Question 1

Refer to IT's About Business 2.3 - "Bring Your Own Device" Can Cause Problems: Hamilton Fraser's human resource department created an acceptable use policy for their employees' personal communication devices for the following reason:
A) They didn't want their employees wasting time playing games on their iPhones
B) They didn't want the corporate data to be accessible on mobile devices that were lost/misplaced
C) They wanted to monitor how their employees were spending their time
D) They didn't want their employees to use social media while working
E) They only wanted employees to use Android devices

Accepted Answer

Hamilton Fraser's human resource department created an acceptable use policy for personal communication devices to prevent corporate data from being accessible on lost/misplaced mobile devices.

Question 2

Identify the three types of business pressures, and explain how organizations can use IT to respond to each one.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Identify the three types of business pressures,...

Question 3

IT will impact managers' jobs in all of the following ways except:
A) managers will have time to get into the field
B) managers can spend more time planning
C) managers can spend more time "putting out fires"
D) managers can gather information more quickly
E) none of the above

Accepted Answer

IT (Information Technology) generally streamlines processes, automates routine tasks, and improves information flow, which allows managers to focus more on strategic planning and less on reactive problem-solving or "putting out fires."

Question 4

Which of the following is not a cause of inadequate alignment between IT and business?
A) A lack of communication
B) Different objectives
C) Not understanding each group's expertise
D) Lack of IT knowledge on the part of the business executives
E) Lack of funds

Accepted Answer

While a lack of funds can certainly impact IT-business alignment, it is not a primary cause. The other options listed - lack of communication, different objectives, not understanding each group's expertise, and lack of IT knowledge on the part of business executives - are more commonly cited as causes of inadequate alignment.

Question 5

Refer IT's About Business 2.1 - Sharing Bicycles. Alta's competitive advantage stems from the fact that
A) they have a unique product or service
B) they have un-replicable business model
C) they have a first mover advantage
D) they are the cost leader in their industry
E) none of the above

Accepted Answer

Alta's competitive advantage stems from the fact that they have a unique product or service.

Question 6

Which of the following is not an example of business - IT alignment?
A) The company goals are clear to every IT and business employee.
B) The company ensures that IT employees understand how the company makes money.
C) The company views IT as a way to support the business but not as a way to create new revenue streams.
D) IT professionals rotate into business departments.
E) The company views customer service as extremely important.

Accepted Answer

Option C states that the company views IT as a way to support the business but not as a way to create new revenue streams. However, business-IT alignment is about ensuring that IT strategies and activities are aligned with the overall business goals and objectives, which may include exploring ways to create new revenue streams. Therefore, option C is not an example of business-IT alignment.

Question 7

Differentiate between Porter's competitive forces model and his value chain model.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Differentiate between Porter's competitive forces model and...

Question 8

When Amazon welcomes you by name back to its Web site on your second visit, it is employing which strategy for competitive advantage?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) innovation
D) operational effectiveness
E) customer-orientation

Accepted Answer

Amazon's use of personalized customer greetings on return visits is a clear demonstration of its customer-orientation strategy for competitive advantage.

Question 9

Refer to IT's About Business 2.4 - The Surui Tribe of the Amazon: The Surui Tribe's use of technology demonstrates how IT can be used to
A) to conserve natural resources
B) to prevent deforestation
C) to catch criminals
D) to create carbon off-sets
E) to create awareness about environmental problems

Accepted Answer

The answer of Refer to IT's About Business 2.4 -...

Question 10

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves offering different products, services, or product features?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) innovation
D) operational effectiveness
E) customer-orientation

Accepted Answer

The strategy for competitive advantage that involves offering different products, services, or product features is differentiation. This strategy sets a business apart from its competitors by providing unique or distinctive products or services that customers perceive as being better than or different from those offered by competitors. The differentiation strategy allows a business to charge a premium price for its products or services, thereby generating higher profit margins than its competitors.

Question 11

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves introducing new products and putting new features in existing products?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) innovation
D) operational effectiveness
E) customer-orientation

Accepted Answer

Innovation involves introducing new products or new features in existing products in order to gain a competitive advantage. The other options listed do not necessarily involve introducing new products or features. Cost leadership focuses on reducing costs to provide products at lower prices. Differentiation focuses on creating unique products or services. Operational effectiveness involves performing business operations better than competitors. Customer-orientation involves focusing on customer needs and preferences.

Question 12

Refer to Closing Case - IBM's Watson: IBM Watson differs from other information systems' capabilities in the following manner:
A) it can store vast amounts of information
B) it can search through a large amount of information
C) it can process natural language commands
D) it can process large amounts of information in response to a query and assign confidence measures to a set of possible solutions
E) it can selectively update information based on current trends on the Internet

Accepted Answer

IBM Watson's main capability is processing large amounts of information in response to a query and assigning confidence measures to a set of possible solutions. It uses natural language processing to understand the question and then searches through a vast amount of information to provide the best possible answer. It can also learn and improve its responses over time. IBM Watson does not have a specific capability to selectively update information based on current trends on the Internet.

Question 13

What are switching costs, and why would a company care about them?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are switching costs, and why would...

Question 14

Using Porter's competitive forces model, contrast the bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of customers (buyers).

Accepted Answer

The answer of Using Porter's competitive forces model, contrast the...

Question 15

Walmart's automatic replenishment system, which enables the company to reduce inventory storage requirements, is an example of which strategy for competitive advantage?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) innovation
D) operational effectiveness
E) customer-orientation

Accepted Answer

The answer of Walmart's automatic replenishment system, which enables the...

Question 16

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves improving the manner in which an organization executes its internal business processes?
A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) innovation
D) operational effectiveness
E) customer-orientation

Accepted Answer

Operational effectiveness involves improving internal processes and increasing efficiency to gain a competitive advantage. This strategy focuses on improving the way an organization performs its operations and delivering products or services to customers. Cost leadership and differentiation strategies may also involve operational effectiveness, but they typically focus on pricing or product features rather than internal processes. Innovation and customer-orientation are different strategies altogether.

Question 17

Refer to IT's About Business 2.5 - Massachusetts Mutual Transforms Its Information Systems: What kind of transformation did Massachusetts Mutual Transforms undergo?
A) BPI
B) BPR
C) BPM

Accepted Answer

Massachusetts Mutual Transforms underwent Business Process Reengineering (BPR) transformation to upgrade and integrate its information systems to improve efficiency, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.

Question 18

Refer to IT's About Business 2.2 - Chevron: The changes over the past few years at Chevron were brought about by __________ and __________ at the company level and ____________ at the local level.
A) BPI, BPM, BPR
B) BPR, BPI, BPM
C) BPM, Six Sigma, BPR
D) BPR, BPM and BPI

Accepted Answer

The article mentions that the changes at Chevron were brought about by business process reengineering (BPR), business process management (BPM) and business process improvement (BPI) at the company level. The local level initiatives were not specified in the article.

Question 19

Porter's _____ help(s) companies identify general strategies, whereas his _____ help(s) to identify specific activities where companies can use the strategies for greatest impact.
A) value chain model, competitive forces model
B) primary activities, support activities
C) competitive forces model, primary activities
D) competitive forces model, value chain model
E) value chain model, support activities

Accepted Answer

Porter's competitive forces model helps companies identify general strategies by analyzing the external competitive environment, while his value chain model helps identify specific activities within a company where these strategies can be applied for greatest impact.

Question 20

The visibility of Internet applications on the Web makes proprietary systems more difficult to keep secret. This is an example of which of Porter's five forces?
A) threat of entry of new competitors
B) bargaining power of suppliers
C) bargaining power of customers
D) threat of substitute products
E) rivalry among existing firms in an industry

Accepted Answer

The answer of The visibility of Internet applications on the...

Quiz 2: Organizational Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Information Systems

Refer to IT's About Business 2.3 - "Bring Your Own Device" Can Cause Problems: Hamilton Fraser's human resource department created an acceptable use policy for their employees' personal communication devices for the following reason:

Identify the three types of business pressures, and explain how organizations can use IT to respond to each one.

IT will impact managers' jobs in all of the following ways except:

Which of the following is not a cause of inadequate alignment between IT and business?

Refer IT's About Business 2.1 - Sharing Bicycles. Alta's competitive advantage stems from the fact that

Which of the following is not an example of business - IT alignment?

Differentiate between Porter's competitive forces model and his value chain model.

When Amazon welcomes you by name back to its Web site on your second visit, it is employing which strategy for competitive advantage?

Refer to IT's About Business 2.4 - The Surui Tribe of the Amazon: The Surui Tribe's use of technology demonstrates how IT can be used to

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves offering different products, services, or product features?

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves introducing new products and putting new features in existing products?

Refer to Closing Case - IBM's Watson: IBM Watson differs from other information systems' capabilities in the following manner:

What are switching costs, and why would a company care about them?

Using Porter's competitive forces model, contrast the bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of customers (buyers).

Walmart's automatic replenishment system, which enables the company to reduce inventory storage requirements, is an example of which strategy for competitive advantage?

Which strategy for competitive advantage involves improving the manner in which an organization executes its internal business processes?

Refer to IT's About Business 2.5 - Massachusetts Mutual Transforms Its Information Systems: What kind of transformation did Massachusetts Mutual Transforms undergo?

Refer to IT's About Business 2.2 - Chevron: The changes over the past few years at Chevron were brought about by and at the company level and ____ at the local level.

Porter's _ help(s) companies identify general strategies, whereas his _ help(s) to identify specific activities where companies can use the strategies for greatest impact.

The visibility of Internet applications on the Web makes proprietary systems more difficult to keep secret. This is an example of which of Porter's five forces?