Information Systems and Digital Trends Summaries PDF
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This document provides summaries of chapters from a book about Information Systems and Digital Trends. It covers topics such as business processes, information systems, computer ethics, and the use of technology in organizations. The summaries offer insights into how organizations use technology for better efficiency and profitability.
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INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL TRENDS - summaries of the book chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, Technology Brief - CHAPTER 1 rganizations use information systems to become more productive and profitable, to gain O competitive advantage, to reach more customers, or t...
INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND DIGITAL TRENDS - summaries of the book chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, Technology Brief - CHAPTER 1 rganizations use information systems to become more productive and profitable, to gain O competitive advantage, to reach more customers, or to improve customer service. The answer for many firms continues to be to use information systems to do thingsbetter, faster, and cheaper —>Ane-businessis an organization that uses information technologies or systems to support nearly every part of its business. Nowadays you need to her computer literacy, bit also computer fluency. Knowledge workers are typically professionals who are relatively well educated and who create, modify, and/or synthesize knowledge as a fundamental part of their jobs. —> a knowledge society (called also digital world) would emerge, with education as the cornerstone. IS personnel are now well-trained, highly skilled, valuable professionals who garner high wages and prestige and who play a pivotal role in helping firms be successful. Good IS personnel possess valuable, integrated knowledge and skills in three areas—technical (knowledge and skills in hardware, software, networking, and security), business (integration of business skills: understand and manage people and projects), and systems (critical thinking and system integration: understand how to build and integrate systems and how to solve problems) + social skills to understand how to work well with and motivate others. As information systems are used more broadly throughout organizations, IS personnel often have dual-reporting relationships—reporting both to the central IS group and to the business function they serve. he use ofoutsourcing— the moving of business processes or tasks (such as accounting, T manufacturing, or security) to another company or another country—as now companies can outsource business processes on a global scale (Figure 1.4). Companies are choosing to outsource business activities for a variety of reasons; the most important reasons include the following: To reduce or control costs To free up internal resources To gain access to world-class capabilities To increase the revenue potential of the organization To reduce time to market To increase process efficiencies To be able to focus on core activities To compensate for a lack of specific capabilities or skills e are seeing an exponential increase indigital density(i.e., the amount of connected data per w unit of activity) (Zamora, 2017), in that every unit of activity generates ever more connected data, enabling new value- added interactions and business models (Figure 1.6). Digital density is due to connection, big data and interaction (API economy)—> internet of things increases digital density we have witnessed theconsumerization of IT; many technological innovations are first introduced in the consumer marketplace before being used by organizations, and businesses must constantly evaluate how a wide variety of new technologies might influence their ways of doing business. Big Data is typically described as extremely large and complex datasets, which are characterized as being of high volume, variety (i.e., many different types of data), and velocity (i.e., the data are being collected and analyzed at ever-increasing rates). ninformation system (IS)is the combination of people and information technology that create, A collect, process, store, and distribute useful data.Information technology (IT)includeshardware, software, andtelecommunications networks. H ardware refers to physical computer equipment, such as a computer, tablet, or printer, as well as components like a computer monitor or keyboard. Hardware includes not only “traditional” computer components but a variety of other input and output devices, including sensors, cameras, actuators, and the like. Software refers to a program or set of programs that tell the computer to perform certain tasks. Software enables organizations to utilize the hardware to execute their business processes and competitive strategy by providing the computer hardware with instructions on what processing functions to perform. Telecommunications networks refer to a group of two or more computer systems linked together with communications equipment. the telecommunications networks allow computers to share data and services, enabling the global collaboration, communication, and commerce we see today. There are different type of IS: t ransaction processing systems (TPS) are used by a broad range of organizations to process customer transactions more efficiently, these systems also generate a tremendous amount of data that can be used by the organization to learn about customers or ever-changing product trends. TPS data also provide input into a variety of other information systems within organizations. anagement information systems m helps in managerial decision making. ffice automation systemssuch as O Microsoft Office and the OpenOffice.org Productivity Suite provide word processing, spreadsheet, and other personal productivity tools, enabling knowledge workers to accomplish. ystems forelectronic commerce(ore-commerce), suchas corporate websites, are also popular S and important. These systems enable (1) consumers to find information about and to purchase goods and services from each other and from business firms and (2) business firms to electronically exchange products, services, and data. oday, many organizations have replaced standalone systems withenterprise systemsthat span T the entire organization. Likewise, withinternetworking—connecting host computers and their networks together to form even larger networks like the internet—andsystems integration—connecting separate information systems and data to improve business processes and decision making—it is difficult to say that any given information system fits into only one of these categories (e.g., that a system is a management information system only and nothing else). Increasingly fast-paced competition is forcing businesses to regard IS as an enabler for streamlining business processes, providing better customer service, and better connecting and collaborating with various stakeholders inside and outside the organization. omputer ethicsis used to describe moral issues and standards of conduct as they pertain to the C use of information systems. The issues central are (aka “PAPA”): information privacy (Information privacyis concerned with what information an individual should have to reveal to others in the workplace or through other transactions, such as online shopping), accuracy, property —> Information property: the company that maintains the database of customers or subscribers legally owns the data and is free to sell them, accessibility. hese issues focus on what information an individual should have to reveal to others in the T workplace or through online transactions, ensuring the authenticity and fidelity of information, who owns information about individuals and how that information can be sold and exchanged, and what information a person or organization has the right to obtain about others and how this information can be accessed and used. Many businesses devise guidelines for the ethical use of information technology and computer systems. The Computer Ethics Institute is a research, education, and policy study organization that studies how advances in information technology have affected ethics and corporate and public policy CHAPTER 2 or many organizations, information systems have strategic value. In addition, a broad range of F information is needed to support an organization’s business processes.Business processesare the activities organizations perform to reach their business goals, including core activities that transform inputs and produce outputs, and sup- porting activities that enable the core activities to take place. very organization is composed of differentdecision-making levels.Each level of an organization E has different responsibilities and, therefore, different informational needs. At theoperational levelof a firm, the routine, day-to-day business processes and interactions with customers occur. Information systems at this level are designed to automate repetitive activities, such as processing sales transactions, and to improve theefficiency(the extent to which goals are accomplished faster, at lower cost, or with relatively little time and effort) of business processes at the customer interface by optimizing processes and better understanding the underlying causes of any performance problems. They can also help to gather valuable data for higher decision-making levels within the organization. Atransaction refers to anything that occurs as part of a firm’s daily business of which it must keep a record. Operational planning typically has a time frame of a few hours or days, and the managers at the operational level, such as foremen or supervisors, make day-to-day decisions that are highly structured (structured decisionsare those in which the procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance)and recurring. At themanagerial level(or tactical level) of the organization, functional managers (e.g., arketing managers, finance managers, manufacturing managers, human resource m managers) focus on monitoring and controlling operational-level activities and providing information to higher levels of the organization. Managers at this level, referred to as midlevel managers, focus on effectively utilizing and deploying organizational resources to increase effectiveness(i.e., the extent to which goals or tasks are accomplished well) to achieve the strategic objectives of the organization. The scope of the decision usually is contained within the business function, is moderately complex, and has a time horizon of a few days to a few months. Managerial-level decision making is referred to as semistructured decision making because solutions and problems are not clear-cut and often require judgment and expertise. Forsemistructured decisions, some procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance, but not to the extent where a specific recommendation can be made. In addition, key performance indicators [KPIs] are the metrics deemed most critical to assessing progress toward a certain goal and are displayed on digital dashboard. A t theexecutive level(or strategic level)of the organization, managers focus on long-term strategic questions facing the organization. Managers at this level are referred to as “executives.” Executive-level decisions deal with complex problems with broad and long-term ramifications for the organization. Executive-level decisions are referred to as unstructured decisions because the problems are relatively complex and nonroutine. Forunstructured decisions, few or no procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance. To assist executive- level decision making, information systems are used to obtain aggregate summaries of trends and projections of the future. At the executive level, information systems provide KPIs that are focused on balancing performance across the organization In addition to different decision-making levels within an organization, there are also different functional areas. A functional area represents a discrete area of an organization that focuses on a specific set of activities. Thesefunctional area information systemsare designed to support the unique business processes of specific functional areas. hen deploying information systems across organizational levels and functions, there are three W general ways the information system can providevalue: to enable automating activities (doing things faster), to enable learning (doing things better-organizational learning:the ability of an organization to use past behavior and data to improve its business processes), and to enable the execution of organizational strategy (doing things smarter - strategic planning). hereas some companies have a competitive advantage by being the first to enter a market (i.e., W having afirst-mover advantage), most organizations must compete within established industries. One framework often used to analyze an industry is Porter’s (1979) notion of the five primary competitive forces: (1) the rivalry among competing sellers in your industry, (2) the threat of potential new entrants into your industry, (3) the bargaining power that customers have within your industry, (4) the bargaining power that suppliers have within your industry, (5) the potential for substitute products or services from other industries. There are different strategies: alow- cost leadership strategyby which it offers the best prices in its industry on its goods and/or services. adifferentiation strategyby which it tries to provide better products or services than its competitors. a middle-of-the-road strategy, following abest-cost provider strategy, offering products or services of reasonably good quality at competitive price —> superiorvalue creationoccurs when an organization can provide products at a lower cost or with superior (differentiated) benefits to the customer. No matter what generic strategy an organization chooses to pursue, it must have resources and/or capabilities that are superior to those of its competitors in order to gain or sustain a competitive advantage.Resourcesreflect the organization’s specific assets that are utilized to achieve cost or product differentiation from its competitors.Capabilitiesreflect the organization’s ability to leverage these resources in the marketplace. Together, the resources and capabilities provide the organization withdistinctive competencies. Value chain analysisis the process of analyzing an organization’s activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and what costs are incurred for doing so. Because information systems can automate and optimize many activities along the value chain, the use of information systems has become one of the primary ways that organizations improve their value chains. uccessful managers now think of information systems as a competitive asset to be nurtured and S invested in and think of them as an enabler of opportunities and mechanism for supporting or executing their business model. In other words, organizations are trying to maximizebusiness/IT alignment, and in most cases. Often organizations have no choice in making some types of investments that may or may not coincide with their overall strategy. Such investments are called a strategic necessity—something the organization must do to survive. Abusiness modelis a summary of a business’s strategic direction that outlines how the objectives will be achieved; a business model specifies thevalue propositionas well as how a company will create, deliver, and capture value. The business model dictates how and where information systems investments can be utilized to execute a competitive strategy and sustain an advantage over competitors. erhaps the most important ingredient P for any organization is determining how to generate revenue. Arevenue model describes how the firm will earn revenue, generate profits, and produce a superior return on invested capital (even nonprofit organizations need a revenue model). In addition to sales, transaction fees, and advertising-based business models common in the offline world, the internet has enabled or enhanced other revenue models, such asaffiliate marketingor freemium (in-app purchases). Rather than providing a product or service, a digitalplatformcoordinates others—both other businesses and users—to co-create value. Platforms create digital ecosystems where some users create value and other users consume. As a result, a platform creates a so-called two-sided market, and its success is dependent on the network effect. In the context of marketplaces, we can distinguish between two major types of network effects. On the one hand,same-side network effectsrelate to the increase (or decrease) in value as additional users join on thesameside of the network. On the other hand,cross-side network effectsrelate to the change in value for a user if users join on theotherside. As increasingly, individuals are sharing not only content (such as opinions or media) but physical goods or services on dedicated platforms, many believe that we are moving toward a sharing economy. Asharing economy(sometimes referred to as acollaborative economy) has been defined as “an economic system in which assets or services are shared between private individuals, either free or for a fee, typically by means of the Internet”. As ownership is shared, assets can often be used more effectively. This economy has benefits, but also problems: In this “gig economy,” workers are not employed by the company, but are only hired for short-term, temporary jobs. The ever-increasing digital density has enabled another type of business models, not centered on selling products but providing these as services (sometimes referred to asXaaS, or “X as a service”). Under a service-based business model, a manufacturer can offer equipment services, such as offering the product itself as a service or offering operations and optimization services, or information services, such as selling data or insights generated by the customer’s usage of the product. The customer thus does not have to purchase the engine or spare parts but pays for hours of usage, transforming fixed costs into variable costs. or organizations,innovationinvolves creating new products, processes, or services that return F value to the organization (note that in contrast to merely inventing new products, services, or processes, innovation involvesrealizingthe value). The most common form of innovation is incremental innovation, which involves enhancing or upgrading existing products, services, or processes. In contrast,radical innovations(sometimes calleddisruptive innovations) use a markedly new or different technology to access new customer segments and/or provide significantly greater benefits to existing customers and eventually marginalize or replace existing products or services (Chandy & Tellis, 1998). To gain and sustain significant competitive advantage, firms must often deploy the latest technologies or redeploy and reinvest in existing technologies in clever, new ways. For example, architects and interior designers usevirtual reality (VR) headsets.Similar to virtual reality, augmented realityuses information systems to enhance a person’s perception of reality by providing relevant information about the user’s surroundings. O pen innovation, or the process of integrating external stakeholders into the innovation process, can thus prove very beneficial. Integrating external stakeholders into the innovation process, however, often involves making organizational data and knowledge accessible to the external stakeholders, so companies must carefully balance the benefits and potential drawbacks of engaging in such initiatives. Thelean startup methodology, pioneered by Eric Ries, provides a framework for such an approach. Traditionally, companies would develop a product and subsequently attempt to find customers for it. Under the lean startup approach, a company first searches for a viable product and business model, only executing the business model once they have found a fit between the product and the market. In the “search” phase, you engage in customer discovery and customer validation. 1. Customer discoveryinvolves finding out whether the perceived problem actually exists and whether there would be a market for a hypothetical solution; once you have established this, the second step of customer discovery entails find- ing out whether your envisioned solution would actually address this problem. . Once you have established that there is a potential 2 market and your hypothetical solution would address the problem, you can start building a so-called minimum viable product (MVP), which is a product containing just the features needed to demonstrate how your solution meets the problem. With this MVP, you are moving into thecustomer validationphase to test your hypothesis as to whether customers would be willing to pay for the solution. If at any stage of the search process, you discover that any of your hypotheses doesn’t hold, it is time topivot—changing your direction while being grounded in what you learned. Typically, you would go through several iterations and pivots before finding the product/market fit. In the lean startup method- ology, these iterations are known as the build-measure-learn cycle that enables validated learning(i.e., empirically testing assumptions or hypotheses through customer feedback to improve future iterations). Just as the search phase consists of two steps, so does the execution phase. In particular, in the customer creationphase, you test the hypothesis of whether it is possible to establish a repeatable business model. The final step entails building the company and scaling operations and the organization. hereas established organizations can benefit from radical approaches to innovation, this W sometimes requires fundamental changes to the organization. In particular, the organization’s processes, resources (employees), and risk tolerance must be capable of adapting to and sustaining the development and implementation processes. Lean startup methodology: 1. Put Technology Ahead of Strategy. 2. Think in Terms of Problems before Designing Solutions. 3. Innovation Is Continuous. tartups— typically technology-based new ventures with high potential for scalability and S growth—are often cofounded by entrepreneurs, developers, designers, or others with a promising idea. —>Crowdfundingis the securing of business financing from individuals in the marketplace—the “crowd”—to fund an initiative, typically some consumer-based product. Individuals who support a given initiative—called “backers”—pledge a certain amount of financial support to the project in return for certain benefits. CHAPTER 3 or organizations operating globally, local differences in infrastructure pose additional challenges, F particularly when operating in developing nations. Businesses rely on aninformation systems infrastructure(also referred to asdigital infrastructure) (consisting of hardware, system software, storage, networking, and data centers) to support analytics and decision making, business processes, and competitive strategy. No matter what systems are used for, they rely on three basic capabilities supported by the information systems infrastructure:processing, storage, and transmission of data. Digital infrastructures: new systems and capabilities are built on top of prior systems —> innovation and change; in contrast to other types of traditional infrastructure components, are typically not controlled by a single business or government actor but are provided by companies allow for platform- based business models that permeate almost every aspect of our daily lives. Facing this accelerating change enabled by digital infrastructures, organizations must adapt or will sooner or later go out of business. Quickly adapting to a constantly changing competitive environment necessitates that businesses are increasingly flexible and agile, so organizations seek to align their organizational strategy and business processes with the right collection of systems and capabilities in the IS infrastructure. The formal description of an organization’s technologies, systems, and processes that support an organization’s specific business processes and strategy is referred to as theinformation systems architecture. ataare probably among the most important assets an organization has, as data are essential for D both executing business processes and gaining business intelligence through advanced analytics. Especially in light of ever-increasing digital density, increasing amounts of data are available to be analyzed for increased personalization, coordination, or anticipation of changes. Data once taken for granted or never collected at all are now used to make organizations more productive and competitive (they turn data into useful information). Yet just having access to data is not sufficient; it is through applications that the data can be used effectively. Application softwarehelps automate business processes and enables processes that would otherwise not even be possible. It can also generate a wealth of data that can be used to optimize inventory levels, taking into account the costs of keeping inventory and the potential costs of stockouts. Many types of application software supporting business processes interact withdatabases (collections of related data organized in a way that facilitates data searches), which allow them to efficiently retrieve and store the data needed for executing business processes and gaining business intelligence. On the most fundamental level, databases are used to store data and to make the data accessible where and when needed. Also well-managed databases can help to provide organization-wide access to the data needed for different business processes. In addition, database technology fuels electronic commerce, from helping to display avail- able products for sale to providing customer service. To harness the power of the data contained in the databases, organizations usedatabase management systems (DBMSs), which are a type of software that allows organizations to more easily store, retrieve, and analyze data. fundamental component of the IS infrastructure is thehardware, that is the computers that run A the applications and databases necessary for processing transactions or analyzing business data. The six general classes of computers are: s upercomputer,is the most expensive and most powerful kind of computer. Typically, supercomputers are not used by business organizations; they are used primarily to assist in solving massive scientific problems. mainframecomputers are used primarily as the main, central computing system for major corporations; optimized for high availability, resource utilization, and security, mainframes are typically used for mission-critical applications, such as transaction processing —> multiple concurrent users. serveris any computer on a network that makes access to files, printing, communications, and other services available to users of the network. Servers are used to provide services to users within large organizations or to web users. Servers are optimized for access by many concurrent users and therefore have more advanced microprocessors, more memory, and more disk storage. Servers also boast high reliability and fast network connectivity. To support different business processes, organizations often have many different servers in different configurations —> multiple concurrent users. workstations, designed for medical, engineering, architectural, or animation and graphics design uses, are optimized for visualization and rendering of 3D models and typically have fast processors, large memory, and advanced video cards —> single user. personal computers (PCs)and notebook computers are used for personal computing and small business computing —> single user. mobile devices(tablets and smartphones) have increasingly become part of an organization’s information systems infrastructure. In contrast to general-purpose computers,embedded systemsare optimized to perform a well-defined set of tasks. In addition to the processing components, IS hardware also encompasses input devices (such as computer mice, touch screens, or cameras) and output devices (such as monitors, printers, or speakers).radio frequency identi- fication (RFID). ystem softwareis the collection of programs that control the basic operations of computer hard- S ware. The most prominent type of system software, theoperating system(e.g., Windows, macOS, Ubuntu Linux), coordinates the interaction between hardware components (e.g., the CPU and the monitor),peripherals(e.g., printers), application software (e.g., office programs), and users. Operating systems are often written in assembly language. The operating system performs all of the day-to-day operations that we often take for granted when using a computer, such as updating the system clock, printing documents, or saving data to a hard drive. Applications only have to be developed for different operating systems, not for each different computer model; device driversallow the computer to communicate with various different hardware devices. o enable efficient storage and retrieval of the content of databases, organizations need to have a T solid storage infrastructure. One can distinguish between three distinct types of data, based on their purpose, each with distinct requirements in terms of timeliness, searchability, access speed, and life span: Operational data: data used for managing business processes, such as for processing transactions; or for data analysis —> operational data are typically stored in databases or files. Backupdata: short-term copies of organizational data, used to recover from system, related disaster (backup data are frequently overwritten with newer backups). Archivaldata: long-term copies of organizational data, often used for compliance and reporting purposes. Information systems have become powerful and important due to the ability tointerconnect, allowing internal and external constituents to communicate and collaborate with each other, and many innovative business models would not exist without the internet. The infrastructure supporting this consists of a variety of components, such as thenetworking hardware and softwarethat facilitate the interconnection of different computers, enabling collaboration within organizations, across organizations, and literally around the world. Computer networkingis the sharing of data or services. The information source produces a message, which is encoded so that it can be transmitted via a communication channel; a receiver then decodes the message so that it can be understood by the destination. Thus, analogous to human communication, computer networks require three things: A sender (source) and a receiver (destination) that have something to share (a message); A pathway or transmission medium (refer to the physical pathway, like cable(s) and wireless, used to transmit data) to send the message; Rules or protocols governing communication between senders and receivers.Protocols define the procedures that different computers follow when they transmit and receive data. Computer communication consists ofbits, the smallest unit of data used by computers —> Bandwidthis the transmission capacity of a computer or communications channel, measured in bits per second (bps) or multiples thereof, and represents how much binary data can be reliably transmitted over the medium in one second. Computers in anetworktypically have one of three distinct roles: server, is any computer on the network that makes access to files, printing, communications, and other services available to users of the network. client, is any computer that uses the services provided by the server. Client can only require services. So-called thin clients— microcomputers with minimal memory, storage, and processing capabilities—use desktop virtualizationto provide workers with a virtual desktop environment. peer, is any computer that may both request and provide services. Businesses typically useclient-server networks, in which servers and clients have defined roles. In contrast, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks enable any computer or device on the network to provide and request services; these networks can be found in small offices and homes. omputing networks are commonly C classified by size, distance covered, and structure. The most commonly used types arepersonal area networks,local area networks, andwide area networks. These networks are typically used to connect devices within an organization or across organizational subunits. Wide area networks can range from spanning multiple buildings (sometimes called acampus area network)to covering the area of a city (sometimes called ametropolitan area network) to worldwide (the internet). To enable the connection of mobile devices or to install a network where running cables is infeasible, organizations installwireless local area networks (WLANs)using high-frequency radio-wave technology; WLANs are also referred to asWi-Fi (wireless fidelity) networks. XAMPLE: One global network that has enabled organizations and individuals to interconnect in a E variety of ways is theinternet, a large worldwide collection of networks that use a common protocol to communicate with each other. One of the most powerful uses of the internet is the World Wide Web. TheWorld Wide Webis a system of interlinked documents on the internet, or a graphical user interface to the internet, that provides users with a simple way to access a wide v ariety of content -web browser. A key feature of the web ishypertext. A hypertext document, otherwise known as aweb page, contains not only content but alsohyperlinks, which are references or links to other documents. The standard method of specifying the structure and content of web pages is calledHypertext Markup Language (HTML). The source code of a web page uses codes, or markup tags, that specify the structure and content of a document. These web pages are stored onweb servers, which process user requests for pages using theHypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Web servers typically host a collection of interlinked web pages (called awebsite) that are owned by the same organizationor by an individual. Websites and specific web pages within those sites have a unique internet address. A user who wants to access a web page enters the address, and the web server hosting the website retrieves the desired page from its hard drive and delivers it to the user. Uniform Resource Locator (URL)is used to identify and locate a particular web page. The URL A has three distinct parts: the domain name, the top-level domain and the host name. Thedomain nameis a term that helps people recognize the company or person that the domain name represents. For example, Google’s domain name is google.com. The prefixgooglelets you know that it is very likely that this domain name will lead you to the website of Google. Domain names also have a suffix that indicates whichtop-level domainthey belong to. For example, the “.com” suffix is reserved for commercial organizations. Thehost nameis the particular web server or group of web servers (if it is a larger website) that will respond to the request. In most cases, the “www” host name refers to the default website including the home page of the particular domain. All the domain names and the host names are associated with one or more internet protocol (IP) addresses. IP addressesserve to identify all the computers or devices on the internet. The IP address serves as the destination address of that computer or device and enables the network to route messages to the proper destination. Traditionally, the format of an IP address (version 4) is a32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods (the latest version, IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses, enabling more devices to be connected to the internet). Each of the four numbers can be any number between 0 and 255. For example, 128.196.128.23. IP addresses can also be used instead of URLs to navigate to particular web addresses. orld Wide Web Architecture:The web consists of a large number of interconnected web servers, W which host the pages users access with their web browsers. The internet uses theTransmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)to facilitatethe transmission of web pages and other information. Users can access web pages by entering the URL of the web page into their web browser. Once the user enters the URL into the address bar of the web browser, TCP/IP breaks the request into packets and routes them over the internet to the web server where the requested web page is stored. When the packets reach their destination, TCP/IP reassembles them and passes the request to the web server. The web server understands that the user is requesting a web page (indicated by the http:// or https:// prefix in the URL) and retrieves the web page, which is packetized by TCP/IP and transmitted over the internet back to the user’s computer. TCP/IP reassembles the packets at the destination and delivers the web page to the web browser. In turn, the web browser translates the HTML code contained in the web page, formats its visual appearance, and displays the results. If the web page contains a hyperlink, the user can click on it and the process repeats. PIs:Web protocols are not only used to transmit web page data but are also used to enable A applications to communicate with each other, which is the basis for APIs (application programming interference). An API lets a service consumer (e.g., the Uber app on your phone) access services provided by a service provider (e.g., Google Maps), without the service consumer having to know how the underlying services are created. he Deep Web:In addition to searchable content on the web, much content cannot be indexed by T search engines such as Google. The termdeep webrefers to those parts of the web that cannot be indexed by conventional search engines. The common web (called “surface web”) that you know and use every day—sites like YouTube, Google — comprises as little as 1 percent of the total size of the web. Beyond this surface, the deep web is composed of tens of trillions of web pages that most people have never seen. The deep web consists of private areas requiring authentication, dynamic web pages created from connected databases, and static web pages that are not connected to other pages via hyperlinks. rganizations can use web-based technologies to O support proprietary, internal communications through the implementation of anintranet (inside the organization). An intranet looks and acts just like a publicly accessible website and uses the same software, hardware, and networking technologies to transmit and display data. the data can be viewed only by authorized users. Organizations can use intranets for disseminating corporate information, employee training, project management, collaboration, or enabling employee self-service for administering benefits, managing retirement plans, or other human resources–based applications throughemployee portals. Increases in employees’ mobility necessitate that an intranet be accessible from anywhere. Thus, most companies allow their employees to usevirtual private networks (VPNs)to securely connect to the company’s intranet while on the road or working from home. imilar to an intranet, anextranet, which can be regarded as a private part of the internet that is S isolated from ordinary users, enablestwo or more firmsto use the internet to do business together. Although the content is “on the web,” only authorized users can access it after logging on to the company’s extranet website. To access information on an extranet, authorized business partners access their business partner’s main extranet web page using their web browsers. n organization’s hardware and storage infrastructure can quickly grow quite large, and companies A typically set aside dedicated space for their infrastructure components (suchdatacenterscan range in size from a single dedicated server room to buildings the size of a large warehouse). Keeping this infrastructure in one location helps in managing, repairing, upgrading, and securing the equipment. Data centers need to be modular to be easily expandable in case of changing needs. ecause of the increasing pace of change with modern technologies, most organizations face B accelerating obsolescence of their hardware and software investments as well as increasing storage and space constraints, demand fluctuations, and increasing energy costs. anaging the IS infrastructure can be a challenge for many organizations due to the evolution of M hardware and software, the demand for more storage and networking bandwidth, and the rising costs of energy. Further, organizations need dedicated staff to support their infrastructure, which incurs further costs; often, managing the IS infrastructure is not among the organization’s core competencies, so others may be better at managing the infrastructure for them. In the laciest years, organizations leave the building of applications toother partiesandassume that these applications will work. Cloud computingis a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction. loud computing(think Gmail, Office 365, or Dropbox): allow for accessing emails, files, notes, and C the like from different devices, further enhancing portability and mobility. Using autility computingmodel (i.e., organizations “rent- ing” resources such as processing, data storage, or networking from an external provider on an as-needed basis and paying only for what is actually used), cloud computing thus helps transform IS infrastructure costs from a capital expenditure to an operational expenditure. One prime example of a cloud computing provider is Amazon Web Services: For example, individuals and organizations can rent storage space on Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) or computing time on Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The cloud computing model has several unique and essential characteristics: On-demand self-service: resources in the cloud are accessible by the customer with no need for human interaction with the provider; Rapid elasticity: computing resources can be scaled up or down almost instantaneously and often automatically, based on user needs; Broad network access: cloud services are accessed via the internet, they are accessible from almost anywhere and from almost any web-enabled device; Resource pooling: cloud providers manage multiple distributed resources that are dynamically assigned to multiple customers based on their needs; Measured service, is typically used in a utility computing model, where providers monitor usage and customers pay only for what they use. There are different cloud computing service models: infrastructure as a service (IaaS)model: only the basic capabilities of processing, storage, and networking are provided —> the customer has the most control over the resources. platform as a service (PaaS)model: customers can run their own applications, which are typically designed using tools provided by the service provider —> In this model, the user has control over the applications but has limited or no control over the underlying infrastructure. software as a service (SaaS)model: the customer uses only applications provided via a cloud infrastructure. Typically, such applications include web-based email services (e.g., Google’s Gmail) and web-based productivity suites (such as Zoho or Google Docs) but also advanced applications such as CRM systems —> the customer cares only about the application, with no knowledge or control over the underlying infrastructure and typically has only limited ability to control or configure application-specific settings. loud service providers such as Amazon offer what is referred to as apublic cloud. Services in a C public cloud can be used by any interested party on a pay-per-use basis; hence, they are often used for applications that need rapidscalabilityor in cases where there is insufficient capital or other resources to build or expand an IS infrastructure. In contrast, aprivate cloud(or internal cloud) is internal to an organization and can help the organization balance demand and supply of computing resources within the organization. roblems with cloud computing: P (1) there is no single cloud computing provider that can meet all needs of an organization, so organizations often have to partner with different service providers; (2) availability and reliability, sometimes the resources cannot be available; (3) scalability: not every provider will be able to meet every organization’s demands; (4) viability: if the outside entity failed, what will happen?; (5) security and privacy talking about sensitive data; (6) diversity of offering and (7) costs. Issues such as availability, reliability, and security are normally covered inservice-level agreements (SLAs), which are contracts specifying the level of service provided in terms of performance (e.g., as measured by uptime), warranties, disaster recovery. Advanced Cloud Applications: To achieve greater flexibility and agility, organizations have tried to move away from deploying large, monolithic applications in favor of aservice-oriented architecture (SOA). Using SOA, business processes are broken down into individual components (orservices) that are designed to achieve the desired results for the service consumer (which can either be an application, another service, or a person). To achieve these benefits, services must follow three main principles:Reusability.A service should be usable in many different applications; Interoperability.A service should work with any other service; andComponentization.A service should be simple and modular. Grid computing,refers to combining the computing power of a large number of smaller, independent, net- worked computers (often regular desktop PCs) into a cohesive system to solve problems that only supercomputers were previously capable of solving. Similar to cloud computing, grid computing makes use of distributed resources; however, in contrast to cloud computing, the resources in a grid are typically applied to a single large problem. Adedicated grid, consisting of a large number of homogeneous computers (and not relying on underutilized resources) is easier to set up and manage and, for many companies, much more cost effective than purchasing a supercomputer. Use ofcontent delivery networksservesto increase performance of websites. Content delivery networks help reduce this latency and distance by providing a network of servers in various geographical locations, which store copies of particular websites. Content delivery networks have evolved intoedge computing, where not only data storage but also processing is moving away from a centralized location to the “edges” of a network, which allows for minimizing latency. The growingconvergence of computing and telecommunicationscan help satisfy such diverse communication and collaboration needs.IP convergence, or the use of theinternet protocol (IP)for transporting voice, video, fax, and data traffic, has allowed enterprises to make use of new forms of communication and collaboration (e.g., instant messaging and online whiteboard collaboration) as well as traditional forms of communication (such as phone and fax) at much lower costs. Two types of IP convergence: Voice over IP (VoIP) (or IP telephony) and videoconferencing over IP. reen computing, or attempts to use computing resources more efficiently to reduce G environmental impacts, as well as the use of information systems to reduce negative environmental impacts, can contribute to these efforts by helping to use computers more efficiently, doing the same (or more) with less. For example, organizations can save large amounts of money for power and cooling by using virtualization to replace hundreds of individual servers with just a few powerful mainframe computers. CHAPTER 4 lectronic commerce (EC)refers to the exchange of goods, services, and money1 among firms, E between firms and their customers, and between customers, supported by communication technologies and, in particular, the internet. EC can involve the events leading up to the purchase of a product as well as customer service after the sale. Furthermore, EC is not limited to transactions between businesses and consumers, which is known asbusiness-to-consumer (B2C)EC. EC is also used by organizations to conduct business with business partners such as suppliers and intermediaries. This form of EC, not involving the end consumer, is commonly referred to as business-to-business (B2B)EC. Some forms of EC do not even involve business firms, as would be the case with transactions between consumers on an online auction site such as eBay; these forms of EC are referred to asconsumer-to-consumer (C2C)EC (note that a business, eBay, provides a platform to enable transactions between consumers).C2C is relate toe-auctions,that provide a place where sellers can post goods and services for sale and buyers can bid on these items (for example, eBay); and online classifieds, advertisements for goods or services available for sale. A related EC model isconsumer-to-business (C2B)EC, where consumers offer products, labor, and services to companies, a complete reversal of the traditional B2C model, for example Shutterstock. Fueled by the rise of social media, organizations are trying to leverage social networks to build lasting customer relationships, advertise products, or otherwise create value—a trend referred to as social commerceis the use of social media to influence shopping behavior, from the pre-purchase evaluation stage to post-purchase experiences). With the ubiquitous use of mobile devices,mobile commerce (m-commerce)—that is, any electronic transaction or information interaction conducted using a wireless, mobile device and mobile networks (wireless or switched public network) that leads to the transfer of real or perceived value in exchange for information, services, or goods (MobileInfo, 2016)—has become a natural way of shopping online for many. A key driver for m-commerce islocation-based services, which are highly personalized mobile services based on a user’s location. -governmentis the use of information systems to provide citizens, organizations, and other E governmental agencies with information about public services and to allow for interaction with the government. There are three types of e-government: Government-to-citizen (G2C)EC allows for interactions between federal, state, and local governments and their constituents. Go vernment-to-business (G2B)is like G2C, but this form of EC involves businesses’ relationships with all levels of government. This includes e-procurement, or a government’s streamlining its supply chain by purchasing materials directly from suppliers using proprietary internet-enabled procurement systems. Go vernment-to-government (G2G)EC is used for electronic interactions that take place between countries or between different levels of government within a country. A lot of banks developed alsoe-banking: they can now manage credit card, checking, or savings accounts online using online banking or pay their bills using electronic bill pay services. Likewise, many banks created mobile banking apps for checking account balances or initiating transactions. In addition to online banking,online brokerage (use online brokerage firms such as Interactive Brokers to buy or sell stocks) has seen steady growth over the past several years. Fintech(financial technology) refers to technologies that support activities in the financial sector. Often, fintech is associated with companies (often startups) that use technologies in innovative ways to disrupt activities in the financial sector; many fintech startups focus on specific types of interactions, segments, or business processes. Whereas traditional banks provide a wide range of services, fintech companies typically focus on one service, and do this very well. Different approaches of business to costumer: brick-and-mortar business strategy: companies following this strategy solely operate physical locations such as retail stores and do not offer their products or services online. e-tailing: he most extreme form of e-tailing, companies follow aclick-only business strategyand only conduct business electronically in cyberspace. These firms (sometimes calledvirtual companies) have no physical store locations, allowing them to focus purely on EC. In this case, organizations can have lower prices, because they don’t need the middle man and reach customers more directly and efficiently (phenomena called disintermediation—> the opposite is reintermediation thatrefers to the design of business models that reintroduce middlemen to reduce the chaos brought on by disintermediation). In addition, many e-tailers can focus on the concept of thelong tail (on products outside the mainstream tastes. ) thatrefers to catering to niche markets in addition to (or instead of) purely selling mainstream products. Web technologies have allowed firms to focus on the long tails by tailoring their products and services specifically to each customer’s particular needs on a large scale, a model referred to asmass customization (company can increase prices and make a profile of the customer). Obviously, click-only companies benefit from the practice of show rooming, shoppers coming into a store to evaluate the look and feel of a product to then purchase it online or at a competitor’s store. Benefits of e-tailing are the unlimited number and variety of products; global availably of the website (you can buy everywhere), and price effectively. The problem of e-tailing is that people don’t trust, in fact they want a direct product experience and because of product delivery and returns. click-and-mortar business strategyapproach (also referred to as a bricks-and-clicks business strategy): company continues to operate their physical locations and has added an EC component to their business activities. Different retailing: multichannel retailing: offering a single channel; cross- channel retailing, transactions take placeacrossmultiple environments; omni-channel retailingentails providing seamless, simultaneous interactions using different channels, such that a customer does not interact with a single channel but with the brand as a whole. ew pricing models: Under a traditionalmenu-driven pricingmodel, companies such as Amazon N or Travelocity.com set the prices that consumers pay for products or services. In contrast, Priceline.com uses adynamic pricing modelto offer consumers discounts on airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and various other products and services: customers would specify the product they were looking for and how much they were willing to pay for it, and Priceline.com matched the customers’ bids with offers from companies. he design of an online retailer’s website influences online purchasing behavior. online consumers’ T needs can be categorized in terms of the site’sstructural firmness(characteristics that influence the website’s security and performance - the website needs to be well-organized and fast), functional convenience(characteristics that make the interaction with the website easier or more convenient - the website must be easy to use), andrepresentational delight(characteristics that stimulate a consumer’s senses - the website must be aesthetically pleasing). Online consumer’s hierarchy of needs” suggests that, overall, a site’s structural firmness is most critical; once visitors’ needs for structural firmness have been met, functional convenience is the next most important set of characteristics, followed by representational delight. I nternet marketing: One major benefit of internet marketing is the ability to target specific recipients based on location, time of day, page content surrounding an ad, or the viewer’s demographics, “likes,” or interests. In order to attract customers to the website, companies put URL listed at the end of its television commercials or they integrateQR codesinto their offline ads. They also usesearch marketingwith: search engine optimization: The results presented by search engines such as Google or Bing are typically separated into organic results (i.e., based on the page’s content) and sponsored results. The organic results of a user’s search are presented based on complex, proprietary formulas, and the ranking (position of the link to a particular page) in the search results is largely outside the control of the web page’s owner. Companies usesearch engine optimization (SEO)in an attempt to boost their ranking in the organic search engine results. paid search:search advertising or sponsored searchis a way to ensure that your company’s page appears on the first page users see when searching for a specific term. Google is paid on a pay-per-click basis, but others company use paid inclusion (pay of a fee). ompanies use alsodisplay advertising, using static banner ads, video ads, or interactive banner C ads, which allow users to interact with the advertisement. A recent trend in display advertising has been contextual advertising, where the ads placed on a page are in some way related to the content of that page. Email marketing has been, and continues to be, a very popular aspect of advertisers’ overall interactive marketing mix. In addition to placing display ads on such sites, companies increasingly use social networking sites for interactive communication with their customers. Mobile marketing: placing ads into mobile phone appsallows app developers to offer apps for lower prices and provides marketers with another opportunity to reach their target audience through their favorite channels. Content marketingis a way to attract an audience by providing relevant and valuable content through various channels. > The performance of internet marketing can be assessed by metrics such asclick-through rate, — reflecting the number of surfers who click on an ad (i.e., clicks) divided by the number of times it was displayed (i.e., impressions), orconversion rate, reflecting the percentage of visitors who actually perform the marketer’s desired action (such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, watching a video, and so on).Exit rateis defined as the percentage of visitors who leave the website (i.e., terminate the session) after viewing that page; in other words, it reflects the percentage of users for whom a particular page is the last page they view before moving on to a different site or closing their browser window. In contrast,bounce rateis defined as the percentage of single-page visits; in other words, it reflects the percentage of users for whom a particular page is the only page visited on the website during a session. n the web, it is possible to determine exactly how many people have been exposed to or clicked O on an ad. Thus, one common pricing model for online advertising is theimpression based model; under this model, pricing is based on the number of times the page containing an ad is displayed, typically expressed in cost per thousand impressions (i.e., cost per mille, or CPM). Moreover, the trend in web advertising is moving toward performance-based pricing models, where the return on investment is more direct, such aspay-per-click models. Under this type of pricing model, the firm running the advertisement pays only when a web surfer actually clicks on the advertisement. One drawback, however, of pay-per-click models is the possibility of abuse by repeatedly clicking on a link to inflate revenue to the host or increase the costs for the advertiser; this is known asclick fraud. -commerce is connected to security issues. Concerns for security have led to the inception of E independentpayment servicessuch as PayPal (owned by eBay), Apple Pay, Square, or Google Wallet. These services allow online customers to purchase goods online without having to reveal much private information to the actual sellers. One radical innovation around making and receiving payments is cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies(the most widely used being Bitcoin) are virtual currencies that are not issued by any central bank and use encryption technologies to secure transactions and to generate new units of the currency. Bitcoin transactions are anonymous. wo of the most important issues for EC businesses are taxation of online purchases and the T protection of intellectual property, especially as it pertains to digital products. In general,net neutralityis the principle that all internet data should be treated the same. CHAPTER 5 rganizations rely on effective O communication andcollaboration(i.e., two or more people working together to achieve a common goal), both within and outside organizational boundaries. Most organizational business processes require communication and collaboration between employees of different departments as well as with outside business partners (such as suppliers), customers, and other external stakeholders. With various collaboration and communication tools enabled by the internet, collaborators on projects or teams do not have to be co-located; rather, businesses increasingly formvirtual teams, composed of members from different geographic areas and assembled as needed to collaborate on a certain project. Resembling highly dynamic task forces, virtual teams are commonly used for tasks such as developing systems and software. Just as there are many things to discuss within your team project, there are also many ways that you can communicate and collaborate, and different time horizons. One key distinction is between the need forsynchronous(i.e., at the same time) and asynchronous(i.e., not coordinatedin time) communication. Meetings of virtual teams typically take the form ofvirtual meetingsusing online environments;such meetings can be held synchronously, like a teleconference, or asynchronously, using technologies such as online discussion boards. ollaboration softwareand collaboration apps have evolved from groupware—a class of soft- ware C that enables people to work together more effectively. Collaboration software is often distinguished along two dimensions: 1. Whether the software supports synchronous or asynchronous collaboration and communication 2. Whether the software supports groups working together face-to-face or distributed nelectronic meeting systemis a sophisticated software tool used to help group members solve A problems and make decisions through interactive structured processes such as electronic idea generation, idea evaluation, and voting esktop videoconferencinghas become a common way of collaborating, joining meetings D remotely, or attending classes. For desktop videoconferencing, all that is needed is awebcam (i.e., a small video camera that is connected directly to a PC or integrated in a laptop PC’s monitor), a speaker telephone or a separate microphone and speakers/headphones, videoconferencing software (e.g., Skype, Google+, or Apple FaceTime), and a high-speed internet connection. Many large organizations haveintranet-based employee portals. An intranet looks and acts just like a publicly accessible website, but the intranet pages are behind the company’s firewall, so only authorized users can access the content using their web browser. However, increases in employees’ mobility necessitate that an intranet be accessible from anywhere. Thus, most companies allow their employees to use virtual private networks (VPNs) to connect to the company’s intranet while on the road or working from home (i.e., telecommuting). Once connected via a VPN, users can access resources as if they were located within the organization and connected to the organization’s network. A major benefit of corporate intranets is the ability to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of collaboration by providing real-time access to information. In contrast to traditional intranets, where typically only select users with editorial privileges can create and update content, these intranets—sometimes referred to associal intranets—allow every user to create and update content and to easily connect with other content creators. As more and more content is accessible via a company’s intranet, relevant information becomes increasingly difficult to locate, especially if the information is in different languages and located on different servers or databases, so Search or the Google Search Appliance are designed to retrieve content from various internal data sources, including documents, databases, or applications linked to the company’s intranet. rganizational intranets are widely used to provideemployee portalsthat enableemployee self- O servicefor administering benefits, managing retirement plans, or other human resources–based applications. Using employee portals, employees become self-reliant, reducing time spent dealing with employment-related issues and allowing them to focus on their work responsibilities. p until the early 2000s, the web was regarded as a one-way medium (sometimes referred to as U “Web 1.0”), with a relatively strict distinction between content creators and content consumers. Some entities would create content (e.g., a website), and others would consume this content. However, changes in technology have enabled new uses of the web; dynamic web applications, often referred to asWeb 2.0applications, allow people to collaborate and share content online, shifting the users’ role from passive consumers of content to content creators (user-generated content). Many successful Web 2.0 applications rely on the network effect. The network effect refers to the notion that the value of a network (or tool or application based on a network) increases with the number of other users. In Web 2.0 terminology, amashupis a new application (or website) that uses data from one or more service providers. Many organizations have recognized the power and benefits of allowing other sites and apps to incorporate their services and data into mashups. By providing access to useful services and data, organizations extend their reach and build and strengthen customer relationships, providing a base for revenue-generating services. Many successful Web 2.0 applications embody core Web 2.0 values such as collaboration and social sharing; these can be classified associal media(orsocial software), allowing people to communicate, interact, and collaborate in various ways. Future: Thesemantic web, originally envisioned by Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, is a set of design principles that will allow computers to better index web pages, topics, and subjects. When web pages are designed using semantic principles, computers will be able to understand the meaning of the content, and search engines will be able to give richer and more accurate answers. The major search engines encourage webmasters—the individuals responsible for creating and maintaining web pages—to integrate so-called microdata into their pages’ HTML markup to help search engines understand themeaningof content on the pages. Web 3.0 is often seen as characterized by not only semantic web concepts, but increasingly using artificial intelligence to further enhance the capabilities of the web. prime application of social media in the enterprise is facilitating and enhancing the A communication within an organization as well as between an organization and its stakeholders. For organizations, social media have opened up a vast array of opportunities for presenting them- selves to their (potential) customers; at the same time, these applications have opened up literally thousands of channels for people to voice their opinions about an organization. Blogs: Blogging is the process of keeping an online text diary (i.e., ablog, or web log) made up of chronological entries that comment on everything from one’s everyday life to wine and food or even computer problems. Nicholas Carr, noted technology journalist (and active blogger himself), classifies blogging as the“amateurization” of journalism. Often, the value of blogging is the ability to bring breaking news to the public in the fastest possible way. Microblogging, similar to blogging, enables people to voice their thoughts; however, in contrast to blogs, which often contain lengthy posts, microblogging services are designed for broadcasting relatively short “status updates,” which are distributed in (near) real time. Typically, anyone can follow another person’s microblog. For example Twitter: when posting a tweet, users can tag words or phrases with a “# ”—called ahashtag—to indicate the topic and relate the tweet to other tweets about the same topic. A word phrase or topic that is tagged at a greater rate than others is said to betrending. Instant messaging(or online chat) enables real-time written conversations. Using instant messaging, multiple participants can have conversations and enjoy immediate feedback from their conversation partners. Some social networking sites such as Facebook have integrated instant messaging functionality. In addition to communication, companies and individuals can benefit from social media applications that enablecooperation. One example of cooperative social media applications making use of the network effect is the sharing of user-generated content such as pictures, videos, audio, or even presentations. Webcasting is increasingly used for media sharing. Webcasting (or podcasting) is the distribution of digital media content, such as audio or video files for on-demand playback on digital media players. The ability to consume the content at one’s convenience has contributed to the tremendous growth ofwebcasts(orpodcasts). One problem with user-generated content is its variety; status updates, photos, videos, and other content are typically not easy to categorize or find.Metadata—which can be simply thought of as data about data—describe data in terms of who, where, when, why, and so on, and can be useful for categorizing content and making it easier to find.Manuallyaddingtags, or metadata, to digital media or other content is an important aspect of many social media applications. Tags are commonly added to pictures and videos on websites such as Flickr, a picture- and video-hosting website that allows users to upload their content. Another type of metadata about media such as photos, videos, or even blogs or tweets is of geospatial nature; knowing where exactly a photo was taken and in what direction the camera was pointing, or knowing the location of a person sending out a breaking news update on Twitter can be extremely valuable. Such geospatial metadata (such as latitude, longitude, or altitude) added to digital media is referred to asgeotags. ocial bookmarkinghelps address this by allowing users to share interesting content and to create S categorization systems (referred to asfolksonomies). As more people participate in social bookmarking, the value for each user grows as the bookmarks become more complete and more relevant to each user. Like social bookmarking,social catalogingis the creation of a categorization system by users. Contributors build up catalogs regarding specific topics. Organizations are typically dealing with tremendous amounts of information, ranging from supplier information to frequent customer complaints, and can use social cataloging for structuring this information and making it more accessible and useful. he internet,cloud computing, and the increase in the use of mobile devices have enabled various T social media applications that provide many capabilities that have forever transformed the way individuals and teams can work together. One key trend that has greatly facilitated collaboration is the rise of cloud computing.Cloud-based collaboration toolshave greatly facilitated collaboration; for example, cloud-based collaboration tools allow for easy access and easy transfer of documents or other files from one person to another. content management system (CMS)allows users to publish, edit, version track, and retrieve A digital content, such as documents, images, audio files, videos, or anything else that can be digitized. content management systems provide easy-to-use interfaces that allow thecreatorsof content to make necessary changes. Similar to content management systems used for communication and collaboration, learning management systems such as Blackboard, Sakai, and Moodle have facilitated business processes in educational settings. The concept ofcollective intelligenceis based on the notion that distributed groups of people with a divergent range of information and expertise can outperform the capabilities of individual experts. For organizations, making effective use of the collective intelligence of their employees, customers, and other stakeholders can prove extremely valuable. Based on the concept of collective intelligence,peer productionis the creation of goods or services by self-organizing communities. Also based on the concept of collective intelligence, wikis are used for a variety of collaboration tasks. Awikiis a website allowing people to create, edit, or delete content as well as discuss about content or suggested changes with other members of the community. Another way companies are using the collective intelligence of individuals is through crowdsourcing. HITs are small self-contained tasks that humans can solve easily but would be difficult for a computer to solve. Users can find HITs that are of interest to them, solve the tasks, and earn money. pen source software: someone with an idea for a useful program develops an initial version; O other developers looking for interesting projects to work on may then join the original creator and contribute to the continuing development of the software. Organizations now have access to various high-quality open source software, ranging from operating systems to databases, web servers, and e-commerce solutions; using open source software offers benefits such as security, flexibility, and auditability. In addition to direct collaboration,social networkinghas become one of the most popular uses of the internet. Social networking sites createsocial online communitieswhere individuals with a broad and diverse set of interests meet, communicate, and collaborate. Several social online communities are targeted at professional audiences, allowing users to meet business contacts, post career profiles, present themselves in a professional context, ask for expert advice, or be contacted regarding job opportunities. Further, many companies are trying to use social media to attract web traffic; often, these companies post incomplete or tantalizing headlines for stories to ncourage users to click on them. Such types of headlines are often referred to asclickbait; as a e user clicks on the link, the company earns revenue through ads posted on the page containing the article. uilding on the foundations of social networking, advertisers are now usingviral marketingto B promote their websites, products, or services. Viral marketing is using the network effect to increase brand awareness. The termviral marketingwas coined to describe how good marketing techniques can be driven by word-of-mouth or person-to-person communication. Businesses create advertisements in a way that entices the viewers to share the messages with their friends through email or social networks so that the messages will spread like a virus. Organizations should take these factors into account when considering the use of social media applications within the organization: management must ensure that employees are aware of the tools, their purpose, and rules or policies surrounding the use of these tools. on the web, people participate by choice, but people in organizations cannot be forced to participate. Hence, organizations must understand the multiple stakeholders, personalities, and perspectives of future users and ensure that any enterprise-oriented social media initiative will appeal to the organization’s members. organizations should always ask what objective is to be accomplished with the tool and only then decide which type of tool to implement. enterprise-oriented social media implementations need the support and active involvement of senior management to cope with the large magnitude of changes. the success of an enterprise-oriented social media initiative is also heavily dependent on the composition of the organization’s workforce (generation gap). one factor hindering the adoption of many new technologies is technological inertia. In many cases, people are not willing to switch to new applications unless they see real, tangible benefits. organizations will have to ensure that any enterprise-oriented social media applications are integrated well with the organization’s existing information systems infrastructure to reap the greatest benefits from connecting people with one another and connecting people with information. companies thus must balance their desire for enhancing collaboration with the need to protect intellectual property and compliance with rules a
