Management information systems 10th edition James A. O Brien, George M. Marakas - Solutions

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A library makes an excellent information systems model. It serves as a very large information storage facility with text, audio, and video data archives. Look up the definitions for each term listed below and briefly explain a library’s equivalents.a. Inputb. Processingc. Outputd. Storagee.
Select a job title for a career you would like to pursue as summer intern or new graduate. Provide a real-world example of each element in Figure. You may need to interview someone familiar with this position to find the information yourequire.
Skydive Chicago (www.SkydiveChicago.com) is one of the premier skydiving resorts in the United States, serving skydivers ranging in skills from first-time jumpers to internationally competitive free fly teams. Each student in Skydive Chicagoâ€™s training program makes a series of progressive
The wealth of free information available via the Internet continues to grow at incredible rates. Search engines such as Google make locating useful information practical. This textbook often explores the Internet's impact on various industries, and the textbook industry is no exception. Is it
How important are your data to you? What would happen if . . . ? While business managers focus on solving business problems and determining what their information systems should do, disaster recovery consultants ask what would happen if things go wrong. With careful advance planning, disaster
How can information technology support a company's business processes and decision making and give it a competitive advantage? Give examples to illustrate your answer.
How does the use of the Internet, intranets, and extranets by companies today support their business processes and activities?
Refer to the Real Word Case on eCourier, Cablecom, and Bryan Cave in the chapter. Jay Bregman, CTO and cofounder of eCourier, notes that the company hopes their innovative use of technology will become a differentiator in their competitive market. More generally, to what extent do specific
Why do big companies still fail in their use of information technology? What should they be doing differently?
How can a manager demonstrate that he or she is a responsible end user of information systems? Give several examples.
Refer to the Real World Case on The New York Times and Boston Scientific in the chapter, and think about any technology-enabled innovations that you have read about or come across recently. To what extent is innovation about the technology itself, and to what extent is it about changing the
What are some of the toughest management challenges in developing IT solutions to solve business problems and meet new business opportunities?
Why are there so many conceptual classifications of information systems? Why are they typically integrated in the information systems found in the real world?
In what major ways have information systems in business changed during the last 40 years? What is one major change you think will happen in the next 10 years? Refer to Figure to help you answer. The Expanding Roles of IS in Business and ManagementEnterprise Resource Planning and Business
Refer to the real world example about responsibility and accountability for project failures in the chapter. Are these IT projects or business projects with a significant IT component? Who should be responsible for ensuring their success? Explain.
Why do some companies in a given industry, like eCourier above, adopt and deploy innovative technologies while others in the same line of business do not? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss what characteristics of companies could influence their decision to innovate with the
The newspaper industry has been facing serious challenges to its viability ever since the Internet made news available online. In addition to those initiatives described in the case, how are The New York Times and other leading newspapers coping with these challenges? What do you think the industry
Go online and search the Internet for other examples of companies using technology to help them innovate and develop new products or services. Break into small groups with your classmates to share your findings and discuss any trends or patterns you see in current uses of technology in this regard.
Search the Internet to help you evaluate the business performance of Sew What? Inc. and its competitors at the present time. What conclusions can you draw from your research about Sew what’s prospects for the future? Report your findings and recommendations for Sew what’s continued business
Small businesses have been slower to integrate information technology into their operations than larger companies. Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss the reasons for this state of affairs, identifying several possible IT solutions and their business benefits that could help
Go online and search for reports on the aftermath of these two incidents. What consequences, financial and otherwise, did the two organizations face? What changes, if any, were implemented as a result of these problems? Prepare a report and present your findings to the class.
1. How do information technologies contribute to the business success of the companies depicted in the case? Provide an example from each company explaining how the technology implemented led to improved performance.2. In the case of law firm Bryan Cave discussed above, the use of BI technology to
1. As stated in the case, The New York Times chose to deploy their innovation support group as a shared service across business units. What do you think this means? What are the advantages of choosing this approach? Are there any disadvantages?2. Boston Scientific faced the challenge of balancing
1. How do information technologies contribute to the business success of Sew What? Inc.? Give several examples from the case regarding the business value of information technology that demonstrate this conclusion.2. If you were a management consultant to Sew What? Inc., what would you advise Megan
1. Eric Brinker of JetBlue noted that the database developed during the crisis had not been needed before because the company had never experienced a meltdown. What are the risks and benefits associated with this approach to IT planning? Provide some examples of each.2. With hindsight, we now know
The record and movie industries are not the only industries to find themselves affected by free access to their products. Encyclopedia Britannica faces challenges by a nonprofit competitor that provides its services without charge or advertising, Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia depends on volunteers to
Employees often receive a great deal of unstructured information in the form of e-mails. For example, employees may receive policies, announcements, and daily operational information via e-mail. However, e-mail systems typically make poor enterprise wide knowledge management systems. New employees
Suppose you are a manager being asked to develop computer-based applications to gain a competitive advantage in an important market for your company. What reservations might you have about doing so? Why?
How could a business use information technology to increase switching costs and lock in its customers and suppliers? Use business examples to support your answers.
How could a business leverage its investment in information technology to build strategic IT capabilities that serve as a barrier to new entrants into its markets?
Refer to the Real World Case on quantifying IT risks and value in the chapter. Why do you think that the "IT as a cost" mindset is so prevalent among organizations? Relate your answer to the discussion about technology as a competitive advantage or a competitive necessity in the chapter.
What strategic role can information play in business process reengineering?
How can Internet technologies help a business form strategic alliances with its customers, suppliers, and others?
How could a business use Internet technologies to form a virtual company or become an agile competitor?
Refer to the Real World Case on companies using smartphones in the chapter. Do you think smaller companies like Lloyd's Construction are ready for large-scale implementations of technology in their business? What could they do to prepare for those implementations? Use examples to illustrate your
Information technology can't really give a company a strategic advantage because most competitive advantages don't last more than a few years and soon become strategic necessities that just raise the stakes of the game. Discuss.
MIS author and consultant Peter Keen says: "We have learned that it is not technology that creates a competitive edge, but the management process that exploits technology." What does he mean? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
Do you agree with the approach and metrics used by Northwestern Mutual to value their IT investments?
Can you think of alternative ways, and how those might stack up against those discussed in the case? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss the pros and cons of alternative approaches to valuing the impacts of IT in a company.
Go online and search for examples of IT projects that have been successful, as well as those that have failed. Make a list of the different factors that seem to influence the outcome of these implementations. Can you group them into the categories discussed in the case? Which seem to be the most
In addition to the companies featured in the case, others like FedEx and UPS, which have large mobile workforces, heavily use mobile communication technologies. What other companies could benefit from these innovations?
Use the Internet to research the latest technological developments in smartphones, and discuss how those could be used by companies to deliver value to customers and shareholders.
Most of the discussion in the case was done from the perspective of the trading firms and the value that these technologies add to them and their customer. However, the case also mentions actions taken by stock exchanges to improve their transaction processing and turn these needs into a
The technologies described in the case represent an example of how different barriers to the flow of goods and information are being overcome by the use of IT. Break into small groups and select an industry other than the one described in the case ; brainstorm what barriers to commerce you see
Search the Internet to find information about other firms that have transformed their IT organizations and the role that the CIO plays in the governance structure of the organization. What benefits have they been able to derive from these changes? Prepare a report and present your findings to your
Consider the virtual reality technologies employed by Procter & Gamble and described in this case. Break into small groups and brainstorm applications of these types of technologies for companies in industries other than those reviewed in the case.
1. By changing the way his group talks about IT investments, CIO Tim Schaefer is trying to change the way the rest of the company sees IT. Why do you think this is necessary? What would be the prevailing mindset about IT in his company, such that he needs to do something about it? Provide some
1. In which ways do smartphones help these companies be more profitable? To what extent are improvements in performance coming from revenue increases or cost reductions? Provide several examples from the case.2. The companies described in the case encountered a fair amount of resistance from
1. What competitive advantages can the companies described in the case derive from the use of faster technology and co-location of servers with the exchanges? Which would you say are sustainable, and which ones temporary or easily imitable? Justify your answer.2. Tony Bishop of Wachovia stated that
1. What are the business and political challenges that are likely to occur as a result of the transformation of IT from a support activity to a partner role? Use examples from the case to illustrate your answer.2. What implications does this shift in the strategic outlook of IT have for traditional
The table below details price and capacity figures for common components of personal computers. Typical prices for microprocessors, random-access memory (RAM), and hard disk storage are displayed.The performance of typical components has increased substantially over time, so the speed (for the
The Turing test is a hypothetical test to determine whether a computer system has reached the level of artificial intelligence. If the computer can fool a person into thinking it is another person, then it has artificial intelligence. Except in very narrow areas, no computer has passed the Turing
Punch cards, keyboards, bar code scanners-the trend is clear. Input devices have continued to promote faster and more accurate data entry. Key to this advance is capturing data at their source, and no tool does this better than radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. An RFID transmitter
What trends are occurring in the development and use of the major types of computer systems?
Will the convergence of PDAs, subnotebook PCs, and cell phones produce an information appliance that will make all of those categories obsolete? Why or why not?
Refer to the Real World Case IT asset management in the chapter. What advice would you provide to a growing company to avoid facing the issues discussed in the case?
Do you think that information appliances like PDAs will replace personal computers (PCs) in business applications? Explain.
Are networks of PCs and servers making mainframe computers obsolete? Explain.
Refer to the Real World Case on speech recognition in health care in the chapter. Although these and other technologies are becoming more prevalent in health care, doctors have traditionally been reluctant to adopt them. Why do you think this is the case? How would these technologies change the way
What are several trends that are occurring in computer peripheral devices? How do these trends affect business uses of computers?
What are several important computer hardware developments that you expect to happen in the next 10 years? How will these affect the business use of computers?
What processor, memory, magnetic disk storage, and video display capabilities would you require for a personal computer that you would use for business purposes? Explain your choices.
What other peripheral devices and capabilities would you want to have for your business PC? Explain your choices.
An important metric in this area considered by companies is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of their IT assets. Go online and research what TCO is and how it is related to IT asset management. How are companies using TCO to manage their IT investments? Prepare a presentation to share your
What does Don Barry of IBM mean by “life-cycle” in the context of this case? How would this life-cycle management work when it comes to IT assets? Break into small groups with your classmates and create a working definition of life-cycle management and how it works as you understand it from the
The case talks about electronic medical or health records systems. These are slowly becoming standard in many hospitals and clinics, both private and public. Go online and search for reports of these implementations. What are the main benefits derived from their adoption? What have been the major
The case above was presented from the perspective of practitioners and hospital administrators. How comfortable would you feel, as a patient, knowing that your health care providers are using these technologies? Would you have any concerns? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss
Grid computing technology is becoming increasingly popular and has recently received support from giants such as IBM, Sun, and Oracle. Visit their Web sites (www.ibm.com , www.sun.com , and www.oracle.com ) and review their current offerings in this regard. How do their products compare to each
One of the main benefits of grid computing arises from the possibility of replacing expensive hardware, such as mainframes or supercomputers, with commodity-priced servers and even personal computers. What about the cost of administering so many different servers and the power consumption
Most of the fame attached to the iPhone has resulted from individual, end-user applications. How could companies use the iPhone as a platform for commercial use? Break into small groups and brainstorm some possible uses of the technology, as well as what benefits organizations can derive from them.
Information technology advances rapidly, and touch screen is no exception. Go online and search for developments more recent than those mentioned in the case. What new large-scale (i.e., wall-sized) applications could you find? Prepare a report comparing new developments with the examples mentioned
1. What are the companies mentioned in the case trying to control, or manage, through these projects? What is the problem? And how did they get there?2. What are the business benefits of implementing strong IT asset management programs? In what ways have the companies discussed in the case
1. What are some of the benefits afforded to organizations implementing voice recognition technologies in these settings? How can you quantify these benefits to assess the value of the investment? Provide several examples from the case.2. There is no margin for error when working in a health care
1. Applications for grid computing in this case include medical diagnosis and financial transaction processing. What other areas do you think would be well suited to the use of grid computing and why? Provide several examples from organizations other than those included in the case.2. The joint
1. What benefits may Starwood Hotels derive from the introduction of touch-screen technology as noted in the case? What possible disruptions may occur as a result. Provide several examples of each.2. Bill Buxton of Microsoft stated that "[t]ouch now may be where the mouse was in about 1983." What
ABC Department Stores would like to acquire software to do the following tasks. Identify which software packages they need.a. Surf the Web and their intranets and extranets.b. Send messages to one another’s computer workstations.c. Help employees work together in teams.d. Use a group of
Decades ago, programmers trying to conserve valuable storage space shortened year values to two digits. This shortcut created what became known as the "Y2K" problem or "millennium bug" at the turn of the century. Programmers needed to review billions of lines of code to ensure important programs
You have the responsibility to manage software training for Sales, Accounting, and Operations Department workers in your organization. You have surveyed the workers to get a feel for the amounts of time spent using various packages and the results are shown below. The values shown are the total
What major trends are occurring in software? What capabilities do you expect to see in future software packages?
How do the different roles of system software and application software affect you as a business end user? How do you see this changing in the future?
Refer to the Real World Case on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) in the chapter. Do you think GE would have been better off developing a system specifically customized to their needs, given that GE's supply chain is like nothing else in the world?
Why is an operating system necessary? That is, why can't an end user just load an application program into a computer and start computing?
Should a Web browser be integrated into an operating system? Why or why not?
Refer to the Real World Case about the U.S. Department of Defense and its adoption of open-source software in the chapter. Would such an approach work for a commercial organization, or is it limited to government entities? What would be the most important differences in each case, if any?
Are software suites, Web browsers, and groupware merging together? What are the implications for a business and its end users?
How are HTML, XML, and Java affecting business applications on the Web?
Do you think Linux will surpass, in adoption and use, other operating systems for network and Web servers? Why or why not?
Which application software packages are the most important for a business end user to know how to use? Explain the reasons for your choices.
By implementing systems based on SaaS, companies are relinquishing control over ownership of the technology and are putting access to valuable data in the hands of a third party. What are the perils of taking this approach? How could companies guard against them? Break into small groups to discuss
How does the open-source model of application development and distribution differ from the more common, proprietary approach? Do open-source applications present a legitimate threat to commercial software development, or will they remain niche applications? Break into small groups to discuss
This case demonstrates failure and success in the software research, selection, and installation process, as well as some major differences among business application software packages in capabilities, such as ease of use and information access for employees and management. Search the Internet to
Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss several key differences you have found on the basis of your Internet research. Then make recommendations to the class for how these differences should shape the business application software selection decision for an SME.
XBRL stands for extensible Business Reporting Language, and it is one of the family of XML languages that is becoming standard for business communication across companies. Among other uses, the Securities and Exchange Commission has run a voluntary XBRL filing program since 2005. Go online and
Investigate other large-scale, system wide implementations of XML such as the one described in the case involving the California Independent System Operator. Prepare a presentation with the proposed or realized costs and benefits of those efforts and share your findings with the class.
1. What factors should companies take into consideration when making the decision between developing their own applications, purchasing them from a vendor, or taking the SaaS route, as discussed here? Make a list of factors and discuss their importance to this decision.2. What risks did GE take on
1. Given the critical nature of defense activities, security in this environment is a primary concern. How do the agencies discussed in the case address this issue? Can you think of anything else they could be doing? Provide some recommendations.2. The U.S. Department of Defense is arguably one of
1. What problems occurred when Wolf Peak upgraded from QuickBooks to a new accounting software package? How could these problems have been avoided?2. Why did SAP's Business One prove to be a better choice for Wolf Peak's management than the new accounting software? Give several examples to
1. What is the business value of XML to the organizations described in the case? How are they able to achieve such large returns on investment?2. What are other ways in which XML could be used by organizations to create value and share data? Look for examples involving for-profit organizations to
Having determined the cost per student for each of the classes in the previous problem, you now must carefully manage class registration. Because you pay the same flat rates no matter how many students attend (up to capacity), you want to do all you can to ensure maximum attendance. Your training
Sawmill operators are in the business of turning trees into lumber. Products include boards, plywood, and veneer. For as long as there have been sawmills, there have been sawmill operators who have tried to solve the problem of what to do with their principal by-product: sawdust. Numerous creative

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Management information systems 10th edition James A. O Brien, George M. Marakas - Solutions

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