Chapter-1 CS Same

Baltzan−Phillips: Business 1.
Information Systems in Text © The McGraw−Hill

Driven Information Business Companies, 2008
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Information Systems
in Business 1
CHAPTER
SECTI ON 1 . 1 S ECTION 1.2

Inform at i o n Sys t em s B usiness S trategy
in Bus i n es s
CHAPTER OUTLINE
m
■ I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y ’s ■ Identifying Competitive
Role in Business Advantages
■ I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y ■ The Five Forces Model –
Basics Evaluating Business Segments
■ Roles and Responsibilities ■ The Three Generic Strategies –
i n I n f o r m a t i o n Te c h n o l o g y Creating a Business Focus
■ Measuring Information ■ Va l u e C h a i n A n a l y s i s –
Te c h n o l o g y ’s S u c c e s s Ta r g e t i n g B u s i n e s s P r o c e s s
Baltzan−Phillips: Business 1. Information Systems in Text © The McGraw−Hill
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opening case study
Apple—Merging Technology, Business,

and Entertainment
Apple Computer Inc., back from near oblivion, is setting the pace in the digital world
with innovation and creativity that had been missing from the company for the past
20 years. Introduction of the iPod, a brilliant merger of technology, business, and
entertainment, catapulted Apple back into the mainstream.
C a p i t a l i z i n g o n N e w Tr e n d s
In 2000, Steve Jobs was fixated on developing video editing software for the Macin-
tosh. But then he realized millions of people were using computers and CD burners
to make audio CDs and to download digital songs called MP3s from illegal online
services like Napster. Jobs was worried that he was looking in the wrong direction
and had missed the MP3 bandwagon.
Jobs moved fast. He began by purchasing SoundStep from Jeff Robbin, a
28-year-old software engineer and former Apple employee. SoundStep was
developing software that simplified the importing and compression of MP3
songs. Robbin and a couple of other programmers began writing code from
scratch and created the first version of iTunes for the Mac in less than four
months. This powerful and ingenious database could quickly sort tens of thou-
sands of songs in a multitude of ways and find particular tracks in nanoseconds.
Jobs next challenged the team to make iTunes portable. He envisioned a Walkman-
like player that could hold thousands of songs and be taken anywhere. The idea
was to modify iTunes and build a tiny new system for what was basically a miniature
computer, along with a user interface that could sort and navigate music files with
the same sophistication as iTunes on the Mac. The iPod was born nine months later.
Jobs noticed that one last key element was missing, an online store for buy-
ing downloadable songs. Such a store would need an e-business infrastructure
that could automatically deliver songs and track billing and payments for con-
ceivably millions of purchases. In the spring of 2003, 18 months after the launch
of the iPod, Apple’s iTunes Music Store opened for business. The company’s
goal was to sell 1 million songs in the first six months. It hit this goal in six days.
2 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

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Capitalizing on the iPod

Consumers purchased more than 14 million iPod devices during the 2005 holiday sea-
son, allowing Apple to exceed $1 billion in sales through its retail stores. Apple has
now sold more than 40 million iPods. The groundbreaking product has transformed
Apple from a niche computer maker into the leading purveyor of digital media.
With millions of iPods in the hands of consumers, other companies are noticing the
trend and finding ways to capitalize on the product. John Lin created a prototype of a
remote control for the iPod. Lin took his prototype to Macworld, where he found suc-
cess. A few months later, Lin’s company had Apple’s blessing and a commitment for
shelf space in its retail stores. “This is how Apple supports the iPod economy,” Lin said.
In the iPod-dominated market, hundreds of companies have been inspired
to develop more than 500 accessories—everything from rechargers for the car
to $1,500 Fendi bags. Eric Tong, vice president at Belkin, a cable and peripheral
manufacturer, believes that 75 percent of all iPod owners purchase at least one
accessory—meaning that 30 million accessories have been sold. With most of
the products priced between $10 and $200 that puts the iPod economy well over
$300 million and perhaps as high as $6 billion. Popular iPod accessories include:
■ Altec Lansing Technologies—iPod speakers and recharger dock ($150).

■ Belkin—TuneCast mobile FM transmitter ($40).
■ Etymotic Research—high-end earphones ($150).
■ Griffin Technology—iTrip FM transmitter ($35).
■ Kate Spade—Geneva faux-croc mini iPod holder ($55).
■ Apple—socks set in six colors, green, purple, blue, orange, pink, and gray ($29).
■ Apple—digital camera connector ($29).
Capitalizing on the Future

The latest iPod packs music, audiobooks, podcasts, photos, video, contacts, calen-
dars, games, clocks, and locks in a design up to 45 percent slimmer than the original
iPod. It also boasts stamina (up to 20 hours of battery life), generous capacity (30 GB
or 60 GB of storage), a great personality (intuitive, customizable menus), and a touch
of genius (the Apple Click Wheel). The latest features include:
■ Videos—Choose from over 2,000 music videos at the iTunes Music Store or pur-
chase ad-free episodes of a favorite ABC or Disney television show and watch
them on the go.
■ Podcasts—The iTunes Podcast Directory features thousands of free podcasts,
or radio-style shows, including favorites from such big names as ABC News,
Adam Curry, ESPN, KCRW, and WGBH.
Business Driven Information Systems 3

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■ Audiobooks—The digital shelves of the iTunes Music Store are stocked with
more than 11,000 audiobooks, including such exclusives as the entire Harry Pot-
ter series.
■ Photos—With storage for up to 25,000 photos, iPod users can view photo slide
shows—complete with music—on an iPod or on a TV via the optional video
cable.
i P o d ’s I m p a c t o n t h e M u s i c B u s i n e s s
In the digital era, the unbundling of CDs through the purchase of individual tracks
lets consumers pay far less to get a few of their favorite songs rather than buying
an entire album. Many analysts predicted that the iPod’s success coupled with the
consumer’s ability to choose individual song downloads would lead to increased rev-
enues for music businesses. However, the industry is seeing individual downloads
cannibalizing album profits and failing to attract new music sales. “I’ve still never
bought a download,” said Eneka Iriondo-Coysh, a 21-year-old graphic-design stu-
dent in London who has owned a 10,000 song-capacity iPod for more than two years.
“I do it all from my CDs,” mostly hip-hop and soul.
The global music industry has been under siege for years amid declining sales.
Record companies suffer from piracy, including billions of dollars in lost revenue
due to bootlegged CDs. At the same time, music faces new competition for con-
sumer time and money from video games, DVDs, and mobile phones. At traditional
record stores, DVDs and games are taking an increasing amount of shelf space,
squeezing out CDs. The music download numbers suggest that the iPod’s iconic
success is not translating into new music sales the way the evolution from vinyl
albums to cassettes and then CDs did. For many users, the portable devices are just
another way of stocking and listening to music, not an incentive to buy new music.
Global CD sales fell 6.7 percent to $12.4 billion in the first half of 2005, accord-
ing to the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The
evidence indicates that digital downloads are not good for the music business.1

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INTRODUCTION
nformation is everywhere. Most organizations value information as a strategic
I asset. Consider Apple and its iPod, iPod accessories, and iTunes Music Store.
Apple’s success depends heavily on information about its customers, suppliers,
markets, and operations for each of these product lines. For example, Apple must
be able to predict the number of people who will purchase an iPod to help estimate
iPod accessory and iTunes sales within the next year. Estimating too many buyers
will lead Apple to produce an excess of inventory; estimating too few buyers will po-
tentially mean lost sales due to lack of product (resulting in even more lost revenues
from iTunes downloads).
Understanding the direct impact information has on an organization’s bottom
line is crucial to running a successful business. This text focuses on information,
business, technology, and the integrated set of activities used to run most organiza-
tions. Many of these activities are the hallmarks of business today—supply chain
management, customer relationship management, enterprise resource planning,
outsourcing, integration, e-business, and others.
section 1.1 I N FOR M AT I ON SYSTEM S I N BUSI NESS
1.1. Describe the functional areas of a business and why they must work together for the business to
be successful.
1.2. Explain information technology’s role in business and how you measure success.
1.3. Compare management information systems (MIS) and information technology (IT), and define the
relationships among people, information technology, and information.
1.4. Compare the responsibilities of a chief information officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO),
chief security officer (CSO), chief privacy officer (CPO), and chief knowledge officer (CKO).
1.5. Explain the gap between IT and the business, along with the primary reason this gap exists.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN BUSINESS

Students frequently ask, “Why do we need to study information technology?” The
answer is simple: Information technology is everywhere in business. Understanding
information technology provides great insight to anyone learning about business.
It is easy to demonstrate information technology’s role in business by reviewing a
copy of popular business magazines such as BusinessWeek, Fortune, Business 2.0, or
Fast Company. Placing a marker (such as a Post-it Note) on each page that contains
a technology-related article or advertisement indicates that information technol-
ogy is everywhere in business (see Figure 1.1). These are business magazines, not
technology magazines, yet they are filled with technology. Students who understand
technology have an advantage in business.
These magazine articles typically discuss such topics as databases, customer
relationship management, Web services, supply chain management, security, eth-
ics, business intelligence, and so on. They also focus on companies such as Siebel,
Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM. This text explores these topics in detail, along with re-
viewing the associated business opportunities and challenges.
Information Technology’s Impact on Business Operations

Figure 1.2 highlights the business functions receiving the greatest benefit from in-
formation technology, along with the common business goals associated with in-
formation technology projects, according to CIO magazine.
Achieving the results outlined in Figure 1.2, such as reducing costs, improving
productivity, and generating growth, is not easy. Implementing a new accounting

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FIGURE 1.1
Technology in Business Week
and Fortune
FIGURE 1.2
Business Benefits and Infor-
Business Functions Receiving the Greatest Benefits from
mation Technology Project
Information Technology
Goals
Customer Service 70 %
Finance 51 %
Sales and Marketing 42 %
IT Operations 39 %
Operations Management 31 %
HR 17%
Security 17%
Information Technology Project Goals

Reduce Costs/Improve Productivity 81 %
Improve Customer Satisfaction/Loyalty 71 %
Create Competitive Advantage 66 %
Generate Growth 54 %
Streamline Supply Chain 37 %
Global Expansion 16%
system or marketing plan is not likely to generate long-term growth or reduce costs
across an entire organization. Businesses must undertake enterprisewide initia-
tives to achieve broad general business goals such as reducing costs. Information
technology plays a critical role in deploying such initiatives by facilitating commu-
nication and increasing business intelligence. For example, e-mail and cell phones
allow people across an organization to communicate in new and innovative ways.
Understanding information technology begins with gaining an understanding of
how businesses function and IT’s role in creating efficiencies and effectiveness across
the organization. Typical businesses operate by functional areas (often called func-
tional silos). Each area undertakes a specific core business function (see Figure 1.3).

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FIGURE 1.3
Departmental Structure of a
COMMON DEPARTMENTS IN AN ORGANIZATION
Typical Organization
OPERATIONS
ACCOUNTING MARKETING
MANAGEMENT
HUMAN
PRODUCTION
RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT
FINANCE SALES INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
■ Accounting provides quantitative information about the finances of the business including
recording, measuring, and describing financial information.
■ Finance deals with the strategic financial issues associated with increasing the value of the
business, while observing applicable laws and social responsibilities.
■ Human resources (HR) includes the policies, plans, and procedures for the effective
management of employees (human resources).
■ Sales is the function of selling a good or service and focuses on increasing customer sales,
which increases company revenues.
■ Marketing is the process associated with promoting the sale of goods or services. The
marketing department supports the sales department by creating promotions that help
sell the company’s products.
■ Operations management (also called production management) includes the methods, tasks,
and techniques organizations use to produce goods and services. Transportation (also called
logistics) is part of operations management.
■ Management information systems (MIS) is the function that plans for, develops, implements,
and maintains IT hardware, software, and the portfolio of applications that people use to
support the goals of an organization.
Functional areas are anything but independent in a business. In fact, function-

al areas are interdependent (see Figure 1.4). Sales must rely on information from
operations to understand inventory, place orders, calculate transportation costs,
and gain insight into product availability based on production schedules. For an
organization to succeed, every department or functional area must work together
sharing common information and not be a “silo.” Information technology can
enable departments to more efficiently and effectively perform their business
operations.

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FIGURE 1.4
Marketing Working with
Other Organizational
Departments
Marketing
Sales Operations
Accounting Logistics
Human
resources
Functional organization—Each functional area has its own systems
and communicates with every other functional area (diagram
displays Marketing communicating with all other functional areas
in the organization).
Individuals anticipating a successful career in business, whether it is in account-

ing, finance, human resources, or operation management, must understand infor-
mation technology including:
■ Information technology basics.
■ Roles and responsibilities in information technology.
■ Measuring information technology’s success.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BASICS

Information technology (IT) is any computer-based tool that people use to work
with information and support the information and information-processing needs
of an organization. Information technology can be an important enabler of busi-
ness success and innovation. This is not to say that IT equals business success and
innovation or that IT represents business success and innovation. Information tech-
nology is most useful when it leverages the talents of people. Information technolo-
gy in and of itself is not useful unless the right people know how to use and manage
it effectively.
Management information systems is a business function just as marketing, fi-
nance, operations, and human resources management are business functions. For-
mally defined, management information systems (MIS) is the function that plans
for, develops, implements, and maintains IT hardware, software, and applications
that people use to support the goals of an organization. To perform the MIS func-
tion effectively, almost all organizations today, particularly large and medium-sized
ones, have an internal IT department, often called Information Technology (IT),
Information Systems (IS), or Management Information Systems (MIS). When be-
ginning to learn about information technology it is important to understand:
■ Information
■ IT resources
■ IT cultures

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Information
It is important to distinguish between data and information. Data are raw facts that
describe the characteristics of an event. Characteristics for a sales event could in-
clude the date, item number, item description, quantity ordered, customer name,
and shipping details. Information is data converted into a meaningful and use-
ful context. Information from sales events could include best-selling item, worst-
selling item, best customer, and worst customer.
IT Resources
The plans and goals of the IT department must align with the plans and goals of
the organization. Information technology can enable an organization to increase
efficiency in manufacturing, retain key customers, seek out new sources of supply,
and introduce effective financial management.
It is not always easy for managers to make the right choices when using IT to sup-
port (and often drive) business initiatives. Most managers understand their busi-
ness initiatives well, but are often at a loss when it comes to knowing how to use
and manage IT effectively in support of those initiatives. Managers who understand
what IT is, and what IT can and cannot do, are in the best position for success. In
essence,
■ People use
■ information technology to work with
■ information (see Figure 1.5).
Those three key resources—people, information, and information technology
(in that order of priority)—are inextricably linked. If one fails, they all fail. Most im-
portant, if one fails, then chances are the business will fail.
IT Cultures
An organization’s culture plays a large role in determining how successfully it will
share information. Culture will influence the way people use information (their
information behavior) and will reflect the importance that company leaders at-
tribute to the use of information in achieving success or avoiding failure. Four
common information-sharing cultures exist in organizations today: information-
functional, information-sharing, information-inquiring, and information-discovery
(see Figure 1.6).2
FIGURE 1.5
The Relationship among
People, Information, and
Information Technology
y
log
no
Inf
ch
orm
Te
on
ati
ati
on
Business
rm
Success
o
Inf
People

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FIGURE 1.6
Different Information Cultures Organizational Information Cultures
Found in Organizations
Information-Functional Employees use information as a means of exercising influence or
Culture power over others. For example, a manager in sales refuses to share
information with marketing. This causes marketing to need the sales
manager’s input each time a new sales strategy is developed.
Information-Sharing Culture Employees across departments trust each other to use information
(especially about problems and failures) to improve performance.
Information-Inquiring Employees across departments search for information to better

Culture understand the future and align themselves with current trends and
new directions.
Information-Discovery Employees across departments are open to new insights about crisis
Culture and radical changes and seek ways to create competitive advantages.
An organization’s IT culture can directly affect its ability to compete in the global
market. If an organization operates with an information-functional culture, it will
have a great degree of difficulty operating. Getting products to market quickly and
creating a view of its end-to-end (or entire) business from sales to billing will be a
challenge. If an organization operates with an information-discovery culture it will
be able to get products to market quickly and easily see a 360-degree view of its en-
tire organization. Employees will be able to use this view to better understand the
market and create new products that offer a competitive advantage.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Information technology is a relatively new functional area, having been around for-
mally in most organizations only for about 40 years. Job titles, roles, and respon-
sibilities often differ from organization to organization. Nonetheless, clear trends
are developing toward elevating some IT positions within an organization to the
strategic level.
Most organizations maintain positions such as chief executive officer (CEO),
chief financial officer (CFO), and chief operations officer (COO) at the strategic
level. Recently there are more IT-related strategic positions such as chief informa-
tion officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO), chief security officer (CSO), chief
privacy officer (CPO), and chief knowledge officer (CKO).
J. Greg Hanson is proud to be the first CIO of the U.S. Senate. Contrary to some
perceptions, the technology found in the Senate is quite good, according to Han-
son. Hanson’s responsibilities include creating the Senate’s technology vision, lead-
ing the IT department, and deploying the IT infrastructure. Hanson must work with
everyone from the 137 network administrators to the senators themselves to ensure
that everything is operating smoothly.3
The chief information officer (CIO) is responsible for (1) overseeing all uses of
information technology and (2) ensuring the strategic alignment of IT with busi-
ness goals and objectives. The CIO often reports directly to the CEO (see Figure 1.7
for average CIO compensation). CIOs must possess a solid understanding of every
aspect of an organization coupled with tremendous insight into the capability of IT.
Broad roles of a CIO include:
■ Manager—ensure the delivery of all IT projects, on time and within budget.
■ Leader—ensure the strategic vision of IT is in line with the strategic vision of the
organization.
■ Communicator—advocate and communicate the IT strategy by building and
maintaining strong executive relationships.

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FIGURE 1.7
Industry Average CIO Compensation Average CIO Compensation
Wholesale/Retail/Distribution $243,304
by Industry
Finance $210,547
Insurance $197,697
Manufacturing $190,250
Medical/Dental/Health Care $171,032
Government $118,359
Education $93,750
FIGURE 1.8
CIO’s Concerns Percentage What Concerns CIOs the
Most?
Enchancing customer satisfaction 94%
Security 92
Technology evaluation 89
Budgeting 87
Staffing 83
ROI analysis 66
Building new applications 64
Outsourcing hosting 45
Although CIO is considered a position within IT, CIOs must be concerned with
more than just IT. According to a recent survey (see Figure 1.8), most CIOs ranked
“enhancing customer satisfaction” ahead of their concerns for any specific aspect
of IT. We should applaud CIOs who possess the broad business view that customer
satisfaction is more crucial and critical than specific aspects of IT.
The chief technology officer (CTO) is responsible for ensuring the throughput,
speed, accuracy, availability, and reliability of an organization’s information tech-
nology. CTOs have direct responsibility for ensuring the efficiency of IT systems
throughout the organization. Most CTOs possess well-rounded knowledge of all as-
pects of IT, including hardware, software, and telecommunications. CTO’s typically
report to the CIO. The role of CTO is similar to CIO, except that CIO must take on the
additional responsibility of ensuring that IT aligns with the organization’s strategic
initiatives.
The chief security officer (CSO) is responsible for ensuring the security of IT sys-
tems and developing strategies and IT safeguards against attacks from hackers and
viruses. The role of a CSO has been elevated in recent years because of the number
of attacks from hackers and viruses. Most CSOs possess detailed knowledge of net-
works and telecommunications because hackers and viruses usually find their way
into IT systems through networked computers.
The chief privacy officer (CPO) is responsible for ensuring the ethical and legal
use of information within an organization. CPOs are the newest senior executive
position in IT. Recently, 150 of the Fortune 500 companies added the CPO position
to their list of senior executives. Many CPOs are lawyers by training, enabling them
to understand the often complex legal issues surrounding the use of information.
The chief knowledge officer (CKO) is responsible for collecting, maintaining, and
distributing the organization’s knowledge. The CKO designs programs and systems

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that make it easy for people to reuse knowledge. These systems create repositories
of organizational documents, methodologies, tools, and practices, and they estab-
lish methods for filtering the information. The CKO must continuously encourage
employee contributions to keep the systems up-to-date. The CKO can contribute
directly to the organization’s bottom line by reducing the learning curve for new
employees or employees taking on new roles.
In 1998, Danny Shaw became the first CKO at Children’s Hospital in Boston. His
initial task was to unite information from disparate systems to enable analysis of
both the efficiency and effectiveness of the hospital’s care. Shaw started by building
a series of small, integrated information systems that quickly demonstrated value.
He then gradually built on those successes, creating a knowledge-enabled organi-
zation one layer at a time. Shaw’s information systems have enabled administrative
and clinical operational analyses.4
All the above IT positions and responsibilities are critical to an organization’s
success. While many organizations may not have a different individual for each of
these positions, they must have leaders taking responsibility for all these areas of
concern. The individuals responsible for enterprisewide IT and IT-related issues
must provide guidance and support to the organization’s employees. Figure 1.9 dis-
plays the personal skills pivotal for success in an executive IT role.
The Gap Between Business Personnel and IT Personnel

One of the greatest challenges today is effective communication between busi-
ness personnel and IT personnel. Figure 1.9 clearly demonstrates the importance
of communication for IT executives. Business personnel possess expertise in func-
tional areas such as marketing, accounting, sales, and so forth. IT personnel have
the technological expertise. Unfortunately, a communications gap often exists
between the two. Business personnel have their own vocabularies based on their
experience and expertise. IT personnel have their own vocabularies consisting of
acronyms and technical terms. Effective communication between business and IT
personnel should be a two-way street with each side making the effort to under-
stand each other (including written and oral communication).
Improving Communication Business personnel must seek to increase their

understanding of IT. Although they do not need to know every technical detail, it is
beneficial to understand what IT can and cannot accomplish. Business managers
and leaders should read business-oriented IT magazines, such as InformationWeek
and CIO, to increase their IT knowledge.
At the same time, an organization must develop strategies for integrating its IT
personnel into the various business functions. Too often, IT personnel are left out of
strategy meetings because of the belief they do not understand the business so they
FIGURE 1.9
Skills Pivotal for Success in
Executive IT Roles Ability to Communicate
Effectively
Strategic Thinking and
Planning
Understanding Business
Processes and Operations
Negotiation/Sales Skills
Thorough Knowledge of
Technology Options
Technical Proficiency
20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

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will not add any value. That is a dangerous position to take. IT personnel must un-
derstand the business if the organization is going to determine which technologies
can benefit (or hurt) the business. With a little effort to communicate, IT personnel
might provide information on the functionality available in an information system,
which could add tremendous value to a meeting about how to improve customer
service. Working together, business and IT personnel have the potential to create
competitive advantages, reduce costs, and streamline business processes.
It is the CIO’s responsibility to ensure effective communications between busi-
ness and IT personnel. While the CIO assumes the responsibility on an enterprise-
wide level, it is each employee’s responsibility to communicate effectively on a
personal level.
MEASURING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S SUCCESS

To offer detailed information to all layers of management, General Electric Co. (GE)
invested $1.5 billion in employee time, hardware, software, and other technologies
to implement a real-time operations monitoring system. GE’s executives use the
new system to monitor sales, inventory, and savings across the company’s 13 global
business operations every 15 minutes. This allows GE to respond to changes, reduce
cycle times, and improve risk management on an hourly basis instead of waiting for
monthly or quarterly reports. GE estimates the $1.5 billion investment will provide
a 33 percent return over five years.5
IT professionals know how to install and maintain information systems. Busi-
ness professionals know how to run a successful business. But how does a company
decide if an information system helps make a business successful?
The answer lies in the metrics. Designing metrics requires an expertise that nei-
ther IT nor business professionals usually possess. Metrics are about neither tech-
nology nor business strategy. The questions that arise in metrics design are almost
philosophical: How do you define success? How do you apply quantifiable mea-
sures to business processes, especially qualitative ones such as customer service?
What kind of information best reflects progress, or the lack of it?
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are the measures that are tied to business
drivers. Metrics are the detailed measures that feed those KPIs. Performance met-
rics fall into a nebulous area of business intelligence that is neither technology- nor
business-centered, but this area requires input from both IT and business profes-
sionals to find success. Cisco Systems implemented a cross-departmental council
to create metrics for improving business process operations. The council developed
metrics to evaluate the efficiency of Cisco’s online order processing and discovered
that due to errors, more than 70 percent of online orders required manual input and
were unable to be automatically routed to manufacturing. By changing the process
and adding new information systems, within six months the company doubled the
percentage of orders that went directly to manufacturing.6
Efficiency and Effectiveness Metrics

Organizations spend enormous sums of money on IT to compete in today’s fast-
paced business environment. Some organizations spend up to 50 percent of their
total capital expenditures on IT. To justify these expenditures, an organization must
measure the payoff of these investments, their impact on business performance,
and the overall business value gained.
Efficiency and effectiveness metrics are two primary types of IT metrics. Efficien-
cy IT metrics measure the performance of the IT system itself such as throughput,
speed, and availability. Effectiveness IT metrics measure the impact IT has on busi-
ness processes and activities including customer satisfaction, conversion rates, and
sell-through increases. Peter Drucker offers a helpful distinction between efficiency
and effectiveness. Drucker states that managers “Do things right” and/or “Do the
right things.” Doing things right addresses efficiency—getting the most from each
resource. Doing the right things addresses effectiveness—setting the right goals and
objectives and ensuring they are accomplished.7

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Efficiency focuses on the extent to which an organization is using its resources in

an optimal way, while effectiveness focuses on how well an organization is achiev-
ing its goals and objectives. The two—efficiency and effectiveness—are definitely
interrelated. However, success in one area does not necessarily imply success in
the other.
Benchmarking—Baseline Metrics
Regardless of what is measured, how it is measured, and whether it is for the sake of
efficiency or effectiveness, there must be benchmarks, or baseline values the sys-
tem seeks to attain. Benchmarking is a process of continuously measuring system
results, comparing those results to optimal system performance (benchmark val-
ues), and identifying steps and procedures to improve system performance.
Consider online government services (e-government) as an illustration of bench-
marking efficiency IT metrics and effectiveness IT metrics (see survey results in Fig-
ure 1.10). From an effectiveness point of view, Canada ranks number one in terms of
e-government satisfaction of its citizens. (The United States ranks third.) The survey,
sponsored by Accenture, also included such attributes as customer-service vision,
initiatives for identifying services for individual citizen segments, and approach-
es to offering e-government services through multiple-service delivery channels.
These are all benchmarks at which Canada’s government excels.8
In contrast, the United Nations Division for Public Economics and Public Admin-
istration ranks Canada sixth in terms of efficiency IT metrics. (The United States
ranked first.) This particular ranking, based purely on efficiency IT metrics, includes
benchmarks such as the number of computers per 100 citizens, the number of In-
ternet hosts per 10,000 citizens, and the percentage of the citizen online population.
Therefore, while Canada lags behind in IT efficiency, it is the premier e-government
provider in terms of effectiveness.9
Governments hoping to increase their e-government presence would bench-
mark themselves against these sorts of efficiency and effectiveness metrics. There
is a high degree of correlation between e-government efficiency and effectiveness,
although it is not absolute.
The Interrelationship Between Efficiency

and Effectiveness IT Metrics
Efficiency IT metrics focus on the technology itself. Figure 1.11 highlights the most
common types of efficiency IT metrics.
FIGURE 1.10
E-Government Ranking for Efficiency Effectiveness
Efficiency and Effectiveness
1. United States (3.11) 1. Canada
2. Australia (2.60) 2. Singapore
3. New Zealand (2.59) 3. United States
4. Singapore (2.58) 4. Denmark
5. Norway (2.55) 5. Australia
6. Canada (2.52) 6. Finland
7. United Kingdom (2.52) 7. Hong Kong
8. Netherlands (2.51) 8. United Kingdom
9. Denmark (2.47) 9. Germany
10. Germany (2.46) 10. Ireland

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FIGURE 1.11
Efficiency IT Metrics Common Types of Efficiency
IT Metrics
Throughput The amount of information that can travel through a system at
any point in time.
Transaction speed The amount of time a system takes to perform a

transaction.
System availability The number of hours a system is available for users.
Information accuracy The extent to which a system generates the correct results
when executing the same transaction numerous times.
Web traffic Includes a host of benchmarks such as the number of page

views, the number of unique visitors, and the average time
spent viewing a Web page.
Response time The time it takes to respond to user interactions such as a

mouse click.
While these efficiency metrics are important to monitor, they do not always
guarantee effectiveness. Effectiveness IT metrics are determined according to an
organization’s goals, strategies, and objectives. Here, it becomes important to con-
sider the strategy an organization is using, such as a broad cost leadership strategy
(Wal-Mart, for example), as well as specific goals and objectives such as increasing
new customers by 10 percent or reducing new-product development cycle times to
six months. Figure 1.12 displays the broad, general effectiveness IT metrics.
In the private sector, eBay constantly benchmarks its information technology ef-
ficiency and effectiveness. In 2005, eBay posted impressive year-end results with
revenues increasing 72 percent while earnings grew 125 percent. Maintaining con-
stant Web site availability and optimal throughput performance is critical to eBay’s
success.10
Jupiter Media Metrix ranked eBay as the Web site with the highest visitor volume
(efficiency) in 2005 for the fourth year in a row, with an 80 percent growth from the
previous year. The auction Web site averaged 8 million unique visitors during each
week of the holiday season that year with daily peaks exceeding 12 million visitors.
To ensure constant availability and reliability of its systems, eBay implemented Pro-
activeNet, a performance measurement and management-tracking tool. The tool
FIGURE 1.12
Effectiveness IT Metrics Common Types of Effective-
ness IT Metrics
Usability The ease with which people perform transactions and/or find information.
A popular usability metric on the Internet is degrees of freedom, which
measures the number of clicks required to find desired information.
Customer satisfaction Measured by such benchmarks as satisfaction surveys, percentage

of existing customers retained, and increases in revenue dollars per
customer.
Conversion rates The n umber of customers an organization “touches” for the first time
and persuades to purchase its products or services. This is a popular
metric for evaluating the effectiveness of banner, pop-up, and pop-
under ads on the Internet.
Financial Such as return on investment (the earning power of an organization’s

assets), cost-benefit analysis (the comparison of projected revenues
and costs including development, maintenance, fixed, and variable),
and break-even analysis (the point at which constant revenues equal
ongoing costs).

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FIGURE 1.13
The Interrelationships
High
Between Efficiency and
Effectiveness
Optimal area
Efficiency
in which to
operate
Low
Low Effectiveness High
allows eBay to monitor its environment against baseline benchmarks, which helps
the eBay team keep tight control of its systems. The new system has resulted in im-
proved system availability with a 150 percent increase in productivity as measured
by system uptime.11
Be sure to consider the issue of security while determining efficiency and effec-
tiveness IT metrics. When an organization offers its customers the ability to pur-
chase products over the Internet, it must implement the appropriate security. It is
actually inefficient for an organization to implement security measures for Inter-
net-based transactions as compared to processing nonsecure transactions. How-
ever, an organization will probably have a difficult time attracting new customers
and increasing Web-based revenue if it does not implement the necessary secu-
rity measures. Purely from an efficiency IT metric point of view, security generates
some inefficiency. From an organization’s business strategy point of view, however,
security should lead to increases in effectiveness metrics.
Figure 1.13 depicts the interrelationships between efficiency and effectiveness.
Ideally, an organization should operate in the upper right-hand corner of the graph,
realizing both significant increases in efficiency and effectiveness. However, operat-
ing in the upper left-hand corner (minimal effectiveness with increased efficiency)
or the lower right-hand corner (significant effectiveness with minimal efficiency)
may be in line with an organization’s particular strategies. In general, operating in
the lower left-hand corner (minimal efficiency and minimal effectiveness) is not
ideal for the operation of any organization.
OPENING CASE QUESTIONS

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

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section 1.2 B U S I N E S S S TRATEGY
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1.6. Explain why competitive advantages are typically temporary.

1.7. List and describe each of the five forces in Porter’s Five Forces Model.
1.8. Compare Porter’s three generic strategies.
1.9. Describe the relationship between business processes and value chain analysis.
IDENTIFYING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES

To survive and thrive, an organization must create a competitive advantage. A com-
petitive advantage is a product or service that an organization’s customers place
a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor. Unfortunately, com-
petitive advantages are typically temporary because competitors often seek ways to
duplicate the competitive advantage. In turn, organizations must develop a strategy
based on a new competitive advantage.
When an organization is the first to market with a competitive advantage, it gains
a first-mover advantage. The first-mover advantage occurs when an organization
can significantly impact its market share by being first to market with a competi-
tive advantage. FedEx created a first-mover advantage by creating its customer
self-service software, which allows people and organizations to request parcel pick-
ups, print mailing slips, and track parcels online. Other parcel delivery companies
quickly began creating their own online services. Today, customer self-service on
the Internet is a standard for doing business in the parcel delivery business.
As organizations develop their competitive advantages, they must pay close
attention to their competition through environmental scanning. Environmental
scanning is the acquisition and analysis of events and trends in the environment
external to an organization. Information technology has the opportunity to play an
important role in environmental scanning.
Frito-Lay, a premier provider of snack foods such as Cracker Jacks and Cheetos,
does not just send its representatives into grocery stores to stock shelves; they carry
handheld computers and record the product offerings, inventory, and even product
locations of competitors. Frito-Lay uses this information to gain business intelli-
gence on everything from how well competing products are selling to the strategic
placement of its own products.
Organizations use three common tools to analyze and develop competitive
advantages: (1) Five Forces Model, (2) three generic strategies, and (3) value chain
analysis.
THE FIVE FORCES MODEL—EVALUATING

BUSINESS SEGMENTS
Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is a useful tool to aid organizations facing the
challenging decision of entering a new industry or industry segment. The Five Forc-
es Model helps determine the relative attractiveness of an industry and includes:
1. Buyer power.
2. Supplier power.
3. Threat of substitute products or services.

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4. Threat of new entrants.

5. Rivalry among existing competitors (see Figure 1.14).
Buyer Power
Buyer power in the Five Forces Model is high when buyers have many choices of
whom to buy from and low when their choices are few. To reduce buyer power (and
create a competitive advantage), an organization must make it more attractive
for customers to buy from it instead of its competition. One of the best IT-based
examples is the loyalty programs that many organizations offer.
Loyalty programs reward customers based on the amount of business they do
with a particular organization. The travel industry is famous for its loyalty programs
such as frequent-flyer programs for airlines and frequent-guest programs for hotels.
Keeping track of the activities and accounts of many thousands or millions of cus-
tomers covered by loyalty programs is not practical without large-scale IT systems.
Loyalty programs are a good example of using IT to reduce buyer power; because of
the rewards (e.g., free airline tickets, upgrades, or hotel stays) travelers receive, they
are more likely to be loyal to or give most of their business to a single organization.
Supplier Power
Supplier power in the Five Forces Model is high when buyers have few choices of
whom to buy from and low when their choices are many. Supplier power is the con-
verse of buyer power: A supplier organization in a market will want buyer power to
be low. A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly, in the
procurement of a product or raw material. In a typical supply chain, an organiza-
tion will probably be both a supplier (to customers) and a customer (of other sup-
plier organizations) (see Figure 1.15).
As a buyer, the organization can create a competitive advantage by locating al-
ternative supply sources. IT-enabled business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces can
help. A business-to-business (B2B) marketplace is an Internet-based service that
brings together many buyers and sellers (discussed in detail in Chapter 3). One im-
portant variation of the B2B marketplace is a private exchange. A private exchange
FIGURE 1.14
Porter’s Five Forces Model
Threat of Substitute
Products or Services
Buyer Power
Supplier Power
Rivalry among Bargaining Bargaining
Bargaining power
Existing Competitors power of power of
of suppliers
channels end users
Threat of
New Entrants

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FIGURE 1.15
An Organization within the
Supply Chain
Suppliers Organization Customers
Organizations want supplier Organizations want supplier

power to be low here power to be high here
is a B2B marketplace in which a single buyer posts its needs and then opens the bid-
ding to any supplier who would care to bid. Bidding is typically carried out through
a reverse auction. A reverse auction is an auction format in which increasingly
lower bids are solicited from organizations willing to supply the desired product
or service at an increasingly lower price. As the bids get lower and lower, more and
more suppliers drop out of the auction. Ultimately, the organization with the lowest
bid wins. Internet-based reverse auctions are an excellent example of the way that
information technology can reduce supplier power for an organization and create
a competitive advantage.
Threat of Substitute Products or Services

The threat of substitute products or services in the Five Forces Model is high when
there are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there are few alter-
natives from which to choose. Ideally, an organization would like to be in a market
in which there are few substitutes for the products or services it offers. Of course,
that is seldom possible today, but an organization can still create a competitive ad-
vantage by using switching costs.
Switching costs are costs that can make customers reluctant to switch to another
product or service. A switching cost need not have an associated monetary cost.
Amazon.com offers an example. As customers purchase products at Amazon.com
over time, Amazon develops a profile of their shopping and purchasing habits,
enabling Amazon to offer products tailored to a particular customer based on the
customer’s profile. If the customer decides to shop elsewhere, there is an associated
switching cost because the new site will not have the profile of the customer’s past
purchases. In this way, Amazon.com has reduced the threat of substitute products
or services by creating a “cost” to the consumer to switch to another online retailer.
The cell phone industry offers another good example of switching costs. Cell
phone providers want to keep their customers as long as possible. Many cell phone
providers offer their customers free phones or unlimited minutes if they will sign
a one- or two-year contract. This creates a switching cost for the customers if they
decide to change providers because they will be required to pay a penalty for break-
ing their contract. Another switching cost for the cell phone customer was losing
the actual cell phone number; however, this switching cost has been removed with
the implementation of local number portability (LNP) or the ability to “port” cell
phone numbers to new providers. Within the context of Porter’s Five Forces Model,
eliminating this switching cost creates a greater threat of substitute products or
services for the supplier. That is, customers can now expect to see more new cell
phone providers cropping up over the next several years. They will compete on
price, quality, and services with the big-name cell phone providers such as AT&T
and Verizon because cell phone numbers can be moved from one provider to an-
other. When businesses reduce or eliminate switching costs, the consumer gains
more power.
Threat of New Entrants

The threat of new entrants in the Five Forces Model is high when it is easy for new
competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers to

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entering a market. An entry barrier is a product or service feature that customers

have come to expect from organizations in a particular industry and must be of-
fered by an entering organization to compete and survive. For example, a new bank
must offer its customers an array of IT-enabled services, including ATM use, online
bill paying, and account monitoring. These are significant barriers to entering the
banking market. At one time, the first bank to offer such services gained a valuable
first-mover advantage, but only temporarily, as other banking competitors devel-
oped their own IT systems.
Rivalry Among Existing Competitors

Rivalry among existing competitors in the Five Forces Model is high when compe-
tition is fierce in a market and low when competition is more complacent. Although
competition is always more intense in some industries than in others, the overall
trend is toward increased competition in almost every industry.
The retail grocery industry is intensively competitive. While Kroger, Safeway, and
Albertsons in the United States compete in many different ways, essentially they try
to beat or match the competition on price. Most of them have loyalty programs that
give shoppers special discounts. Customers get lower prices while the store gathers
valuable information on buying habits to create pricing strategies. In the future,
expect to see grocery stores using wireless technologies to track customer move-
ment throughout the store and match it to products purchased to determine prod-
uct placement and pricing strategies. Such a system will be IT-based and a huge
competitive advantage to the first store to implement it.
Since margins are low in the retail grocery market, grocers build efficiencies
into their supply chains, connecting with their suppliers in IT-enabled informa-
tion partnerships such as the one between Wal-Mart and its suppliers. Commu-
nicating with suppliers over telecommunications networks rather than using
paper-based systems makes the procurement process faster, cheaper, and more
accurate. That equates to lower prices for customers and increased rivalry among
existing competitors.
THE THREE GENERIC STRATEGIES—CREATING

A BUSINESS FOCUS
Once the relative attractiveness of an industry is determined and an organization
decides to enter that market, it must formulate a strategy for entering the new
market. An organization can follow Porter’s three generic strategies when entering
a new market: (1) broad cost leadership, (2) broad differentiation, or (3) focused
strategy. Broad strategies reach a large market segment, while focused strategies
target a niche market. A focused strategy concentrates on either cost leadership
or differentiation. Trying to be all things to all people, however, is a recipe for di-
saster, since it is difficult to project a consistent image to the entire marketplace.
Porter suggests that an organization is wise to adopt only one of the three generic
strategies.
To illustrate the use of the three generic strategies, consider Figure 1.16. The ma-
trix shown demonstrates the relationships among strategies (cost leadership versus
differentiation) and market segmentation (broad versus focused).
■ Hyundai is following a broad cost leadership strategy. Hyundai offers low-cost
vehicles, in each particular model stratification, that appeal to a large audience.
■ Audi is pursuing a broad differentiation strategy with its Quattro models avail-
able at several price points. Audi’s differentiation is safety, and it prices its vari-
ous Quattro models (higher than Hyundai) to reach a large, stratified audience.
■ Kia has a more focused cost leadership strategy. Kia mainly offers low-cost ve-
hicles in the lower levels of model stratification.
■ Hummer offers the most focused differentiation strategy of any in the industry
(including Mercedes-Benz).

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FIGURE 1.16
Porter’s Three Generic Strategies in the Auto Industry
Cost Leadership strategy Differentiation strategy

Hyundai Audi
Broad market
Kia Hummer
Focused market
VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS—TARGETING

BUSINESS PROCESSES
Once an organization enters a new market using one of Porter’s three generic strat-
egies, it must understand, accept, and successfully execute its business strategy.
Every aspect of the organization contributes to the success (or failure) of the chosen
strategy. The business processes of the organization and the value chain they create
play an integral role in strategy execution.
Value Creation
A business process is a standardized set of activities that accomplish a specific task,
such as processing a customer’s order. To evaluate the effectiveness of its business
processes, an organization can use Michael Porter’s value chain approach. An or-
ganization creates value by performing a series of activities that Porter identified
as the value chain. The value chain approach views an organization as a series of
processes, each of which adds value to the product or service for each customer. To
create a competitive advantage, the value chain must enable the organization to
provide unique value to its customers. In addition to the firm’s own value-creating
activities, the firm operates in a value system of vertical activities including those of
upstream suppliers and downstream channel members. To achieve a competitive
advantage, the firm must perform one or more value-creating activities in a way
that creates more overall value than do competitors. Added value is created through
lower costs or superior benefits to the consumer (differentiation).
Organizations can add value by offering lower prices or by competing in a dis-
tinctive way. Examining the organization as a value chain (actually numerous dis-
tinct but inseparable value chains) leads to identifying the important activities that
add value for customers and then finding IT systems that support those activities.
Figure 1.17 depicts a value chain. Primary value activities, shown at the bottom of
the graph, acquire raw materials and manufacture, deliver, market, sell, and provide
after-sales services. Support value activities, along the top of the graph, such as firm

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FIGURE 1.17
The Value Chain
Firm infrastructure (3.1%)

Activities
Human resource management (7.1%)

Support
Value
Technology development (and R&D) (4.2%)

Value
Procurement (27%) Added
Receive Make the Deliver the Market and Service

Activities
Primary
and store product or product or sell the after the

Value
raw service service product or sale (2.2%)

materials (40.3%) (6.6%) service
(5.2%) (4.3%)
infrastructure, human resource management, technology development, and pro-

curement, support the primary value activities.
The goal is to survey the customers and ask them the extent to which they be-
lieve each activity adds value to the product or service. This generates a quantifiable
metric, displayed in percentages in Figure 1.17, for how each activity adds value (or
reduces value). The competitive advantage decision then is to (1) target high value-
adding activities to further enhance their value, (2) target low value-adding activi-
ties to increase their value, or (3) perform some combination of the two.
Organizations should attempt to use information technology to add value to
both primary and support value activities. One example of a primary value ac-
tivity facilitated by IT is the development of a marketing campaign management
system that could target marketing campaigns more efficiently, thereby reducing
marketing costs. The system would also help the organization better pinpoint tar-
get market needs, thereby increasing sales. One example of a support value activity
facilitated by IT is the development of a human resources system that could more
efficiently reward employees based on performance. The system could also identify
employees who are at risk of leaving their jobs, allowing the organization to find
additional challenges or opportunities that would help retain these employees and
thus reduce turnover costs.
Value chain analysis is a highly useful tool in that it provides hard and fast num-
bers for evaluating the activities that add value to products and services. An or-
ganization can find additional value by analyzing and constructing its value chain
in terms of Porter’s Five Forces (see Figure 1.18). For example, if an organization
wants to decrease its buyer’s or customer’s power, it can construct its value chain
activity of “service after the sale” by offering high levels of quality customer service.
This will increase the switching costs for its customers, thereby decreasing their
power. Analyzing and constructing its support value activities can help an organi-
zation decrease the threat of new entrants. Analyzing and constructing its primary
value activities can help an organization decrease the threat of substitute products
or services.
A company can implement its selected strategy by means of programs, budgets,
and procedures. Implementation involves organization of the firm’s resources and

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FIGURE 1.18
The Value Chain and Porter’s Five Forces
Threat of
New Entrants
Supply Chain Demand Chain
Firm infrastructure (3.1%)
Human resource management (7.1%)
Technology development (and R&D) (4.2%)

Supplier Value Buyer
Power Procurement (27%) Added Power
Receive Make the Deliver the Market and Service

and store product or product or sell the after the
raw service service product or sale (2.2%)
materials (40.3%) (6.6%) service
(5.2%) (4.3%)
Threat of
Substitute Products
or Services
motivation of the employees to achieve objectives. How the company implements

its chosen strategy can have a significant impact on its success. In a large company,
the personnel implementing the strategy are usually different from those formulat-
ing the strategy. For this reason, proper communication of the strategy is critical.
Failure can result if the strategy is misunderstood or if lower-level managers resist
its implementation because they do not understand the process for selecting the
particular strategy.
An organization must continually adapt to its competitive environment, which
can cause its business strategy to change. To remain successful, an organization
should use Porter’s Five Forces, the three generic strategies, and value chain analy-
sis to adopt new business strategies.
OPENING CASE QUESTIONS

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

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KEY TERMS
Benchmarking 14 Data 9 Response time 15

Benchmark 14 Effectiveness IT metrics 13 Reverse auction 19
Business process 21 Efficiency IT metrics 13 Rivalry among existing
Business-to-business (B2B) Environmental scanning 17 competitors 20
marketplace 18 First-mover advantage 17 Supplier power 18
Buyer power 18 Five Forces Model 17 Supply chain 18
Chief information Information 9 Switching cost 19
officer (CIO) 10 Information accuracy 15 System availability 15
Chief knowledge officer Information technology (IT) 8 Threat of new entrants 19
(CKO) 11 Key performance indicators Threat of substitute products
Chief privacy officer (CPO) 11 (KPIs) 13 or services 19
Chief security officer (CSO) 11 Loyalty program 18 Throughput 15
Chief technology Management information Transaction speed 15
officer (CTO) 11 systems (MIS) 8 Value chain 21
Competitive advantage 17 Private exchange 18 Web traffic 15

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CLOSING CASE ONE
Say “Charge It” with Your Cell Phone
Wireless operators, credit card companies, and retailers are working on a technology that al-
lows customers to purchase items by using their cell phones. For example, a customer could
purchase a can of soda by dialing a telephone number on the dispensing machine and have
the charge for the soda show up on the customer’s cell phone bill. Working prototypes are
currently in use in South Korea, Japan, and Europe.
The ability to charge items to a cell phone has significant business potential because credit
cards are not nearly as popular in other countries as they are in the United States. In Japan
and China, for example, people are much more likely to have a cell phone than a credit card.
Japanese consumers use credit cards for only 5.6 percent of their personal spending com-
pared with 33 percent of U.S. consumer spending.
The payoff for credit card companies and cell phone operators from this technology could
be enormous. By associating a credit card with a cell phone, banks and credit card companies
hope to persuade consumers to buy products, such as soda, with their cell phones instead of
pocket change. Of course, they will reap transaction fees for each transaction. Mobile phone
operators see the technology as a way to increase traffic on their networks as well as to posi-
tion cell phones as an even more useful and, thus, essential device for consumers. Retailers
envision easier transactions also leading to more sales.
MasterCard International and Nokia are currently testing a cell phone credit card for the
U.S. market. The phones have a special chip programmed with the user’s credit card informa-
tion and a radio frequency transmitting circuit. Consumers can simply tap their phone on a
special device at a checkout counter equipped with a receiving device that costs the retailer
about $80. Betsy Foran-Owens, vice president for Product Services at MasterCard Interna-
tional, commented that with this technology, “You don’t even have to get off your phone to pay.
You can just tap this thing down at the register.” She also noted, “If you’re not going to carry
cash around, what are you going to carry? Your mobile phone.”
The only players who might not look favorably on the technology are the traditional tele-
phone companies, who must certainly view the technology as just one more threat to their
traditional telephone business.12
Questions
1. 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?
2. Using Porter’s Five Forces describe the barriers to entry and switching costs for this new
technology.
3. Which of Porter’s three generic strategies is this new technology following?
4. Describe the value chain of using cell phones as a payment method.
5. What types of regulatory issues might occur due to this type of technology?

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CLOSING CASE TWO
Innovative Business Managers
BusinessWeek magazine recognized several innovative managers who have demonstrated

talent, vision, and the ability to identify excellent opportunities (see Figure 1.19).
Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric (GE)

When Jeffrey Immelt took over as CEO of General Electric, he had big shoes to fill. The former
CEO, Jack Welch, had left an unprecedented record as one of the top CEOs of all time. Immelt
proved his ability to run the company by creating a customer-driven global culture that spawns
innovation and embraces technology. The company was forecasting earnings to increase
17 percent in 2005.
Steven Reinemund, PepsiCo

Steven Reinemund has turned PepsiCo into a $27 billion food and beverage giant. “To be a lead-
er in consumer products, it’s critical to have leaders who represent the population we serve,”
said Reinemund, who created a diverse leadership group that defines the strategic vision for
the company. Reinemund also takes a major role in mentoring and teaching his employees and
demands that all senior executives do the same. The payoff: consistent double-digit earnings
and solid sales at a time when many of the company’s staple products—potato chips and soft
drinks—are under attack for fears about childhood obesity and health concerns.
FIGURE 1.19
Innovative Business Innovative Managers
Managers
Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric (GE) ■ Repositioned GE’s portfolio with major acquisitions
in health care, entertainment, and commercial
finance
■ Created a more diverse, global, and
customer-driven culture
Steven Reinemund, PepsiCo ■ Developed strong and diverse leadership that

helped PepsiCo tap new markets
■ Attained consistent double-digit growth through
product innovation and smart marketing
Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, ■ Computer-animated Shrek 2 set a record with a

and David Geffen, DreamWorks SKG gross of $437 million
■ IPO pulled in $812 million
Robert Nardelli, Home Depot ■ Turned a $46 billion company focused on big stores
into a $70 billion chain with urban, suburban,
and international outlets
■ Drive for efficiency, such as centralizing
purchasing and investing in technology, pushed
margins above 30 percent
John Henry, Boston Red Sox ■ Broke the most fabled curse in sports, when the
Boston Red Sox won the team’s first World
Championship since 1918
■ Sold out all 81 home games for the first time in
team history
Phil Knight, Nike ■ Transformed a volatile, fad-driven marketing and

design icon into a more shareholder-friendly
company

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Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg,

and David Geffen, DreamWorks
DreamWorks, founded 10 years ago by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Gef-
fen, suffered through its share of early bombs. Finally, the studio discovered a green ogre
named Shrek and quickly became the hottest studio this side of Pixar Animation. DreamWorks
Animation turned a $187 million loss in 2003 into a $196 million profit in 2004, with revenues of
$1.1 billion. DreamWorks plans to release two animation films per year, each taking almost four
years to produce.
Robert Nardelli, Home Depot

Robert Nardelli took several risks when he became CEO of Home Depot. First, he allocated
$14 billion into upgrading merchandise, renovating outdated stores, and investing in new tech-
nology such as self-checkout lanes and cordless scan guns. Second, Nardelli expanded into
Mexico, China, and other regions, tapping the growing homeowner market. Finally, Nardelli bet
big on carrying products for aging baby boomers who wanted to spruce up their empty nests.
The moves are paying off. The company sits on $3.4 billion in cash. With 2005 revenues headed
to $80 billion, Home Depot is the number two U.S. retailer after Wal-Mart.
John Henry, Boston Red Sox

John Henry earned his fortune in the global futures market by developing a proprietary futures-
trading system that consistently produced double-digit returns. Henry’s new system, Saber-
metrics, helped him reverse the most fabled curse in sports history by leading the Boston Red
Sox to the team’s first World Championship since 1918. Sabermetrics mines baseball statistics
to find undervalued players while avoiding long contracts for aging stars whose performance
is likely to decline. With the help of Sabermetrics, Henry built one of the most effective teams
in baseball.
Philip Knight, Nike

Philip Knight, who got his start by selling Japanese sneakers from the trunk of his car, built the
$12 billion sports behemoth Nike. Knight and his team transformed high-performance sports
equipment into high-fashion gear and forever changed the rules of sports marketing with huge
endorsement contracts and in-your-face advertising. Then, just as suddenly, Nike lost focus.
In early 2000, kids stopped craving the latest sneaker, the company’s image took a huge hit
from its labor practices, sales slumped, and costs soared.
Thus began Knight’s second act. He revamped management and brought in key outsiders
to oversee finances and apparel lines. Knight devoted more energy to developing new infor-
mation systems. Today, Nike’s earnings are less volatile and less fad-driven. In 2004, Nike’s
earnings increased $1 billion.13
Questions
1. Choose one of the companies listed above and explain how it could use a chief informa-
tion officer (CIO), chief technology officer (CTO), and chief privacy officer (CPO) to improve
business.
2. Why is it important for all of DreamWork’s 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.
3. Why is information technology important to an organization like the Boston Red Sox?
4. Which of Porter’s Five Forces is most important to Home Depot’s business?
5. Which of the three generic strategies is PepsiCo following?
6. Explain the value chain and how a company like GE can use it to improve operations.

Systems
CLOSING CASE THREE
The World Is Flat—Thomas Friedman
In his book, The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman describes the unplanned cascade of techno-
logical and social shifts that effectively leveled the economic world, and “accidentally made
Beijing, Bangalore, and Bethesda next-door neighbors.” Chances are good that Bhavya in
Bangalore will read your next X-ray, or as Friedman learned first-hand, “Grandma Betty in her
bathrobe” will make your JetBlue plane reservation from her Salt Lake City home.
Friedman believes this is Globalization 3.0. “In Globalization 1.0, which began around 1492,
the world went from size large to size medium. In Globalization 2.0, the era that introduced
us to multinational companies, it went from size medium to size small. And then around 2000
came Globalization 3.0, in which the world went from being small to tiny. There is a difference
between being able to make long-distance phone calls cheaper on the Internet and walking
around Riyadh with a PDA where you can have all of Google in your pocket. It is a difference
in degree that’s so enormous it becomes a difference in kind,” Friedman stated. Figure 1.20
displays Friedman’s list of “flatteners.”
Friedman writes these flatteners converged around the year 2000 and “created a flat world:
a global, Web-enabled platform for multiple forms of sharing knowledge and work, irrespective
of time, distance, geography, and increasingly, language.” At the very moment this platform
emerged, three huge economies materialized—those of India, China, and the former Soviet
Union—“and 3 billion people who were out of the game, walked onto the playing field.” A final
FIGURE 1.20
Thomas Friedman’s 10 Forces Friedman’s 10 Forces That Flattened the World
That Flattened the World
1. Fall of the Berlin Wall The events of November 9, 1989, tilted the worldwide balance of
power toward democracies and free markets.
2. Netscape IPO The August 9, 1995, offering sparked massive investment in

fiber-optic cables.
3. Work flow software The rise of applications from PayPal to VPNs enabled faster,
closer coordination among far-flung employees.
4. Open sourcing Self-organizing communities, such as Linux, launched a

collaborative revolution.
5. Outsourcing Migrating business functions to India saved money and a Third

World economy.
6. Offshoring Contract manufacturing elevated China to economic

prominence.
7. Supply chaining Robust networks of suppliers, retailers, and customers

increased business efficiency.
8. In-sourcing Logistics giants took control of customer supply chains, helping

mom-and-pop shops go global.
9. Informing Power searching allowed everyone to use the Internet as a

“personal supply chain of knowledge.”
10. Wireless Wireless technologies pumped up collaboration, making it

mobile and personal.

Systems
convergence may determine the fate of the United States in this chapter of globalization. A
“political perfect storm,” as Friedman describes it—the dot-com bust, the attacks of 9/11, and
the Enron scandal—“distract us completely as a country.” Just when we need to face the fact
of globalization and the need to compete in a new world, “we’re looking totally elsewhere.”
Friedman believes that the next great breakthrough in bioscience could come from a
5-year-old who downloads the human genome in Egypt. Bill Gates’s view is similar: “20 years
ago, would you rather have been a B-student in Poughkeepsie or a genius in Shanghai? Twen-
ty years ago you’d rather be a B-student in Poughkeepsie. Today, it is not even close. You’d
much prefer to be the genius in Shanghai because you can now export your talents anywhere
in the world.”14
Questions
1. Do you agree or disagree with Friedman’s assessment that the world is flat? Be sure to
justify your answer.
2. What are the potential impacts of a flat world for a student performing a job search?
3. What can students do to prepare themselves for competing in a flat world?
4. Identify a current flattener not mentioned on Friedman’s list.
MAKING BUSINESS DECISIONS
1. Competitive analysis
Cheryl O’Connell is the owner of a small, high-end retailer of women’s clothing called Ex-
celus. Excelus’s business has been successful for many years, largely because of Cheryl’s
ability to anticipate the needs and wants of her loyal customer base and provide them
with personalized service. Cheryl does not see any value in IT and does not want to invest
any capital in something that will not directly affect her bottom line. Develop a proposal
describing the potential IT-enabled competitive opportunities or threats Cheryl might be
missing by not embracing IT. Be sure to include a Porter’s Five Forces analysis and discuss
which one of the three generic strategies Cheryl should pursue.
2. Applying the three generic strategies

This chapter discussed several examples of companies that pursue differentiated strate-
gies so that they are not forced into positions where they must compete solely based on
price. In a team, choose an industry and find and compare two companies, one that is
competing based on price and another that is pursuing a differentiated strategy enabled
by the creative use of IT. Some industries you may want to consider are clothing retailers,
grocery stores, airlines, and personal computers. Prepare a presentation for the class on
the ways that the company is using IT to help it differentiate and compete against the low-
cost provider. Before you begin, spend some class time to make sure each team selects a
different industry.
3. Using efficiency and effectiveness metrics

You are the CEO of a 500-bed acute care general hospital. Your internal IT department is
responsible for running applications that support both administrative functions (e.g., patient
accounting) as well as medical applications (e.g., medical records). You need assurance
that your IT department is a high-quality operation in comparison to similar hospitals. What
metrics should you ask your CIO to provide to give the assurance you seek? Provide the
reasoning behind each suggested metric. Also, determine how the interrelationship be-
tween efficiency metrics and effectiveness metrics can drive your business’s success.

Systems
4. Building Business Relationships

Synergistics Inc. is a start-up company that specializes in helping businesses build suc-
cessful internal relationships. You have recently been promoted to senior manager of the
Business and IT Relationship area. Sales for your new department have dwindled over the
last two years for a variety of reasons including the burst of the technological stock bubble,
recent economic conditions, and a poorly communicated business strategy. Your first task
on the job is to prepare a report detailing the following:
■ Fundamental reasons for the gap between IT and the business.
■ Strategies you can take to convince the business this is an area that is critical
to success.
■ Strategies the business can follow to ensure synergies exist between the two sides.
5. Determining IT Organizational Structures

You are the chief executive officer for a start-up telecommunications company. The com-
pany currently has 50 employees and plans to ramp up to 3,000 by the end of the year. Your
first task is to determine how you are going to model your organization. You decide to ad-
dress the IT department’s organizational structure first. You need to consider if you want
to have a CIO, CPO, CSO, CTO, and CKO and if so, what the reporting structure will look
like and why. You also need to determine the responsibilities for each executive position.
Once you have compiled this information, put together a presentation describing your IT
department’s organizational structure.

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Baltzan−Phillips: Business 1.

Information Systems in Text © The McGraw−Hill

SECTI ON 1 . 1 S ECTION 1.2

opening case study

Apple—Merging Technology, Business,

2 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

Capitalizing on the iPod

■ Altec Lansing Technologies—iPod speakers and recharger dock ($150).

Capitalizing on the Future

Business Driven Information Systems 3

4 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

section 1.1 I N FOR M AT I ON SYSTEM S I N BUSI NESS

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S ROLE IN BUSINESS

Information Technology’s Impact on Business Operations

Business Driven Information Systems 5

Information Technology Project Goals

6 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

Functional areas are anything but independent in a business. In fact, function-

Business Driven Information Systems 7

Individuals anticipating a successful career in business, whether it is in account-

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BASICS

8 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

Business Driven Information Systems 9

Information-Inquiring Employees across departments search for information to better

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

10 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

Medical/Dental/Health Care $171,032

Building new applications 64

Business Driven Information Systems 11

The Gap Between Business Personnel and IT Personnel

Improving Communication Business personnel must seek to increase their

20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

12 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

MEASURING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY’S SUCCESS

Efficiency and Effectiveness Metrics

Business Driven Information Systems 13

Efﬁciency focuses on the extent to which an organization is using its resources in

The Interrelationship Between Efficiency

2. Australia (2.60) 2. Singapore

3. New Zealand (2.59) 3. United States

4. Singapore (2.58) 4. Denmark

5. Norway (2.55) 5. Australia

6. Canada (2.52) 6. Finland

7. United Kingdom (2.52) 7. Hong Kong

8. Netherlands (2.51) 8. United Kingdom

9. Denmark (2.47) 9. Germany

10. Germany (2.46) 10. Ireland

14 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

Transaction speed The amount of time a system takes to perform a

System availability The number of hours a system is available for users.

Web trafﬁc Includes a host of benchmarks such as the number of page

Response time The time it takes to respond to user interactions such as a

Customer satisfaction Measured by such benchmarks as satisfaction surveys, percentage

Financial Such as return on investment (the earning power of an organization’s

Business Driven Information Systems 15

OPENING CASE QUESTIONS

16 Chapter 1 Information Systems in Business

section 1.2 B U S I N E S S S TRATEGY

1.6. Explain why competitive advantages are typically temporary.

IDENTIFYING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES