Porter's Five Forces - Answers threat of entry, threat of substitute, supplier power, buyer power, and
competitive rivalry
Productivity Paradox - Answers measurement, lags, redistribution, mismanagement
Value Chain - Answers The set of activities through which a product or service is created and delivered
to customers.
Primary activities in the value chain - Answers inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics,
marketing and sales, support
Secondary Activities in the Value Chain - Answers firm infrastructure, HR management, technology
development, procurement
competitive advantage - Answers performance that consistently outperforms their industry peers
Two primary methods for obtaining Competitive Advantage - Answers Cost Advantage, Differentiation
Advantage
Information Systems has 5 Major components - Answers Hardware, Software, Data, People, Processes
Two main categories of software are - Answers operating systems and application software
Information Systems - Answers is about the components and the role the components play
Resource-based view - Answers Develop resources that are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable (tough
to imitate), non-substitutable
Advantages of competitive advantage - Answers Imitation resistant value chain, brand, scale,
switching cost, differentiation, network effects, distribution channels, patents
Inbound logistics - Answers Process that brings in raw materials and other needed inputs
Operations - Answers Any part of a business that converts the raw materials into a final product or
service
Outbound logistics - Answers These are the functions required to get the product out to the customer
firm infrastructure - Answers activities needed to support the firm, including the CEO and the finance,
accounting, and legal departments
Human resource management - Answers consists of the activities managers perform to plan for,
attract, develop, and retain an effective workforce
technology and research - Answers Provides innovation that supports primary activities
Procurement - Answers Purchases inputs such as raw materials, resources, equipment, and supplies
imitation-resistant value chain - Answers A way of doing business that competitors struggle to
replicate and that frequently involves technology in a key enabling role.
Brand - Answers a name, term, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies a seller's
products and differentiates them from competitors' products
Scale - Answers Advantages related to a firms size
Switching cost - Answers one-time costs that a buyer/supplier faces when switching from one
supplier/buyer to another
Differentiation - Answers making a product different from other similar products
Network effects - Answers the value of a product or service for an individual user increases with the
number of total users
Distribution channels - Answers the path through which products or services get to customers
Patents - Answers an exclusive right to make or sell an invention
Operational Effectiveness - Answers performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them
strategic positioning - Answers Performing different tasks than rivals, or the same tasks in a different
way.
Fast Follower Problem - Answers savvy rivals watch a pioneer's efforts, learn from their successes and
missteps, then enter the market quickly with a comparable or superior product at a lower cost.
Disintermediation - Answers occurs when a business sells directly to the customer online and cuts out
the intermediary
Straddling - Answers When a firm seeks to match what a competitor is doing by adding new features,
services, or technologies to existing activities. This often creates problems if trade-offs need to be
made.
dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM) - Answers technology that increases the transmission
capacity of fiber optic cable
Viral Marketing - Answers marketing activities that aim to increase brand awareness or sales by
consumers passing a message along to other consumers