Information Systems Strategy (H2) IMIS HIGHER DIPLOMA QUALIFICATIONS – 13:00hrs

IMIS HIGHER DIPLOMA QUALIFICATIONS
Information Systems Strategy (H2)
Tuesday 2nd June 2015 10:00hrs – 13:00hrs
DURATION: 3 HOURS
Candidates should answer ALL the questions in Part A and THREE of the
five questions in Part B. Part A carries 40% of the marks available and Part
B carries 60%. Candidates should allocate their time accordingly.
No reference material of any kind may be taken into the examination.
[Turn over]
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 1 of 11
PART A. Answer ALL questions in this section.
Question A1
Describe what is meant in business/IT planning by:
a) A strategy
(2 marks)
b) A mission.
(3 marks)
(Total 5 marks)
Question A1 Markscheme
a) A strategy has been defined as ‘ a set of actions to fulfil objectives, purposes and
goals’ (T1)
(2 marks)
b) A mission has been described as ‘a clear and compelling statement that unifies the
organisations efforts and describes what the firm is all about. [It] sums up what is
unique about the firm.’ (T1)
(3 marks)
LO1
AC1.1
T1,Ch1 (p25); T2,Ch11(p406)
Question A2
Explain Michael Porter’s THREE primary strategies for achieving sustainable competitive
advantage.
(5 marks)
Question A2 Mark scheme
Porter identified:
 Cost leadership –aiming to be the lowest cost producer while offering quality
comparable with competitors; needs high sales to get economies of scale
 Differentiation – offer products or services that appear to be unique. The unique
characteristics offer buyers additional value
 Focus – limits itself to a small specialist segment of the market. There are two
variants of this: cost focus and differentiation focus
1 or 2 marks depending on clarity of explanation of each strategy up to a
maximum of 5 marks.
LO1
AC1.1
T1,Ch1 (p27-29)
Question A3
Discuss the differences between explicit and tacit knowledge giving an example of each.
(5 marks)
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 2 of 11
Question A3 Mark scheme
Polyani identified:
 Explicit knowledge
o this can be clearly expressed and communicated
o tends to be objective, theoretical and codified in some way
o Example: IT user manual
 Tacit knowledge
o ‘We know more than we can tell’
o Knowledge that is difficult to convey effectively words,
o Example: practical skill such as how to swim
1 mark (x2) for explaining what each of the types of knowledge are i.e. 2 marks
1 mark (x2) for examples i.e. 2 marks
1 mark for comment on how they differ
LO2
AC2.1
T1,Ch12 (p350-351)
Question A4
a) Identify FOUR types of knowledge (apart from explicit and tacit).
(2 marks)
b) What types of knowledge is a person using when they buy and install a new
ink cartridge in a printer?
(3 marks)
(Total 5 marks)
Question A4 Mark scheme
a) One possible taxonomy is:
o Process knowledge e.g. ‘best practice’
o Factual knowledge – about things and people
o Catalogue knowledge – knowing where things are
o Cultural knowledge – e,g. knowing what managers are likely to agree to
(2 marks)
b) This could require factual knowledge e.g. what type of cartridge the printer uses,
catalogue knowledge e.g. where the cartridge can be bought and process knowledge
e.g. how to physically replace the cartridge.
(3 marks)
LO2
AC2.1
T1,Ch12 (p361)
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 3 of 11
Question A5
a) List the THREE key levels in the organisational pyramid.
(3 marks)
b) Give ONE example of the type of information needed at the TOP level and
ONE example of the type of information needed at the BOTTOM.
(2 marks)
(Total 5 marks)
Question A5 Mark scheme
a) The three levels
o Strategic (senior) management
o Tactical (middle) management
o Operational management
(3 marks)
b) Top-level – share of the market that organisation has compared to rivals; bottom
level – stock levels in warehouse
(2 marks)
LO3
AC3.1
T2 Ch9 (pp 332-338)
Question A6
Give FIVE different types of specialist job that would be found in an IS/IT department.
(5 marks)
Question A6 Mark scheme
Valid jobs include:
 Systems developer
 Systems analyst
 Database administrator
 Network administrator
 Web master
 Security officer
LO4
AC4.1
T2 Ch1 (pp29-34)
Question A7
Draw up an example of an IS Strategy Matrix.
(5 marks)
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 4 of 11
Question A7 Mark scheme
A grid with hardware, software, networks, data on vertical axis and who, what, where on
the horizontal axis.
2 marks for vertical axis, 1 for horizontal, 2 marks for content
LO4
AC4.2
T1 Ch1 pp 37-38
Question A8
a) Give examples of an information technologies that can facilitate the following
types of communication and collaboration:
i.
Same time/same place
ii.
Same time/different place
iii.
Different time/same place
iv.
Different time/different place
(3 marks)
b) Give ONE other factor that would influence your choice of
communication/collaboration method.
(2 marks)
(Total 5 marks)
Question A8 Mark scheme
a)
i.
Presentation tools such as PowerPoint, Prezi
ii.
Telephone, chat, conference calls
iii.
Electronic noticeboard used for changing work shifts to communicate
iv.
Email, voicemail
(3 marks)
Good examples for all four situations 3 marks
Good examples for three situations 2 marks
Good examples of one or two 1 mark.
b) For example, where a large amount of detailed information needs to be conveyed, an
emailed document would be more appropriate than a telephone call
(2 marks)
LO5
AC5.1
T1 Ch 4
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 5 of 11
PART B. Answer any THREE of the following FIVE questions.
Question B9
You have been asked to assess the competitive business viability of setting up a city
centre shop that sells IT equipment and also supplies maintenance services.
a) Explain Porter’s Five Forces model and how it could be used in your
assessment.
(15 marks)
b) A modified proposal is to use the World Wide Web as the main way of
communicating with customers, along with home deliveries. How would this
affect your assessment of the business’s competitive business viability?
(5 marks)
(Total 20 marks)
Question B9 Mark scheme
a)
The potential for new entrants to enter the market (1 mark). The shop is a new
entrant to a market where there may be already existing shops. The following, for
example, would need to be considered:
 Existing shops may have built up their business so that they can achieve
economies of scale e.g. shop assistants sell more goods.
 Can new entrant offer something different to existing shops e.g. sell Apple
products where no one else does?
 Starting up a new business will cost money e.g. acquiring stock, tools of the
trade, advertising
(3 marks)
Rivalry among existing firms. (1 mark) Things would be very difficult for a new shop if
competition between existing shops is already fierce. The following, for example, would
need to be considered:
 How many competitors are there? The more there are the more difficult it would
be.
 Is the market for the IT goods locally stagnant or only very slowly growing? If so
there is little room for new shops.
 High fixed costs. These mean you have to sell a lot just to break-event
(3 marks)
Pressure of substitute products (1 mark). For example, people could be moving from
using PCs to using smart phones for many web-based activities (1 mark)
Bargaining power of buyers (1 mark) Can buyers force you to sell your products more
cheaply and thus less profitably?
 Do a large proportion of sales go to just a few buyers e.g. in the locality of the
shop, most of the purchases could be from large local offices. They would be in a
strong position to negotiate discounts
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 6 of 11

Are the IT products standard models? This would make it easy for buyers to shop
around, or change their suppliers/
 Is it easy for buyers to swop suppliers? For example, the buyer could be tied to a
supplier because of they have maintenance agreements with them.
(2 marks)
Bargaining power of suppliers (1 mark). Essentially this if the same as for buyers but
with the shop as the buyer rather than supplier (1 mark)
b) Influence of internet
 An internet-based business would not be competing with rivals in a particular
local. This would increase opportunities but also competition
 Some costs e.g. for expensive premises may be reduced, so reducing the
barriers to entering the market. However this means that others can also
enter the market easily.
 Internet buyers can more easily shop around and this gives the, much greater
power
(5 marks)
1 or 2 marks for each influence identified up to a maximum of 5 marks.
LO3
AC3.3
T1, Ch2; T2, Ch2
Question B10
A college currently outsources data processes needed for college administration - such
as payroll, purchase orders, and invoicing for student fees - to an outside organisation. It
has been suggested it might be cheaper if the college itself carried out this work using
off-the-shelf software packages.
a) Explain the concept of Total Cost of Ownership.
(6 marks)
b) Identify the types of costs that need to be considered if the college was to
carry out the data processing itself.
(14 marks)
Question B10 Mark scheme
a)
TCO is a method of assessing all the costs associated with the acquisition (1
mark) of a particular asset (1 mark) throughout its existence with an organisation (1
mark). It takes not just the purchase costs, but operational and disposal costs.(2 marks).
Note other marks may be awarded for valid points
b)
In the case of the college these costs would include:
 License costs for the software packages selected
 Cost of equipment needed to run the software
 Cost of data take-on e.g. setting up details of employees for payroll
 Costs of special stationery (e.g. for payroll)
 Cost of accommodation for equipment
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 7 of 11
 Installation costs including technical support and staff training
 Additional staff cost to administer the system e.g. t
 Cost of electricity
 Maintenance costs
 Back-up and security
Up to 3 marks for range of implementation costs
Up to 3 marks for range of operational costs
LO5
AC5.2
T1, Ch 10 (pp 283-287)
Question B11
A large organisation has decided to use an IT-supported Knowledge Management
approach to improve the performance of its IT help-desk.
a) Explain the differences between information and knowledge using the way
that these are used by an IT help-desk to illustrate the differences.
(4 marks)
b) Describe the FOUR key tasks activities needed to implement computerbased knowledge management to support the IT help desk.
(16 marks)
(Total 20 marks)
Question B11 Mark scheme
a)
Information is ‘data endowed with evidence and purpose’ (Drucker). A member of
staff on a help desk would need access to a large amount of technical
information about the hardware and software used in an environment.
Knowledge has a greater degree of human, experiential, processing. For
example, the help-desk operative is likely to have a ‘script’ which is used to elicit
information from a client that will lead to the identification of a solution. This is
likely to be based on experience of common faults and their likelihood of
occurrence.
2 marks for differences
1 mark x 2 for an illustration of information and of knowledge
(4 marks)
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 8 of 11
b)




Knowledge generation – the activities that capture new knowledge in an
organisation. For example as new hardware and software is acquired
knowledge about their functionality would need to be taken on by IT helpdesk staff.
Knowledge codification – this is the process of analysing acquired knowledge
into a structured format that allows it to be accessed (and updated) efficiently
by users. This could put the knowledge into a format that allows easy
searching by help-desk staff, for example there could be scripts that allow
conclusions to be drawn in the basis of the answers to specified questions.
Knowledge capture – codification creates a structure/framework which can be
populated with knowledge. Capture is the process of populating framework.
Knowledge transfer – this is the process of disseminating the captured
knowledge to those who need it. For example the solutions to very common
issues could be placed on an intranet site as FAQs that are accessible to the
end users as a first port of call.
Up to 4 marks for each of the four KM processes.
(16 marks)
LO3
AC2.3
T1, Ch9
Question B12
A supermarket is considering the implementation of IT-supported supply chain
management (SCM).
a) Explain how IT can be used to automate aspects of the supermarket SCM.
(8 marks)
b) List and describe the elements of PESTLE analysis showing how the
supermarket might use them to assess issues arising from a move to ITsupported SCM.
(12 marks)
(Total 20 marks)
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 9 of 11
Question B12 mark scheme
a) Automating SCM
 Details of sales transactions, including product codes, need to be captured
electronically. Point of sale (POS) tills are one way of doing this.
 This allows an IT based stock control system to automatically request restocking
of a product from the supermarket’s warehouse
 The system can automatically send an electronic purchase order to a supplier
when stock falls below a particular level.
 More sophisticated systems can actually allow the supplier to see the stock
levels in the supermarket warehouse so that they are warned when more of a
product is likely to be needed in the near future.
1 or 2 marks for each valid, substantial point, up to a maximum of 8.
(8 marks)
b) PESTLE
 Political issues that might affect the proposed system e.g. changes in sales tax,
policies to encourage competition, (in Europe) European Union single market
policies
 Economic impact of changes in interest rates, people having more/less to spend
in supermarkets
 Social – changes in demographics; consumer’s buying habits e.g. buying more
goods on-line
 Technological – technical developments e.g. growth of the internet;
availability/not of sufficient bandwidth
 Environmental – reducing carbon creation by having less waste through goods
going out of date when unsold; reduction of needless deliveries
 Legal aspects e.g. data protection issues
1 mark for demonstrating understanding the factor and 1 for application to
scenario

(12 marks)
a) LO3
AC3.3
T2 Ch3,T1 Ch2
b) LO1
AC1.4
W2
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 10 of 11
Question B13
A large department store which sells a very wide range of different products uses
automated point of sale tills linked to central computer. It also has a customer loyalty
card which gives customers points for the purchases they make. These can be
exchanged for goods. Write a memorandum to the supermarket owners explaining how
they could use IT-based systems to supply meaningful business intelligence.
(Total 20 marks)
Question B13 Mark scheme
Marks will be allowed for the following:
Appropriate memorandum format, which could be understood by non-technical
business people
4 marks
Content, which could include following points
 The store will have a large data set of customer transactions to facilitate its
customer loyalty system. This allows purchasing profiles for each customer to be
created
 Data mining these data sets allows useful information to be generated – business
intelligence
 This business intelligence can be the detection of patterns where one event
leads to another: this may assist in the prediction of customer behaviour. For
example, a person who has bought a particular product in the past, may be
susceptible to buying complementary products – cross-selling
 Business intelligence can help identify behaviour which may suggest fraud
 It can identify the most profitable products and the least ones which can help
priorities where promotion should go, and which products should no longer be
stocked.
 It can identify the more profitable customers and target them with promotions –
this is the basis of many customer relationship management systems (CRM)
 Some information will be required regularly by top managers and may be placed
in an executive dashboard that allows managers to quickly grasp what is going
on on a daily basis.
1 or 2 marks for these points (and other valid ones) to a maximum of 16
Total marks (4 + 16) = 20
LO3
AC3.3
T1, Ch `2, T2 Ch 10
END OF EXAMINATION
© Institute for the Management of Information Systems –
Page 11 of 11