University of the Immaculate Conception
Graduate School
Bonifacio St., Davao City
Assignment #1
Name: JASMIN R. SALADA
Course and Year: MBA, 1st Year
BA 208
1. Why are information systems so essential for running and managing a business
today?
Information Systems are essential for running and managing business today
because as we all know that we are now on the 21st century and we need to be globally
competitive. Information System have become fundamental online, interactive tools
deeply involved in minute to minute operations and decision making of large
organizations.
Business firms invest heavily in information systems to achieve six strategic
business objectives:






Operational excellence - businesses can continuously improve the proficiency
of their tasks in order to attain maximum profitability.
New Products, services and business models – Information systems and
technology is a major enabling tool for new products, services and business
models.
Customer and supplier intimacy – the way Information Systems handles the
services of the customer will increase revenues and profits.
Improved decision making – Information systems make it feasible for managers
to use real time data when making a decision to therefore make better decisions
and not have to waste time looking for information.
Competitive advantage – they will be delivering better performance than others.
Survival – business invest in these systems to make their jobs as easy as
possible.
2. Why systems for collaboration and social business are so important and what
technologies they use?
Collaboration is working with others on the same path in terms of achieving
goals. Social business is the use of internal and external social networking platforms
to involve employees, customers, and suppliers, and it enhances collaborative work.
Collaboration and social business have become increasingly important in business
because of globalization, the delegation of decision making, and growth in jobs where
interaction is the primary value-adding activity.
Collaboration and social business enhance productivity, quality, innovation,
customer service and financial performance. Tools for collaboration and social
business include e-mail and instant messaging, wikis, virtual worlds, collaboration and
social business platforms such as virtual meeting systems, Google Apps/Google Sites,
Cyberlockers, Microsoft SharePoint, Lotus Notes, and enterprise social networking
tools.
3. How does Porter’s competitive forces model help companies develop
competitive strategies using information systems? Describe how information
systems can support each of these competitive strategies and give examples.
Explain why aligning IT with business objectives is essential for strategic use of
systems.
Porter’s model is all about the firm’s general business environment. Some firms
do better than others because they either have access to special resources that others
do not or they are able to use commonly available resources more efficiently. It could
be because of superior knowledge and information assets. Regardless, they excel in
revenue growth, profitability, or productivity growth, ultimately increasing their stock
market valuations compared to their competitors.
Competitive strategies that enabled by using information technology and
systems include: Low-cost leadership (lowest operational costs and the lowest price),
Product differentiation (enable new products and services, or greatly change the
customer convenience in using existing products and services), Focus on market
niche (enable a specific market focus and serve this narrow target market better than
competitors) and Strengthen customer and suppliers (tighten linkages with suppliers
and develop intimacy with customers).
4. Why do contemporary information systems technology and the Internet pose
challenges to the protection of individual privacy and intellectual property?
Contemporary data storage and data analysis technology enables companies
to easily gather personal data about individuals from many different sources and
analyze these data to create detailed electronic profile about individuals and their
behaviors. Data flowing over the Internet can be monitored at many points. Cookies
and other Web monitoring tools closely track the activities of Web site visitors. Not all
Web sites have strong privacy protection policies, and they do not always allow for
informed consent regarding the use of personal information. Traditional copyright laws
are insufficient to protect against software privacy because digital material can be
copied so easily and transmitted to many different locations simultaneously over the
Internet.