Chapter 2 Global E-Business & Collaboration

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Questions and Answers

Which business function is primarily responsible for hiring employees?

Human resources (correct)

Manufacturing and production

Sales and marketing

Finance and accounting

What is a key step in fulfilling a customer order?

Assembling the product

Identifying new customers

Creating financial statements

Coordinating with sales, accounting, and manufacturing (correct)

Which of the following is NOT an example of a functional business process?

Manufacturing and production

Finance and accounting

Sales and marketing

Website design (correct)

Which business function is primarily concerned with creating financial statements?

Finance and accounting (C) Signup and view all the answers

What does the order fulfillment process require?

Coordination among different functions (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which process category involves defining the overall direction of an organization?

Management Processes (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is one of the core processes related to customer interaction?

Market Products (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which subprocess is not part of the Support Processes category?

Market Products (C) Signup and view all the answers

In the Process Architecture framework, which level distinguishes operational customer-oriented processes?

Level A (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is included in the management processes within the framework?

Define Vision (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which level of the Generic Process Architecture defines business activities?

Business Levels (A) Signup and view all the answers

What type of process would be classified as a core process in an organization?

Delivering Customer Service (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which category focuses on internal management and support functions?

Support Processes (B) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary goal of Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems?

To move the correct amount of product from source to consumption quickly and cost-effectively (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a goal of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems?

Reduce inventory costs (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the function of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)?

To capture and apply knowledge and expertise for business improvement (A) Signup and view all the answers

What type of decisions do executive support systems (ESS) primarily address?

Nonroutine decisions requiring judgment and insight (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following best describes a digital dashboard in the context of ESS?

A real-time view of a firm's financial performance (D) Signup and view all the answers

Intranets are primarily used for which of the following purposes?

Increasing integration and expediting information flow internally (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which systems are included as part of enterprise applications?

Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, and customer relationship management systems (A) Signup and view all the answers

How do SCM systems affect order fulfillment?

By enabling greater accuracy in order fulfillment (B) Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of customer interactions do CRM systems primarily manage?

Customer service, sales, and marketing processes (D) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems?

To integrate data from key business processes (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which is an essential benefit of Knowledge Management Systems?

Linking the firm to external knowledge sources (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following characteristics is not typical of enterprise applications?

Limited to departmental use (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key benefit of utilizing executive support systems?

They expedite the decision-making process with real-time data. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a key characteristic of both SCM and CRM systems?

They manage relationships with external parties (A) Signup and view all the answers

Which type of management systems aim to enhance company-wide decision-making and operational efficiency?

Enterprise systems (A) Signup and view all the answers

In what way do supply chain management systems contribute to enterprise applications?

By managing relationships with suppliers and logistics (A) Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary function of extranets?

They facilitate collaboration between authorized vendors and suppliers. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following accurately describes e-commerce?

Buying and selling goods and services through the Internet. (B) Signup and view all the answers

What distinguishes e-business from e-commerce?

E-business encompasses a wider range of digital activities beyond just buying and selling. (D) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is NOT a factor contributing to the growing importance of collaboration in the workplace?

An increase in rigid company hierarchies. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is one key feature of social networks for enterprises such as Yammer?

They facilitate both informal and formal collaboration. (C) Signup and view all the answers

E-government utilizes internet technology primarily for which purpose?

Providing information and services to all stakeholders including citizens. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which aspect does NOT reflect the changing organization of firms?

Emphasis on hierarchical structures. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What type of information system is characterized by websites tailored for authorized vendors and suppliers?

Extranets. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What is a characteristic of business processes?

They consist of logically related tasks to perform specific business functions. (A) Signup and view all the answers

How do information systems improve organizational performance?

They enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing. (C) Signup and view all the answers

Which technology was implemented at Sharp Corporation to enhance collaboration?

Microsoft Yammer (A) Signup and view all the answers

What was a primary issue facing Sharp Corporation before implementing changes?

Ineffective collaboration and idea sharing. (B) Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following accurately describes the role of systems for collaboration?

They are essential for innovation and profit growth. (C) Signup and view all the answers

What attitude must organizations adopt to effectively implement knowledge-sharing strategies?

Open to altering organizational culture. (A) Signup and view all the answers

What does it mean for business processes to be seen as assets or liabilities?

They can contribute positively or negatively to organizational efficiency. (D) Signup and view all the answers

What aspect of business management is most directly supported by information systems?

Different management groups' information needs. (A) Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Information Systems: Theory & Practice - TU2: Global E-business and Collaboration

The course is titled "Information Systems: Theory & Practice"
The teaching unit is TU2: Global E-business and Collaboration
The professor is Prof. Dr. Paul Drews
Learning objectives include defining business processes, their relationship to information systems, how systems serve different management groups, collaboration and social business importance, and the role of information systems function within a business.
The opening case study explores how enterprise social networking transformed Sharp Corporation to be more innovative and connected. Key problems were hierarchical top-down processes, new competitors, and a lack of collaboration. Business solutions involved developing knowledge-sharing strategies, redesigning processes, changing organizational culture, and implementing collaboration software (like Yammer).
The use of new information systems improved business performance and maintained competitiveness
The importance of teamwork and collaboration for innovation and profit growth is highlighted
The importance of organizational culture and business processes for knowledge dissemination is demonstrated
Business processes are comprised of logically related tasks. These tasks define how specific business tasks are performed, may be tied to a functional area or cross-functional, and businesses can be seen as a collection of business processes. These processes may be assets or liabilities.
Functional business processes include manufacturing, production, sales, marketing, finance and accounting, and human resources.
The order fulfillment process involves tasks like generating an order, submitting the order, checking credit, approving credit, generating an invoice, assembling a product, and shipping a product. This requires close coordination across sales, accounting, and manufacturing.
A process framework (Dumas et al. 2018) outlines management, core, and support processes. This framework shows how various processes interact. Processes under management include defining a vision, developing a strategy, implementing a strategy, and managing risk. Core processes include procuring materials, procuring products, marketing products, delivering products, managing customer service. Support processes include management personnel, information management, and asset management.
A process model demonstrates how a series of related activities (process instances) follow a given procedure.

Types of Information Systems

Transaction processing systems (TPS) serve operational managers and record daily routine business transactions (sales, order entry, payroll, shipping) providing an overview of current operations. TPS data provides information to help managers monitor operational status and external relations.
Management information systems (MIS) serve middle management by reporting on current performance using data from TPS. MIS provide routine answers with predefined procedures, but have limited analytical capabilities.
Decision support systems (DSS) serve middle management and provide tools for non-routine decision-making, by analyzing data from internal and external sources (including TPS and MIS data). Examples include voyage-estimating systems and marketing analysis systems
Executive support systems (ESS) serve senior management to deal with non-routine decisions requiring insights and judgment while providing real-time financial performance views (working capital, accounts receivable, accounts payable, cash flow, inventory). ESS often uses digital dashboards.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate data from various business functions (finance, HR, marketing etc.) into a single system to accelerate communication and improve responsiveness to customer needs and order fulfillment.
Supply chain management (SCM) systems manage relationships with suppliers, distributors, and logistics companies. This helps move products efficiently from source to consumer. The goal is to minimize costs and time.
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems enhance relations with consumers. They coordinate business processes in marketing, sales, and customer service. Goals include optimizing revenue, customer satisfaction, and retention while identifying profitable customers.
Knowledge management systems (KMS) manage processes to capture, apply, and share knowledge and expertise within an organization. They make relevant knowledge available for improvement in business processes and decision-making, connecting the firm to outside knowledge sources.
Intranets—provide internal networks using Internet standards, usually a private area on a company's website.
Extranets—provide company websites that are accessible only to authorized vendors and suppliers, which facilitates collaboration.

E-Business, E-Commerce, and E-Government.

E-business applies digital technology and the internet to business processes,
E-commerce is a subset of e-business and involves buying and selling goods/services using the internet
E-government uses internet technology to effectively communicate information to citizens, employees, and businesses.

Social networks facilitate connection through personal and business profiles.
Crowdsourcing leverages collective knowledge to generate new ideas and solutions
Shared workspaces support coordination of projects and tasks.
Blogs and wikis are platforms for publishing and accessing knowledge, opinions, and experiences.
Social commerce facilitates social interaction and opinion-sharing regarding purchasing experiences.
File sharing enables the transfer, sharing, and collaboration on various documents, photos, and videos.
Social marketing allows for interactions between customers and businesses to gain insights.
Communities support open forums for discussion, sharing expertise

Collaboration systems support short-term and long-term work, both formal and informal (teams)
Collaboration is crucial due to changing work nature, increasing professional interactions, organizational changes, and focus on innovation/culture.
The combination of collaborative culture and technology can increase productivity, improve quality, drive innovation, and better customer service. Implementing these systems supports greater transparency and decision-making efficiency.
Tools include email, instant messaging, wikis, virtual worlds, collaboration platforms, virtual meetings, cloud collaboration services (Google Drive, Google Docs) among others.
Critical enterprise capabilities include profiles, content sharing, feeds and notifications, groups and team workspaces, tagging and bookmarking, and permission management

Checklist for Managers for evaluating and selecting collaboration/social software.

Understanding firm's challenges
Identifying possible solutions
Analyzing product costs and benefits
Evaluating security risks
Considering user input for implementation and training
Evaluating vendor capabilities

The Information Systems Department.

A Formal organizational unit which supports IT services.
Led by a Chief Information Officer (CIO) and potentially other senior roles like CSO, CKO, CPO, or CDO.
Including programmers, systems analysts, IS managers and end users.
IT governance includes strategies, policies, decision rights, and accountability for IT. This organization can be centralized, decentralized, or some form in-between.

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Description

Test your knowledge on essential business functions and processes in this quiz. Explore areas such as hiring, order fulfillment, financial statements, and supply chain management. Understand how different processes categorize within an organization.