Questions and Answers of Introduction Information Systems

Has Crescent Healthcare applied the “three steps for the upgrading of legacy systems” outlined in the chapter? Which of those have been done in more or less detail? Can you fill in the blanks for
One major issue in the Real World Challenge outlined in the chapter was the lack of upgrades and new applications undertaken ever since the company was founded and the original IT infrastructure put
Go online and research the performance of BP since the time chronicled in the case. Did the transformation process pay out in the end? What was the role of IT in the outcome, if any? Prepare a report
1. What are some of the different project management practices that should be implemented when working on IT projects spanning different languages, time zones, cultures, and so forth? How would those
1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of local versus global management of information technology infrastructure? What should be the criteria for making a choice between those two alternatives
Should Google continue to do business in China - or in any country - that requires them to filter/censor their search results? Explain.
What effect does the Internet have on the transnational business strategy of a global business? Explain.
Does the new approach taken by State Street Corporation to their IT infrastructure leave them more vulnerable to disasters (natural or otherwise) or equipment failure? What should they be doing about
Should an organization centralize or decentralize its strategic IS decision-making function? Use the Internet to find recent developments to support your answer.
Does the fact that State Street Corporation is in the financial services industry have anything to do with their decision to take IT infrastructure global? Is this the way all large companies will be
1. How has the way in which decisions about security were made change with the new approach? What are the key differences? What are the most likely effects of the new procedures?2. Should companies
1. How should John Petrie handle the fact that, realistically, not all security issues are equally important? In any case, how do you define importance in this context?2. What does the reporting
Can you apply the “likelihood and magnitude” approach to any kind of risk that a company faces? Can you think of any examples that would not be suitable for that kind of analysis? How should
Should “IS” security be managed in a different way than physical security? How are the two areas different? How are they similar?
1. The case discussed here would most likely be considered a successful deployment. What key aspects of the way in which the company handled this project made that success possible? For each
1. What are some of the alternative ways or approaches in which Starwood Hotels and Resorts could carry out this project? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?2. How do you plan for the
Pick a business task you would like to computerize. How could you use the steps of the information systems development life cycle as illustrated in Figure 12.3 to help you? Use examples to illustrate
Consider the example of the search functionality discussed there. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a highly modular, that is, loosely coupled, approach to systems development?
What does SDLC stand for? What are the phases of the SDLC? Explain in one or two sentences of your own words what happens in each phase. If problems occur during the SDLC, is it better to identify
Refer to the Real World Challenge faced by Starwood Hotels and Resorts in the chapter. Other companies in the industry had not taken any steps to change their IT infrastructure at the time. What
1. The endeavor chronicled here would arguably be considered a success. What were the key success factors changes, practices, techniques, and so on - that made this possible? How did each contribute
1. What is a company seeking to achieve when it extensively customizes an ERP system? Are you surprised at what the Sloan Valve Company obtained as a result of its efforts?2. Given the structure of
The CIO/CPO of the Sloan Valve Company mentioned that although technology issues were challenging, it was really the people issues that were the most difficult. Why is this the case?
If the ERP package implemented by the Sloan Valve Company “vaguely supported the business as it existed” and “it was not crafted to support any new business process that we wanted,” according
1. What are some of the assumptions on which the new allocation tool was built? How likely are those assumptions to stay the same in the future? In other words, how enduring would this tool be?2.
1. What are some of the ways in which local marketing managers can choose to invest their marketing budgets? What are the pros and cons of each? How would you make that allocation decision?2.
How would a local marketing manager decide that the tool is no longer applicable, or maybe to a particular situation? If the use of the tool eventually does away with the need for local marketing
Does DHL stand to lose anything by integrating its operations under a single, global brand? If so, what? Is there a way to keep the best of both alternatives?
1. Since ARCHTICS and the Advanced Product Suite manage so much of the operational aspects of ticketing today, where does the value added by the independent clients - teams, franchises, and so forth
1. List all of the steps that purchasing a ticket entails. How can technology change the way in which each step is carried out? What alternatives could be implemented for each step?2. What kind of
Given that corporate clients largely cannot operate without relying on Ticketmaster today, do you think sport teams and franchises should be concerned about being etched out of the ticketing business
What are the critical success factors for retail e-Business startups?
The e-commerce practices of today would not be possible without the Internet. Did customers place new demands for products and services on companies like Ticketmaster before the Internet appeared,
1. What can managers at Jelly Belly Candy Company do now that they could not do before? What has changed to make that possible? Do they have more data, better processes, both?2. Managers at the Jelly
1. What is (are) the problem(s), that management at the Jelly belly Candy Company is trying to solve? What would be the consequences of they are left unaddressed? Are these problems important to the
The company’s first attempt at implementing a CRM package was not successful. What was done differently the second time that resulted in a better experience? What lessons can be drawn from these
Is the main problem that the Jelly Belly Candy Company faces a lack of reliable information, or is it something else? How important is it to obtain an accurate diagnostic of the situation before
1. How are services different than the existing point-to-point integration approach? Where does their value come from?2. Consider the approach taken by Qualcomm to roll out services into its IT
1. Looking at the situation that Qualcomm faces, how does a large, technology-oriented company get to this point? What would be some of the underlying reasons that would make the development of
What are some of the prerequisites for a successful implementation of the service-oriented approach, as in Qualcomm’s case? Would it work in any organizational environment?
Where the difficulty of making a business case for integration projects is discussed. What could managers do to make the benefits of those projects more clear? Should these be evaluated as any other
1. Although the technologies used in both cases were quite sophisticated, these technologies do not seem to have been a major issue in the implementation. What were the main roadblocks to the rollout
1. What are some of the different ways in which the needed services could be provided? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each? Which resources will be required in each case?2. What will be
Why do some insurance companies refuse to cover telemedicine services, or classify them as “experimental”? What are their concerns? How could those concerns be addressed so that these approaches
The problems in the case are framed from the perspective of the health care providers. From that of a patient, what would be your concerns about “visiting” a doctor that is maybe hundreds of
1. Once the technical aspects of data quality are put in place, who should be in charge of making decisions about these issues? Is this a technical responsibility or a business one? What are the
1. This case chronicles the many issues associated with the IT environment in which U.S. Xpress currently operates. How did U.S. Xpress get into this situation? Was this the result of different
Although trucking companies would not generally be considered part of the “new economy,” they are nonetheless heavily reliant on data. Are all companies, both old and new, going the way of
Refer to the Real World Challenge in the chapter. In the case, it is quite evident that data were either unavailable or inaccurate to the point that business decisions could not rely on them too
1. What are the disadvantages, if any, of relying on cloud computing and Software as a Service for the provision of mission-critical applications such as the one enabling the cross-selling of
1. What will be the business model of the new Japan Post Network? How will it be different from what was done when all companies worked together as Japan Post? How will the new applications support,
Is there a danger that the development expertise of companies may slowly atrophy as they rely more and more on predesigned, external components for assembling their applications? Is this a good thing
Given the timelines imposed by the privatization process, were there really any alternatives from which Japan Post Network could choose? What is the lesson here about nontechnical constraints that
1. Did Budway management take on an unnecessary risk by becoming the principle integrator of all of these components, instead of delegating the task to an outside partner, such as a consulting
1. In this scenario, management was able to outline some specific characteristics that the resulting technology must have. Is this a good idea? On the one hand, it provides clear criteria against
How are the challenges encountered by a small company, such as Budway, different from those faced by larger enterprises? How was it possible for Budway to create a superior solution at a lower cost
Since the proof-of-delivery (POD) documents are in essence the only binding evidence that products were delivered safe, sound, and on time, what are some of the issues that customers may raise when
1. To build or to buy is one of the central questions when it comes to provisioning technologies. How did Center-Point choose what to buy and what to develop internally? What lessons can be
1. What do you think will be the major challenges Center-Point will face as it embarks on its transformation from real estate manager into a provider of logistic solutions? What part of
Consider the Real World Solution discussed in the chapter. Do you think Center Point Properties’s success is the result of the new business model or the new technology deployed to support it (i.e.,
Review the Real World Challenge introduced in the chapter. In such a major transformative project where no one can really envision what the end product (or end company) will look like, how should
1. Brett Michalak sees the efforts undertaken by Crescent Healthcare as providing the company with a competitive advantage over others in its industry. Can you provide three examples of how these
1. Why does Crescent Healthcare need to replace its current technologies? The company has very likely invested huge sums in its core applications over time, they seem to work as expected, and people