Deck 2: Organizational Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Information Systems

Question 1

The activities of a business process can be measured

Answer 1

True

Question 2

In general, government deregulation decreases competition.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

A business process has inputs and outputs

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The information technology environment is the combination of social, legal, economic, physical, and political factors that affect business activities.

Question 5

The overall performance of an organization has little to do with how well it manages its business processes.

Question 6

BPM is an implementation of BPR.

Question 7

Business process management includes methods and tools to support the design, analysis, implementation, management, and optimization of business processes.

Question 8

The procurement process includes the sales function.

Question 9

Information technology is facilitating the entry of a wide variety of employees into the workforce.

Question 10

Globalization is the integration and interdependence of many facets of life made possible by rapid advances in information technology.

Question 11

Internet access in the United States is not particularly related to household income.

Question 12

Developed countries usually provide greater fringe benefits than developing countries.

Question 13

BPM can improve an organization's flexibility.

Question 14

The business environment refers to the industry that a company is in.

Question 15

Competitive advantage refers to making higher profits.

Question 16

A business process always includes information systems.

Question 17

An organization's business processes can create a competitive advantage.

Question 18

In general, labor costs are higher in developed countries than in developing countries.

Question 19

BPR is a strategy for improving the efficiency of an organization's data collection.

Question 20

Cross-functional processes are executed within a single functional area.

Question 21

In mass customization, companies produce items in large quantity, but they tailor the items to meet the desires and needs of individual customers.

Question 22

The music industry is a good example of the extremely low variable costs of digital products.

Question 23

The Internet increases traditional barriers to entry into a market.

Question 24

The Internet decreases customers' bargaining power.

Question 25

Build-to-stock is a strategy of producing customized products and services.

Question 26

The bargaining power of suppliers is low when their buyers have many choices.

Question 27

An entry barrier is a long-term competitive advantage.

Question 28

When there are many substitute products, a company can create a competitive advantage by increasing fees.

Question 29

Competitive advantage helps a company function effectively within a market and generate larger-than-average profits.

Question 30

Ethical issues are important because, if handled poorly, they can damage an organization's image.

Question 31

Every competitive organization is driven by the competitive forces identified by Michael Porter.

Question 32

The digital divide is the gap between data and knowledge.

Question 33

Michael Porter concludes that the overall impact of the Internet is to increase competition, which generally diminishes a firm's profitability.

Question 34

A growing IT initiative called green IT is enabling organizations to reduce their carbon footprint.

Question 35

In mass production, a company produces a large quantity of identical items.

Question 36

Information-based industries face the greatest threat from substitutes.

Question 37

An information system that helps an organization gain a competitive advantage is called a competitive information system.

Question 38

The One Laptop per Child project aims to use technology to revolutionize how the world can educate its children.

Question 39

The introduction of the ATM in the banking industry is an example of the innovation strategy.

Question 40

Customer intimacy is the process whereby a business learns as much as possible about its customers to better anticipate and address their needs.

Question 41

Which of the following processes involves the warehouse, purchasing, and accounting functional areas?
A. Procurement
B. Fulfillment
C. Order entry
D. Accounts receivable
E. Payroll
Answer. A
Section reference 1: Business Processes

Question 42

Which of the following is not a role that information systems play in businesses processes?

A) Establish standards
B) Execute the process
C) Capture and store process data
D) Monitor process performance
E) Detect problems with the process.

Question 43

Managing pay and payroll is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting Business Process
B) Finance Business Process
C) Marketing Business Process
D) Human Resources Business Process
E) Management Information Systems Business Process

Question 44

It's a good idea for a company to select two competitive advantage strategies.

Question 45

Which of the following statements is false?

A) BPM is a task-oriented approach.
B) BPM can help companies reduce costs.
C) BPM can help companies increase revenue.
D) BPM can improve customer satisfaction.
E) BPM can improve organizational flexibility

Question 46

The workforce in developed countries is exhibiting all of the following trends except:

A) It is becoming more diversified.
B) It includes more women.
C) It includes more single parents.
D) It includes fewer persons with disabilities.
E) It includes more minority-group members.

Question 47

Business pressures on organizations are created when there are changes in

A) Social factors
B) Economic factors
C) Legal factors
D) Political factors
E) Changes in all of the above will create business pressures.

Question 48

Managing purchasing is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting Business Process
B) Finance Business Process
C) Marketing Business Process
D) Production Business Process
E) Management Information Systems Business Process

Question 49

The primary activities in the value chain create the value for which customers are willing to pay.

Question 50

Managing account collections is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting Business Process
B) Finance Business Process
C) Marketing Business Process
D) Production Business Process
E) Management Information Systems Business Process

Question 51

Today's customers have ________ .

A) less knowledge about products
B) less sophistication
C) difficulty in finding information about products
D) higher expectations
E) difficulty in comparing prices

Question 52

Applying copyrights and trademarks is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting business process
B) Finance business process
C) Marketing business process
D) Production business process
E) Management information systems business process

Question 53

Porter's value chain model is a variation of his competitive advantage framework.

Question 54

Which of the following processes involves the warehouse, sales, and accounting functional areas?
A. Procurement
B. Fulfillment
C. Order entry
D. Accounts Receivable
E. Payroll
Answer. B
Section reference 1: Business Processes

Question 55

Reconciling bank accounts is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting Business Process
B) Finance Business Process
C) Marketing Business Process
D) Production Business Process
E) Management Information Systems Business Process

Question 56

Which of the following statements is false?

A) BPM begins with process modeling.
B) Process modeling is a graphical depiction of all the steps in a process.
C) BPM uses Web-enabled technologies for user interfaces.
D) Business activity monitoring is used to measure and manage business processes.
E) Business activity monitoring is a type of scheduled reporting.

Question 57

Which of the following statements concerning business processes is false?

A) A process has inputs.
B) A process has outputs.
C) A process has activities that can be measured.
D) A process creates value.
E) A process cannot cross functional area boundaries.

Question 58

Market pressures include which of the following?

A) the global economy
B) weak competition
C) a homogeneous workforce
D) weak customers
E) high-cost offshore labor

Question 59

For many organizations, business process reengineering

A) Is easy to implement.
B) Is not disruptive to implement.
C) Has little impact on facilities.
D) Is inexpensive.
E) Has a major impact on the corporate culture.

Question 60

Collecting sales tax is an example of a(n):

A) Accounting Business Process
B) Finance Business Process
C) Marketing Business Process
D) Production Business Process
E) Management Information Systems Business Process

Question 61

The threat of competitors' entering a market is very high in industries that perform a(n) _____ role and in industries where the primary product or service is _____.

A) intermediation, physical
B) broker, physical
C) sales, financial
D) financial, digital
E) intermediation, digital

Question 62

The Bodymetrics body scanner is best characterized as an example of:

A) mass production.
B) customer focus.
C) real-time customer input.
D) mass customization.
E) continuous improvement.

Question 63

If there are _____ substitutes for an organization's products or services, then the threat of substitutes is _____.

A) many, high
B) few, low
C) few, high
D) many, low
E) few, negligible

Question 64

Which one of the following statements is false?

A) Businesses tend to view government regulations as expensive constraints on their activities.
B) Government deregulation reduces competition.
C) IT support is essential for compliance with many new regulations.
D) IT has been used to identify patterns of behavior associated with terrorist activities.
E) Information ethics can destroy the morale of a company's employees.

Question 65

For most companies, the Web _____ the threat that new competitors will enter the market by _____ traditional barriers to entry.

A) decreases, increasing
B) increases, decreasing
C) increases, increasing
D) decreases, decreasing

Question 66

Which of the following is not a

Question 67

How does the Internet affect the way you purchase your textbooks?

A) The Internet gives you fewer choices.
B) The Internet increases your bargaining power.
C) The Internet provides you with less information.
D) The Internet decreases your bargaining power.
E) The Internet increases your switching costs.

Question 68

_____ is a feature that must be offered by a competing organization in order to survive in the marketplace.

A) Competitive advantage
B) An entry barrier
C) Strategic advantage
D) Rapid time-to-market
E) One-to-one marketing

Question 69

Which of the following statements concerning technology pressures on modern businesses is true?

A) Technology changes so rapidly that organizations should wait before they release new technology-based products.
B) New technologies offer alternative service options.
C) New technologies will never replace existing technologies.
D) The amount of information on the Internet remains stable from year to year.
E) The important information on the Internet is fee-based.

Question 70

Producing customized items in large quantities is called:

A) strategic systems.
B) customer focus.
C) continuous improvement.
D) mass production.
E) mass customization.

Question 71

_____ activities create value for which customers are willing to pay, whereas _____ activities do not add value directly to the firm's products or services.

A) Support, primary
B) Human resource management, inbound logistics
C) Procurement, operations
D) Primary, support
E) Accounting, outbound logistics

Question 72

The costs of delivering products in the _____ channel are much higher than delivering products in the _____ channel.

A) e-commerce, digital
B) digital, e-commerce
C) digital, physical
D) physical, financial
E) physical, digital

Question 73

The threat of competitors' entering the automobile manufacturing industry is _____ because barriers to entry are so _____.

A) low, low
B) high, high
C) high, low
D) low, high

Question 74

Which of the following is not an example of the growing initiative called green IT?

A) Designing an IT infrastructure to support sustainability.
B) Building systems that monitor carbon throughout the organization.
C) Asking vendors about compliance on environmental standards.
D) Building computer applications that use less energy
E) Designing energy-efficient data centers.

Question 75

Porter's competitive forces model helps organizations identify _____, whereas his value chain model helps organizations identify specific _____.

A) competitive opportunities, activities
B) general strategies, activities
C) activities, competitive opportunities
D) activities, general strategies
E) primary activities, support activities

Question 76

New technologies can produce new products very _____, which _____ the threat from substitute products.

A) slowly, decreases
B) slowly, increases
C) slowly, does not affect
D) quickly, increases
E) quickly, does not affect

Question 77

Buyer power is _____ when buyers have many choices from whom to buy and _____ when buyers have few choices.

A) high, the same
B) high, low
C) low, low
D) low, high
E) low, the same

Question 78

Competitive advantage for an organization manifests itself as all of the following except:

A) Lower costs
B) Higher quality
C) Increased time to market
D) Increased profits
E) Increased speed

Question 79

Information-based industries are most susceptible to which one of Porter's five forces?

A) threat of entry of new competitors
B) bargaining power of suppliers
C) bargaining power of customers
D) threat of substitute products
E) rivalry among existing firms in an industry

Question 80

Producing identical items in large quantities is called:

A) strategic systems.
B) customer focus.
C) continuous improvement.
D) mass production.
E) mass customization.