Chapter 1,2

Chapter 1 Q1. What are the characteristics of the modern business environment?
The modern business environment features the synthesis of management an information technology.

Q2. What is meant by a web-based, global platform, what does it provide, and how has it affected business?
A web based global platform enables individuals to connect , compute, communicate, collaborate and compete everywhere and anywhere, anytime and all the time; to acess limited amounts of information; services and entertainment; to exchange knowledge and to produce and sell goods and services. This global based platform provides a communication system that is without boundaries. It has effected business through globalisation, where all businesses with the use of the world wide web are able to compete, communicate and acess information on a global scale.

Q3. What are the main pressures that characterize the modern global business environment?
Market pressures, these include; having a global economy and strong competition, the changing nature of the workforce and the power of consumers to be informed. Technology pressures include; technological innovation and obsolescence and information overload. There are also Societal, Political and legal pressures these include social responsibility and compliance with government regulations. Q4. What are/discuss some of the common, IT oriented organizational responses to these pressures?
· Strategic system (help increase market profit, negotiate with supplier and prevent competitor from entering the market)
· Costumer focus (Provides superb costumer service, IT is designed to keep the costumer happy)
· Make-to Order and Mass Customization (provide customized products and service, at a reasonable cost to satisfy costumers needs and wants)
· E-Business and E-commerce

Q5. How are IT architecture and IT infrastructure are interrelated.
The IT architecture integrates the information requirements of the overall organization and all individual users it also integrates the IT infrastructure and all applications. An organizations IT infrastructure are all the physical facilities IT components, services and management.Q6. Is the Internet an infrastructure, an architecture, or an application program? or something else. Why? The internet is a web based information tool.




Chapter 2
Q1.What is the difference between an “application” and a “computer-based information systems”?
An application program is a computer program designed to support a specific task or business process, and a computer-based information system is a system that uses a computer technology to perform some of all of its’ intended tasks. The basic components of information system are, hardware, software, database and network like wireline/wireless

Q2.What is an information system?
An information system is a combination of components such as; hardware, software, databases, networks (both external and internal), procedures and people.

Q3.According to Porter, what are the five forces that could endanger a firm’s position in its industry or marketplaces?
1) The danger of entry of new competitor
2) The bargaining power of supplier (supplier power is high when buyers have few choices from whom to buy and low when buyers have many choices)
3) The bargaining power of costumer (Buyer power is high when buyer have many choices from whom to buy and low when buyer have few choice)
4) The threat of substitute products or services (changing in product and services, substitution danger is high)
5) The rivalry among existing firm in the industry

Q4.In relation to Porter’s value chain model, what is meant by primary activities and support activities, and how does IT support activities?
Primary activities are activities related to the production and distribution of the firms products and services and creating values of which costumer are willing to pay. They are divided in five primary activities as:
1. Inbound logistics (inputs)
2. Operation (manufacturing and testing)
3. Outbound logistics (storage and distribution)
4. Marketing and sales
5. Services
Support activities instead do not add value directly to firm’s product and services. They contribute to the firms by supporting the primary activities and it is consisted by:
- The firm infrastructure (accounting, finance, and management)
-Human resource management
-Product and technology development (P&D)
-Procurement

Q5. Discuss the logic of building information systems in accordance with the organizational hierarchical structure.
The logic of building information systems in accordance with the organisational structure is because it helps the business to collect, process, store, analyse, and disseminate information, with high-speed and volume.
Businesses, thanks to the information system are able to communicate and collaborate among other organisations, they have a huge amount of information available and helps as they work in a worldwide environment.

Q6. How has the Internet affected each of the five forces in Porter’s competitive force model
The Internet has changed the nature of competition. Over all impact of Internet is to increase competition, which has a negative impact on profitability.