BUS 188 Cases

1. BUS 188 Cases Fall 2007 Mike Splane

2. SECTION 1.1 INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN BUSINESS

3. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSApple - Merging Technology, Business and Entertainment • What might have happened to Apple if its top executives had not supported investment in iPods? • Formulate a strategy for how Apple can use efficiency IT metrics to improve its business • Formulate a strategy for how Apple can use effectiveness IT metrics to improve its business • Why would it be unethical for Apple to sell its iTunes customer information to other businesses? • Evaluate the effects on Apple’s business if it failed to secure its customer’s information and it was accidentally posted to an anonymous Web site

4. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSApple - Merging Technology, Business and Entertainment • Did Apple gain a competitive advantage from its decision to invest in an online music business? • How can Apple use environmental scanning to gain business intelligence? • Using Porter’s Five Force Model, analyze Apple’s buyer power and supplier power • Which of the three generic strategies is Apple following? • Which of Porter’s Five Forces did Apple address through its introduction of the iPod?

5. CLOSING CASE ONESay “Charge It” with Your Cell Phone • Do you view this technology as a potential threat to traditional telephone companies? If so, what counterstrategies could traditional telephone companies adopt to prepare for this technology? • Using Porter’s Five Forces describe the barriers to entry for this new technology

6. CLOSING CASE ONESay “Charge It” with Your Cell Phone • Which of Porter’s three generic strategies is this new technology following? • Describe the value chain of using cell phones as a payment method • What types of regulatory issues might occur due to this type of technology?

7. CLOSING CASE TWOInnovative Business Managers • Choose one of the companies listed above and explain how it could use a CIO, CTO, and CPO to improve business • Why is it important for all of DreamWorks’ functional business areas to work together? Provide an example of what might happen if the DreamWorks marketing department failed to work with its sales department • Why is information technology important to an organization like the Boston Red Sox? Every organization needs information to remain

8. CLOSING CASE TWOInnovative Business Managers • Which of Porter’s Five Forces is most important to Home Depot’s business? • Which of the three generic strategies is PepsiCo following? • Explain the value chain and how a company like GE can use it to improve operations

9. CLOSING CASE THREEThe World is Flat – Thomas Friedman • Do you agree or disagree with Friedman’s assessment that the world is flat? Be sure to justify your answer • What are the potential impacts of a flat world for a student performing a job search? • What can students do to prepare themselves for competing in a flat world? • Identify a current flattener not mentioned on Friedman’s list

10. CHAPTER 2 STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING Opening Case Revving Up Sales at Harley-Davidson

11. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSRevving Up Sales at Harley-Davidson • How does Talon help Harley-Davidson employees improve their decision-making capabilities? • Identify a few key metrics a Harley-Davidson marketing executive might want to monitor on a digital dashboard • How can Harley-Davidson benefit from using decision support systems in its business

12. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSRevving Up Sales at Harley-Davidson • Evaluate the HOG CRM strategy and recommend an additional benefit Harley-Davidson could provide to its HOG members to increase customer satisfaction • Describe how Harley-Davidson’s SCM system, Manugistics, could improve its business operations • Provide an illustration of Harley-Davidson’s SCM system including all upstream and downstream participants

13. CLOSING CASE ONEConsolidating Touchpoints for Saab • How has implementing a CRM system enabled Saab to gain a competitive advantage? • Estimate the potential impact to Saab’s business if it had not implemented a CRM system • What additional benefits could Saab receive from implementing a supply chain management system?

14. CLOSING CASE ONEConsolidating Touchpoints for Saab • Model Saab’s supply chain • How is Saab’s CRM implementation going to influence its SCM practices?

15. CLOSING CASE TWOMade-to-Order Businesses • What role does supply chain management and customer relationship management play in a mass customization business strategy? • How can Lands’ End use its CRM system to improve its business? • How can Nike use a CRM system to improve its customer relations? • Why is Nike’s supply chain management system critical to its Nike iD order fulfillment process?

16. CLOSING CASE TWOMade-to-Order Businesses • Choose one of the examples above and explain how an ERP system could help facilitate the mass customization effort • Choose one of the examples above and explain how the company is attempting to gain a competitive advantage with mass customization • Identify one other business that could benefit from the use of mass customization. Explain why this business would need customer relationship management and supply chain management systems to implement a mass customization business strategy

17. CLOSING CASE THREEDelta Airlines Plays Catch-Up • What business risks would Delta be taking if it decided not to catch up with industry leaders in using IT to gain a competitive advantage? • What competitive advantages can an airline gain by using DSS and EIS? • What other industries could potentially benefit from the use of yield management systems?

18. CLOSING CASE THREEDelta Airlines Plays Catch-Up • How can American and United use customer information to gain a competitive? • What types of metrics would Delta executives want to see in a digital dashboard? • How could Delta use supply chain management to improve its operations?

19. CHAPTER 3 Chapter 3 E-BUSINESS Opening Case Amazon.com – Not Your Average Bookstore

20. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSAmazon • How has Amazon used technology to revamp the bookselling industry? • Is Amazon using disruptive or sustaining technology to run its business? • How is Amazon using intranets and extranets to run its business? • How could Amazon use kiosks to improve its business?

21. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSAmazon • What is Amazon’s e-business model? • How can Amazon use m-commerce to influence its business? • Which metrics could Amazon use to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of Amazon’s Web site? • What are some of the business challenges facing Amazon?

22. CLOSING CASE ONEeBay – The Ultimate E-Business • eBay is one of the only major Internet “pure plays” to consistently make a profit from its inception. What is eBay’s e-business model and why has it been so successful? • Other major Web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the e-marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position • eBay has long been an e-marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set up shop on eBay?

23. CLOSING CASE ONEeBay – The Ultimate E-Business • What are the three different types of online auctions and which one is eBay using? • What are the different forms of online payment methods for consumers and business? How might eBay’s customers benefit from the different payment methods? • Which metrics would you use if you were hired to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of eBay’s Web site?

24. CLOSING CASE TWODirect Groceries • What type of technology is FreshDirect using—disruptive or sustaining? • How could FreshDirect use a kiosk to improve its business? • How could FreshDirect use m-commerce to improve its business?

25. CLOSING CASE TWODirect Groceries • What are the three different types of service providers and which one would FreshDirect use to run its business? • What types of information would be contained in FreshDirect’s intranet? • What types of information would be contained in FreshDirect’s extranet? • Which metrics would you use if you were hired to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of FreshDirect’s Web site?

26. CLOSING CASE THREEHow Do You Value Friendster? • How could you use e-business metrics to place a value on Friendster? • Why would a venture capital company value Friendster at $53 million when the company has yet to generate any revenue? • Why would Google be interested in buying Friendster for $30 million when the company has yet to generate any revenue • Identify Friendster’s e-business model and explain how the company can generate revenue • Explain the e-business benefits and challenges facing Friendster

27. CHAPTER 4 Chapter 4 ETHICS AND INFORMATION SECURITY Opening Case Sarbanes-Oxley: Where Information Technology, Finance, and Ethics Meet

28. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSSarbanes-Oxley • Define the relationship between ethics and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act • Why is records management an area of concern for the entire organization and not just the IT department? • Identify two policies an organization can implement to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance?

29. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSSarbanes-Oxley • What ethical dilemmas are being solved by implementing Sarbanes-Oxley? • What is the biggest roadblock for organizations that are attempting to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance?

30. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSSarbanes-Oxley • What information security dilemmas are being solved by implementing Sarbanes-Oxley? • How can Sarbanes-Oxley help protect a company’s information security? • What impact does implementing Sarbanes-Oxley have on information security in a small business? • What is the biggest information security roadblock for organizations attempting to achieve Sarbanes-Oxley compliance?

31. CLOSING CASE ONEBanks Banking on Security • What reason would a bank have for not wanting to adopt an online-transfer delay policy? • What are the two primary lines of security defense and why are they important to financial institutions? • Explain the differences between the types of security offered by the banks in the case

32. CLOSING CASE ONEBanks Banking on Security • What additional types of security, not mentioned in the case above, would you recommend a bank implement? • Identify three policies a bank should implement to help it improve information security • Describe monitoring policies along with the best way for a bank to implement monitoring technologies

33. CLOSING CASE TWOHacker Hunters • What types of technology could big retailers use to prevent identity thieves from purchasing merchandise? • What can organizations do to protect themselves from hackers looking to steal account data? • Authorities frequently tap online service providers to track down hackers. Do you think it is ethical for authorities to tap an online service provider and read people’s e-mail? Why or why not?

34. CLOSING CASE TWOHacker Hunters • Do you think it was ethical for authorities to use one of the high-ranking officials to trap other gang members? Why or why not? • In a team, research the Internet and find the best ways to protect yourself from identity theft

35. CLOSING CASE THREEThinking Like the Enemy • How could an organization benefit from attending one of the courses offered at the Intense School? • What are the two primary lines of security defense and how can organizational employees use the information taught by the Intense School when drafting an information security plan? • Determine the difference between the two primary courses offered at the Intense school, “Professional Hacking Boot Camp” and “Social Engineering in Two Days.” Which course is more important for organizational employees to attend?

36. CLOSING CASE THREEThinking Like the Enemy • If your employer sent you to take a course at the Intense School, which one would you choose and why? • What are the ethical dilemmas involved with having such a course offered by a private company?

37. CHAPTER 5 IT ARCHITECTURES

38. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSElectronic Breaking Points • Identify six hardware categories and place each product listed in the case in its appropriate category • Describe the CPU and identify which products would use a CPU • Describe the relationship between memory sticks and laptops. How can a user employ one to help protect information loss from the other? • What different types of software might each of the products listed in the case use?

39. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSElectronic Breaking Points • How can an organization use an information architecture to protect its IT investment in electronic devices outlined in the case? • How can an organization use the devices mentioned in the case to protect information security? • Identify the five ilites and rank them in order of importance for a laptop (1 highest, 5 lowest) • Describe how a “Customer Phone Number” Web service could be used by one of the products outlined in the case

40. CLOSING CASE ONEChicago Tribune • Review the five characteristics of infrastructure architecture and rank them in order of their potential impact on the Tribune Co.’s business • What is the disaster recovery cost curve? Where should the Tribune Co. operate on the curve? • Define backups and recovery. What are the risks to the Tribune’s business if it fails to implement an adequate backup plan?

41. CLOSING CASE ONEChicago Tribune • Why is a scalable and highly available enterprise architecture critical to the Tribune Co.’s current operations and future growth? • Identify the need for information security at the Tribune Co. • How could the Tribune Co. use a classified ad Web service across its different businesses?

42. CLOSING CASE TWOUPS in the Computer Repair Business • Do you think UPS’s entrance into the laptop repair business was a good business decision? Why or why not? • Identify the different types of hardware UPS technicians might be working on when fixing laptops • Assume you are a technician working at UPS. Explain to a customer the different types of memory and why only certain types of data are lost during a computer failure. Also identify a potential backup strategy you can suggest to the customer • Assume you are a technician working at UPS. Explain to a customer the different types of software found in a typical laptop

43. CLOSING CASE THREEFear the Penguin • How does Linux differ from traditional software? • Should Microsoft consider Linux a threat? Why or why not? • How is open source software a potential trend shaping organizations?

44. CLOSING CASE THREE Fear the Penguin • How can you use Linux as an emerging technology to gain a competitive advantage? • Research the Internet and discover potential ways that Linux might revolutionize business in the future

45. Chapter 6

46. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSGoogle • How did the Web site RateMyProfessors.com solve its problem of low-quality information? • Review the five common characteristics of high-quality information and rank them in order of importance to Google’s business • What would be the ramifications to Google’s business if the search information it presented to its customers was of low quality?

47. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSGoogle • Describe the different types of databases. Why should Google use a relational database? • Identify the different types of entity, entity classes, attributes, keys, and relationships that might be stored in Google’s AdWords relational database

48. OPENING CASE QUESTIONSGoogle • How could Google use a data warehouse to improve its business operations? • Why would Google need to scrub and cleanse the information in its data warehouse? • Identify a data mart that Google’s marketing and sales department might use to track and analyze its AdWords revenue

49. CLOSING CASE ONEFishing for Quality • Explain the importance of high-quality information for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game • Review the five common characteristics of high quality information and rank them in order of importance for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game • How could data warehouses and data marts be used to help the Alaska Department of Fish and Game improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its operations?

50. CLOSING CASE ONEFishing for Quality • What two data marts might the Alaska Department of Fish and Game want to build to help it analyze its operational performance? • Do the managers at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game actually have all of the information they require to make an accurate decision? Explain the statement “it is never possible to have all of the information required to make the best decision possible”