White – Valuing Information Systems
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MIS2901 – An Experiement in Teaching and Learning
It's about learning, not just covering content!
Mart Doyle
The first step in the E-Business Innovation Cycle is Choosing emerging technologies. In this step, the company will create a team whose responsibility is to scanning for the new emerging technologies that is relevant to the company. These technologies would help the firm gain competitive advantage over the others. Next, these new technologies found will be matched with the current economic opportunities. In this stage, the emerging technologies will be considered in the context of current economic condition in order to determine if it is a promising one in adding value to the company after implementing. The next step of the cycle is to execute business innovation for growth in which the company will implement the chosen technologies. After that, the technologies will be evaluated the value it brings about to customers as well as internal clients.
There are three new ways to think about investments in disruptive innovation introduced in the E-Business Innovation Cycle. First of all, technology should be put ahead of strategy. Given the fact that technology changes with a very fast pace today, this approach states that it is not smart trying to fit the new technology into an aging strategy. This suggests that technology must be the one that trigger strategic ideas. That is the reason why the first step of the cycle does not begin with a strategy. Similarly, technology should also be put ahead of marketing. This is based on the fact that many technologies in the market today were not triggered by the need or want of customers. There are so many products with breakthrough technology that customers do not know they want then until they actually see and experience them. The last way introduced by this approach is that the innovation must be continuous. That is the process of looking for the “next new thing” must be ongoing in order to keep the company on the same pace with the changing of information technology.
Question:
Which is NOT the new way to think about investment in disruptive innovation:
a. Put technology ahead of strategy
b Put customer ahead of technology.
c. Put technology ahead of marketing
d. Innovation is continuous
the correct answer is B
The E-Business Innovation cycle, from what you have posted, makes a great deal of sense. By scanning for new technologies that are most relevant to a company’s practices and intentions then matching these technologies with the right economic oppotunities, will almost always yield success for that company. The cost of testing these technologies and correcting placing them is only outweighed by the increased revenue companies achieve.
I understand that companies look to gain the new cutting edge technology but how do they determine on paper how much a new technology will affect their business? In the E-Business Technology Cycle there are three key aspects with new technology such as putting the technology ahead of the business strategy, technology should be put ahead of marketing, and lastly the integration must be continuous. These reasons are caused by the fast pace change brought about by technology and the small window of success when using a new technology. But I feel that putting the technology ahead of certain business principles can hurt overall customer service. When a business focuses on this new technology, it can easily lose focus on what made them who they are. Customer satisfaction should remain most important, in my opinion, even when incorporating a new technology.
I couldn’t agree more! If the customers aren’t happy, what is the point of spending all this money on new technology? By buying new technology, the company is putting out a good amount of money and will need the customers to give them back the money they spent. If customers lose faith and aren’t satisfied, they aren’t going to continue to spend money on the company and in the end, the technology is not successful since it didn’t increase profits.
Speaking of technology, we do see a lot of company benefit greatly from innovation. But some time it’s just very hard to determine how much new technology could bring to the company. Those scatches are no guarantee and many things may change during the implementing process, that will change the entire game.
Putting technology ahead strategy and marketing?! Not necessarily. Technology could add more perspectives to the strategic plan, and may end up with a better result. On the other hand, strategy could also determine which technology is the best for the company. As you mentiond that technology change very fast, there is no single solution will hold up forever.
Marketing is more than just technology. You need to reach out to majority and build a good image of yourself.
When i began to read this i thought that you would be speaking in circles about how innovation has changed, however, you did a great job breaking down the updated innovation strategy. I also thought about how innovation was in the 20th century and how far it has come.
The three ways to use an information system are for automating, organizational learning, and achieving strategy. Automatic is focused on taking business tasks and implementing a system to do these tasks. The book uses the example of a loan analysis system. The idea is to take the manual task of processing and analyzing loan proposals and either partially or fully automate the task to cut time and costs. The second and more useful function of information systems is informing managers for organizational learning. The book uses the term informating to describe the system providing information on the company’s underlying work process. This function is more important than automating because it teaches the top players in the company about their business so they can become more informed and make better decisions in the future. The third and most important function is using information systems for developing and achieving business strategies. It is necessary and much more beneficial to implement a system that goes along with your companies strategy rather than just to use it for automating or organizational learning.
Question:
Which is the most important IS function?
A. Automating
B. Organizational Learning
C. Achieving Strategy
D. They are all equally important
Answer: C.
I agree that achieving strategy is the most important IS function. Companies should first make sure that their system is helping them achieve their organization’s goals and objectives, create value for customers, and make their processes more efficient. Without the strength from this system, the company faces failure. Before a company can reap benefits from automation and information, they must have a system implemented that can make sure the company will be able to meet its objectives. From there, automation and informative benefits can be enjoyed.
This post is good because it clearly shows the purpose of an information system: automating, organizational learning, and achieving strategy. Automatic streamlines business processes and either completely eliminates the need for employees to perform the tasks or minimizes their process in the business task. This saves the company money and time. Organizational learning simply helps management learn what happens in the organization in order to improve and correct any processes, which need help. I don’t fully understand what you meant by the achieving strategy. You said it implements a system that best fits the organization but how does the information system go about accomplishing this? I understand that this is important but how does this come from the information system?
with being the most important function is using information systems for developing and achieving business strategies. it shows companies how they can make the most well thought choices, because they are provided with the information that they need, in order for the company to make profit.
I completely agree with achieving strategy as being the most important. Every company needs to initially set up a plan in order to achieve success and it is through a strategic plan that this is done. Businesses that run successfully have achieved strategy and have been able to implement their plan through these ideas. Without a goal of achieving strategy companies can never achieve success. Strategies allow for planning, planning allows for growth.
So many companies jump the gun and don’t properly research and implement technology. Because of this a solution is never devised.
A value chain refers to a set of activities that add value to the product or service provided by a firm. Managers will often perform a value chain analysis in order to identify areas where information systems can be used to gain a competitive advantage. The first step of a value chain analysis is to “flesh out” each activity, function, etc. where value is added (purchases, production, marketing, sales, etc.). Then, costs and the factors behind the costs are matched up with each step in the chain. Once this process is completed, it is possible to compare the value chain with other firms. This enables the company to see what it is doing well and what areas it needs to improve in. Firms may choose to implement an information system in areas of the chain they hope to improve. Value chain analyses appear to be very important because they can identify specific areas within the business that would benefit the most from information systems. This can help ensure that companies will receive the maximum benefit and not implement wasteful systems.
Which of the following is not part of the value chain analysis?
A. Automating all business processes
B. Creating the organization value chain
C. Associating costs with steps in the chain
D. Comparing value chain to competitors
Answer: A
A value chain can be very useful when deciding where to implement a system. It clearly shows what parts of a firms operations can be improved and what parts are doing well. They allow managers to make better decisions about where money should be spent to implement IT systems.
I agree with what you are saying, and in addition, the company should analyze the value chain while keeping their strategies in mind. Because low-cost leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, and best-cost provider strategy each takes different approaches to the market and different segment of the demographic, therefore an organization must compliment their value chain or functions accordingly, while there different needs for different strategies.
I also agree because an information system would be a valuable asset to managerial positions in decision making processes.
I completely agree as well, a value chain is especially beneficial and can be extremely useful in information systems that are being implementing. Information systems have so many beneficial aspects that it can offer and through the use of a value chain they are able to be shown and demonstrated properly.
I also agree because according to the value chain analysis which is; the process of analyzing an organization’s activities to determine where value is added to products and or services and the costs that are incurred. With that said the companies may run into problems with the value chain analysis for certain companies but their understanding of the value chain will be a good help.
Information Systems can help us learn and improve, also known as informating. A technology “informates” when it provides information about its operation and the underlying work process it supports.
Organizational strategy is a firm’s plan to accomplish its mission and goals as well as to gain/sustain a competitive advantage over other companies.
There are five general types of organizational strategy.
1. Broad Differentiation
2. Focused Differentiation
3. Focused Low-Cost
4. Overall Low-Cost Leadership
5. Best-Cost Provider
Overall-Low Cost Leadership strategy and the Broad Differentiation Strategy target a market with a broad range of buyers. Focused Low-Cost Strategy and Focused Differentiation Strategy target a particular buyer segment or market niche.
Question: Which type of organizational strategy targets a market somewhere in the middle of a broad range of market buyers and a particular market niche?
A. Focused Differentiation
B. Best-Cost Provider
C. Focused Low-Cost
D. Overall Low-Cost Leadership
ill take it from the absence of it from either of the other descriptions of the tpyes of market tagrgets that the best-cost provider strategy is the middle-of-the-road in terms of market target. this actually provides a very accurate condensed summary of the different strategies available.
To go along with that. This is the reason why companies have marketing teams to have their product stand apart in a competitive market. Different organizational strategies can be used but they won’t reach there full potential if not backed by the right marketing scheme.
The answer is Overall Low-Cost Leadership right? Because you forgot to put the answer.
Information Systems provide many different advantages to organizations. There are 3 ways to use an information system: automating, organizational learning, and achieving strategy.
Automating primarily focuses on doing things faster. For example, someone who has an automating perspective thinks of technology as a means of completing tasks more quickly, more easily, and more efficiently.
Organization learning primarily focuses on doing things better. It allows organizations to learn from their past endeavors and improve in the future. Organization learning builds upon the idea of automating because it uses the data from automated information systems, and learns from it.
Achieving strategy essentially involves doing things smarter within the organization. An organizational strategy is a firm’s plan to accomplish its goals in addition to gaining or sustaining a competitive advantage over its competitors. There are many different types of strategies, such as low-cost strategies and differentiation strategies. The firm is able to look at past information from the company, and decide which strategic approach would allow them to best meet their goal.
Though there are 3 ways to use an information system, it is evident that it is most efficient if these 3 methods are integrated together into one information system. Automating, in itself, is nice, but when used with organization learning and strategic planning, I think it provides the firm with an advantage.
Which of the following ways to use an information system focuses on using technology as a way to help complete a task within an organization faster,more cheaply, and maybe even with greater accuracy?
a. Achieving strategy
b. Automating
c. accounting
d. Organization learning
Answer: automating
I agree, in order for a firm to get the most benefit from its IS investment it needs to integrate all of these uses of information systems. If a company only uses the IS for one of these than it is losing an opportunity to gain an advantage over its competitors or just stay competitive.
with the automate function, you take away the time that you would normally need to perform those functions and at least with the program doing automate work it cuts back on man power and also ensures that the information is right, with real time.
Modern society requires a tremendous effort on efficiency. Automation within the company will great improve the pace of tideous and routine jobs. It also helps downsize the employees, saving some cost for the company. On the other hand, automation will eliminate mistakes and errors.
Organization learning is based on automation. It uses the data gathered by automated process and help the company to learn from the past, in order to perform better in the future.
Archieving strategy is setting goals with smarter execution within the company.
Those three methods will work perfectly if they combined together.
I feel like this can also be applied to Innovation. New technology is needed, ideas are screened, and the best product is marketed to the general public.
I was able to see this hands on when I automated the POS system at my family’s business. Its amazing the time and money something simple and cheap can accomplish.
The best way to use information systems is to support an organization’s strategy to help the company accomplish its goals or gain a competitive advantage. This is an organizational strategy. Company’s create this through strategic planning. Some strategies are low cost leadership which involves offering the best price of goods. Walmart and Dell use this strategy. Differentiation strategy is when a firm provides the best products in the industry at high prices, like Porsche, Nordstrom, and IBM. Best cost provider strategy is offering products of good quality at competitve prices, like Target.
Which organizational strategy provides better products than its competitors at high prices?
a. low cost provider strategy
b. differentiation strategy
c. best cost provider strategy
d. none of the above
Answer b
One important tool to use when evaluating an information system is to use the Value Chain Analysis. This is when a company looks at its core activities such as purchasing supplies, operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. After determining their core programs, a company can than determine their support systems, like research and development, human resources, and administration.
This allows a company to compile a detailed plan of their operations and then to see where they can implement information systems to make their operation more efficient.
Question: What is it called when a firm analyzes their core and support operations?
A) Inner-working evaluation
B) Self-evaluation
C) Value chain analysis
D) Support chain analysis
Answer: C
i sorry am i the only person who doesnt understand the difference between C AND D?
No I too do not understand the different, they seem very similar. How are we suppose to distinguish the two when asked this same question? What separates the two from each other?
The Productivity Paradox
The existence of the productivity paradox is meant to explain the reasons why the investments in information systems does not show huge leaps in productivity. Company invest large amounts of money to implement information systems and expect to see similar large increases in productivity. Four reason account for this lack of productivity; Measurement, Time Lags, Redistribution, and Mismanagement. In terms of measurement, many business measure the wrong things so it appears that no change has occurred. Companies measure things like efficiency instead of effectiveness. ATM did not necessarily increase the number of transactions by much but they did make them faster and easier. Time lags explain how long it takes for results to appear after the implementation of Information systems. It takes time for the employees to get used to it and for maintenance to work errors out of the system. Redistribution talks about how it may appear that the market does not increase because instead of the entire market increasing, market shares shift from one company to another. Mismanagement is described as an Information system that was implemented poorly or managed bad. This can happen when the system doesn’t match the company’s strategy.
Question:
Which is not a factor of the productivity paradox?
A. Time Lags
B. Slacking off
C. Redistribution
D. Measurement
E. Mismanagement
Answer:B
I was absent on Tuesday, and all I heard today about the productivity paradox was “Facebook.” This described it a lot better, so I actually understand it.
Great Entry. I had to laugh when we came to this section because i remember when I worked at the front desk. During down season, I spent 75% of my time on Yahoo! Games. Then, BlueCoat was initiated.
I so agree! So many employees are unproductive due to systems that companies implement in order to increase productivity only to have it backfire! Thank you Facebook!
I do agree as well. Even though I don’t have a Facebook yet. But anyways, Facebook is also one of the reasons why they become so popular because they are too “Ambitous” to continue increasing productivity all these time.
On the second thought, I do have a Facebook. And I really almost forgot that I just sign up couple days ago.
Its a shame that there is no way to measure the factor of slacking off in the productivity paradox, considering that it has a large in print on the effectiveness that a companies has. but i can understand how it may be inpossible to do so considering that you can change the amount of time that a person put in their work, as a company you can only try to limited the time that they send away from there work. which is why alot of companies have blocked a lot of outside websites that can play a role in “slacking off”
This was a very good explanation because I really couldn’t ascertain exactly what a paradox was but in relation to that and it might have been said before. Companies due seem to use tons of money to finance operations like this for them to not do its intended purpose. It’s like a double edge sword, it can be beneficial but the same time costly.
This was a great explanation of how people mistake mismanagement as a poorly implemented information system. It is funny how people always find excuses for the real reasons as to why things are not conducted correctly. It is not always that an information system was designed or implemented poorly, it could be the users of it or the lack of proper use.
This was definitely a great entry because I too was unclear on how this productivity paradox worked, this actually reminds me of when I worked at a telemarketing company and in order to keep us calling new customers the system had an automatic call feature for the employees so after one call ended 5 seconds later a new one would be automatically placed.
When a firm implements an IT system the firm can make use of the system at 3 varying levels. Each level builds upon the level above it and therefore when the highest level is being utilized the firm is getting the most out of the system for their money.
The first level is automating: Using technology to complete a relatively easy and boring task within an organization faster, more cheaply, and with greater accuracy.
The second level is informating: providing information about a firms operation and underlying work process.This level usualy utilizes the data collected from the first level to produce info that can be useful to the firm
The 3rd level is strategic planning: This level allows the firm to take the info it has and use it to create a competitive advantage in the market.
All three level are important but in order for a firm to get the most out of its systems they must be able to use them for strategic planning. This is the most important thing that a system can do and is the reason that so much money is spent on developing systems.
Which of the following is not a level of Information Systems
A. Production
B. automating
C. Informating
D. Strategic Planning
Answer: A
I agree. The strategic planning is very important because it adds the most value to the firms. The other two is simpler and therefore easier for any company to implement. The third level is actually differentiate the company from others, which brings about competitive advantage to the firm. However, the information system must be corresponding to the current strategy of the firms in order to add the most value.
I actually think the second level might be more important because the fist level is doing recurrent processes that’s been done over and over again. This is only saying that the same thing happens every time. If that said company hits a snag or undergoes a big boost in sales the information attained will help the company more in moving forward.
Competitive Advantage is what all firms seek to gain over the competition. IT is defined as an edge over competitors in attracting competitors and defending against competitive forces. Information systems allow companies to more easily evaluate the market and determine the best course of action to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.
Types of competitive advantage include:
Having the best made product
Delivering superior customer service
Achieving lower costs then rivals
Having a proprietary manufacturing technology
Having shorter lead times in developing and testing new products
Having a well-known brand name and reputation
Giving customers more value for their money
Different types of information systems exist to address the various types of competitive advantage. By utilizing these systems to their fullest potentials companies will create an advantage that is sure to last.
Competitive advantage…
A. Is only from information systems
B. Give a firm an advantage over others
C. Is only possible in the customer service area
D. Involves making a better product
Answer: B
I enjoy talking about concepts such as competitive advantage because it gives you a bit more of a macro view of MIS as a whole. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the technical terms and such, but if you don’t know how your information systems are impacting your business overall, it is all for naught.
Information systems can be used in three different ways to bring value to a business: for automating, for organizational learning, and/or for supporting strategy. An automating system is one that allows the company to perform a task faster, cheaper and with greater accuracy and consistency than before. It is used in TPS systems for more efficiency in company tasks. An organizational learning system allows the company to learn from past behaviors and information, and improving because of the knowledge. For more efficiency, companies should combine automating and learning systems to better support transactions, as well as improve from past mistakes. A supporting strategy system better supports the company’s basic strategy, and can create competitive advantage.
The Transaction Processing System is what type of system?
A. Automating System
B. Organizational Learning System
C. Achieving Strategy System
Answer: A
That is me!!! Sorry, I forgot to log in…
What ideas do you have on what technology could make a Transaction Processing System better? I personally have worked with various systems such as a cash register and was wondering what could be the next best thing in the TPS world.
There are three ways in which to valuate information systems: automation, information and strategizing. Automation, as the name implies, refers to level of automation an information system can provide. For instance, TPSs can provide a more efficient way for taking orders and handling inventory, but more importantly they lower cost for the company. The second valuation metric is information. This refers to most MISs that can provided data in the form of reports and charts taken from the TPSs. Furthermore, MISs add value to the company by allowing a company to forecast sales and adjust its production accordingly. Some systems can notice certain patterns in sales such as an increase during holiday seasons and no other time, thus further creating value for the company. The final metric for valuation is strategizing, which is the highest tier in the company. This involves systems that allow a company to gain some sort of a competitive advantage. For instance, Wal-Mart has an advantage in that its costs are very low, allowing it to lower its retail prices below its competitors. While other companies have advantages concerning the quality of products and customer service such as Nordstrom.
What types of systems does Automation valuation include?
A.MIS
B.EIS
C.TPS
D.R5
answer: C
Information Systems can add value to an organization in 3 different ways, automating, informing, and support strategizing. Automation is simply using IS to complete tasks within an organization at a faster pace, at a lower cost, and with better accuracy. typical TPS systems can help the user go through transactions and enter information in a much more efficient and accurate manner. Informing is means that IS systems are used to gather information about its operation and the underlying work process it supports. the system aids in the automation of a business process and also improves day-to-day practices. Finally, IS systems that support strategizing are utilized to help a firm develop strategies that will gain them a competitive advantage over rival firms.
what is NOT one of the ways IS can add value to a firm?
a)Automating
b)Organizing <——
c)informing
d) support strategizing
I think in some way an IS can assist a firm through organization in the sense that it can relate certain information to one another so that it becomes easier to see related ideas in an organized, more productive way.
Great explanation because that almost seems like the same operating systems used in real-time business that due a series of repeated tasks like a Gap or something.
I too agree that in some ways I think IS helps in organizing a firm. An information system helps to organize the way people work. It makes them more efficient by doing their work a certain way, which is organization. I personally think that IS helps in all of those functions.
technology doesnt automatically organize, but with the proper implementation, it provides a organization for future users and customers.
I have to agree with Katie, I believe that the IS system definitely helps with each of the functions stated in some way. Although it my not help with each one directly it definitely does have a positive effect on each of them.
When you are evaluating information systems, there are two things that are very important. First of all, it is very important to understand what the company needs. In order to do so, you would likely have to talk to people involved in the business process as well as technical staff who would be responsible for putting the system in place if it were to be selected. These two groups of people would probably be able to provide the best insight when it comes to company needs. The second important point is to understand what a given system does. You would do this by talking to vendors as well as other customers who have purchased the system or something similar to it.
When evaluating a system, which of the following is important to consider?
A. Understanding what you need
B. Understanding what the system does
C. Both A and B (CORRECT)
D. None of the above
Basically, what you need and want to evaluate a system is always important. Not only is that, companies technically want to provide the best resources in order to get the customers interests of purchasing.
I agree. It is important to assess the company needs with the capabilities of the system. It is also important to talk to the major players that will use the system and finance the system. It is important that they know the system meets the requirements.
I also like the multiple choice question, because it doesn’t seem tricky at all.
Different types of information systems are necessary to facilitate certain actions of an organization. Automating information systems enable users to do things “faster, cheaper, with greater accuracy”, which really helps a business that operates on the idea that “time is money”. There are information systems for organizational learning that enable users to learn specific information faster. It is like a TPS because it improves the efficiency of daily activities to make the user’s time more productive. Then there are information systems for doing things smarter which focuses on giving the organization a competitive advantage over its competitors and achieving the organization’s overall goal. An information system that does not assist users in working smarter and cheaper while guiding the organization’s strategic endeavors is not useful.
After reading this paragraph, informating probably means:
A. Breeding
B. to Provide Information about an Operation
C. to Provide Information about the Underlying Work Processes
D. Telling Someone What to Do
E. B & C
Answer: E
I agree with everything said because if you take old Samsung. They tried there hardiest to compete and dominant over Sony but there product couldn’t compete. At the time they were a cheaper product sold and easily accessible in places like Walmart and K-mart. As time grew they focused more on technology and ditched there old strategy of trying to provide a cheaper product but elevating themselves to a premium brand.
Isaiah brings up a good point about the way a company competes, however that has a large part to do with the marketing aspect of the company.But Marissa is right in her thoughts that there are information systems for doing things smarter which focuses on giving the organization a competitive advantage over its competitors and achieving the organization’s overall goal.