Information System in Information Technology - Assignment Example

Information System in IT Student’s Name: Code + Course name Professor’s name University City, State Date Question 1 Information systems have a direct link with the objectives of a business. They enable the organization to attain operational effectiveness that entails the efficiency and effectiveness of the business operations. This is an internal function of information systems within the organization. Towards attaining operational efficiency, information systems increase speed and productivity, reduce the costs incurred by the business besides enhancing the overall effectiveness of the organization. Information systems also enable the organization to attain the strategic positioning objective. This includes increasing the market coverage of the business as well as enabling the implementation of an effective structure that positions the firm strategically in the marketplace. The use of marketing information systems enables the organization to extend its market coverage besides enabling the integration of the changing market and industry practices to enable the firm to attain competitive advantage. The fact that the use of information systems enables the firm to monitor and integrate its operations in vast geographical areas implies that such systems extend the geographical coverage of the business, which suffices to be one of its objectives. In essence, information systems enable businesses to compete favorably in the current volatile and competitive marketplace characterized by global competition, tight performance standards, the need for tailored offerings from customers, and reduced product life cycles (Gleeson 2004). Question 2 Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) provides a good example of an “ideal” class registration system. The system automates the process of registering both students and courses in an institution. Attaining operational efficiency of the registration system suffices to be the main objective of the CIT system (Fahmy 2007). One of the benefits of the system is to eliminate the need for students to form long queues in halls during the registration process. The system uses few menus thereby guaranteeing its simplicity and flexibility. The use of the system does not require a complete overhaul of the existing database system within the institution. Instead, the system uses the already existing database. Assigning a unique reference number to each course offered by the institution to students is one of the requirements of the system. Accessing the database via the telephone line also requires each student to have a unique identification number. These requirements are already in existence at my college. The institution has assigned a unique identification code for each course and student. The CIT system enables students to register courses anytime and anywhere if they have a telephone. By so doing, students will not have to make long queues to undergo the course registration process. With the use of an effective hardware and software system, the operational efficiency of the CIT system is high thus guaranteeing reduced response times and its ability to handle many students concurrently. The operational of the system is similar to the class registration system used at my college in many aspects. However, the distinguishing aspect is the fact that the system requires the student to use the telephone whereas the one used at my college requires students to register courses online. Question 3 Apple Inc. has responded effectively to Porter’s Five Forces by striving to remain competitive in the market and attract more customers. Competitive Rivalry Apple encounters high competitive rivalry caused by the high aggressiveness of firms in the industry as well as the low switching costs for firms that intend to specialize into its product categories. The main competitors include Samsung, BlackBerry, LG, among others firms in the sector. Bargaining Power of Customers Apple’s customers have a strong bargaining power that emanates from the low switching costs and the small size of its individual buyers. The ability of customers to change brands easily compels Apple to consider customer satisfaction among its topmost priorities. Bargaining Power of Suppliers Apple’s suppliers present a weak force that arises from the existing high number of suppliers and the high levels of the available supply. Therefore, the firm does not prioritize the bargaining power of its suppliers on top of its list of strategic objectives. Threat of Substitutes Apple experiences a weak threat of substitutes because of the high availability and low performance of its substitutes. Similarly, Apple does not prioritize the threat of substitutes on the top of its product development and design and marketing objectives. Threat of New Entrants Apple encounters a moderate force concerning the entry of new firms in the industry. Consequently, Apple considers the moderate threat by remaining competitive in the market to gain an upper hand over new market entrants (Ferguson 2015). Question 4 Based on the threats that Apple Inc. encounters concerning Porter’s Five Forces, Apple could implement several strategies in response to the threats. From the analysis, it is evident that Apple has to develop strategies that deal with its external business environment. Firstly, Apple should respond to the strong force presented by high competition. A probable strategy would be remaining aggressive in the market through aggressive advertising and rapid innovation. The strategies would enable the firm to develop products that reflect the needs of its customers and ensuring that its customers have sound knowledge about its new products. The strategy would also enable the firm to deal with the strong bargaining power of its customers since customers would consider its products to be the best in the market. On the weak force presented by its suppliers, Apple has many alternatives since there are many potential suppliers that can still avail its products to customers in the world. As a result, the firm should maintain positive relationships with its approximately 200 suppliers but ensure that they deliver its products in time and in the ordered packages to ascertain customer satisfaction. Apple should replace low performing suppliers with other suppliers that are effective in delivering their supply roles. The low performance presented by substitutes such as landline telephones and digital cameras implies that Apple should not worry about such substitute products. However, the moderate threat of new entrants requires Apple to remain innovative in both marketing and product design to remain competitive. Question 5 Small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) need flexibility and adaptability in their systems and processes in order to harvest the emerging opportunities and respond to the emerging challenges. Hosted applications such as the hosted software model for enterprise software provide a solution to this need. The model capitalizes on the Internet and its low cost availability in electronic communication networks that enable SMEs to transact, collaborate, and process effectively in business markets. In essence, the hosted software model enables the user to access online services using a simple interface such as a Web browser with the Internet being the electronic communication network. The model presents an opportunity to SMEs to transform their mode of interacting with customers thereby enhancing service provision. As opposed to the traditional purchase model, the hosted software model is available on a fee or rental basis. The ubiquitous nature of hosted software applications has compelled their adoption by SMEs using virtual private networks (VPNs) and 3G connections. Hosted applications play a pivotal role to SMEs that do not have an in-house IT infrastructure capability. With the help of the hosted applications, SMEs can enjoy the communication capability offered by the hosted applications without the need for purchasing the system, as is the case under the traditional approach. The capabilities of hosted software applications include Web access, email, and intranet, Microsoft Office integration, online buying and selling of products and services, extranet and financial capabilities such as vertical applications, payroll, and financials (Lockett et al. 2006). Question 6 It is evident that decision making in a group environment is different from individual decision-making. The ease associated with making decisions on both grounds suffices to be the main differentiating factor. Apparently, making decisions as an individual is easier than group decision making. The difficulty associated with making group decisions emanates from the need to include the views of employees and coworkers in the decision making process. Information systems that assist in group decision making are different because of the differences in the intended purpose of the decision. For instance, business managers use decision support systems (DSS) to make decisions at the management level. However, Executive Information Systems (EIS) enables upper managers to make decisions about the organization. There are two main advantages associated with group decision-making. The first advantage concerns the aspect of synergy. Under the rule of synergy, the whole exceeds the sum of individual parts. As a result, making decisions as a group guarantees better results than individual decision-making. Besides synergy, group decision-making also enables the sharing of information among the members of the decision panel. However, group decision-making may lead to the diffusion of responsibility. This arises when individuals fail to account for an outcome of a decision. Lower efficiency may also emanate from group decision-making. The fact that they require the coordination and participation of all members implies that they take additional time thus leading to lower efficiency. Group decision-making may also result into dysfunctional outcomes because of the desire for conformity and harmony. Question 7 Infrastructural barriers impede the spread of ecommerce in the world. Most nations particularly developing countries lack the infrastructure that is essential in enabling the effective implementation of ecommerce platforms. These barriers include limited bandwidth, limitations in accessing computers, Internet gateways and connectivity, erratic power supply and poor telephone communications, high costs of accessing the Internet and poor access to PC equipment. Socio-cultural barriers present the second impediment to the global spread of ecommerce. These include low levels of transactional trust, the consideration of shopping as a social activity that promotes social interactions rather than mere ordering of goods and services, personal contact limitations and language barrier that hinders information and Internet access in certain areas (Lawrence & Tar 2010). Socio-economic hindrances also impede the global spread of ecommerce. They include poor economic conditions, poor educational systems, and the lack of the widespread use of credit cards as credible payment channels in developing countries. Poor logistic infrastructures also impede the spread of ecommerce. Governmental and political barriers are the fourth impediment to the spread of ecommerce. These account for the poor telecommunications infrastructure in the affected countries. Finally, the absence of support policies from governments also hinders the spread of ecommerce (Lawrence & Tar 2010). Dealing with the barriers entails improving telecommunications infrastructure in the affected countries, improving the educational system to enable individuals to understand English and other international languages, and the implementation of support policies that encourage the use of online trade. Question 8 Competitive Intelligence (CI) plays a significant role in the success of any organization in the contemporary corporate world. The successful implementation of a competitive intelligence system requires the complete addressing four requirements. The first aspect entails the setting of the intelligence objectives. The marketing, research, and development departments as well as the CEO have the required competitive intelligence information required during the project. Being a multinational consumer packaged goods firm, competitive intelligence information include information about the individual market needs and the existing market demand for the product. The second aspect in the investment includes reporting to investors about the collected and analyzed data concerning the competitors and the industry. Probable sources for such information include commissions for securities and exchange and industry reports about consumer-packaged goods. The third aspect entails analyzing and interpreting the collected data about the competitors and industry to guarantee easy understanding on the part of the investors. As an expert in competitive intelligence, it is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of the industry as well as substantial experience on the industry. The final aspect in communicating the project to investors would entail ensuring the dissemination of real-time and current intelligence information to investors. This would ensure that they make sound decisions to invest $5 million in establishing the competitive intelligence information. Question 9 If I were to take a computer-programming course next year, I would choose the Python programming language. The incentive of choosing Python programming language over other languages is the fact that working with the language is more easy and fast than other languages such as Java and C++. As a beginner, the programming language provides a clean indentation and syntax structure that is easy to learn. There are also numerous third-party modules in the Python Package Index (PyPI). The language also presents a large standard library that entails aspects such as operating systems interfaces, web services tools, string operations, and internet protocols. The open-source nature of the programming language is the other advantage associated with learning the language. Moreover, the built-in dictionary and list data structures are user-friendly as compared to other languages. Finally, the object-oriented design of the programming language enhances its process control capabilities, text processing capabilities, an individual unit-testing framework, and strong integration capabilities that guarantee its speed and productivity. A professional programmer needs to know more than one programming language. The three aspects of programming include computer languages, application frameworks and APIs, and data structures and algorithms. Therefore, professional programmers should have an understanding of all the three aspects. The necessity of using good existing codes that work perfectly in writing another code using another programming language increases the necessity for understanding more than one programming language on the part of the computer programmer. Question 10 If cost was not an issue, I would choose a laptop as my ideal computer due to its numerous advantages as compared to a tablet or desktop computer. Portability suffices to be one of the incentives of using a laptop computer. The aspect would enable me to access all the components of a desktop in a single portable unit. My ideal computer should also be powerful enough to handle all the tasks assigned to it with ease. Coupling the requirement with the portability aspect and disregarding the issue of cost, a high-end laptop would be my ideal computer that would carry out almost all tasks that a stand-alone desktop can perform. Since flexibility is the other necessity for my ideal computer, the laptop still beats a tablet or a desktop computer because of its ability to offer the much-needed flexibility. It is possible to connect a laptop computer to almost all external peripherals that can be connected to a desktop computer. However, a tablet presents limited capabilities on the flexibility aspect. Finally, my ideal computer should also have enough battery life to enable me to work for several hours without connecting it to a power outlet. Even though tablets perform better than laptops on the battery life aspect, recent laptop models such as Apple’s MacBook Air 2013 have a 12-hours battery life. Considering the four aspects, a high-end laptop would be my ideal computer. Reference List Fahmy, M., 2007. Automated Student's Courses Registration Using Computer-Telephony Integration. Int. Arab J. Inf. Technol., Vol. 4, no. 4, pp.353-358. Ferguson, E., 2015. Apple Inc. Five Forces Analysis (Porter’s Model). Panmore Institute. Available at: http://panmore.com/apple-inc-five-forces-analysis-porters-model-case-study Gleeson, M., 2004. The link between business strategy and information systems. Article accessed from here. Lawrence, J.E. and Tar, U.A., 2010. Barriers to e-commerce in developing countries. Information, society and justice journal, Vol. 3, no. 1, pp.23-35. Lockett, N., Brown, D.H. and Kaewkitipong, L., 2006. The use of hosted enterprise applications by SMEs: a dual market and user perspective. Electronic Markets, Vol. 16, no. 1, pp.85-96. Read More