Assignment

Part (1): Short answer questions

1. (a) Typically does organizations' business strategy drive Information Systems strategy or vice versa? Why?

(b) Consider www.midas.com.au. Using a practical hypothetical strategy, outline how Midas can innovatively use Information Systems to reduce Threat of New Entrants and Buyers Power.

2. (a) Discuss what spamming, permission marketing, and viral marketing are when an organization embarks on e-commerce marketing.

(b) Discuss how they are different and in what way they are similar.

3. In a recent interview with CBNC's Squawk Alley, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said Facebook is addictive like cigarettes and should be regulated like big tobacco. He said: "I think that you do it exactly the same way that you regulated the cigarette industry. Here's a product: Cigarettes. They're addictive. You know, they're not good for you...There's a lot of parallels,"

(a) Do you agree or disagree with the above statement? Why?

(b) Conduct a research on the Internet and discuss four negative effects social media sites such as Facebook can have on users' well-being

4. (a) What is design thinking?

(b) Using an example of a real-world company's experience with design thinking, explain whether and why you agree or disagree with the following statement.

"The key in design thinking is the soft skills of design; Photoshop, CAD, database engineering, and other outcomes like beautiful software code are not the central focus of design thinking. Design thinking does not have very firm and specific deliverables, and encourages problem solving through working with stakeholders"

(Use references to support your answer)

5. (a) Explain how an organization may choose between applying business process improvement (BPI) vs. business process reengineering (BPR) to solving a process performance problem.

(b) Explain what is the role of a business process management (BPM) software tool in supporting either BPI or BPR (1 mark). Conduct a search and introduce one BPM software application.

6. (a) Differentiate between blog and wikis.

(b) Why influential people or CEOs (like Bill Gate's Gatesnotes) may use Blogs and not Wikis to share news and developments?

7. Despite benefits of Public Cloud Computing platforms, increasingly organizations are moving away from them.

(a) Explain four fears or concerns organizations may have in adopting Public Cloud services.

(b) Explain how a Private Cloud service can help in overcoming these fears or concerns.

Part (2): Case Study Questions

Download ‘EP-One portal at the Royal Dutch / Shell Group: Information Systems Enabled Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing' from UTS Online and answer the following questions

1. Conduct a research on the Internet and discuss four non-financial measures which might be suitable to evaluate the success of portals, and how would such measures can be used for a company like Royal Dutch / Shell Group?

2. If you were Eldert van Schagen, what extensions would you make to your current portal? Suggest three extensions and support your considerations in terms of what prerequisites would you think be needed for a successful implementation of these extensions.

3. The EP-One Portal is aimed at providing access to information sources and applications to every user. Initially, only high-end knowledge workers, representing 10-15% of the total workforce, were the primary users of the portal. Discuss how other users would benefit from this portal and how it could help them in their daily jobs.

4. The EP-One Portal is an example of an Information System that has been implemented to assist a company (Royal Shell Group) with decision making and information sharing. Refer to the case study, and answer the following:

(a) Explain TWO methods that were used to assess direct benefits, effectiveness and efficient of EP-One Portal pilot project. What were the result of each method/experiment?

(b) Identify and briefly explain four indirect benefits of EP-One Portal pilot project?