SAMPLE Discussion Questions 1-1 SAMPLE DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1 Foundations of Information Systems in Business 1. How can information technology support a company's business processes and decision making and give it a competitive advantage? Give examples to illustrate your answer. 2. How does the use of the Internet, intranets, and extranets by companies today support their business processes and activities? 3. Why do big companies still fail in their use of information technology? What should they be doing differently? 4. What are some of the toughest management challenges in developing IT solutions to solve business problems and meet new business opportunities? 2 Competing with Information Technology 1. Suppose you are a manager being asked to develop computer-based applications to gain a competitive advantage in an important market for your company. What reservations might you have about doing so? Why? 2. How could a business use information technology to increase switching costs and lock in its customers and suppliers? Use business examples to support your answers. 3. How could a business leverage its investment in information technology to build strategic IT capabilities 4. How can Internet technologies help a business form strategic alliances with its customers, suppliers, and others? 5. How could a business use Internet technologies to form a virtual company or become an agile competitor? SAMPLE Discussion Questions 1-2 7 e-Business Systems 1. Why is there a trend toward cross-functional integrated enterprise systems in business? 2. What are the most important HR applications a company should offer to its employees via a Web-based system? Why? 3. How could sales force automation affect salesperson productivity, marketing management, and competitive advantage? 4. How can Internet technologies be involved in improving a process in one of the functions of business? Choose one example and evaluate its business value. 5. What are several e-business applications that you might recommend to a small company to help it survive and succeed in challenging economic times? Why? 8 Business Across the Enterprise 1. Should every company become a customer-focused business? Why or why not? 2. Why would systems that enhance a company's relationships with customers have such a high rate of failure? 3. How could some of the spectacular failures of ERP systems have been avoided? 4. What challenges do you see for a company that wants to implement collaborative SCM systems? How would you meet such challenges? 5. Should companies install e-business software suites or "best of breed" e-business software components? Why? 9 e-Commerce Systems 1. Most businesses should engage in e-commerce on the Internet. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your position. 2. Are you interested in investing in, owning, managing, or working for a business that is primarily engaged in e-commerce on the Internet? Explain your position. 3. What are the critical success factors for retail e-Business startups? 4. If you were starting an e-commerce Web store, which of the business requirements summarized in Figure 9.13 would you primarily do yourself, and which would you outsource to a Web development or hosting company? Why? SAMPLE Discussion Questions 1-3 10 Supporting Decision Making 1. Are the form and use of information and decision support systems for managers and business professionals changing and expanding? Why or why not? 2. What is the difference between the ability of a manager to retrieve information instantly on demand using an MIS versus the capabilities provided by a DSS? 3. In what ways does using an electronic spreadsheet package provide you with the capabilities of a decision support system? 4. Are enterprise information portals making executive information systems unnecessary? Explain your reasoning. 5. What are some of the limitations or dangers you see in the use of AI technologies such as expert systems, virtual reality, and intelligent agents? What could be done to minimize such effects? 13 Security and Ethical Challenges 1. What potential security problems do you see in the increasing use of intranets and extranets in business? What might be done to solve such problems? Give several examples. 2. What are your major concerns about computer crime and privacy on the Internet? What can you do about it? Explain. 3. Is there an ethical crisis in business today? What role does information technology play in unethical business practices? 4. What are several business decisions that you will have to make as a manager that have both ethical and IT dimensions? Give examples to illustrate your answer. 5. What would be examples of one positive and one negative effect of the use of information technologies in each of the ethical and societal dimensions illustrated in Figure 13.2? Explain several of your choices. 14 Enterprise and Global Management of Information Technology 1. What has been the impact of information technologies on the work relationships, activities, and resources of managers? 2. What can business unit managers do about performance problems in the use of information technology and the development and operation of information systems in their business units? 3. How are Internet technologies affecting the structure and work roles of modern organizations? For example, will middle management wither away? Will companies consist primarily of virtual (location independent) project teams of knowledge workers? Explain your answers. 4. Should an organization centralize or decentralize its strategic IS decision-making function? Use the Internet to find recent developments to support your answer. 5. How might cultural, political, or geoeconomic challenges affect a global company's use of the Internet? Give several examples.