The Lebanese steel factory “STEEL CO” was the leader in its market for many years. Today, the management noticed that sales are decreasing since the market prices are dropping down due to unbeatable offers and discounts from other companies operating in the market for more than 20 years ago.The management decided to use “Analytical Power” (software) to analyze the market by collecting data online via Internet from many websites and saving this data on large servers. As a result, “Steel Co.” decided to change its production line to manufacture steel products only to luxurious villas and residential homes, located in high level areas of Lebanon. This strategy helped the company to sell targeted customers at higher prices making higher revenues. The new system includes a Website allowing customers to select online the designs they wish, and even to customize the products based on quality, colors, styles, etc…
Case Questions (6 points each)

1)What is the force according to Porter’s competitive forces model, faced by the company? *
Customers
Suppliers
New market entrant
Traditional competitor

2)What is the information system strategy (or strategies) used by the company to face the forces? *

Focus on market niche
Focus on market niche & Low cost leadership
Focus on market niche & Customer intimacy
Product differentiation & Customer intimacy

3)What are the main IT components mentioned in this case? *
a) Software / Telecommunications / Physical facilities
b) Hardware / Software.
C) Software / Telecommunications / Hardware
d) Telecommunications / Software

4)If the company is not sure which IS strategy to use in order to face the competitive forces, which model may best help in this case? *
Porter competitive forces
Value chain
Porter strategies
Economic impacts

5)To which type of system the “Analytical Power” software belongs? *
DSS
ESS
MIS
TPS

Answers

Answer 1
Answer:

Answer:

1.) Traditional competitor

2.) Product differentiation & Customer intimacy

3.) C

Software / Telecommunications / Hardware

4.) Value chain

5.) ESS

Explanation:

1.) The company was aware of its competitors' marketing strategies and pricing to any changes made. Rivalry among competitors tends to be cutthroat and industry profitability low while having the potential factors.

3.) An information system is essentially made up of five components hardware, software, database, network and people. These five components integrate to perform input, process, output, feedback and control. Hardware consists of input/output device, processor, operating system and media devices.

4.) Value chain is the process or activities by which a company adds value to an article, including production, marketing, and the provision of after-sales service.

5.) An Executive Support System (ESS) is software that allows users to transform enterprise data into quickly accessible and executive-level reports, An ESS enhances decision making for executives. ESS is also known asExecutive Information System (EIS).

Answer 2
Answer:

Answer 1):

The correct option here is D) Traditional Competitors

Explanation:

The five forces of competition when analyzed they help a business understand the factors in its external environment. It is also helpful in crafting a strong business strategy that increases the chances of the company to win over its competition in the market.

If sales were declining due to very mouth-watering offers from other companies who are over 20 years in the industry, then the force Lebanese Steel Factory has to contend with is Traditional Competitors.  

Answer 2)  

The correct option here is C)  

Explanation:

The information system deployed by Lebanese Steel Factory helped them to identify a niche area in the market which is the ability to customize product requests. By doing this, the demonstrated a kind of empathy for what the customer wants.  

Their new system allowed customers to order for steel in a way no company in the market was doing it.  

Answer 3)

The correct option her is B) Hardware/Software

Explanation:

There is no mention of telecommunications which is a technology that enables one to communicate via radio frequency over a long distance.

The "Analytical Power" however is a software. Softwares require hardware (that is a computer which may or may not be remote) to run.

Answer 4)

The correct option here is C) Porters Strategies

Explanation:

There are generic strategies identified by Michael Porter that a business can adopt to beat the competition. They are:

Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus strategies.

Answer 5)

The correct option here is C) MIS

Explanation:

MIS stands for Management Information System.

This is often used to refer to any computerized system that enables one to acquire data, process data into usable information, store both the data and information and generate reports based on such information for use in decision making by the management.

Cheers!


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Capital accumulation is the​ _____, including​ _____ capital. (A) development of new​ goods; financial (B) increase in​ firms' profits; financial (C) growth of real​ GDP; physical (D) growth of capital​ resources; human
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feels energized coming to work and loves her office environment. She feels comfortable asking fellow workers for help, and they are more than happy to oblige. The team even has dinners together every Thursday after work. What aspect of the company is Kristin happy with

Answers

Answer:

a. Organization culture

Explanation:

Organization culture refers to the working culture in an organization in which the employees behavior, rules, regulations, procedures, policies, plans are applied

Other than this, it also involves incentive schemes, flexible time, cab service, medical insurance, and other perks

Since in the given situation, she feels energized and lover her office environment also they have team dinners on every Thursday after work

So this represents the organization culture

A debt service fund of Clifton received $100,000 from its general fund during the fiscal year ended June 30, 20X9. The cash was used to pay matured interest on Clifton's general obligation bonds, which were issued to finance construction of a new municipal building. On the statement of revenues, expenditures, and changes in fund balance prepared for the debt service fund for the year ended June 30, 20X9, the amount received from the general fund should be reported as:_____________. A. revenue.
B. a reduction of expenditures.
C.another financing source.
D. matured interest payments.

Answers

Answer: C. Another Financing source

Explanation:

The fund was received for the purpose of debt service. Debt service means repayment of loans. The funds were utilized for debt servicing. Hence, the amount should be reported as another financing source.

The objective of the funds was to repay loans and the amount was received for repayment. This amount was used to finance their debt service. So it was a financing source for the company.

6. In the case of an investment in equity securities where the investor does not have significant influence and the investment is carried at fair value, a dividend from the investee is: a. A reduction of the carrying amount of the investment. b. Income to the investor in the period of declaration. c. An expense to the investor in the period of declaration. d. A direct increase to retained earnings of the investor to offset the direct decrease to retained earnings of the investee.

Answers

Answer:

b. Income to the investor in the period of declaration.

Explanation:

The dividend received will be a income for investors because the dividend received is the return on securities. It will not be deducted from the equity balance neither it is an expense for investors. A direct increase in retained earning to settles the previous losses is the fair value adjustment.

Based on murder rates in the United States, an Associated Press story reported that the probability that a newborn child has, of eventually being a murder victim, is 0:0263 for nonwhite males, 0:0049 for white males, 0:0072 for nonwhite females, and 0:0023 for white females. (a) Find the conditional odds ratio between race and whether a murder victim, given gender. Interpret your results. Do these variables exhibit homogeneous association? (b) Half the newborns are of each gender, for each race. Find the marginal odds ratio between race and whether a murder victim.

Answers

Answer:

The odds of being murder victims among nob white males are 5.485 times as compared to white males.

Explanation:

See attachment for explanation.

Suppose the Treasury sells $10 billion worth of securities to the Social Security Administration and $15 billion to the general public. This sale added ________ billion to gross public debt and ________ billion to the debt held by the public.

Answers

Answer:

$25 billion and $15 billion

Explanation:

Given:

Social Security Administration = $10 billion

General public held = $15 billion

Computation of Total gross public debt :

Total gross public debt = Social Security Administration + General public held

Total gross public debt = $10 billion + $15 billion

Total gross public debt = $25 billion

Total gross debt held by public = $15 billion

Differential analysis is a common method used when making which decisions?a. long-term capital project decisions
b. short-term business decisions
c. sunk cost decisions
d. long-term business decisions

Answers

Answer:

b. short-term business decisions.

Explanation:

Differential analysis can be defined as a management accounting approach which typically involves measuring and analyzing the changes in costs, revenues and benefits that would be gotten from an alternative business decision or course of action.

Differential analysis is a common method used when making short-term business decisions in order to determine which is the most cost-effective. Some of the short-term business decisions are accepting or declining orders, setting selling or cost price for products, keeping or dropping customers, product lines, etc.