Question 1. [20 points] MIS Topics. In class, your classmates presented many topics around the use of technologies, new trends, and topics of interest. Choose one topic, different from yours, and provide a summary of the main concepts and issues discussed in that presentation. The summary should be no fewer than 300 words.
Answer: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Medical Sciences is an interesting topic that one of my classmates presented in class. It is an emerging trend that captivated my interest and I found during the presentation that AI involves the use of video conferencing tools and behavioral data to better develop connections between service users, service providers, disease identification, and its related course of treatment. AI has enabled voice-driven care assistive technology where patients are connected with the concerned doctors and a smooth flow of communication is maintained accordingly (Hamet and Tremblay, 2017). The use of AI in medical sciences refers to the use of a machine learning model where data is searched and uncover real insights about ways to improve overall patient health and experience. It has become possible because of recent advancements in the field of information and computer sciences and the use of AI is nowadays quickly integrating into the modern health system.
During the presentation, issues relating to the use of AI in medicine were also presented by the classmate and it was discovered that privacy is a prominent issue within the healthcare industry. Data of a service user usually contain sensitive details covering medical history, payment records, identity, and much more. Such sensitive data needs to be secured by regulating bodies. AI requires heaps of data and medical service providers are concerned about the likelihood of data leakage, which enables them to limit the use of AI technology (Becker, 2019). Privacy-emerging technologies must be used in such challenging situations so that the benefits of AI can be reaped. This minimizes the loss of data and protects the sensitive details of a patient. Other conventional approaches like data masking involve replacing critical data with fake but real-time information (Schneeberger, Stöger and Holzinger, 2020). Such technologies are still emerging that could assist healthcare organizations to maintain the security of critical data without reducing the use of AI.
Question 2. [20 points] You are advising the owner of ABC Computers, a small local computer shop that repairs and also build custom computers to order. What competitive strategies could ABC Computers employ? Evaluate each of the following possible strategies in terms of difficulty of execution and justify your answer: Low-cost leadership, Product differentiations, and focus on market niche. Then, decide on which strategy best suits the shop. Justify.
Answer: Low-cost Leadership is a competitive strategy that hinges on a firm’s capacity to minimize the production cost and provide quality products at affordable price levels. It is a suitable strategy for leading organizations having strong buying power. However, it is not an effective option for small shops like ABC Computers. It is a business-level strategy used by organizations that seek to develop a competitive benefit by becoming a low-cost service provider. The challenge relating to its execution is to maintain perceptions of quality (Kharub, Mor and Sharma, 2018). Cost-leadership execution becomes hard when companies look for ways to retain a brand image and support loyalty while providing clients with affordable products.
Product Differentiation is another competitive business-level strategy that businesses use to differentiate a commodity or a service from substitutes or similar ones in the market. This strategy seeks to support businesses in developing a competitive benefit and outline USP (unique selling propositions) that define their brand and make it different from the rivals (Widuri and Sutanto, 2019). The challenging part is its execution since it strains resources. It needs time, energy, investment, and a pool of resources to develop an item that looks entirely different in the competitive landscape. It can create pressure on R&D teams and producers and may impact profitability.
Focus on Market Niche Strategy targets specific market segments. A business that pursues this approach is catering to the demand for a good or commodity, which is not being fulfilled by the majority of the service providers. The challenge is that it makes growth hard because of the small market and not a large customer base (Magnani and Zucchella, 2020).
Since ABC Computers is a small local retailer, the best strategy seems to be Focus on Market Niche because it has the competency to develop customized computers for the clients. A small-sized business can follow product differentiations since it requires heavy investment. The last strategy suits the shop because of its existing capability and proficiency in targeting a specific portion of the market that looks for customized computer designs.
Question 3. [20 points] Blogs, wilds, and social networking (social media) websites were designed for individuals to communicate with each other. What uses do businesses have for these tools? Give at least two examples.
Answer: Using wikis, blogs or social media sites for a business lets individuals form connections easily with each other within organizational and geographical boundaries. Such relationships are based on professional associations, mutual interest, related problems, and solutions.
Blogs are a strong marketing tool that enables businesses to get more visibility on the online platform. It is a marketing channel just like social media and e-mail that contributes to business growth (Reinhardt, 2019). For example, DW Digital Blog is an inbound marketing channel that creates awareness among marketers about useful techniques for driving organic traffic on the internet. It talks about lead generation, search engine optimization, and how to change readers into potential buyers.
Similarly, social media networking sites are used by businesses to draw the attention of existing as well as potential clients, get their feedback, and develop brand loyalty. It also increases market reach, coupled with the global market, and reduces the cost of marketing. Businesses use social media websites to enhance profitability by developing customer networks where they can communicate directly and inform producers about their needs and wants relating to product development and performance (Briciu and Briciu, 2021). It is the most economical way of advertising since marketers can reach a maximum number of people at one time via social networking. For example, the use of Facebook for marketing purposes is quite prominent among businesses where leading brands like H&M and Marks &Spencer use social networking to make clients aware of their recent product launches and get their feedback accordingly.
Question 4. [20 points] What some important business processes are supported by enterprise systems, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems? Explain with examples. Further, discuss the business value of ERP.
Answer: Considering the core purpose of ERP, it refers to a software app that automates business processes and generates insight along with internal control mechanisms. It draws on a central database that gathers inputs from departmental units together with accounting, supply chain, sales, and HRM. ERP is critical software used by businesses to gather data from different departmental units within a common database. It enables businesses to manage the pulse of a firm through the utilization of a solo vision of reality (Mahmood, Khan, and Bokhari, 2019). ERP software is used for unifying critical business processes, for example, production, inventory management, customer relationship management, marketing, and project management.
The core business value of ERP is that it has the potential to generate time and financial savings through offering organizational-wide visibility, which highlights ineffective manually run processes and uncovers growth opportunities. Moreover, being a wide-ranging data source, ERP software provides ample reports and analytics that could make a difference-maker in particular markets. It has the power to turn heaps of data into illustrations, charts, interactive graphs, and tables. These figurative formats evidently show emerging trends and patterns for a business to follow in the future and become competitive (Ruivo et al., 2020). It allows businesses to become cost-effective while gaining efficiencies in existing business processes. It generates accurate forecasts about emerging trends and generates a solution for better inventory management, planning, and control.
Question 5. [20 points] Provide definitions for each of the following Internet business models and illustrate with examples: (1) e-tailer, (2) transaction broker, (3) market creator, (4) content provider, and (5) service. Which of these models do you think would be the riskiest for a startup business today? Support your answer.
Answer: E-tailer refers to online retailers who use the online platform for the purpose of selling products and services to clients. They prefer to sell products through online mediums rather than physical channels (Sebastianelli and Tamimi, 2018). There are two kinds of e-tailers, one category where e-commerce is just the option assumed by an organization like Amazon and Dell.
A transaction broker is defined as a real estate brokerage company that offers client service to a customer, a merchant, or both in a real estate business. This business model might become a single agent of a group in a transaction and give other group customer service only. Transaction broker runs online transactions and these are generally managed by one person either by phone or electronic mail (Suppatvech, Godsell, and Day, 2019). The owner receives payments through transaction payments. For instance, property dealers and Paypal are transaction brokers.
The market creator uses internet technology to create markets that develop a link between sellers and buyers. The revenue is earned through commission charges on every single transaction (Saura, Palos-Sanchez . and Correia, 2019). Examples of market creators are eBay and Liquidation.
Content Provider is defined as an online business model that simplifies e-commerce processes for companies through product data management and improvement. These are experts specializing in developing, upgrading, and changing product catalogs by adding rich media in form of color, videos, metaphors, and pictures (Langley et al., 2021). Netflix is an example of a content provider.
Service providers can earn revenue by offering services to the target clients like ZipCar and Gmbh. It refers to an individual entity or a person that offers services to a different party (Wirtz, 2019). The service provision between a provider and a client is usually managed by a service contract.
The riskiest internet business model for a startup business today is an e-tailer because it is challenging to involve a large number of followers following the online channel without any ground-breaking services that are not being offered by the already-established companies in the same market. Moreover, it involves huge competitive pressures and risks from the strong giants that are already enjoying market share and fan following.
References
Becker, A., 2019. Artificial intelligence in medicine: What is it doing for us today?. Health Policy and Technology, 8(2), pp.198-205.
Briciu, V.A. and Briciu, A., 2021. Social media and organizational communication. In Encyclopedia of Organizational Knowledge, Administration, and Technology (pp. 2609-2624). IGI Global.
Hamet, P. and Tremblay, J., 2017. Artificial intelligence in medicine. Metabolism, 69, pp.S36-S40.
Kharub, M., Mor, R.S. and Sharma, R., 2018. The relationship between cost leadership competitive strategy and firm performance: A mediating role of quality management. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management.
Langley, D.J., van Doorn, J., Ng, I.C., Stieglitz, S., Lazovik, A. and Boonstra, A., 2021. The Internet of Everything: Smart things and their impact on business models. Journal of Business Research, 122, pp.853-863.
Magnani, G. and Zucchella, A., 2020. A model of entrepreneurial internationalisation in uncertain foreign environments: Smaller firms and the global niche strategy. Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, 38(3), pp.23-50.
Mahmood, F., Khan, A.Z. and Bokhari, R.H., 2019. ERP issues and challenges: a research synthesis. Kybernetes.
Reinhardt, J., 2019. Social media in second and foreign language teaching and learning: Blogs, wikis, and social networking. Language Teaching, 52(1), pp.1-39.
Ruivo, P., Johansson, B., Sarker, S. and Oliveira, T., 2020. The relationship between ERP capabilities, use, and value. Computers in Industry, 117, p.103209.
Saura, J.R., Palos-Sanchez, P.R. and Correia, M.B., 2019. Digital marketing strategies based on the e-business model: Literature review and future directions. Organizational transformation and managing innovation in the fourth industrial revolution, pp.86-103.
Schneeberger, D., Stöger, K. and Holzinger, A., 2020, August. The European legal framework for medical AI. In International Cross-Domain Conference for Machine Learning and Knowledge Extraction (pp. 209-226). Springer, Cham.
Sebastianelli, R. and Tamimi, N., 2018. E-tailer website attributes and trust: understanding the role of online reviews. Online Information Review.
Suppatvech, C., Godsell, J. and Day, S., 2019. The roles of internet of things technology in enabling servitized business models: A systematic literature review. Industrial Marketing Management, 82, pp.70-86.
Widuri, R. and Sutanto, J.E., 2019, January. Differentiation strategy and market competition as determinants of earnings management. In International Conference on Tourism, Economics, Accounting, Management, and Social Science (TEAMS 2018) (pp. 171-176). Atlantis Press.
Wirtz, B.W., 2019. Digital business models (pp. 137-152). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
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