Week Five B.I.T

 ETHICS AND SECURITY:

Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology

Information is a source of power and, increasingly, the key to prosperity among those with access to it. Although, advancements in information systems also involve social and political entities, and this makes ethical considerations in how information is used all the more important. Electronic systems now reach into all levels of government, into the workplace, and into private lives to such an extent that even people without access to these systems are affected in significant ways by them. New ethical and legal decisions are necessary to balance the needs and rights of everyone.

http://libr.org/isc/issues/ISC23/B9a%20Ruth%20Rikowski.pdf

Describe a situation involving technology that is ethical but illegal

In today's modern age with the accessibility to the world wide web, a prime example of a ethical situation which could be ascertained as illegal would be; there is a situation in which a work college has being accessing confidential data of a business, so another employee breaks into there account to demonstrate to business owners that the employee has being hacking confidential data. Although it's ethical to show to the business owners of the employees mis behavior, it's illegal to access another person account breaking confidentiality rules and also rules of privacy.

Describe and explain one of the computer use policies that a company might employee


Ethical computer use policy;

Code of Computer Ethics and Acceptable Use policy provides for access to information technology (IT) resources and communications networks within a culture of openness, trust, and integrity. In addition, companies/institutions committed to protecting themselves, students, faculty, and staff from unethical, illegal, or damaging actions by individuals using these systems.

The purpose of this policy is to outline the ethical and acceptable use of information systems at companies/institutions world wide. These rules are in place to protect students, faculty, and staff, i.e., to ensure that members of the company or institution to have access to reliable, robust IT resources that are safe from unauthorized or malicious use.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_ethics


What are the 5 main technology security risks?

Human Error, Natural Disasters, Technical Failures, Deliberate Acts, and Management Failure.
Outline one way to reduce each risk?

Human error: Two approaches to the problem of human fallibility exist: the person and the system approaches

The person approach focuses on the errors of individuals, blaming them for forgetfulness, inattention, or moral weakness

The system approach concentrates on the conditions under which individuals work and tries to build defences to avert errors or mitigate their effects

Natural disasters: attempting to access the information which was once stored on the computer system, after a natural disaster, this is why all business's need to use back all systems up onto external hardware or to an online source.

Technical failure: Is where the computer system either crashes or receives a virus, another reason to keep all work backed up onto online sources. 

Deliberate acts: Are acts committed by people within and without of the business to access viable data. Having set up a secure system which involves employees to have a password helps the business from not getting hacked, also having anti hacker software helps the company from loosing important information. 

Management failure: Management need to continually back up data, and have both hard and soft copies of all important information. Management also need to keep staff up to date with all important procedures in case of emergencies.

What is a disaster recovery plan, what strategies might a firm employee?

Business's after a disaster need to recover via implementing an action/communication plan to strategize how to keep the business progressing and locate data to pick up where they left off. 

The business must operate under the business continuity plan whilst in disaster mode, which means that all operations must be done off site and data must be slowly replaced to help the business regain ground. whilst this is happening the company must document all processes and check to see if all information is safe and unharmed  

Week Four B.I.T

eBusiness: 

1. why has the web grown so dramatically?


The world wide web has taken of dramatically since it's induction in 1991 with the introduction of the first web browser.


The internet has drastically impacted the business world in the last few years and this trend will certainly continue well into the future. several companies have discovered the advantages of having a presence on the internet and have successfully addressed business objectives by using their web site as part of their business strategy.
A web site can generate awareness and provide a world wide store front for your company while automating many business procedures 24 hours a day. A few characteristics of why the web has expanded are below;


* Networking
* Business information
* Service
* Remote access to employees/customers


http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/649051/World-Wide-Web-WWW


2. What is web 2.0 and how does it differ from web 1.0?


The term 2.0 is associated with  web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web.

Web 2.0 websites allow users to do more than just access information. By increasing what is already possible in "Web 1.0", they provide users with optimal user-interface, software and storage facilities, all through their browser. This has been called Network as platform computing. Users can provide the data that is on a Web 2.0 site and utilize complete control over selected data. These sites may have an Architecture of participation that encourages users to add value to the application as they use it.


3. How could a web 2.0 technology be used in business?


Today the business world is undergoing a significant transformation thanks to a set of technologies collectively known as "Web 2.0." Although it's tempting to dismiss Web 2.0 as Silicon Valley hype, that would be a mistake. Web 2.0 represents an important step in the evolution of Internet-based tools, and in the years ahead, it's likely to have a major impact on the way information is managed and distributed within a company.


It becomes apparent that a business would use web 2.0 to facilitate communication, secure information sharing, interoperability, and collaboration on the world wide web. Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, and applications; such as social networking sites, video sharing sites, wikis and blog sites.This can really help a business to achieve higher growth and larger market share.


http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/How_businesses_are_using_Web_20_A_McKinsey_Global_Survey_1913


4. What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?


While the words Commerce and Business don't have much difference in English and in fact are largely interchangeable as nouns describing organized profit-seeking activity, there is a difference between eCommerce and eBusiness.


Ebusiness is a firm which, in relation to an electronic commerce firm,conducts its day-to-day business functions over the internet and/or other electronic networks such as electronic data interchange (EDI). Electronic business includes collaborating with distributors on sales promotions, interacting with and servicing the customers, and conducting joint research with business partners.

whereas, eCommerce refers to a wide range of online business activities for products and services. It also pertains to “any form of business transaction in which the parties interact electronically rather than by physical exchanges or direct physical contact.” 

E-commerce is usually associated with buying and selling over the Internet, or conducting any transaction involving the transfer of ownership or rights to use goods or services through a computer-mediated network.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/53015/The_difference_between_e_business_and_e_commerce

5. What is pure and partial eCommerce?

There is a subtle distinction between these two. Pure E-Commerce concerns business whose transactions are largely carried out on the Internet. For instance, my favourite commercial web site, SibeliusMusic publishes music written by members of the public. You can peruse the music, listen to it on line, then pay for it using your credit card and download it for yourself - All done on the Internet. 

"Partial E-Commerce on the other hand concerns business in which a large part of the transaction takes place in the off-line real world. Amazon, for instance, will sell you books online, but these must be stored in large warehouses and physically delivered through the post.

http://members.tripod.com/adm/banned.html?member=richardbowles
mgt.buffalo.edu/departments/mss/djmurray/.../Chapter05_web.ppt 





7. List and describe the major B2B models?

Established Buyer-Supplier Relationship

This is a pre-determined one-to-one relationship between a buyer and supplier that is supported by electronic commerce technologies. Companies are now pursuing a more intensive and interactive relationship with their suppliers, impacting upon the buyer-supplier relationship in a number of areas, including the integration of manufacturing systems and supplier involvement in new product development


 Supplier-Oriented Marketplace
In this model, both organizations and consumers use the supplier-provided marketplace. This is the most common type of B2B model. In this model, both business buyers and individual consumers use the same supplier-provided marketplace

 Buyer-Oriented Marketplace
Under this model, a buyer opens an electronic market on its own server and invites potential suppliers to bid on the announced Requests for Quotation (RFQs). 


 Business-to-Business Intermediary

This model is sometimes referred to as a ‘hub’ or ‘exchange’. It is established by an electronic intermediary that runs a marketplace where suppliers and buyers have a central point to come together. These B2B hubs tend to focus mainly on non-core items that may range from stationery and computers to catering services and travel. There are two types of hubs:

• Vertical - focus on an industry and provide content that is specific to the industry’s value system of buyers and suppliers. Examples include e-Steel that acts as an intermediary between steel- makers and customers, and VerticalNet that provides intermediaries for many industries including electronics, process, telecommunications, and utilities.
• Horizontal - provide the same function for a variety of industries

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online

Within online business there are two main challenges that business's face: 

The two main opportunities business have by conducting business online are:

1. In global prospects it's hard to look past the the development of website services as a opportunity for Ebusiness

There is practically an unlimited opportunity in the area of website development around the world.
Every single business and independent professional around the world is eventually going to need a website. There is going to be a perennial demand for creative website developers for at least the next 10 years. To start this business, you need not necessarily be a website developer yourself, through this development as a business it would allow for the company at hand to become a known presence on the internet and be able to generate sales through a webpage which entail outlines what they are offering.

2. Advancement in technology to increase business growth and expenditure

within today's business world the advancements in technology are a exciting prospect and opportunity for businesses are it enables items of the business to be processed faster, tracked and created. Keeping up to date with the latest technological advancements can help a business in delivery systems for example advanced GPS signalling and tracking systems for consumers to see where abouts of products. Another major item which is identified with technology advancements would be the ability to present business prospects to not only consumers but also other companies who are interested in becoming share holders, which in turn can help the business increased it's debits.

Within online business there are two main challenges that business's face: 

1. Marketing:

marketing is one of the core essentials in the business to help them succeed in there industry of choice. challenges becomes apparent for a business owner to market there own products/services online, especially in today's day and age the internet has such a vast majority of websites and companies offering the same items, which intend makes the market place rather congested with similar products and great deals, which can grab consumers attention quickly and swiftly. Also marketing becomes a challenge  as it tends to be a tedious job when trying to out do competitors.

2. Technology:
technology itself poses a risk to ebusiness, simply because ecommerce is so dependent on it. Infrastructure problems, such as a server malfunctioning, can shut down a website. Likewise, viruses can delete valuable data, and software glitches can keep a site from working properly. Of course, outside attacks from hackers, who want to steal sensitive customer information or deface a site, is also a risk that ecommerce merchants must try to guard against

http://www.nsf.gov/cise/cns/dddas/fran_k/tsld011.htm

Week Three B.I.T

STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING:

1. Define TPS & DSS, and explain how an organisation can use these systems to make decisions and gain competitive advantages.


What is TPS: it stands for the transaction processing system. TPS collects, stores, modifies and retrieve the transaction of an organisation to be considered a (TPS) the program must manage consistent data fro example an electronic payment is made, the amount must be both withdrawn from one account and added to another, it must complete both steps 


What is DSS: it stands for decision support system which is a computer based system that supports business or organisational decision making activities. DSS serves the management operation, planning levels of an organisation and helps make decisions which change quickly and are able to specify

Through the evaluation of these techniques it would be evident, that through the use of DSS a business would enable themselves to analyse large amounts of data, sophisticate analysis techniques and protect assets of an organisations information, which would give the business an edge in both efficiency and effectiveness of business activities.

In alliance with TPS this would enable a business to ensure the availability of the the transaction system, along with the awareness of a company to know that all components of the business are systemically compiled and this will allow elevation from there company's developers, meaning characteristic functions are backed up.

2. Describe the three Quantitative models typically used by decision support systems

The three systems are:

1. Sensitivity analysis
2. goal seeking analysis
3. Optimization analysis

sensitivity analysis: is a special type of what if analysis the decision maker will change only one variable of the problem to view change on the remaining variables.

goal seeking analysis: such as an amount figure is set for the profit variable and make changes in the other variables to achieve it.

Optimization analysis: is a special type of goal seeking analysis. Goal seeking analysis is made without considering any  constraints where as optimization analysis is made with considering all constraints, such as budget, schedule and resources

Q3. Describe a business processes and there importance to an organisation

A business process is a series of steps designed to produce a product or service. Most processes are cross-functional, spanning the "white space" between the boxes on the organisation chart. Some processes result in a product or service that is received by an organisations external customers. We call these primary processes, other processes produce products that are invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business.

4. Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering


Business process improvement is a systematic approach to help an organisation optimize it's underlying processes to achieve more efficient results.

BPI focuses on doing things right, in essence BPI attempts to reduce variation and or waste in processes, so that the desired outcome can be achieved with better utilization of resource.

Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of worth flows and processes within an organisation.

BPR is basically the fundamental re thinking and radical re design, made to an organisations existing resources. It's more than just business improvising.

5. Describe the importance of business process modelling

The business process modelling (BPM) is a rather important factor in the Business I.T world.
As the designation of the (BPM) is to help employees on current tasks which need completion and future tasks which can be under taken.It challenges the way things are done now, and looks at what you need to get the job done. That includes IT systems, information, training, authority and responsibility, interaction with other areas and documentation.

The Business process modelling 

Reference's: http://www.projectperfect.com.au/info_business_process_modelling_overview.php

http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/downloads/whitepapers/The_Business_Process_Model.pdf

http://www.google.com.au/#hl=en&sugexp=llsfp&pq=quantitative%20methods&xhr=t&q=quantitative+modelling&cp=16&pf=p&sclient=psy&safe=off&aq=0&aqi=&aql=&oq=quantitative+mod&pbx=1&fp=577959724807c563

Week Two B.I.T

Week 2: blog site

Q1. explain information technology's role in business and describe how you measure success?

A1. I.T is mainly an enabler, and a facilitator of various business functions. I.T has developed into a global tool of linkage of various data, to optimize business technology's efficiency and effectiveness.

I.T items are controlled through three categories key performance indicators, efficiency I.T metric and Bench marking.

1. Key performance indicators: measure the synchronization's of internal operations of I.T with business set goals.

2. Efficiency I.T metric: measures the actual performance of the system; and effectiveness I.T metrics: measures the impact of I.T on the daily business operation.

3. Bench marking: is a continuous process that measures system results or benchmarking values, compares them and identify improvements.

Q2.  List and describe each of the forces in Porter’s Five Forces Model

These are the following steps to Porter' five forces model;

1. the threat of the entry of new competitors;

profitable markets that yield high returns will attract new firms. with this is mind it becomes identifiable that brand equity, customer loyalty and barriers to entry will be analyzed with competitor entry.

2. The intensity of competitive rivalry;

for most industries, the industry of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the competitiveness of the industry.

* The level of advertising expense
* Powerful competitive strategy
* Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation

3. The threat of substitute products or services;

the existence of products outside of the realm of the common product boundaries increases the propensity of customers to switch to alternatives

* Buyer switching cost
* Buyer propensity to substitute

4. The bargaining power of customers

The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs, the ability of customers to put the firm under pressure which also affects the customers sensitivity to prices changed.

5. Bargaining power of suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the market of inputs. suppliers of raw materials, components, labor and services to the firm can be a source of power over the firm, when there are few substitutes.

Q3. describe the relationship between business processes and value chains?

A business process; is a collection of related structured activities that produce a service or product that meet the needs of a client

A value chain; is a chain of activities for a firm operating in a specific industry. the business unit is the appropriate level for construction of a value chain, not the division level of corporate level

Thus the relationship these to two share is that, they both work hand in hand. The value chain is the product evaluation of worth which must be processed so the business functions can flow properly

Q4. compare porter's three generic strategies 


the three main generic strategies are as follows;

Cost leadership strategy: is about minimizing the cost to organization of delivering products and services. The cost or price paid by the customer is a seperate issue.

Differentiation strategy: involves making your products or services different from and more attractive thoes of your competitors. "organisations need: good research/development and innovation"

The focus strategy: companies that use focus strategies concentrate on particular niche markets and by understanding the dynamics of that market and the unique needs of customers within it.