Question 1: Which of the following is defined as the ability of customers to drive down the price of goods and services?

A) supplier power
B) buyer power or the bargaining power of customers
C) rivalry among competitors
D) threat of price reduction

Question 2: Are there any direct variables that have no effect on a business' competitive position?

A) yes
B) No

Question 3: Which of the following are components of an information system?  (select all that apply)

A) data
B) hardware
C) people
D) process
E) software

Question 4: According to the Five Forces Model developed by Harvard Business professor Michael Porter, all of the following are major factors that determine a company's standing in an industry, except for which one?

A) Threat of entry of new competitors
B) Political and/or economic factors
C) Bargaining power of suppliers
D) Threat of substitute products/services

Question 5: True or false:  Early research could not draw any connections between IT and profitability, but later research has shown that the impact can be positive.

True
False

Question 6: Web 2.0 is exemplified by which of the following?  (select all that apply)

A) blogging
B) online purchasing
C) social networking
D) interactive comments

Question 7: In a business like Walmart, which of the following groups of variables has the most impact on their competitive position?

A) customers, suppliers, government regulations, location

B) suppliers, customers, location, employees
C) location, environmental concerns, suppliers, technology
D) suppliers, location, technology, competition

Question 8: Which use of the Internet could have a negative impact on a company's competitive position?

A) allowing potential customers to learn about the company's products and services
B) providing an easy method to facilitate product orders to flow to the suppliers
C) allowing potential customers to find possible substitute products
D) allowing a company to monitor patent infringement by other companies

Question 9: Of the following, which factor is least crucial to the ability of a company to maintain its competitive position?

A) emerging new technologies that create new products or create efficiencies
B) patent infringements
C) employees' benefits
D) new international markets

Question 10: Which of the following is defined as a series of activities undertaken by the company to produce a product or service?

business processes
value chain
strategic direction
competitive advantage

Question 11: Which of the following statements are true of Decision Support Systems (DSS)?  (select all that apply)

A) A decision support system (DSS) is an information system built to help an organization make a specific decision or set of decisions.
B) DSSs are used only at the executive level and are used to make all strategic decisions.
C) DSSs are designed to take inputs regarding a known (or partially-known) decision-making process and provide the information necessary to make a decision.
D) DSSs can exist at different levels of decision-making with the organization, from the CEO to the first-level managers.

Question 12: Which of the following groups of variables are all direct variables?

A) customers, suppliers, government regulations, technology
B) suppliers, time, politics, owners.
C) supplier, customers, employees, location
D) employees, location, technology, organizational components

Question 13: Strategic issues related to business processes and the value chain are addressed at which organizational level?

corporate level
business unit level
functional level
strategic level

Question 14: Which of the following are the two primary methods for obtaining competitive advantage described by Michael Porter? (select the two that apply)

A) advantage of bringing new products to market
B) cost advantage
C) differentiation advantage
D) value chain creation

Question 15: Highly qualified vendors, consultants, and IT departments are the most important elements for the successful implementation of enterprise technologies.

True
False

Question 16: Which of the following are Porter's three generic strategies?  (select all that apply)

A) cost leadership
B) differentiation
C) focus
D) competitive advantage

Question 17: Which of the following is exemplified by customers finding a different way to get the product or service?

A) customer disloyalty
B) threat of substitute product or services
C) rivalry among competitors
D) barriers to entry

Question 18: True or False:  According to Michael Porter, the Internet has the effect of lowering overall profitability.

True
False

Question 19: A strategic information system is one that attempts to do one or more of the following: (select all that apply)

A) help an organization focus on a specific market segment
B) deliver a product or a service at a lower cost
C) enable innovation
D) deliver a product or service that is differentiated

Question 20: True or False:  The data show that IT has reduced the differences among companies.

True

False