Information Systems: A Manager’s Guide to Harnessing Technology

Description

Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology is intended for use in undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Management Information Systems and Information Technology. The teaching approach in Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology can change this. The text offers a proven approach that has garnered student praise, increased IS enrollment, and engaged students to think deeper and more practically about the space where business and technology meet. Every topic is related to specific business examples, so students gain an immediate appreciation of its importance. Rather than lead with technical topics, the book starts with strategic thinking, focusing on big-picture issues that have confounded experts but will engage students. And while chapters introduce concepts, cases on approachable, exciting firms across industries further challenge students to apply what they've learned, asking questions like: Why was Netflix able to repel Blockbuster and WalMart? How did Harrah's Casino's become twice as profitable as comparably-sized Caesar's, enabling the former to acquire the latter? How does Spain's fashion giant Zara, a firm that shuns the sort of offshore manufacturing used by every other popular clothing chain, offer cheap fashions that fly off the shelves, all while achieving growth rates and profit margins that put Gap to shame? Why do technology markets often evolve into winner-take-all or winner take-most scenarios? And how can managers compete when these dynamics are present? Why is Google more profitable than Disney? How much is Facebook really worth? The teaching approach in this text encourages students to think deeper and more practically about the space where business and technology meet. Every topic is related to specific business examples, so students gain an immediate appreciation of its importance. Rather than starting with technical topics, the book starts with strategic thinking, focusing on big-picture issues that interest students. Brief Contents......Page 3 Contents......Page 5 About the Author......Page 15 Acknowledgments......Page 17 Dedication......Page 21 Preface......Page 23 1.1: Tech’s Tectonic Shift: Radically Changing Business Landscapes......Page 31 1.2: It’s Your Revolution......Page 38 Finance......Page 41 Accounting......Page 42 Operations......Page 43 Information Systems Careers......Page 44 Your Future......Page 46 1.4: The Pages Ahead......Page 47 Endnotes......Page 52 2.1: Introduction......Page 55 The Danger of Relying on Technology......Page 56 Different Is Good: FreshDirect Redefines the Grocery Landscape in New York City and Beyond......Page 57 But What Kinds of Differences?......Page 59 Imitation-Resistant Value Chains......Page 61 Scale......Page 64 Switching Costs and Data......Page 65 Network Effects......Page 66 Distribution Channels......Page 68 What about Patents?......Page 70 2.3: Barriers to Entry, Technology, and Timing......Page 72 2.4: Key Framework: The Five Forces of Industry Competitive Advantage......Page 74 Endnotes......Page 77 3.1: Introduction......Page 79 Gap: An Icon in Crisis......Page 81 3.2: Don’t Guess, Gather Data—Make Small Batches of What Customers Want & Ship It Fast!......Page 84 Manufacturing and Logistics......Page 85 Stores......Page 87 Integrating E-Commerce: Omnichannel = More Sales + Better Customer Experience......Page 89 3.3: Moving Forward......Page 91 Endnotes......Page 93 4.1: Introduction......Page 95 Why Study Netflix?......Page 96 4.2: Act I: David Becomes Goliath: Crafting Killer Assets for DVD-by-Mail Dominance......Page 98 Scale from Selection: The Long Tail......Page 99 The Big Customer Base—Delivering True Economies of Scale......Page 100 Winning Act I......Page 101 4.3: Act II: Netflix and the Shift from Mailing Atoms to Streaming Bits......Page 103 Content Acquisition: Escalating Costs, Limited Availability, and the “Long-Enough Tail”......Page 105 Exclusives and Original Content......Page 107 Streaming and the Data Asset......Page 109 Streaming Changes Viewing Habits and Frees Creative Constraints......Page 111 Streaming and Scale Advantages......Page 112 The March to Global Dominance......Page 113 It’s a Multiscreen World: Getting to Netflix Everywhere......Page 114 A Crowded Field of Rivals and Other Challenges......Page 117 No Turning Back......Page 120 Endnotes......Page 124 Some Definitions......Page 127 Get Out Your Crystal Ball......Page 130 5.2: The Death of Moore’s Law?......Page 140 Buying Time......Page 141 5.3: The Power of Parallel: Supercomputing, Grids, Clusters, and Putting Smarts in the Cloud......Page 144 5.4: e-waste: The Dark Side of Moore’s Law......Page 149 5.5: Mickey’s Wearable: Disney’s Magic Band......Page 155 Experience Examples......Page 156 Magical Experiences Cost Serious Coin......Page 157 Magical Experiences can Require Magical Coordination......Page 158 Look to the Future......Page 159 Endnotes......Page 160 The Characteristics of Disruptive Technologies......Page 163 Why Big Firms Fail......Page 164 Potential Disruptor Spotted: Now What?......Page 166 6.2: From Bitcoin to Blockchain and Beyond: A Disruptive Innovation for Money and More?......Page 170 How It Works......Page 171 Benefits......Page 172 Examples of Blockchains in Action......Page 173 Concerns......Page 175 What Do You Think?......Page 178 Endnotes......Page 180 7.1: Introduction......Page 183 Why Study Amazon?......Page 185 7.2: The Emperor of e-Commerce......Page 186 Fulfillment Operations—Driving Selection, Customer Convenience, and Low Price......Page 188 Amazon’s Cash Conversion Cycle—Realizing Financial Benefits from Speed......Page 191 The Advantage of Being Big: Realizing Scale Advantages as the Retail e-Commerce Leader......Page 192 Customer Obsession......Page 194 Leveraging the Data Asset—A/B Testing, Personalization, and Even an Ad Business......Page 195 Selection and Network Effects......Page 197 Acquisitions and Category Expansion: Fewer Rivals, More Markets, and More Customer Choice......Page 199 Building a Delivery and Logistics Business Inside the Business......Page 201 7.4: Beyond Clicks: More Bricks......Page 205 Bezos’s “Brick-based” Bookstores......Page 206 More “Green” from Groceries?......Page 207 Hello Machine Learning, Goodbye Checkout Line......Page 208 7.5: Amazon's Disruptive Consumer Hardware Businesses: Kindle, Fire, Alexa, and More......Page 210 Amazon for Your TV......Page 211 Ordering At Your Fingertips: Courtesy of the Internet of Things......Page 212 Amazon Gets into Content Publishing......Page 214 Channel Conflict and Consolidated Power......Page 215 7.6: Amazon and the Cloud: From Personal Storage to AWS......Page 218 Endnotes......Page 222 8.1: Introduction......Page 225 Staying Power......Page 227 Complementary Benefits......Page 228 8.3: One-Sided or Two-Sided Markets?......Page 230 Understanding Network Structure......Page 231 8.4: How Are These Markets Different?......Page 232 Move Early......Page 236 Subsidize Adoption......Page 237 Leverage Viral Promotion......Page 238 Expand by Redefining the Market......Page 239 Alliances and Partnerships......Page 241 Seed the Market......Page 242 Leverage Backward Compatibility......Page 243 Incumbents: Close Off Rival Access and Constantly Innovate......Page 244 Large, Well-Known Followers: Preannouncements......Page 245 Endnotes......Page 247 9.1: Introduction......Page 249 9.2: Blogs......Page 258 9.3: Wikis......Page 262 9.4: Social Networks......Page 265 Corporate Use of Social Networks......Page 267 9.5: Twitter and the Rise of Microblogging......Page 273 Organic Reach and Advertising......Page 275 Tackling Trolls and Battling Bots......Page 277 Challenges: So How Big Is This Thing Gonna Be?......Page 278 9.6: Prediction Markets and the Wisdom of Crowds......Page 280 Blockchain for Better and Unrestricted Prediction Markets......Page 282 9.7: Crowdsourcing......Page 284 9.8: Get SMART: The Social Media Awareness and Response Team......Page 287 Creating the Team......Page 288 Responsibilities and Policy Setting......Page 289 Monitoring......Page 293 Establishing a Presence......Page 294 Engage and Respond......Page 295 Endnotes......Page 298 10.1: Introduction......Page 301 10.2: Boom Times and Looming Challenges in the Sharing Economy......Page 303 Winning in Electronic Markets......Page 304 Social Media for Virality and Trust Strengthening......Page 306 Share Everything? The Myth of the Market for Your Neighbor’s Power Drill......Page 307 Can You Share Nice? Challenges of Safety and Regulation......Page 308 10.3: Future Outlook: Established Players Get Collaborative......Page 311 10.4: Airbnb—Hey Stranger, Why Don’t You Stay at My Place?......Page 313 A Phenomenal Start, but Not Without Challenges......Page 315 10.5: Uber's Wild Ride: Sharing Economy Success, and Lessons From a Fallen Founder......Page 317 Driven by Data......Page 320 How Big Can This Thing Get?......Page 322 Endnotes......Page 327 The Rise of Facebook and Growing Concerns......Page 331 Why Study Facebook?......Page 333 11.2: Lengthening Leaders, Quick Catch-Ups, and the Challenging Rise of Mobile......Page 335 The Social Graph and Why Facebook’s Is So Strong......Page 336 Facebook Feed: Viral Sharing Accelerated......Page 337 Facebook’s Dominance on the Desktop......Page 338 Facebook Takes on Search ......Page 339 Why Mobile Is Different and in Some Ways Better than the Desktop......Page 340 Big Bets: Bringing Potential Rivals and Platform Powerhouses into the Facebook Family......Page 341 WhatsApp......Page 342 Oculus VR......Page 343 11.3: Lessons from Platform Facebook: Big Growth, Bad Partners, APIs and a Mobile Melee......Page 348 Messenger: A Pillar Business Building Facebook’s Future......Page 352 APIs, Playing Well with Others, and Value Added: The Success and Impact of Open Graph......Page 354 Strategic Concerns for Platform Builders: Asset Strength, Free Riders, and Security......Page 355 Content Adjacency Challenges: Do You Really Want Your Brand Next to That?......Page 358 Attention Challenges: The Hunt versus the Hike......Page 359 Precise Targeting......Page 360 Mobile Revenue on the Upswing......Page 361 Beyond “Right Margin” Display Ads: Big, New Winners Emerge......Page 362 Content Providers, Step Deeper Inside My Walled Garden......Page 363 Better Advertisement Everywhere. What’s Up Next?......Page 364 11.5: Move Fast and Breaks Things: Fumbles, Fake News, and Global Growth Challenges......Page 366 Beacon Busted—Management Lessons on Tech Planning and Deployment......Page 368 Faked Out by Fake News......Page 369 Challenges of Going Global: Low ARPUs, Legitimate Rivals, and Unreachable Users......Page 372 The Admirable Goals and Unintended Consequences of Internet.org......Page 373 Endnotes......Page 376 12.1: Introduction......Page 379 A Fashion Company with a Technology Soul......Page 380 12.2: Founding the Business: Are We On To Something?......Page 382 Customers Like It—But What About Suppliers? Growing the Customer Base and Creating a Win-Win......Page 383 Customer Evolution......Page 384 Social......Page 386 Physical Retail—When Brick and Mortar Has a Role in an Online Business......Page 388 12.4: Data......Page 390 12.5: Operations and Logistics......Page 392 Fulfillment as a Service......Page 394 12.6: Subscription: Bigger than Rental......Page 395 12.7: Conclusion......Page 396 Endnotes......Page 398 13.1: Introduction......Page 401 What Is Software?......Page 402 13.2: Operating Systems......Page 403 13.3: Application Software: Apps, Desktop Products, and Enterprise Systems......Page 407 And That’s Just the Start......Page 410 13.4: Distributed Computing, Web Services, and APIs: The Platform Builders......Page 412 Formats to Facilitate Sharing Data......Page 416 13.5: Writing Software......Page 419 A Brief Introduction to Popular Approaches to Developing Software......Page 423 13.7: Beyond the Price Tag: Total Cost of Ownership and the Cost of Tech Failure......Page 426 Why Do Technology Projects Fail?......Page 427 Endnotes......Page 431 14.1: Introduction......Page 433 14.2: Open Source......Page 435 14.3: Why Open Source?......Page 438 14.4: Examples of Open Source Software......Page 440 14.5: Why Give It Away? The Business of Open Source......Page 442 14.6: Defining Cloud Computing......Page 444 14.7: Software in the Cloud: Why Buy When You Can Rent?......Page 446 The Benefits of SaaS......Page 447 14.8: SaaS: Not without Risks......Page 449 14.9: Understanding Cloud Computing Models: PaaS, IaaS, and Motivations and Risks......Page 452 Challenges Remain......Page 455 14.10: Clouds and Tech Industry Impact......Page 457 14.11: Virtualization: Software That Makes One Computer Act Like Many......Page 460 14.12: Apps and App Stores: Further Disrupting the Software Industry on Smartphones, Tablets, and Beyond......Page 462 14.13: Make, Buy, or Rent......Page 463 Endnotes......Page 465 15.1: Introduction......Page 467 Understanding How Data Is Organized: Key Terms and Technologies......Page 471 15.3: Where Does Data Come From?......Page 474 Surveys......Page 475 External Sources......Page 476 Incompatible Systems......Page 480 Operational Data Can’t Always Be Queried......Page 481 15.5: Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and Technology behind “Big Data”......Page 482 Hadoop: Big Insights from Unstructured “Big Data”......Page 484 Query and Reporting Tools......Page 488 Data Mining......Page 491 15.7: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and Machine Learning: It’s Now Everywhere!......Page 494 Understanding Popular Types of AI......Page 495 Examples of AI in Action......Page 497 It’s Not as Easy as the Press Might State: Technical, Organizational, Legal, and Societal Challenges of AI and Machine Learning......Page 498 15.8: Data Asset in Action: Technology and the Rise of Walmart......Page 502 Data Mining Prowess......Page 503 Sharing Data, Keeping Secrets......Page 504 Challenges Abound......Page 505 Endnotes......Page 506 16.2: Internet 101: Understanding How the Internet Works......Page 509 Hosts and Domain Names......Page 511 Path Name and File Name......Page 514 The IP Address......Page 515 The DNS: The Internet’s Phonebook......Page 516 TCP/IP: The Internet’s Secret Sauce......Page 519 What Connects the Routers and Computers?......Page 522 16.4: Last Mile: Faster Speed, Broader Access......Page 526 DSL: Phone Company Copper......Page 528 Wireless......Page 529 Satellite Wireless and Schemes to Reach the Remote......Page 530 Wi-Fi and Other Hotspots......Page 532 Net Neutrality: What’s Fair?......Page 533 Summing Up......Page 534 Endnotes......Page 536 Got a Bank Account or Credit Card? You’ve Been Hacked!......Page 539 A Look at the Target Hack......Page 540 17.2: Why Is This Happening? Who Is Doing It? And What’s Their Motivation?......Page 542 17.3: Where Are Vulnerabilities? Understanding the Weaknesses......Page 548 Bad Apples......Page 549 Phishing......Page 550 Passwords......Page 553 Malware......Page 555 Compromising Poorly Designed Software......Page 558 Network Threats......Page 560 Physical Threats......Page 561 Taking Action as a User......Page 565 Frameworks, Standards, and Compliance......Page 566 What Needs to Be Protected and How Much Is Enough?......Page 568 Technology’s Role......Page 569 Endnotes......Page 573 18.1: Introduction......Page 575 Why Study Google?......Page 579 18.2: Understanding Search......Page 580 18.3: Understanding the Increase in Online Ad Spending......Page 587 18.4: Search Advertising......Page 588 How Much Do Advertisers Pay per Click?......Page 590 IP Addresses and Geotargeting......Page 591 Mobile Apps and the Challenge for Google Search......Page 592 18.5: Ad Networks: Distribution Beyond Search......Page 595 Ad Networks and Competitive Advantage......Page 598 18.6: More Ad Formats and Payment Schemes......Page 599 18.7: Customer Profiling and Behavioral Targeting......Page 601 18.8: Profiling and Privacy......Page 606 18.9: Search Engines, Ad Networks, and Fraud......Page 611 Busting the Bad Guys......Page 612 18.10: The Battle Unfolds......Page 614 Strategic Issues......Page 617 More Ads, More Places, More Formats......Page 619 Android Everywhere......Page 620 YouTube......Page 621 Google and Social......Page 623 Apps, Cloud, and the Post-Hard-Drive World......Page 624 Endnotes......Page 629 Index......Page 633