Introduction to Information Systems 16th edition George Marakas, James A. O'Brien - Solutions

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 company and its processes at the time, what would be the major bottlenecks or issues that make it
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 to the CEO, then why do you think it was implemented in the first place? Were these issues—that
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. What are some of the challenges Deutsche Post DHL may face as it seeks to implement the new tools
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. Consider the four questions that the company is attempting to answer. How can technology help with those
How would a local marketing manager decide that the tool is no longer applicable, or maybe to a particular situation?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 managers, then what?
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 - come from?2. How would the relationship between Ticketmaster and its corporate clients change if
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 information would be valuable for corporate clients, such as sport franchises, arenas, or the like?
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 by Ticketmaster in the future? What can they do to prevent this from happening?
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, and the technology allowed the companies to satisfy them? Or are the demands a result of the
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 Belly Candy Company have started to look at what else can they do to improve sales now that the
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 future of the company?2. What are the information needs of sales managers at the Jelly Belly Candy
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 two projects?
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 throwing technology at it?
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 infrastructure. What were its strong points? Were there any weaknesses? What could they have done
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 separate applications a priority over careful orchestrated integration?2. What does it mean to say that
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 IT project?
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 of the projects? What are the lessons that can be applied to videoconferencing efforts in other
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 the key issues that will define the success of any solution that is implemented? Are those
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 can be expanded to other geographical areas with similar problems?
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 miles away? What could be done to alleviate those concerns?
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 advantages and disadvantages of either approach? Who should be in charge of making decisions?2. Are
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 business priorities in the past? If so, which ones? What are the lessons for companies that frequently
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 becoming data-driven when it comes to running them? Was this always the case?
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 much. Who was responsible for the company being in that state of affairs?
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 products and services from other companies in the group? What are the most important factors that
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, or enable, that business model?2. What are some of the challenges that Japan Post Network and its
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 or a bad 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 are imposed on this type of project?
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 company? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?2. Now that the new systems are in
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 which proposals can be evaluated; on the other hand, it limits solutions to what management has thought
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 than some of the higher-end systems used by major companies in their industry?
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 Budway proposes to do away with this document? What are some strategies Budway can use to assuage any
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 synthesized from its approach that can be applied to other companies in the future?2. What is
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 those challenges will be related to IT? What does your answer say about the importance of IT in
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., CUB)? Is it possible to distinguish one from the other? What are the implications for other
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 organizations set out to create these technology-enabled solutions? What kind of approaches would work
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 technologies may provide them with a competitive advantage?2. Based on your experience with the
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 know how to use them, even if they have some quirks. Is it worth starting all over again?Why replace

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