Information Systems: A Manager's Guide to Harnessing Technology
v. 2.0
Table of Contents
Licensing Information
Preface
Chapter 1: Setting the Stage: Technology and the Modern Enterprise
Tech’s Tectonic Shift: Radically Changing Business Landscapes
It’s Your Revolution
Geek Up—Tech Is Everywhere and You’ll Need It to Thrive
The Pages Ahead
Chapter 2: Strategy and Technology: Concepts and Frameworks for Understanding What Separates Winners from Losers
Introduction
Powerful Resources
Barriers to Entry, Technology, and Timing
Key Framework: The Five Forces of Industry Competitive Advantage
Chapter 3: Zara: Fast Fashion from Savvy Systems
Introduction
Don’t Guess, Gather Data
Moving Forward
Chapter 4: Netflix in Two Acts: The Making of an E-commerce Giant and the Uncertain Future of Atoms to Bits
Introduction
Act I: Netflix Leverages Tech and Timing to Create Killer Assets in DVD-by-Mail
Act II: Netflix and the Shift from Mailing Atoms to Streaming Bits
Chapter 5: Moore’s Law: Fast, Cheap Computing and What It Means for the Manager
Introduction
The Death of Moore’s Law?
Bringing Brains Together: Supercomputing and Grid Computing
E-waste: The Dark Side of Moore’s Law
Chapter 6: Understanding Network Effects
Introduction
Where’s All That Value Come From?
One-Sided or Two-Sided Markets?
How Are These Markets Different?
Competing When Network Effects Matter
Chapter 7: Social Media, Peer Production, and Web 2.0
Introduction
Blogs
Wikis
Social Networks
Twitter and the Rise of Microblogging
Other Key Web 2.0 Terms and Concepts
Prediction Markets and the Wisdom of Crowds
Crowdsourcing
Get SMART: The Social Media Awareness and Response Team
Chapter 8: Facebook: Building a Business from the Social Graph
Introduction
Does Facebook Want to Eat Your Firm’s Lunch? Enveloping Markets across the Internet
The Social Graph
Facebook Feeds—Ebola for Data Flows
Facebook as a Platform
Advertising and Social Networks: A Work in Progress
Privacy Peril, Beacon, and the TOS Debacle: What Facebook’s Failures Can Teach Managers about Technology Planning and Deployment
One Graph to Rule Them All: Facebook Reaches across the Web with Open Graph
Is Facebook Worth It?
Chapter 9: Understanding Software: A Primer for Managers
Introduction
Operating Systems
Application Software
Distributed Computing
Writing Software
Understanding Technology beyond the Price Tag: Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and the Cost of Tech Failure
Chapter 10: Software in Flux: Partly Cloudy and Sometimes Free
Introduction
Open Source
Why Open Source?
Examples of Open Source Software
Why Give It Away? The Business of Open Source
Cloud Computing: Hype or Hope?
The Software Cloud: Why Buy When You Can Rent?
SaaS: Not without Risks
The Hardware Cloud: Utility Computing and Its Cousins
Clouds and Tech Industry Impact
Virtualization: Software That Makes One Computer Act Like Many
Make, Buy, or Rent
Chapter 11: The Data Asset: Databases, Business Intelligence, and Competitive Advantage
Introduction
Data, Information, and Knowledge
Where Does Data Come From?
Data Rich, Information Poor
Data Warehouses and Data Marts
The Business Intelligence Toolkit
Data Asset in Action: Technology and the Rise of Wal-Mart
Data Asset in Action: Caesars’ Solid Gold CRM for the Service Sector
Chapter 12: A Manager’s Guide to the Internet and Telecommunications
Introduction
Internet 101: Understanding How the Internet Works
Getting Where You’re Going
Last Mile: Faster Speed, Broader Access
Chapter 13: Information Security: Barbarians at the Gateway (and Just About Everywhere Else)
Introduction
Why Is This Happening? Who Is Doing It? And What’s Their Motivation?
Where Are Vulnerabilities? Understanding the Weaknesses
Taking Action
Chapter 14: Google in Three Parts: Search, Online Advertising, and Beyond
Introduction
Understanding Search
Understanding the Increase in Online Ad Spending
Search Advertising
Ad Networks—Distribution beyond Search
More Ad Formats and Payment Schemes
Customer Profiling and Behavioral Targeting
Profiling and Privacy
Search Engines, Ad Networks, and Fraud
The Battle Unfolds