Final Exam Part 1 Flashcards
What is Moore’s Law
The speed of computers doubles every 18 months
What does More’s Law do to the cost of communications and data storage?
It drives the cost to essentially zero
What are the four non-routine cognitive skills that give you job security?
- Abstract Reasoning (able to make a model or diagram)
- Systems Thinking (able to show how inputs relate to outputs)
- Collaboration (give and receive feedback)
- Ability to Experiment (Create and test viable alternatives)
What are the 5 components of information systems?
- Hardware
- Software
- Data
- Procedures
- People
What is BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation)?
It is an international standard for creating business diagrams.
What is swimlane format?
It is a graphical arrangement in BPMN where all of the given activities for a given role are shown in a single vertical or horizontal lane.
What is a “role”?
A subset of the activities in a business process that is performed by an actor.
What is an “actor”?
A group, person, or organization (when speaking about a business process).
What are data flows?
In a BPMN, data flows represent the movement of data from one activity to another. They are indicated by a dotted line.
What are sequence flows?
This refers to the sequence of events in a BPMN and is depicted with a solid line.
What is a business process?
A network of activities for accomplishing a business function like: buying inventory, selling to customers, paying bills etc.
What is a Repository?
This is where data is stored, whether that is on a computer, in a filing cabinet, or online. This is referenced in the BPMN.
What are the dimensions of process quality?
Effectiveness and Efficiency
What is information?
There are several like:
- Knowledge derived from data
- Data presented in a meaningful way
- Processed data
What data characteristics are needed to produce quality information?
- Accurate
- Timely
- Relevant
- Barely Sufficient
- Worth its cost
What is efficiency? (in relation to BPMN)
Efficiency is judged by the ratio of benefits to cost
What is an effective business process?
One that enables the organization to accomplish its strategy.
What is a Competitive Strategy?
There are 4
- Lowest Cost across the industry
- Lowest cost within an industry segment
- Better product/service across the industry
- Better product/service within an industry segment
What is the Five Forces Model?
Also known as the Porter model. There are to types of forces: competitive and bargain power.
Competitive Forces:
- competition from vendors or substitutes
- competition from new competitors
- competition from existing rivals
Bargaining Power:
- Bargaining power of suppliers
- Bargaining power of customers
What was the Five Forces Model originally intended for and what is it used for now?
Originally: to determine the profitability of an industry.
Now: It’s used as a way of understanding an organization’s competitive environment.
What are linkages?
interactions across value activities. An example would be using sales forecasts to plan production.
What is margin?
Value - Cost
What are primary and support activities?
Primary activities are business functions that directly relate to the production of a product or service.
Support activities are business functions that assist primary activities.
What are switching costs?
This is when there is a high cost to the customer if they want to switch to a new supplier. An example would be having to buy an X-box to play X-box games.
