Well-conceived, state-of-the-art information and operating systems o are among a company's most important means for controlling costs and executing strategy in a profitable manner. o are essential because a company's performance of all value chain activities must be tracked and reported to senior managers in real time. O are valuable tools for remodeling a company's value chain, providing important data and information to empowered employees, and simplifying the task of adopting best practices. O are management's single most powerful tool for correctly implementing and executing new strategic initiatives. o not only enable better strategy execution but also strengthen organizational capabilities (sometimes enough to provide a competitive edge over rivals). Question 2 A "best practice" o refers to performing a value chain activity in a manner that aids the development of a core competence. o is a method or technique employed by at least one enterprise and shown to be unusually effective in lowering costs, improving quality or performance, shortening time requirements, enhancing safety, or achieving one or more other highly positive operating outcomes. O refers to performing activities in a manner that is superior to established industry standards. is a method or procedure for performing a specific task or activity at the lowest feasible cost. O refers to performing a value chain activity in a manner that results in 10 or fewer defects or errors per million iterations.