Chemistry for Engineering Students
2nd EditionLawrence S. Brown, Thomas A. Holme
945 solutions
Advanced Engineering Mathematics
10th EditionErwin Kreyszig
4,134 solutions
Chemical Reaction Engineering
3rd EditionOctave Levenspiel
228 solutions
Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics
7th EditionHendrick Van Ness, J.M. Smith, Michael Abbott
582 solutions
Recommended textbook solutions
Mathematics with Business Applications
6th EditionMcGraw-Hill Education
3,760 solutions
Fundamentals of Financial Management, Concise Edition
10th EditionEugene F. Brigham, Joel Houston
777 solutions
Marketing Essentials: The Deca Connection
1st EditionCarl A. Woloszyk, Grady Kimbrell, Lois Schneider Farese
1,600 solutions
Business Math
17th EditionMary Hansen
3,644 solutions
Porter's Five Forces Model analyzes the competitive forces within the environment in which a company operates to assess the potential for profitability in an industry. Its purpose is to combat these competitive forces by identifying opportunities, competitive advantages, and competitive intelligence. If forces are strong they increase competition, if weak, they decrease competition. Helps managers set business strategy by identifying the
competitive structure and economic environment of an industry.
Five forces:
Buyer power is the ability of buyers to affect the price they must pay for an item. Factors used to assess buyer power include number of customers, sensitivity to price, size of orders, differences between competitors, and availability of substitute products. If buyer power is high, customers can force a company and its competitors to compete on price, which typically drives prices down.
Supplier power - is
the suppliers ability to influence the price they charge for supplies [including materials, labor, and services]. Factors used to appraise supplier power include number of suppliers, size of suppliers, uniqueness of services, and availability of substitute products. If supplier power is high, the supplier can influence the industry by: charging higher prices, limiting quality or services, shifting costs to industry participants.
Threat of Substitute Products or Services is high when there
are many alternatives to a product or service and low when there when there are few alternatives from which to choose. Companies can reduce the threat of substitutes by offering additional value through wider product distribution.
Threat of new entrants is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market and low when there are significant entry barriers to joining a market. An entry barrier is a feature of a product or service that customers have come to expect and entering
competitors must offer the same for survival.
Rivalry among existing competitors is high when competition is fierce in a market and low when competitors are more complacent. Although competition is always more intense in some industries than in others, the overall trend is toward increased competition in almost every industry. The retail grocery industry is intensively competitive.
Customer facing process- results in a product or service that is received
by an organization's external customer, examples order processing, customer service, sales process, customer billing, and order shipping.
business-facing process - invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business, examples strategic planning, tactical planning, budget forecasting, training, purchasing raw materials
1. Network Categories
[LAN] Local Area Network-connects a group of computers in close proximity,
such as in an office building, school, or home.
[WAN] Wide Area Network-spans a large geographic area such as a state, province, or country. Example: Internet
[MAN] Metropolitan Area Network-a large computer network usually spanning a city. Colleges, Universities, and large companies that span a campus use an infrastructure supported by a MAN.
2. Network Providers
[NSPs] National Service Providers-private companies that own and maintain the worldwide backbone that supports the
Internet. Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, etc.
[NAPs] Network Access Points-traffic exchange points in the routing hierarchy of the internet that connects NSPs.
[RSPs] Regional Service Providers-offer Internet service by connecting NSPs, but they can also connect directly to each other.
[ISPs] Internet Service Providers-provides access to the internet for a monthly fee.
3. Network Access Technologies
Bandwidth the maximum amount of data that can pass from one point to another in a
unit of time.
Bit the smallest element of data and has a value of either 0 or 1.
Modem a device that enables a computer to transmit and receive data [dial-up]
Broadband a high-speed internet connection that is always connected
Digital Subscriber Online [DSL] allows high-speed digital data transmission over standard telephone lines
Internet Cable Connections provide Internet access using a cable television company's infrastructure and a special cable modem.
T1 Lines a type of
data connection able to transmit a digital signal at 1.544 Mpbs
4. Network Protocols
Protocol: a standard that specifies the format of data as well as the rules to be followed during transmission. Computers using the same protocol can communicate easily, providing accessibility, scalability, and connectability, between networks.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol [TCP/IP]: provides the technical foundation for the public internet as well as for large numbers of private
networks
Domain Name System: to convert IP addresses into domains, or identifying labels that use a variety of recognizable naming conventions Ex: .gov, .org, .net
5. Network Convergence
Network convergence is the efficient coexistence of telephone, video, and data communication within a single network, offering convenience and flexibility not possible with separate infrastructures. Network convergence then allows the weaving together of voice, data, and video
Unified Communications
[UC] the integration of communication channels allowing participants to communicate using the method that is most convenient for them.
Benefits of a Connected World:
○ Sharing Resources:
■ Resource sharing makes all applications, equipment, and data available to anyone on the network , without regard to the physical location of the resource or the user.
■ Supports a sustainable MIS infrastructure, allowing companies to be agile, efficient, and
responsible at the same time
■ Intranets and Extranets let firms share their corporate information securely.
○ Providing Opportunities:
■ Manufacturers can order parts electronically when needed, reducing the need for large inventories and enhancing efficiency.
■ Networks allow companies to sell to consumers via the Internet.
■ Lowered barriers to entry for startups and small companies.
○ Reducing Travel:
■ VPN's, video conferencing, and VoIP allow employees to meet from
distant locations without spending time and money on travel.
Challenges of a Connected World
○ Security:
■ The company should preserve the integrity of its data; only qualified users should be allowed to change and update data, and only well-specified data.
■ Security problems intensify on the Internet where companies need to guard against fraud, invalid purchases, and misappropriation of credit card information.
■ SSL [secure sockets layer] and SHTTP [secure hypertext transfer
protocol are two methods for encrypting network traffic on the web.
○ Social, Ethical, Political Issues:
■ The digital divide is a worldwide gap giving advantage to those with access to technology.
■ Problems can begin when social media feature topics people may be sensitive about such as politics, religion, or sex.
Benefits of Business Mobility:
○ Enhances Mobility:
■ Allows activities that were formerly tied to physical locations to be
performed almost anywhere.
■ More face-to-face contact with customers and business partners.
■ Gives a company the power to place the right resources in the right place at the right time.
■ Allows for the redistribution of operations to gain efficiencies or react to changing conditions.
○ Increases Location and Monitoring Capability:
■ The ability to locate and monitor assets reduces losses from theft and damage, gathers information from remote or difficult-to-reach locations,
enhances safety, and makes possible a new wave of personalized services.
○ Improves Work Flow:
■ Offers the opportunity to redesign and simplify many processes to be faster, cheaper, and more responsive, and to eliminate redundant activities, integrate activities and services, and redistribute tasks.
○ Provides Mobile Business Opportunities:
■ Offers the advantages of making a purchase via the internet an anytime, anywhere experience and helps with digital purchases, location-based
services, mobile banking and payments and mobile shopping.
○ Provides Alternative to Wiring
■ Wiring is unattractive, costly, and not always a feasible option for air travel, sea travel, remote locations, etc.
Challenges of Business Mobility
○ Protecting Against Theft:
■ Companies may face significant exposure from stolen IDs, passwords, encryption keys, and confidential information if the device falls in the wrong hands.
○ Protecting Wireless Connections:
■ Any time a
wireless network connects to a wired one, the wireless network can act as a conduit for a hacker to gain entry into an otherwise secure network.
○ Preventing Viruses on a Mobile Device
○ Addressing Privacy Concerns with RFID and LBS
■ [Radio Frequency Identification] already has the capability to determine the distance of a tag from the reader location
■ [Location-Based Services] risks the invasion of privacy and security caused by indiscreet location tracking.