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Essay Questions

1. How does management use information systems to support the sales and marketingfunction of a business? How do these systems make the manager more effective inthis area than paper-and-pencil systems?

At the operational level, information systems record daily sales figures and processesorders. At the management level, information systems track monthly sales figures by salesterritory and report on territories where sales exceed or fall below anticipated levels. At thestrategic level, information systems forecast sales trends over a five-year period.

The most obvious advantage of information systems over paper-and-pencil systems is inthe amount of time that is saved when sales and marketing information does not have tobe manually-recorded, typed by a clerical worker, delivered by snail-mail or by hand, andmanually filed and re-filed. Further, it is easier to correct errors than to ferret out errors inhandwritten materials, or errors occurring when multiple carbons make reading difficult.The more paper-and-pencil entries are required before the material is entered into thecomputer system, the more chance for error exists. Further, paper-and-pencil materialsmust be filed and retrieved manually, and may be lost in the office melee. With an MIS, the

information is available on the desktop, or retrievable on a laptop or distant computer.Using an MIS allows management to manipulate the data and retrieve informationotherwise not available.

2. Distinguish between private industrial network and enterprise system.

A private industrial network links systems of multiple firms in an industry for thecoordination of transorganizational business processes. These Web-enabled networksprovide a platform where systems from different companies can seamlessly exchangeinformation and an infrastructure for collaborative commerce activities. They are oftenowned and managed by large companies who use them to coordinate purchases, orders,and other activities with their suppliers, distributors, and selected business partners.Procter & Gamble is an example. An enterprise system links and integrates key businessprocesses within a firm so that information can flow freely within the firm. Companies canuse enterprise systems to support organizational structures that were not previouslypossible or to create a more disciplined organizational culture.

3. List and define the four major types of information systems, and give at least twoinformation outputs to be expected from each one.

The four major types of information systems discussed in the textbook include executivesupport systems, decision-support systems, management information systems, andtransaction processing systems. Executive support systems exist at the strategic level andare designed to address unstructured decision making through advanced graphics andcommunications. Information outputs include projections and responses to inquiries.

Decision-support systems exist at the management level and combine data and

sophisticated analytical models or data analysis tools to support semistructured andunstructured decision making. Information outputs include special reports, decisionanalyses, and responses to queries.

Management information systems serve the management level and support the functionsof planning, controlling, and decision making by providing routine summary and exceptionreports.

Transaction processing systems serve the operations level by performing and recording

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8. What is collaborative commerce? Identify three advantages of collaborativecommerce.

Collaborative commerce is the use of digital technologies to enable multiple organizationsto collaboratively design, develop, build, and manage products through their lifecycles.Efficiency, minimizing excess inventory, better forecasts, and enhanced communicationwith partners and customers are several advantages.

9. What is a knowledge management system? Provide three examples.

A knowledge management system supports the creation, capture, storage, anddissemination of firm expertise and knowledge. Enterprise-wide systems, office systems,and knowledge work systems are three examples.

10. Briefly describe four forms of global business organization.

Domestic exporter, multinational, franchiser, and transnational are the four formsmentioned in the textbook. The domestic exporter form is characterized by heavycentralization of corporate activities in the home country of origin. The multinational formconcentrates financial management and control out of a central home base while

decentralizing production, sales, and marketing operations to units in other countries. Thefranchiser form creates, designs, finances, and initially produces a product in the homecountry, but for product-specific reasons relies heavily on foreign personnel for furtherproduction, marketing, and human resources. The transnational form has no nationalheadquarters; value-added activities are managed from a global perspective withoutreference to national borders, optimizing sources of supply and demand and localcompetitive advantage.