Week 4 questions

1.
Internet protocol, way in which data is transferred from one data to another around the internet. Each computer has its own unique IP address which it transfers between internet and networks, a communications protocol.

2.
Web 1.0
One way internet: These sites contain just read content and do not allow user participation.
Web 2.0
Allow users to participate and has lead to social networking sites, collaboration, user built content. Users can update and change the web page (e.g. Facebook, Myspace) this has lead to more business opportunity.

3.
Web 3.0 is a semantic web - A way of data basing the internet by using metadata. Through metadata we can build the internet into a database and search for different sorts of media.

4.
E-business is much broader than E-commerce: E-business links other parts of business (advertising and marketing online, making sure funds go securely from purchaser to company, packing of goods) into the internet not just the buying and selling of goods that e-commerce involves.

5.
Business to Business: Involves businesses buying and selling to each other through the internet.
Business to Consumer: Involves businesses selling their products to consumers through the internet
Consumer to Business: When a consumer sells a product to a business through the internet.
Consumer to Consumer: When a site offers goods that will be sold from consumer to consumer. Ie Ebay.

6.
Major B2B models contain three parts.

Seller side: Contains One seller and many buyers (e.g. ebay)and works in a ‘forward auction model. That is costs go up as time passes.

Buyer side: Price should go down as time passes. Buyers put out conditions to a number of sellers the sellers come back to that response. End price will be lowest price for the best service.

Electronic exchange: Will involve a medium or website where buyers and sellers can see each other’s offers/goods. The web site is already built meaning they don’t have to build a website themselves to run the ecommerce.

7.

Two challenges are:
1. Order fulfillment: This involves locating the product to be shipped, packaging the wanted product and then arranging for quick delivery to the customer. Also involves handling the returned unwanted or defective products.

2. Channel conflict: This occurs when manufacturers disintermediate their channel partners. This includes distributors, retailers, dealers, and sales representatives, by using the internet to sell their products directly to consumers.

Two Opportunities are:
1. Increased Global reach: Through business online it enables businesses to access overseas markets without having to set up shop in that country. This has potential to enable consumers and sellers to buy and sell goods from all over the world.

2. Increased Convenience: Business online allows sellers to more conveniently sell goods to consumers. Sellers can display goods on the internet with all relevant information about the goods making it more convenient that selling through a shop. This has also lead to a more convenient way of purchasing goods for the consumer as they can access a larger range of goods all in the one location.

Week 3 questions - Chapter 2

1.

TPS is short for Transaction Processing Systems and is the simple business system that carries out the operational level (analysts) in an organization. A TPS will usually provide the base for other information systems within the organisation. Business activities such as sales, receipts, cash deposits, payroll, credit decisions and flow of materials will be carried out by a TPS system. A TPS is specified to a single functional area of business, and are transaction oriented. TPS's manage these business activities, and are usually very important to the operation of a business. The biggest advantage of a TPS is that it replaces repetitive tasks, cutting down the number of required workers, time management and therefore costs. 

DDS is short for Decision Support Systems and is a computer based information system. A DDS's main function is support the business and assist management in decision making. A DDS does this displaying current and accurate data on many facets of the business. DSS’s aid management, operations, and planning levels of an organisation. DSS will usually be one of the three models: Sensitivity Analysis, What-if analysis, and Goal-Seeking analysis (these will be discussed in the following question). 

2

Sensitivity Analysis: this model will study the impact the change in one or more parts of the model will have on other parts of the model. This is done through changing the value of one variable repeatedly and then observing the resulting changes in the other variables in the model. 

What if analysis: This model will check the impact a change in an assumption will have on the proposed solution. Users will repeat the analysis till the effects of various situations are understood. This can be performed across multiple work sheets. 

Goal-seeking analysis: This model will let the user know the necessary inputs needed to achieve a given goal. This is achieved by setting target value (the desired goal) for a variable and then is repeatedly changes until desired goal is achieved. 

3.

A business process refer to the manner that a business is organised, coordinated and focused to produce a valuable product or service.  Viewed as standardized set of activities that carry out a certain task. The main goal of the business process is to convert inputs to outputs within an organisation. A business success is highly reflective of their business process, without a good business process a business can not be successful and this is why they are so important to a business. By knowing your business process and understanding what adjustments can be made to it can help improve your input to output portfolio. 

4.

Business process improvement as stated in the above question is a vital part of any successful business, without improvements a business will fail to stay competitive in the current market. A organisation must understand and measure the current process and ensure they are always making improvements on towards it.

Reengineering: When the current process that is in place is outdated or fails to work anymore, the organisation redesigns the process to make it more effective for the business. The below figure a basic re-engineering model.

5.

BPM is short for Business process management. What BPM does is integrates all business's processes in the organisation to make them more efficient. It can be used to create a system which combines all of the business processes or identify a singular problem.  BPM's must accurately aid the business as it can change systems which were previously successful and lead larger business problems. There is strong link between accurate implementation of BPM and a successful business. Below is an example of how BPM can help businesses become more effective.