ISC-445
– IS Strategy and Policy
Final Exam Study Guide Version 1
Date of
Final: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 7
Chapters Covered: Lufman et al.,
Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, and 13
Other Material Covered: Trustworthiness
model, Teamwork dimensions
Objectives Covered:
demonstrate trustworthiness
as a student and aspiring professional in all matters relating to the
course.
describe the strategic use
of information technology from a business perspective at the enterprise
level.
demonstrate an understanding
of internal management of information systems as a service function
from the point of view of the CIO.
demonstrate an ability to
explore individual, organizational, societal, ethical, legal, security,
and global impact issues of information systems.
work in an effective team
to develop, document, and present an information systems plan in strategic
alignment with the organization goals.
Vocabulary Covered:
Ch.
Term
Definition
Pgs
Important because…
1
competitive advantage
an edge that a firm has over its rivals
8
Is a source of success in the competitive
marketplace and can be impacted IT
1
critical success factors
the things an organizational must
do in order to flourish, or do well (p. 323)
3
in managing IT, it forces executives
to focus on those process, measures, and initiatives that are vital
to the organization's success
1
globalization
The impact of organizations of organizations
expanding their presence beyond their home county
13
The use of IT, for example the Internet,
can enable an organization to expand globally to do business in distant
markets
1
hypothesis
An educated guess, a proposition to
be tested
1
information silo
Storage and access to information
locally, i.e. in departments, where other parties in the organization
that might make use of it, cannot
8
Organizations are increasing creating
enterprise systems, where information can be accessed across the enterprise
1
mediation
Being in the middle of; coming between
IT can change the way business works;
disintermediation is taking away the middle man
1
Porter's generic strategies
in responding to one or more of five
competitive forces, an organization may do three things: be the
low cost provider, differentiate their product, or finding a market
niche,
It’s a ready-made list of options
for businesses to pursue strategic goals
1
productivity paradox
The difficulty with proving the (economic)
value of IT
18
Resolving the paradox will help businesses
make wiser decisions regarding IT
1
ROI
Acronym for return on investment,
a financial way to assess the value of an IT investment
7
Financial models are one generally
accepted way of making all types of investment decisions in businesses
1
scope
defines what is included and excluded
5
1
stakeholder
a person or group that has an investment,
share, or interest in something as a business or industry (dictionary.com)
9
all important stakeholder needs should
be addressed when organizations decide on their mission, strategy, and
IT strategy, and when new information sytems are introduced
1
strategic alignment
A concept that stresses the harmonization
of the goals and implementation plans of IT with the goals and organizational
structure of the business
35
Since 1985, one of the major concerns
of business leaders has been the alignment of business goals and IT
goals
2
Business scope
Includes information about a business'
products, direct and indirect customers, markets, and competitors
36
It is one of the first steps of a
business as-is analysis in the strategic planning process
2
dematerialization
describes the decreasing importance
of physical products and the increasing value of the knowledge and information
embedded in them
31
IT enables dematerialization in industries
like the semiconductor industry, where IT-enabled manufacturing allows
competitors to quickly replicate the design and form of components
2
distinctive competencies
any business capabilities that can
provide a firm with competitive advantage; these include core competencies
that set the firm apart from competitors and critical success factors
36,39
it can lead to long term success if
put to use
2
enabler
factor that allows or encourages IT
alignment
25
focusing on these factors substantially
improves chance of business impacts of IT
2
external partners
Business firms that have a relationship
with the organization, such as suppliers
25
IT can enhance the business relationship
between a firm and its external partners
2
functional integration
the degree to which a firm's IS organization
can stay in sync with the business
it is one of two key dimensions of
strategic alignment
2
inhibitor
factor that prevents or discourages
25
understanding inhibitors to alignment
helps managers to mitigate risks of misalignment
2
IT governance
involves who makes IT decisions (power),
why they make them (alignment), and how they make them (decision process)
38
IT is more important to firms than
ever, having the potential for strategic impact
2
operational integration
the degree of fit between a firm's
organizational infrastructure and its IT infrastructure
40
it is one of two key dimensions of
strategic alignment
2
strategic fit
the degree to which a firm's structures
can dynamically stay in sync with its strategies
36
2
strategic integration
the link between the IT strategy and
the business strategy
40
2
strategy
art of the general; strategies are
business decisions taken at particular points in time by different people
in response to sets of perceived environmental factors
26
in a competitive environment, strategy
is useful for reconciling how to apply a firm's resources for maximum
impact on its rivals
2
sustainable
able to keep for a long time
37
an organizations' ability to quickly
and strategically adapt is necessary for sustainable economic performance
2
sustainable competitive advantage
keeping an upper hand on your business
rivals that you can keep for a long time
24
it is a key to long-term success of
the firm; and because many firms strategies fail because they are quickly
copied by competitors
2
systemic competencies
technology capabilities that can have
a major impact on a firm's strategy
38
systemic competencies can create competitive
advantage, such as USAA's ability to interconnect company databases
for seamless access doing telephone support of customers
2
transformation driver
in this role, the IT strategy becomes
the business strategy
33
Dell, Cisco, and Amazon.com have all
used IT as a transformation driver
2
vision
where a company wants to go; a concise,
measurable statement of where it wants to go and what it wants to be
27
they challenge people to achieve something
they may have initially thought impossible
3
alignment
synonym for harmony, linkage, fusion,
and integration
69
3
assessment
figuring out your level of maturity
86
3
Carlin
makes fun of word usage
3
continuous
setting goals, measuring, fixing,
and doing it all over again is called ___ improvement
3
goals
needed before measurements can be
taken
3
governance
the who, why, and how of IT decision
making
72
a strategic alignment maturity criterion
3
improve
what process models help you to do
3
maturity
the state of being fully grown or
developed
70
3
partnership
deals with business perception of
IT value, shared rewards/risks, and role of IT in strategic planning
72
a strategic alignment maturity criterion
3
persistence
the quality of continued existence
and commitment; not quitting or failing when you are at risk
an underdog's secret of success in
life
3
process
systematic series of actions directed
at some end; or, an extra word to make something sound more important
than it really is, according to a comedian
4
bird
metaphor for CIO's networking and
face-to-face communication role
96
4
CEO
The boss of 51% of CIO's as of 2002
4
CIO
IT's top executive
95
4
conflict
It's what the disturbance handler
managers
112
4
delegation
How effective CIO's handle day-to-day
operational tasks
108
4
followers
who effective leaders gain the support
of
113
4
lead
how a CIO gains followers
one of the four functions of management
4
liaison
an IT manager's interpersonal relationship
manager role
112
4
mainframe
era of CIO as operational manager
98
4
outsourcing
buying IT services from outside the
organization
issue that arose during distributed
era
4
politician
when CIO treats managers and staff
as constituents and lobbies for desired outcomes
96
4
ROI
getting value for the money we put
into IT
103
5
operational processes
activities that cover day-to-day IT
functions. Examples include hardware and software procurement
and upgrade and maintenance
122
failures will be visible to external
customers and clients
5
strategic processes
activities that have a long-term impact
on the enterprise. Implementation and benefit attainment may take
a long time.
122
Long-term benefits may be obtained,
such as competitive advantage, cost efficiencies, and major process
improvements
5
tactical processes
activities that have an intermediate
or short-term impact on the organization. Examples include planning
activities (other than strategic), such as planning for project, application,
data, recovery, security, network
122
Test format and coverage:
Vocabulary questions:
A balance of matching, define a term I give you, and given the definition,
give me a term (fill-in-the blank).
Know your personal course
goal
Historical development of
IT from Chapter One, how we answered in class, and including the 3 eras
of computing on p. 4
Multiple choice questions
on all chapter content, and the trust model, and teamwork.
In Chapter Nine, know the
Six Commandments of Ethical Data Management on page 258
From Chapter Two, how to
do strategic planning, i.e. the Ansoff Matrix, the As-is and To-Be,
and be able to differentiate among strategic fit and functional integration
and both operational integration and strategic integration
Understand the measurement
issues from Chapter 13
Know the three levels of
processes from Chapter 5
Be very familiar with the
process maturity concept as it pertains to alignment maturity, including
the associated criteria