Ch. 2 Key Terms

using information systems to do an activity faster, cheaper, and perhaps more accurately and/or consistently

strategy to offer products or services of reasonably good quality at competitive prices

activities organizations perform in order to reach their business goals; core processes + supporting processes

the alignment of information systems with a business's strategy

strategy in which an organization differentiates itself by providing better products or services than its competitors

a new technology, product, or service that eventually surpasses the existing dominant technology, product, or service in a market

a company operating solely in its domestic market

term used to refer to the use of a variety of types of information technologies and systems to support every part of the business

a model suggesting that the extent to which modern organizations use information technologies and systems in timely, innovative ways is the key to success

opportunities that a firm finds for making more money and/or making money in new ways

information technology that enables a firm to accomplish a task or goal or to gain or sustain a competitive advantage in some way

the top level of the organization, where executives focus on long-term strategic issues facing the organization

the leveraging of digital technologies to provide free goods and services to customers as a business strategy for gaining a competitive advantage

a cross-organizational-level information system designed to support a specific functional area

an int'l business strategy employed to achieve economies of scale by producing identiacal products in large quantities for a variety of diff market

int'l business strategy that views the int'l business as an extension of the home business

the ability of information technology to provide info about the operation within a firm and/or about the underlying work process that the system supports

the notion that disruptive innovations can cause established firms or industries to lose market dominance, often leading to failure

set of strategies employed by organizations operating in different global markets

a metric deemed critical to assessing progress toward a certain organizational goal

an organization that is skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights

strategy to offer the best prices in the industry on goods or services

the middle level of the organization, where functional managers focus on monitoring and controlling operational-level activities and providing info to higher levels of the organization

a decentralized international business strategy using a federation of associated business units, employed to be flexible and responsive to needs and demands of heterogeneous local markets

the ability of an organization to learn from past behavior and information, improving as a result

a firm's plan to accomplish its mission and goals as well as to gain or sustain competitive advantage over rivals

decisions that require judgment and expertise; not clear-cut solution

something an organization must do in order to survive

the process of forming a vision of where the organization needs to head, converting that vision into measurable objectives and performance targets, and crafting a plan to achieve the desired results

decisions where the procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance; operational level

an int'l business strategy that allows companies to leverage the flexibility offered by a decentralized organization (to be more responsive to local conditions) while at the same time reaping economies of scale enjoyed by centralization; characterized by a balance between centralization and decentralization and interdependent resources

decisions where few or no procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance

the set of primary and support activities in an organization where value is added to a product or service

the process of analyzing an organization's activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs that are incurred for doing so

what a business provides to a customer and what that customer is willing to pay for that product or service