Week 2 Tutorial 1 Questions

Chapter One Questions


Question 1. What are the characteristics of the modern business environment?


The characteristics of the modern business environment relate to recent developments in relation to globalisation. According to Freidman's 3rd stage of globalisation which he describes as Globalisation 3.0, today's global business environment which is based on individuals and groups.


Question 2. What is meant by a web-based, global platform, what does it provide, and how has it affected business?

The web-based global platform has emerged as a result of Friedman's "Globalisation 3.0
". The platform allows individuals to "connect, compute, communicate, collaborate and compete everywhere and anywhere, anytime and all the time; to access limitless amounts of information,, services and entertainment to exchange knowledge; and to produce and sell goods and services" (Rainer and Turban, 2009). Hence in general terms means that the web-based, global platform is a forum for people to use the internet to obtain and share information.


Question 3. What are the main pressures that characterise the modern global business environment?

The main pressures that characterise the modern global business environment are divided into three categories:- market, technology and societal/political/legal pressures.


Market pressures include: the global economy and strong competition, the changing nature of the workforce and powerful customers

Technology pressures include: technological innovation and obsolescence and information overload

Societal/Political/Legal pressures include: social responsibility and compliance with goverment regulations and deregulation

Question 4. What are/discuss some of the common, IT oriented organisational responses to these pressures?
Organisational responses to the modern global business pressures include
strategic systems: these provide organisations with advantages that enable them to increase their market share and/or profits, to better negotiate with suppliers or to prevent competitors from entering their markets
customer focus: provides superb customer service can make the difference between attracting and keeping customers on the one hand and losing them to competitors on the other
make-to-order and mass customisation: make-to-order is a strategy of producing customised products and services. this requires a shift away from mass production, to mass customised production which is efficient and at a reasonably low cost
e-business and e-commerce: involves doing business electronically

Question 5. How are IT architecture and IT infrastructure are interrelated.

IT architecture is a high-level map or plan of the information assets in an organisation. it is both a guide for current operations and a blueprint for future directions. IT infrastructure is the physical facitilities, IT components, IT service, and IT personnel that support the entire organisation. IT architecture and IT infrustructure are interrelated because one cannot work without the other.



Question 6. Is the Internet an infrastructure, an architecture, or an application program? or something else? why?

The Internet is a type of infrastructure because it is made of Internet Protocols with Internet Service Providers.