Instructions:

1. You are given 5 case studies. Each case study has 5 questions. Each student is requested to choose any case study and answer one question at the end of the chosen case study. For more information about marks, consult marking grid at the end of assignment as well as MIG.

CASE 1. Wyoming Medical Center, Los Angeles County, and Raymond James: End-Point Security Gets Complicated

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Explain why the endpoint security is not so much successful in business organizations. What should be the option for companies to overcome this issue in order to save their data and information? Describe the issues and their solutions in detail with appropriate examples. Support your answer with valid points.

2. Due to vulnerable nature of end-point security, the business organizations have adopted alternative approaches to endpoint security. Identify and explain the most common approaches used by multinational companies in 2014. Support your answer with at least 3 examples.

3. The business organizations come across new challenges to implement appropriate security measures in their information systems. Identify and explain the possible security challenges and their effects which any business organization may face in 2015. Support your answer with examples.

4. Some analysts argue that employees should be allowed to use mobile phones on organizations' network while some analysts do not favour this point of view. As a student which point of view you support, explain your answer with appropriate points.

5. Go online and find out which security technologies will be popular in 2015 for multinational companies. Explain your answer in terms of advantages, disadvantages, information system security and privacy.

CASE 2. DLA Piper, MetLife, PepsiCo, and Others: Telepresence Is Finally Coming of Age

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. The telepresence has many advantages and disadvantages in addition to high installation price. Identify the possible benefits telepresence can bring for large scale organizations. Discuss your answer in terms of performance and productivity. Support your answer with valid points.

2. Despite having great features, the utilization of telepresence is quite slow in large scale organizations. As an information system student, identify and describe the possible reasons which are causing slow telepresence utilization in multinational companies. Explain your answer with reasonable points.

3. "The telepresence systems can be deployed to create a virtual environment where researchers around the world can share knowledge with each other about various research projects to promote research culture". As an information system student, identify the possible benefits which can be achieved by deploying telepresence in education sector. Explain your answer with examples.

4. Go online and find out the top 5 most popular telepresence systems in 2015. Provide details of each system with appropriate points. Discuss your answer in terms of price, features, advantages and disadvantages.

5. The security is one of the biggest concern in telepresence systems. Therefore, it is prime responsibility of information system managers to have appropriate measures in place in order to avoid any security issues in telepresence systems. Identify appropriate methods, measures or techniques which you consider are necessary for the security of telepresence systems. Illustrate your answer with appropriate details.

CASE 3. Cisco Systems, Black & Decker, and O'Reilly Auto Parts: Adapting Supply Chains to Tough Times

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. The supply chain management consists of all activities undertaken to finish a quality product on time to provide to the customer. Identify the guidelines which can be used by business organizations to achieve favorable levels of supply chains.

2. The multinational companies invest to achieve their strategic goals. In an era of economic downturn, do you think the business organizations should keep on investing in their IT infrastructure so that they can get optimum levels of sales, customer service etc. Support your answer with few real examples where information system might have played a pivotal role in this regard.

3. Describe different approaches for inventory management taken by business organizations these days. Your answer must cover at least two most popular approaches. Compare both of them and identify which one you will prefer and why. Support your answer with real life examples from industry.

4. The political unrest, civil war, natural disaster etc. can damage supply lines for multinational companies which will result in loss of growth, jobs, higher demand etc. Describe the guidelines which can be used by Cisco Systems, Starbucks Coffee etc. to maintain their optimum levels of supply chains.

5. Describe the role of supply chain management professionals, how they can prioritize, plan and organize their responsibilities under pressure and competitive customers who demands quick and speedy solution in global business environment.

CASE 4. Valero Energy, Elkay Manufacturing, J&J, and Overstock.com : The Move Toward Fact-Based Decision Making

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1- Explain the importance of decision making in business organizations. How decision discuss support systems can be used to achieve strategic goals for organizations. Explain your answer with examples.

2- Appropriate decision making requires exact information from all departments in multinational companies. Identify other components which must be used for successful decision making. Explain your answer in terms of society, culture, human resources and technology.

3- The multinational organizations initiate different projects to bring improvement in their decision- making and business analysis systems. Each year many organizations start various projects aimed at ensuring accuracy of information. Explain the mostly widely used tools for accurate information analysis in business enterprises. Discuss your answer with examples.

4- Decision support systems have many types which are used in corporate world. As an information system student, identify the most commonly used decision support system for choosing different options available for a problem. Discuss your answer in terms of decision analysis, scheduling and deployment of such systems.

5- Explain the features of executive support system. Explain your answer in terms of its components, features, advantages, disadvantages etc. Explain your answer with examples.

CASE 5. Cogent Communications, Intel, and Others: Mergers Go More Smoothly When Your Data Are Ready

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Explain the data protection and access control measures which must be taken when companies merge. Identify those measures in detail. Explain your answer with examples.

2. Early IT involvement is critical in merging organizations to ensure smooth merger execution. Explain the role IT can play in all activities of merger and acquisition from premerger to post-merger. Explain your answer with examples.

3. Different companies have different processes for their operations. When companies merge, it becomes really important to integrate those processes in underlying business processes. Identify the role of IT in business processes integration, how IT can ensure smooth business processes integration. Explain your answer with examples.

4. The documentation of underlying business processes in important for companies. If the company which is to be acquired has good documentation, the acquisition process goes quickly. Discuss the guidelines which can be used to make good documentation for underlying business processes.

5. Virtualization is an important part of data centers in business organizations because it provides scaling and creating standard execution environment across organizations. Explain the role of virtualization in business organizations. Explain your answer with reference to hardware and software cost and infrastructure integration.