Blog 2, Week 3

 Chapter 2 Questions

Define TPS & DSS, and explain how an organisation can use these systems to make decisions and gain competitive advantages

Transaction processing system: is the basic business system that serves the operational level in an organisation. For example, an accounting system such as payroll.

Decision Support System: models information to support managers and business professionals during the decision making process.

 

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

Sensitivity analysis, which is the study of the impact that changes in one (or more) parts of the model have on other parts of the model. Users change the value of one variable repeatedly and observe the resulting changes in other variables.

What-if analysis, which checks the impact of a change in an assumption on the proposed solution.

Goal-seeking analysis, which finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output. Instead of observing how it changes in a variable affect other variables as in what-if analysis, goal-seeking analysis sets a target value for a variable and then repeatedly changes other variables until the target value is achieved.

Describe a business processes and their importance to an organisation.

A business process is a standardised set of activities that accomplish a specific task, such as processing a customer’s order. 

Business processes are designed to add value for the customer. Examining business processes helps an organisation to eliminate duplicate activities, combine related activities, and identify smooth-running processes. Developing a logical business processes is important to an organisation as it can help the in achieve the desired goals.

Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering.

Business process improvement attempts to understand and measure the current process and make performance improvements accordingly. All business processes should be repeated over and over again as it continuously tries to improve. This process should be based on business strategic goals. On the other hand, Business process re-engineering is the analysis and redesign of work flow within and between enterprises. It relies on a different school of thought than business process improvement.

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

Business Process Modelling (BMP) = the activity of making a detailed flow chat or process map of a work processor. It aims to: 

• Show processes in detail in a gradual and controlled manner.
• Encourage consciousness and accuracy in describing the process model.
• Focus attention on the process model interfaces
• Provide a powerful process analysis consistent design vocabulary.
• Importance is: it sets a benchmark or a standard of behaviour for businesses to follow. It’s a visual      source for employees to view when at work.

Blog 1, Week 2

Chapter 1 Questions

Explain information technology’s role in business and describe how you measure success?

Information technology (IT) refers to the "management and use of information using computer-based tools". It includes acquiring, processing, storing, and distributing information. Information technology is everywhere in businesses and understanding it provides great insight to any learning about business.

By implementing information technology, the organisation must undertake initiatives to achieve its broad general business goals. From this all departments can benefit from the implementation of effective information technology solutions

For example,within marketing departments: IT  is the process associated with promoting the sale of goods or services.

Measuring for success: Key performance indicatior (KPI); measures that are tied to business drivers.

Efficiency IT metrics: Measures the performance of the IT system itself including throughput, speed, and avaliability. Gettinf the most from each resource.

Effectiveness IT metrics: Measures the impact IT has on business processes and activities including customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and sell-through increases. Setting the right goals and seeing they are accomplished.

List and describe each of the forces in Porter’s Five Forces Model? 

The five forces model helps to determine the relative attractiveness of an industry. It includes:

•  Buyer Power: : in the five forces model is high when buyers have many sellers to choose from and is low when their choices are few. One way to reduce buyer power is through loyalty power.
• Supplier Power: high when one supplier has a concentrated power over an industry. Buyers have few choices of whom to buy from and low when their choices are many. All parties involved in the procurement of a product or raw material are links in the supply chain.
• Threat of substitute products or service’s: is high when there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alternatives from which to choose.
• Threat of new entrants: is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant barriers to entering a market.
• Rivalry among existing competitors: is high when competition is fierce in a market and low when competition is more complacent. The overall trend is towards increased competition in almost every industry..

Describe the relationship between business processes and value chains? 

A business process is a standardised set of activities that accomplish a specific task. The value chain approach views an organisation as a series of processes, each of which adds value to the product or service. This approach determines the success or failure rate of its chosen strategy. The relationship between the two is that both must provide unique value to the customer.

Compare Porter’s three generic strategies?

Cost leadership - Offers low cost that appeal to a large audience.

Differentiation - Offers higher appearances and/or features to reach a large stratified audience.

Focused Strategy - Describes the scope over which the company should compete based on cost leadership or differentiation.