Question

REVIEW QUESTIONS Q1) Compare and contrast the characteristics of the managerial level of an organization. Organize your answer with (Who, What, and why). Q2) How do an organization's resources and capabilities result in a competitive advantage? Q3) Describe platform-based business model and how it co-create value. Mention six (6) created values and example for each. Q4) What is the freemium model, and how can a business successfully use this approach? Q5) How can information systems help in combining multiple types of innovation for competitive advantage? Q6) Explain what is meant by a radical innovation. Using at least two (2) past examples. Q7) Describe and draw the disruptive innovation cycle. Q8) Analyze (Describe & Draw) competitive forces "Porter's five forces" that help organizations to identifying where to compete.

Ch.2 Gaining Competitive Advantage through Information Systems (8 Qs)

the questions about Management informaion system course

Answer 1

This question has 8 sub-questions. Following the policy, I would be answering the first 4 questions.

Q1. Compare and Contrast the Characteristics of the managerial level of an organization. Organize your answer with who, what and why.

Answer: Let's broadly consider three levels of Management.

1. Top Level

2. Middle Level

3. Operational Level

Top Level Management:

Who: Founders, CXOs, VPs and Directors.

What: Top Level Management is the group of people who are responsible for the Business, the Vision and Mission accomplishments, people who are always targeting the Industry, Market and are well-aware of the Competitors. They are responsible for the Strategic Decisions made in the Company.

Why: It is their responsibility to organise the company and to preserve the value of the company. They are value oriented and hence, always focus on Strategic Planning for the Company.

Middle Level Management:

Who: Senior Managers, Software Development Manager, Quality Assurance Manager, Technical Program Manager, Product Manager, etc.

What: They are the people responsible for the implementations of the strategies made by the top level management. They are responsible for setting, and execution of the Annual Goals. Since, Top level Management cannot always dive deep on to the execution of the goals, they are the owners of the execution.

Why: They are responsible to make the Tactical Decisions. These set of managers will be seasoned experts in their domain who can efficiently meet out the targets and deliver the results on time with great accuracy. They will be well-versed with both technical and people management for excellent execution.

Operational Level Management:

Who: HRs, ERC, Operation Managers, etc.

What: These people form the last level of management and are responsible to meet out the essential needs of the company. They will be making operational decisions and will help the company achieve the promises consistently.

Why: They are responsible for the Operations of the Company, and will often be contacted by the Middle Level Management for the best support.

Level	Responsibility
Top Level	Strategic Decisions
Middle Level	Tactical Decisions
Operational Level	Operational Decisions

Q2: How do an Organization's resources and capabilities result in competitive advantage?

The following table would list the

Resource	Usage	Competitive Advantage
Financial	Money invested in the company (Money Power)	With more money, the best resources (other categories) can be obtained to build best systems, in faster and efficient ways. Strength of financial resource is the crucial aspect for a company's success.
Physical	Equipments required to run the business	With best physical infrastructure, the failures will be minimized and will help in achieving build the best solutions for the company efficiently.
Information	The information required to make Strategic decisions and Execution of the Goals	This has the best advantage of all the resources. As in today's world, "Information is Wealth". A Lean Startup can pave its way quicker in a company if the Right Information is accessed. This is why Data Science and Analytics are playing a major role in current days world to make the best Strategic decision.
Human Resource	Human Power, or the people who are required to achieve the goals of the company	The best Talent Acquisition happens with a good financial resource. But, when the best talent is procured, it adds more value to the company as the Best Employees help build the latest systems with great speed and lightweight code that will require very little maintenance and will hardly have any technical debts. Technical debts can be very costly as the existing code needs to be built again, and meanwhile new features cannot be built. Hence, it is crucial to procure the best resources.

3. Describe Platform-based business model and how it co-creates value.

Platform-based business model is a business model that creates value by inculcating meaningful exchanges between two parties: commonly the producers and consumers / buyers and sellers.

The difference being, the sellers need not be the producers. They create a platform in which the producers and the buyers can trade. It helps meet a market need with ease. For Example: Consider Alibaba: Alibaba is not a company that produces goods. It is a company that only help sell goods. It only acts as a platform for selling and buying, yet providing a comfort for both the buyer and seller.

It is common to misunderstand that technology acts as the platform for buying and selling. However, that is not the case. Not all technological solutions are platform models.

Types and Examples:

1. Social Media Platform: A platform that allows exchanges between people for informal conversations and communications.

Supply: Common People who use Facebook creating posts and comments.

Demand: Advertisement publishers who actually pay Facebook for their service.

Platform: Facebook earns by providing a great social forum for general users and collects money from advertisers.

2. Travellers Platform: A platform that provides access to wide varieties of travel options and capabilities to book them. Example: Goibibo

Supply: Hotels and Flights ticket reservations

Demand: Travellers

Platform: Helps provide reservation services and makes money from commissions.

3. Commute Platform: A platform that helps serves the need of daily commute. Example: Uber

Supply: Cab Drivers who are willing to drive for money.

Demand: Daily Commuters who travel to work / educational institutions.

Platform: Platform to choose the type of commute and the cost and time of commute. Earns through percentage commission on each drive.

4. Goods Selling Platform: Platform to sell goods online. Example: Alibaba, Amazon

Supply: Producers who produce goods to be sold.

Demand: People who want to buy goods from the convenience of their home.

Platform: Helps sell goods online, and earns through % commissions.

Qs 4. What is a freemium model and how does a business successfully use this approach?

Answer: Freemium is the pormanteau of the words: "Free" and "Premium".In current world, there are millions of SaaS products, and many options to choose from with so many competitors onboard. So purchasing a product without using it seems really difficult. A Freemium product aims to reduce the chaos and confusions a Customer will undergo on purchasing the product. For example:

Consider, Zety: A Resume building platform. It helps design the resume and create an online resume as a free feature of the product. however, it does not allow one to download the product without it being purchased. It doesn't allow to print the resume properly.

Advantages of having a Freemium model is that:

1. It helps acquire millions of users for the free usage.

2. It helps the company improvise the fallbacks of the product with more data.

3. It will have a competitive advantage with more number of users willing to purchase a product.

Generally, in a Premium product, there is more than one pricing that is mentioned. It is from the fact that users generally compromise for the average price or for the medium option. With freemium model, one can understand the psychology of users in purchasing the goods and help improve the product.