1.

Describe the market performance of one of the firms we have discussed in class,
namely IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Google or Dell. Explain what this company does,
how they make a profit (ie. what is their business model) and describe their products
and services. Who do they compete with? Why would you invest in this company?
If I was given the opportunity to invest $1000 (U.S.), in one of the five choices, I
would mostly likely choose Apple. My reason is simple; Apple has by far the most
succeeded and expanded in their years in business. It is widely recognized by many as a
company that passed many obstacles in order to show the true colours of innovation and
design. Apple dominates and has control of its market share in their sector; it is very
creative with its products. One of their products, like the Mac pro laptops are very
common and are a highly targeted tool and resource amongst teenagers and students that
has spread and became utterly very popular. It seems as Apple, takes what it gets and uses
it as a competitive advantage against its rivals in the market. They have spread out and
taken over the Mp3 market with their latest invention of IPhone and IPods which have
been very successful in the first run. They have targeted the teens as their age group and
as a result it has come to generating a lot of revenue in its years of business to the general
public. Apple is getting stronger by day and growing and shifting its ways to bringing
back old and new friends as they sell their new products with improved features and out
of this world designs that fit our daily life needs and make it much easier and beneficial
in the long run. As the new generation is into the technology, it has brought high demand
for its effective products, which has greatly impacted its overall performance in the
marketplace. Everyday Apple is thinking of great new ideas and ways that will help their
customers and keeping in mind the interests and needs of its valuable customers all the
way. Knowledgeable workers and customers have been a key asset and main contributor
to its profits and company image. Apple is at a good standing as of now compared to
other companies and competitors and looks like it will be very successful in the
upcoming approaching months and future as it takes in to account adults and other age
groups in its hands as it introduces more of what Apple has to offer. Personally, I think
apple is in the creative leader when it comes to technology and applications, where would
the world be without apple thinking of out of this world ideas that we now use each and
every day. Thus, if I had $1000 (US), I would definitely invest it all into Apple.

2. Describe the benefits of working in a team. Give examples of different types of

teams and different team roles. Describe some skills that members might contribute
to teams. Describe the stages of team development.
To be successful in complex varied environment, organizations hire talented
knowledge-enabled professionals who work primarily as individuals. Organizations tap
into the collective power of teams with a more diverse and complimentary set of: Skills,
Knowledge, and Expertise. Most organizations succeed through a blend of individual and
team effort. A team of the right people, working in an aligned fashion, in the right
direction, will be greater than the sum of its parts. Large complex IS projects and tasks
can only be accomplished with teams, sometimes hundreds of people, scattered across the
organization and around the world. There are 6 types of teams; Independent, Natural
work project, project, functional, cross functional, virtual. Everyone does the same task.
Work from one team member has little or no direct impact on other team members. Team
roles are Action oriented: Shaper, Implementer, Completer- Finisher, people orientedcoordinator, team worker, resource investigator, cerebral roles: Plant Monitor-evaluator,
specialist. Stages of team development are Forming- attempt to define goals, storming
conflict emerges, norming- compromising and cooperating, performing: Group members
work toward goals, adjourning termination of duties and reduction of dependence.
3. Describe what a structured, semi-structured and unstructured decision might be,
and give an example of each. For each decision type, describe who (i.e. the role of
the person) might be making the decision and what kind of data would be required
to support the decision.
A decision is a choice about actions to take (or not take) in a given decision. A
structured decision is one that can be programmed; it is routine or repetitive. The person
making the decision is the one making the decision based on ones own interests, there is
not a lot of data required to support the decision because the decision is clear.A
semistructured decision is one that involves some uncertainty or doubt about the outcome
of it. You base your decisions based on information from others, i.e. if your choosing
elective courses you would ask a friend what they are taking. The choice is not easy and
involves some thinking to arrive at the best decision. An unstructured decision is one that
involves a significant amount of uncertainty about the outcome associated with a choice.
Information systems are important because they help reduce uncertainty by providing
information to decision makers. In an unstructured decision one may have to carry out
extensive thinking about all the options the individual has and the possible benefits and
drawbacks to each option and carefully make a decision. Its important to make the right
decision.

4. There are a number of types of IS that are widely used in creating business value.
List and describe the five types of information systems. For each information
system describe how it creates business value and provide an example.
There are a number of types of IS that are widely used in creating business value:
Transaction Processing Systems (TPS),Management Information Systems (MIS),Decision
Support Systems (DSS),Enterprise Resource Management (ERP) Systems, Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) Systems. Transaction Processing System Capture and
process transactions to make them available to the organization. This creates business value
by enabling a business to efficiently and accurately track the transactions that are at the heart
of all business activities. Captured transaction data can then be used to support decision
making. Management Information System Provide timely information to decision-makers
through processing and reporting features. This creates business value by Timely reporting
can enable managers to monitor critical processes and to avoid costly mistakes. Decision
Support System Provide analytical and visualization tools to support and enhance decision
making. This create business value Enables decision-makers to make decisions based on data
and to discover new business opportunities through the use of tools provided by the IS.
Enterprise Resource Planning Integrate and standardize processes and centralize and
standardize the storage and management of data. This creates business value that can reduce
costs associated with duplication of processes and effort. Also, can reduce decision-making
mistakes made due to multiple versions of the same data, information, and knowledge.
Customer Relationship Management Integrates data collection, transformation, storage, and
analysis of customer transaction data, including purchases, service requests, and other forms
of customer contact. This creates business value by greatly increases understanding of
customers purchasing and service behaviors and needs. Facilitates timely and proactive
management of customers.
5.

Define the term ERP and describe how an ERP system can contribute to improve
the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization. Your answer must provide
examples and should be related to a discussion of the value chain.

The term ERP stands for enterprise resource planning system. What it actually does is
that it integrates and standardizes processes, and centralizes and standardizes the storage and
management data. It creates value to the business because it reduces costs associated with
duplication of process and effort. Also, it can minimize decision-making mistakes due to
multiple versions of the same data, information, and knowledge. This is very effective
because instead of the same problem reoccurring every single time in various sections of the
firm, it can be deal with one time through ERP, which is very effective and efficient. Canada
Post used ERP and as a result improved organizational efficiency and effectiveness. This
ERP system created value by providing visibility throughout its delivery network enabling
new business, and reducing costs through process standardization. Canada Posts ERP
demonstrates that the application of IS to its value chains primary and support activities can

support multiple important business processes and can create value of a business.Another
example of where ERP can be seen is in a university. For instance if you give your personal
information once, it is then given to every department that requires your information rather
than you having to go to each department and tell them everything about yourself over and
over again.
6. Describe the differences between automating and informating. Give examples to
show the benefits of each concept.
Automating uses technology to perform tedious or repetitive tasks faster, cheaper,
more consistently, and with greater accuracy. Typically, the organization uses
technologies to do the same things are before, but with greater efficiency and accuracy.
Later, the organization looks to use technology to do new things. Examples of automating
activities and there benefits are for instance ATM machines or online banking. This
reduces costs associated with the processing of deposits, withdrawals, and money
transfers. It also increases flexibility and improves access of services to customers.
Another example of automation is the bar code inventory systems. The benefit of this is
that this increases speed and accuracy of product transactions. It also improves accuracy
of transactions. It even reduces costs and transfers control to customers. Also, another
example is Reservation and scheduling systems meaning faster and more efficient
processing of reservations. And allows transfer of processes to customers through online
services. Informating is recognizing the executing process also creates new data and
information. An organization can then process these new data to improve its decision
making or improve the process itself. With an informating view, IT can deliver more
long-term benefits than from automation alone. To use informating, businesses need to
determine if IT stores data that can be used for learning and decision-making. For
instance in the ATM machines, informating tracks the use of services to provide the most
popular and profitable services to customers. This is beneficial because rather than
handing out surveys and questionnaires people can get results just by viewing how the
machine is being used and for what purposes. In the grocery example listed for
automation, informating improves the ability to track inventory and predict demand for
various items. This is beneficial because rather than doing physical counts of inventory
every single day, they can just look at the information gathered and place their orders
based on that. Which saves them money and time. Also, another thing is reservations and
enhancing scheduling systems that will enhance the ability to predict demand. By
observing supply and demand, airlines can adjust prices to increase profitability.

7. Describe the differences between a database and a data warehouse. Give an

example of each.
A database is a system that consists of interrelated records that are stored in files
for easy access to specific pieces of data. A data warehouse of storing and managing data
for information access. There are plenty of difference between a database and a data
warehouse. The supported activity between the two is different. Database uses
operational information where as data warehouse uses analytical information. The
response time of data bases are much faster than that of data warehouses. The age of data
in data bases is much more recent as it uses currents transactions where as data
warehouses uses historical data. The scope also is different because data base is limited to
an area within the organization where as the data warehouse provides view of the entire
organization. Also the sources for their information are different. Data bases get their
information only from transactions whereas data warehouses get their information from
multiple sources. An example of data bases is if you have money in a bank account
your transactions are recorded you have a running balance. An example of data
warehouse is If over time, you would like to know when you spend more per month or
save more per month, and compare this to many different years and against many of your
friends.