Chapter 3 Questions

  1.      Why has the web grown so dramatically?

Reasons or growth of the World Wide Web:

- The microcomputer revolutions made it possible for an average person to own a computer

- Advancements in networking hardware, software and media made it possible for business PCs to be inexpensively connected to larger networks.

- The speed, convenience and low cost of email have made it an indispensable tool for business and personal communications. 

- Browser software such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer gave computer users an easy to use graphical interface to find, download and display web pages.

- Basic web pages are easy to create and extremely flexible

The Internet has since become one of the main forces changing how business is being conducted world wide. 

  2.      What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

The web 2.0 is a set of economic, social and technological trends that collectively form the basis for the next generation of the internet. It upgrades to a more mature, distinctive medium characterised by user participation, openness and network effects. Since upgrading from Web 1.0, the web is no longer just linking text, it is linking people through upgrades such as Blogging, Wikipedia and web services. 

3.      How could a web 2.0 technology be used in business?

Web 2.0 is a transformative force that is propelling companies across all industries towards a new way of doing business. Those who have used it to their advantage have an opportunity to gain an early mover advantage in their markets. With over 1.4 billion people around the globe with internet access, it allows business have greater access to these potential customers and turn them into their customer goodwill. 

4.  What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods and and services over the Internet, the term refers to only online transactions. 

E-business is the conducting of business on the internet, including buying and selling, serving customers and collaborating with business partners. 

The main difference between the two is that e-business also refers to online exchanges of information, such as manufacturer allowing tis supplier to monitor production schedules or a financial institution allowing its customers to review their banking, credit card and mortgage accounts. 

5. What is pure and partial eCommerce—

Pure vs. Partial EC

  --The product can be physical or digital.

  --The process can be physical or digital.

  --The delivery agent can be physical or digital.

6.  List and describe the various eBusiness models?

Business to Business (B2B) = applies to businesses buying from and selling to each other over the internet. 

Business to Consumer (B2C)= applies to any business that sells its products or services to consumers over the internet

Consumer to Business (C2B)= applies to any consumer that sells a product or service to a business over the internet

Consumer to Consumer (C2C)= applies to sites primarily offering goods and services to assist consumers interacting with each other over the internet. 

7. List and describe the major B2B models?

Electronic marketplaces represent a new wave in B2B e-business models. Electronic marketplaces are interactive business communities providing a central market where multiple buyers and sellers can engage in e-business activities. E-marketplaces allow access to various mechanisms in which to buy and sell almost anything, from services too various mechanisms in which to buy and sell almost anything from services to direct materials all online. 

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online?

e-business opportunities: - highly accessible, increased customer loyalty, improved information content, increased connivence, increased global reach and decreased cost. 

e-business challenges: - protecting consumers, leveraging existing systems, increasing liability, providing security and adhering to taxation rules. 

Strategic Decsion Making

Chapter Two Questions

1. Define TPS & DSS, provide some examples of these systems in business

Transactional information brings together all the information contained with a single business process or unit of work, and its primary purpose is to support the performing of daily tasks. These include involving elementary business activities such as sales, receipts, cash deposits, payroll, credit decisions and flow of materials. Transaction Process Systems (TPS) manage these activities, and are usually fundamental to the operation of a business. The most common example of a  TPS is an operational accounting system like a payroll system or even a order-entry system. Transactions can also be managed in various ways, for example batch and online. The enterprise view of information and information technology is shaped in a hierarchal manner. 

2. Describe the three quantitative models typically used by decision support systems.

The three quantitative models often used used by DSS include:

- Sensitivity analysis: is the study study of the impact that changes in one or more parts of the models information to support managers and business professionals during the decision making process. 

-What-if analysis: checks the impact of a change in an assumption on the proposed solutions. 

- Goal-seeking analysis: finds the input necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output. It sets a target value for a variable and then repeatedly changes other variables until the target value is achieved. 

3. Describe a business processes and their importance to an organisation, outline and example of how they are used.

A business process is a standardised set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer's order. They transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another person or process by using people and tools. Examining business processes helps an organisation to anticipate bottlenecks, eliminate duplicate activities, combine related activities, and identify smooth running processes. 

4. Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering.

Improving business processes is paramount in order to stay competitive in todays electronic marketplace. Organisations must improve their business process because customers are demanding better products and services. When customers to are not fully satisfied, it is as easy as a slick of a mouse to explore their options. This is quite different from business process re-engenieering (BPR) as the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises. BPR relies on a much more different train of thought than improving business processes. It assumes that the current process is irrelevant, does not work or is broken and must be redesigned from scratch. 

5. Describe the importance of business process modelling (or mapping) and business process models.

Business process modelling (mapping) is the activity of creating a detailed flowchart or process map of a work process, showing its inputs, tasks and activities in a structured sequence. A business process model is a graphical description of a process, showing the sequence of a process tasks, which is mainly developed for a specific purpose and from a selected viewpoint.  a set of one or more process models details the many functions of a system or subject area with graphics and text. 

Week 2 Questions

Explain information technology’s role in business?


Information technology is everywhere in business. It is crucial in understanding IT and the great insight in which it provides for the business industry. 




What are Efficiency and Effectiveness Metrics? Provide some examples of each.


It is clear that businesses splurge large amounts of money on IT in order to keep up with the ever changing business environment, some businesses have even been reported to be spending half their total capital expenditure on IT. Efficiency and effectiveness metrics are two primary types of business IT metrics. 
Efficiency IT metrics: measures the performance of the IT system itself, such as throughput, speed and availability. 
Effectiveness IT Metrics: measures the impact IT has on business process and activities, including customer satisfaction, conversion rates and sell through increases. 




What does Porter’s Five Forces Model attempt to explain? How does the internet affect the model?


Porters Five Forces Model is an easy framework for understanding market forces. Businesses must be resilient to the ever changing business environment, and in order for this to happen they must constantly observe the market and adapt. They must also make crucial businesses decisions such as offering new products, entering the markets, competing in new industries or industry segments. Through new mediums such as the internet, which plays a vital role within the business world due to its easy access and wide variety of uses. The internet has also made it that much easier for businesses to become public and expand their reach globally. 


Describe the relationship between business processes and value chains?


When a business makes a business decision such as that in Porters model, entering a new market is a risky manoeuvre and businesses must understand, accept and successfully execute its business strategy. The business process of the organisation and the value chain they create an integral role in the strategy execution. The value chain views a business as a series of processes, each of which adds to the value of the product or service for each customer.