Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Principles of MIS

© 2005 by Jerry Post

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

1. Consider a small service firm such as a physician, dentist, accountant, or lawyer. Is it possible for such an office to use computers to gain a competitive advantage? To start, identify the customers, suppliers, and rivals. Do you think the “natural” switching costs are high or low; that is, how often do customers switch to competitors? Which of the major techniques do you think would be the most successful (barriers to entry, switching costs, quality control, lower prices, ties to customers or suppliers, etc.)?
2. How long can firms maintain an advantage using an information system? Research one of the classic cases and find out how long it took for the competitors to implement a similar information system (for example, Merrill Lynch and its Cash-Management Account, American Airlines and the Sabre System, Levi-Strauss and its Levi-Link ordering system, or Federal Express and its tracking system). Find out when the system was implemented, identify the competitors, and find out when they implemented similar systems. Did the original company continue to update its strategy? Collect data on sales and profits for the firms to see whether there were major changes.
3. Pick an industry. Find two firms in the industry—one a technology leader, the other a follower. Get the financial information on those firms for the last five years. Find analyst summaries of their operations. Compare the two firms. Are there differences in finances, operating methods, or customers?
4. Find information on two e-commerce firms in the same industry: one failing and one still operating. What differences are there between the firms? What strategies did the firms follow?
5. Write a business plan for a new company. Choose an existing small company if you do not have ideas for a new firm.
6. Research the detailed steps needed to start a Chapter S corporation in your state. Obtain the necessary forms (most states have them on websites).
7. Choose an area of management, such as marketing, manufacturing, or logistics. Find an example of a firm that you believe is doing a good job applying IT in this area. Briefly explain how this usage could provide strategic benefits to the firm.
8. Choose one of the IS techniques to gain a competitive advantage. Identify a firm (not one of the examples in the text) that is using that method. Briefly describe the financial position of the firm and how it is using information systems.

Technology Toolbox

9. Using a GIS tool, compare the sales for Rolling Thunder Bicycles against population and income.
10. As a team assignment, interview as many students as possible to obtain their home ZIP Codes (or try to obtain the data from your institutional research office). Store the data in a spreadsheet or DBMS by ZIP Code. Use a GIS to display the data.
11. Create sample sales data by state. Use a GIS tool to compare the sales against population and income.
12. Select a small business that you might want to start. Choose the type of business structure and where it will be located. Explain your choices.
13. Choose a company that you would like to start, write the overall strategy section and build the projected accounting statements for the first three years.
14. Assume that you have been hired by a physician who wants to start a website to help dieters. Create a business plan that focuses on the competition, marketing, and Web aspects of the business.

Teamwork

15. Each team member should read through at least two industry cases in the chapters of this book. Identify whether the firm is a leader or a follower in terms of strategy and technology. Compare each firm’s financial data to that of the industry (for example by sales and number of employees). Combine the individual analyses and summarize them. Identify any patterns you might see. For example, do the larger firms tend to be leaders or followers in technology?
16. Choose a firm that provides reasonable amounts of management information (such as a local firm or a well-documented public firm). Have each team member choose one area (research, engineering, marketing, and so on). Identify the strengths of the firm in the area. Create a short plan to improve the company’s use of IT within that area. Make sure the usage fits with the overall strategy of the company.
17. Choose an industry. Assign each team member to investigate a level within the production chain. Each person should identify the tasks that occur at the specified level along with the major firms. Identify the rivalry and any dominant firms at each level. Identify the use of IT at each level and any ties across levels. Combine the results and briefly discuss where on the chain you would prefer to enter as a new firm.
18. Choose a firm that the team might want to start. Create a brief business plan for the company by assigning one section to each team member.
19. Choose an existing firm. Using Porter’s model, identify how the company could use information technology to gain a competitive advantage.

Rolling Thunder Database

20. Identify the competition in the industry. Who are existing rivals? Who are potential rivals? Be sure to define the industry carefully. Consider using NAICS codes.’
21. Perform a value chain analysis of the company. Could they improve profits by expanding vertically or horizontally? Are there additional products we should consider offering?
22. The management has the opportunity to purchase a chain of retail bicycle stores. Evaluate the strategic aspects of this proposed acquisition. What will be the effect on the information systems? Can the existing information system be used to improve the operations of the retail stores? What additions and improvements would be needed?
23. Is there any way to increase ties to the customers using technology to gain a competitive advantage?
24. Examine the value chain in the bicycle industry. How many levels are there and which levels are the most profitable?
25. Using the existing data, write a business plan to obtain venture capital to expand the operations of Rolling Thunder—focusing on the need to develop a marketing campaign and a Web-based ordering system.
26. Using the spreadsheet for the Rolling Thunder Bicycle startup situation shown in the figures, choose a financing method and complete the projected accounting statements.
27. Assuming the salaries and capital costs are fixed to start Rolling Thunder Bicycles, and assuming the average price of a bicycle is $2,250, compute the break-even number of bicycles.