 53

This IT asset is business data that has been captured, organized and made available to an organization.

Question 54

Starbucks allows customers in the US to use smartphones to pay for their purchases in an effort to drive sales. Starbucks uses a reader in the store to scan a bar code displayed on the customer's smartphone screen. While this use of information resources may be used to gain a strategic advantage, there are possible risks. Match the potentially harmful experience below with the IT risk it represents:

Question 55

Match an organization's activity with the competitive force it has successfully influenced.

Question 56

Explain why relationship skills are becoming more important to IS managers in today's economy.

Question 57

IT resources consist of IT assets and IT _______.

Question 58

List the four support activities of the value chain.

Question 59

Give an example of a company whose switching costs are too high, effectively keeping its customer captive. How is this company using technology to maintain high switching costs?

Question 60

Over the different eras, organizations have adapted their information systems strategy as technologies have matured. Place these different needs satisfied by information systems in order of maturity. In other words, which need is most likely the first need to be satisfied by an organization?

Question 61

Match Zara's support activity to the Porter's value chain activity it represents.

Question 62

Match the methodology used to align a firm's business strategy with its information strategy.

Question 63

Social capital is a valuable resource for businesses. Match the category of social capital with the questions is seeks to answer.