Management Information Systems Argumentative

1.What is the relationship between management information systems (MIS) and information technology (IT)?

Management information systems (MIS) deals with the coordination and use of information technology. MIS plans for, develops, and manages the use of information technology tools to help people perform tasks related to information processing and management in their personal lives, careers, and/or just for every day actions when working with information. MIS helps get the right information technology and right information into the hands of the right people at the right time.

2.What is the relationship between data, information, business intelligence (BI), and knowledge?

Data, information, and business intelligence all build on each other. Information is the more complete picture of multiple data points, while business intelligence extends information in order to give the ability to make effective, important, and often-strategic decisions. With this information and intelligence an individual can develop into a technology-literate knowledge worker or an information-literate knowledge worker to be a more efficient and better understand problems and opportunities in their organization.

3.How does the granularity of information change as it moves from lower to upper organizational levels?

At lower organizational levels, information exhibits fine granularity because people need to work with information in great detail. As information moves toward upper organizational levels, information becomes coarser and less granulated because it is summarized or aggregated in some way.

4.What is the difference between a technology-literate knowledge worker and an information-literate knowledge worker?

A technology-literate knowledge worker knows how and when to apply technology. An information-literate knowledge worker can define what information they need, know how and where to obtain that information, understand the information once they receive it, and can act appropriately based on the information to help the organization achieve the greatest advantage. The difference is that even though a technology-literate knowledge worker knows when and when not to apply technology it is not always the end solution that is needed. The information-literate knowledge worker and can take the information from the technology and continue to obtain additional information to find the best form of action for an organization.

5.How do ethics differ from laws?

Ethics are the principles and standards that guide our behavior toward other people. Although, ethics may have consequences just like breaking the law would, laws different since laws clearly require or prohibit and action. Ethics are more subjective, more a matter of personal or cultural interpretation.

6.What are the three financial elements of break-even analysis?

The three financial elements of a break-even analysis are fixed costs, variable costs, and revenue. Fixed costs are the total of all costs that you incur whether or not you sell anything. Variable costs is the amount it costs to acquire/product one unit that will eventually sell to your customers and revenue which is how much you sell that one unit for.

7.What role does the Five Forces Model play?

The Five Forces Model helps business people understand the relative attractiveness of an industry and the industry’s competitiveness pressures in terms of buying power, supplier power, threat of substitute products or services, threat of new entrants, and rivalry among existing competitors. Once the elements of the Five Forces Model are understood it enables individuals to better position their organization within an industry and also helps them understand the competitive forces affecting their organization. They will be able to develop specific business strategies to remain competitive and profitable.

8.Why are competitive advantages never permanent?

Competitive advantage is never permanent because providers of products and services in a particular industry wish to reduce buyer power. They create a competitive advantage by making it more attractive for customers to buy from them than from their competition and so forth as other companies will start to do the same, which means that no competitive advantage can ever be permanent.

9.What are the three generic strategies according to Michael Porter?

According to Michael Porter the three generic strategies to beating the competition in any industry are overall cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Overall cost leadership strategy is offering the same or better quality product or service at a price that is less than what any of the competition is able to do. Differentiation strategy is offering a product or service that is perceived as being unique in the marketplace. Focus strategy is usually defined as focusing on offering products and services to a particular market segment, within a segment of a product line, and/or to a specific geographic market.

10.How are Porter’s three generic strategies and the RGT framework similar?

The way that Porter’s three generic strategies and RGT framework are similar is that they both focus on the bigger organizational picture and uses of information technology to better understand competitive forces. Run seeks overall cost leadership in offering products and services faster and cheaper than the competition. Grow places focus on differentiation to take market share from the competition by offering products and services that will increase market reach and expand market share. Transformation seeks new differentiation by offering products and services in a new way to move into seemingly different markets and achieve organizational growth through new means.