Information System Management

Q1.

1.1. The only configuration the Ipad's have had so far is the choice of storage available (16,32 gb) and if you want the 3G option. One version of Ipad then usually only have 4 different versions. The 16 GB Wifi is to my knowledge the most selling of them, because of the price. I would say because of the small types of setup and the processes needed to manufacture the devices is similar and it really is a high volume product, it is a Flow shop product.

1.2. A wedding is for the most of us a once in a life time event. And because of that you want it to be a unique experience based on your own personal preferences. Because of the large variety of these wishes for how a wedding should be I would say it is a Project type of process

1.3. A vehicle loan is a very standardized product. The safety for the car is usually the car itself or some other kind of security (house). Either you have a standardized interest rate, or a rate based on the economic status of the loan taker. Similar process steps as I said, high volume in many countries and is dedicated to a small range of goods. Flow shop.

Q2.

What kind of company are we? How should be deliver are products to our customers ? What is our strategic intent? Should be offer an standardized product or an make-to-order/customized product.

Q3.

A re-engineering of an business if done wrong can destroy the company culture and in the end have an negative effect on the company's output/sales. One common mistake is that it usually goes to fast. The employees don't have the time to understand and reflect on what is happening. In a fast process there is no time to pause for a while and listen to feedback from the day-to-day users, the employees.

Q4.

If you use Google for an example its goal is to gather all the information in the world and make it searchable. Another goal is to gather as much information as possible about its users of its search engine and their other services to provide as accurate ad's possible. When Gmail was launched it got a lot criticism because it was intruding on your personal integrity. Gmail scans your mails and then shows ad's relating to any keywords found in the mail. Now this is procedure is basically business standard for Internet marketing firms. The more you know about the user, the more accurate ad's you can know, and the more you can get paid from the advertisers. A VOC perspective of this is that Google monitors negative feedback of its products constantly, if they see a trend of negative searches relating to their products they act, and they get this information with having to do classic surveys and questionnaires and so on. Google also have an habit of releasing all of their products as "beta" even though you would think it is finished. During that time they encourage people to give feedback through different forms.

All and all it have gotten much cheaper to get VOC through social media and other Web 2.0 services.

Q5.

1. Get a more closer relationship with your customers through CRM or similar kind of systems.

2. Make it easier for customers to pay for the goods they want to buy.

3. The logistics in a company can be more efficient when it is based on an information system. A more efficient/faster logistic system means, less goods out-of-stock etc. A more happy customer in the end.

4. When customers making orders it can track the orders online and be sure that their goods is on their way.

5. Through DSS and similar systems managers can take more thought through decisions and in the end make less "mistakes" in their day-to-day business.

6. Through data mining and other resource gathering systems you can be more prepared for the future needs of your customers, and in the end gain an competitive advantage.

7. Set