MGT 430 MIS : Ethics Lesson 3 - Essay Example

Q2) What role did information systems play in y our answer to question 1 A secondary factor that has allowed a strong performance from the firm is their exclusive reliance upon trainer databases to continually keep in close contact and provide new marketing updates and product information relevant to the offerings that the firm has to the shareholders who will ultimately help them to engage these products with the desired market. One should not underestimate the effect that this has had on the supply network and market integration as this is an approach that few other firs have been able to leverage with regards to having an entire network of virtually unpaid representatives engage their products with the relevant consumer. Q3) What additional information systems could Fitness Quest develop to create barriers to entry to the competition and to lock in customers?

One way that this could be engaged would be for the firm to include a DVD or other electronic promotional material with the purchase of each of their devices which allows the user to have access via a unique purchase code to a wealth of fitness information and training videos on their website. Although such an approach is not necessarily new, it would help to differentiate the firm from the litany of imposters that currently saturate the market. Q4) In 2004 FitnessQuest had alliances with trainers and their competitors had alliances with major retailers?

Why do you think FitnessQuest won this competition? The ultimate answer to this question lies not only with FitnessQuest’s superior model of engaging directly with the trainers to help them sell their product but with a level of consumer psychology that they judged correctly. When consumers seek to purchase equipment related to health or exercise, they are necessarily less prone to uy cheap alternatives as a hierarchy of needs usually encourages the consumer to purchase the more expensive or well-known/reputable brand in the belief (whether true or not) that by doing this the end result will ultimately be better. Q5) The case does not state all of the uses that FitnessQuest makes of its trainer database.

List five applications of the database that would increase FitnessQuest’s competitive position. The first of these would be to sort the data with regards to geographic position and overall sales as a means of focusing further marketing efforts on the regions where sales have been precipitously stronger than those in which they have not. Secondly, the list of trainers can and should be sorted as a function of how many clients these trainers have; in this way, a further hierarchy of marketing data would ultimately be available.

Thirdly, by seeking to engage the trainers with regards to the demographics of their clients, the firm could seek to understand to an even higher degree the target demographic which it should be modeling its efforts towards. Fourthly, the database should be sorted based upon the types of trainers that are represented as each will fall into a particular type of niche which should be understood by the firm in its own unique way. Finally, the database should be utilized as a means of determining what future products would engage well with the needs of the consumer.

This can be done by drawing inference upon the type of trainers represented and unfulfilled market niches that apply. Q6) Describe major difference between the Bosu product and the IndoRow