Chapter 7 Blog

Consider an e-business like Amazon.com. Which Web-centric metrics on page 324 would be most important to it? Justify your answers. Now consider a content provider like CNN (www.cnn.com)? Which Web-centric metrics would be most important to it? Justify your answers. Why would two e-businesses have such a different focus on Web-centric metrics?

I would think an e-business like Amazon.com would use web-centric metrics that track their page such as, page exposures, conversion rate, click-through, cost-per-thousand, abandoned registrations, and abandoned shopping carts. With these eight web-centric metrics, Amazon would be able to track just about everything their customers are doing/buying on their page. For a content provider like CNN I would think the would use different web-centric metrics such as, unique visitors and total hits because then they could see the amount of people visiting their page, as well as, how popular they are compared to other news websites. They would use different Web-centric metrics because one is an online store you buy things off of and the other is an online news station.

Chapter 6 Blog

There are seven phases in the systems development life cycle. Which one do you think is the hardest? Which one do you think is the easiest? Which one do you think is the most important? Which one do you think is the least important? If you had to skip one of the phases which one would it be and why?

The seven phases in the systems development life cycle are: Planning, Analysis, Design, Development, Testing, Implementation, and Maintenance. I think the hardest phase is phase 4: development. I think the easiest phase is phase 1: planning. I think the most important phase is phase 5: testing. I think the lease important phase is phase 7: maintenance. If I had to skip on phase I think it would be phase 7 because I think it’s the least important phase out of the system development life cycle.

Chapter 5 Blog

In this chapter, we focused much of our discussions on using such technologies as B2B e-marketplaces to create tighter supply chain managements, thereby driving out costs. If you refer back to Chapter 2, another major business initiative is that of customer relationship management (CRM). How can B2C e-commerce businesses utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives? How can B2B e-commerce businesses utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives? Will become easier to harder to maintain relationships with customers as businesses move toward more “electronic” commerce? Why or why not?

B2C e-commerce occurs when a business sells products and services to customers who are primarily individuals. CRM systems use information about customers to gain insights into their needs, wants, and behaviors in order to serve them better. B2C businesses can utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives by looking at what customers are buying on the Internet, and finding similar products to recommend to them. B2B e-commerce occurs when a business sells products and services to customers who are primarily other businesses. In order for B2B businesses to utilize the Internet to further enhance their CRM initiatives, they can see what businesses want which products, then sell them the products they will be interested in. Electronic commerce is commerce, but it is commerce accelerated and enhanced by IT, in particular the Internet. I think it will become easier to maintain relationships with customer as business move toward more “electronic” commerce because it enables customers, consumers, and companies to for new relationships with the new technology.

Chapter 4 Blog

AI systems are relatively new approaches to solving business problems. What are the difficulties with new IT approaches in general? For each of the systems we discussed, identify some advantages and disadvantages of AI systems over traditional business processes. Say you were selling specialty teas and had brick and click stores. Would you use the same type of AI systems for each part of your business? In what way would you use them or why would you not? Is there a place for decision support and artificial intelligence techniques in small specialty businesses? In what way would decision support add value? Can you think of how a DSS or an AI system would be value reducing (in terms of Porter’s value chain theory)? What do you see as the major differences between running a mammoth concern and a small specialty business?

The general difficulties with new IT approaches in general would be the new approach needs to be understood and accepted, as well as, people have to be trained to use the new system. Artificial Intelligence is the science of making machines imitate human thinking and behavior. The artificial intelligence systems that businesses use most can be classified into the following major categories: expert systems, neural networks, genetic algorithms, and agent-based technologies. Some advantages of artificial intelligence systems are that they can be independent, stand-alone decision making systems, or they can be embedded into a larger analytics system, carrying out and executing specific functions. A disadvantage would be a robot lack common sense. If I were to sell specialty teas, I would use the same type of AI system in each part of my business because I’m selling similar items. I don’t think decision support or artificial intelligence techniques would benefit a small business because it would be expensive and small businesses have fewer resources. Decision support systems have three components consisting of: a simple and easy-to-use graphical user interface, access to large amounts of information, and models and tools that you can use to massage the information. I think the main difference between running a mammoth concern and a small specialty business would be the amount of information is collected.

Chapter 3 Blog

Consider your school’s registration database that enforces the following integrity constraint: to enroll in a given class, the student must have completed or currently be enrolled in the listed prerequisite (if any). Your school, in fact, probably does have that integrity constraint in place. How can you get around that integrity constraint and enroll in a class for which you are not taking nor have completed the prerequisite? Is this an instance of when you should be able to override an integrity constraint? What are the downsides to being able to do so?

Integrity constraints are rules that help ensure the quality of the information. In this case, my school has an integrity constraint that in order to enroll in a given class, the student must have completed or currently be enrolled in the listed prerequisite. In order to get around the integrity constraint and enroll in a class in which the prerequisite hasn’t been taken, you could use a foreign key. A foreign key is a primary key of one file that appears in another file. I do not believe this is an instance in which you should be able to override an integrity constraint. The downside of being able to do so would allow you to move forward in your education without knowing the material needed.

Chapter 2 Blog

Most major ERP vendors have been focusing on selling multi-million dollar installations of their software to very large organizations. That is shifting in focus somewhat as ERP vendors realize that the small-to-medium-size business market is probably just as large. Search the Internet for ERP vendors that focus on small-to-medium size businesses. Also, search for open-source ERP software. Prepare a short report for class presentation and offer the vendors that you found and their Web site addresses.

Although most major ERP vendors have been focusing on selling multi-million dollar installations of their software to very large organizations, it has begun shifting in focus as ERP vendors realize the small-to-medium size business market is probably just as large. There are a large amount of ERP vendors depending on the size of the business. Some ERP vendors that focus on small-to-medium sized businesses are open source or cloud base ERP systems. An open source software is a software in which its source code is made available by the copyright holder, and provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone. A few open source ERP vendors I found were: Odoo, xTuple, Dolibarr, and ERP 5.

http://logistics.about.com/b/2010/05/26/erp-for-small-business.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open-source_software

http://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/erp/10-open-source-erp-options.html