Mgt 221 Module 1

1.6 - Assignment: Module Review

Part 1: Answer the Module Review Questions listed below. These questions were chosen to demonstrate your understanding and help you assess your progress.

1. How can information technology support a company’s business processes and decision making and give it a competitive advantage? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

Companies can use databases to record purchase transactions and develop metrics from the data to help define emerging buying trends. When the trend is identified, that information can be used to increase production of the "hot" product while reducing production of the slower moving merchandise. The use of a central database allows larger companies to identify different buying patterns in different geographical areas. For instance, if you have stores in Wisconsin and Florida, the clothing items sold in each store will be vastly different due to the climate, but other goods like school supplies and food could be very similar.

2. How does the use of the Internet, intranets, and extranets by companies today support their business processes and activities?

Intranets are networks used to communicate inside organizations and shares information about what is happening inside the company. They are for helping the employees work together. The use of Intranets allows employees to share information about the company and collaborate on projects through sharepoints. It also allows them to learn how the company operates and places a myriad of resources at their fingertips. Hours spent in company libraries searching for information has been reduced to seconds using databases and search engines.

Extarnets are communication networks between various stakeholders who are not in the organization, but are linked through business dealings. Extranets share limited information from Intranets with vendors, suppliers and select customers, which helps the different organizations plan and collaborate in their decision making.

The...