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These chapters are more conceptual than the later hardware/software chapters, so the key is to understand relationships between business strategy, information systems, platforms, disruption, and operations.
A strong answer should explain not just what a term means, but why it matters to managers and firms.
Chapter 1 — Intro to MIS, Mental Models, and IT
NOTE: You can just skim this textbook chapter — most of the content comes from the lectures/slides.
Vocabulary
Business Process
A business process is a set of related activities that produce a specific result for a firm. Information systems matter because they often support or reshape these processes.
Curse of Knowledge
The curse of knowledge happens when someone who knows something well has trouble imagining what it is like not to know it. This matters in communication, teaching, and systems development.
Data
Data are raw facts. Data only become useful when they are organized, interpreted, and connected to business goals.
Disruptive Technology
A disruptive technology changes industries by creating new ways of doing things that eventually displace older models.
Hype Cycle
The hype cycle describes stages of enthusiasm and disappointment around new technologies. Managers care because timing matters when evaluating new tools.
Inherent Processes
These are built-in processes or assumptions embedded in software or systems. Firms often have to adapt when technology does not perfectly match existing routines.
Mental Models
Mental models are simplified ways people understand how the world works. They affect decisions, communication, and how managers interpret technology.
Metrics
Metrics are measurements used to track performance. As computing power increases, firms can collect and analyze more metrics to guide decisions.
Moore’s Law
Moore’s Law helps explain how rapidly increasing computing capability changes business and society.
Software
Software is a set of instructions that tells hardware what to do. It makes information systems usable.
Key Questions
What is MIS? Why do I care?
MIS is the study of how people, processes, data, software, and hardware work together to support organizations. Managers care because information systems shape efficiency, decision-making, communication, and competitive advantage.
How has Moore’s Law enabled massive change in society and business?
Moore’s Law made computing faster and cheaper, which helped create the modern world of mobile devices, cloud computing, big data, and metrics-driven decision-making.
What are the five parts of an information system? Which parts are hardest to change/manage/secure?
The five parts are hardware, software, data, procedures/processes, and people. The hardest parts to manage are often people and processes because they involve habits, communication, incentives, and organizational change.
How do mental models and the curse of knowledge influence information systems?
They affect how people design, explain, adopt, and use systems. A bad mental model can lead to bad decisions, and the curse of knowledge can make systems harder for ordinary users to understand.
What are the five stages of the Hype Cycle? Why do you care about the stage a particular technology happens to be in?
Managers care because hype can distort judgment. If a technology is overhyped, firms may invest too early; if it is in a disappointment phase, they may ignore something that could still become valuable later.
Chapter 2 — Strategy and Technology
Vocabulary
Barrier to Entry
A factor that makes it hard for new firms to enter a market.
Competitive Advantage
A condition that allows a firm to outperform rivals in a sustained way.
Margin
Margin is the difference between the value a firm creates and the cost of creating it.
Primary Activities
The core activities in the value chain that directly create and deliver a product or service.
Support Activities
The activities that support primary activities, such as HR, infrastructure, procurement, and technology development.
Value Chain
The value chain is a model showing how a firm creates value through linked activities.
Key Questions
What is a business process?
A business process is a set of activities that work together to produce an output. Technology can improve, automate, or reshape these processes.
What is competitive advantage? Why is it important?
Competitive advantage means a firm is doing something better than rivals in a way that is difficult to match. It matters because it helps firms earn higher returns and defend their market position.
What is the value chain? Why does it matter?
The value chain helps managers analyze where value is created and where technology can improve cost, speed, quality, or coordination.
What are barriers to entry? How do they affect strategy?
Barriers to entry limit new competition. If barriers are high, existing firms are more protected. If barriers are low, firms face more pressure from entrants.
Chapter 3 — Platforms and Network Effects
Vocabulary
Cross-Side Network Effect
An effect where one group of users makes a platform more valuable for another group.
Direct Network Effect
An effect where a product becomes more valuable as more users join the same side.
Multihoming
Multihoming occurs when users or partners participate on multiple competing platforms.
Platform
A platform connects groups of users and enables interaction, exchange, or complementary innovation.
Subsidy Side / Money Side
Platforms often subsidize one side to attract participation and then earn money from another side.
Key Questions
What are network effects? Why do they matter?
Network effects mean a product or platform becomes more valuable as more users join. They matter because they can create winner-take-most outcomes and strong competitive advantages.
What is a platform? How is it different from a traditional product business?
A platform creates value by facilitating interaction between groups, while a traditional product business mainly creates and sells a product directly.
Why do firms subsidize one side of a platform?
Because attracting one side can make the platform more valuable to the other side, which is where the firm may eventually earn revenue.
How can multihoming weaken platform advantage?
If users can easily use multiple platforms, switching costs are lower and no single platform becomes as dominant.
Chapter 4 — Disruptive Technologies
Vocabulary
Christensen’s Innovator’s Dilemma
The idea that successful firms may ignore disruptive innovations because they are focused on serving current customers and protecting current profits.
Disruptive Innovation
An innovation that starts in a simpler or lower-end market and eventually displaces established firms.
Incumbent
An incumbent is an established firm already operating in a market.
Sustaining Innovation
Innovation that improves existing products for current customers rather than disrupting the market.
Key Questions
What is disruptive innovation?
Disruptive innovation is not just any major change. It usually starts by serving overlooked or lower-end customers and then improves until it threatens incumbents.
Why do incumbents often miss disruptive threats?
Because they are usually focused on current customers, current profits, and sustaining innovations. The disruptive product often looks weak at first.
What is the Innovator’s Dilemma?
The dilemma is that doing what seems rational for the current business can make a firm vulnerable to future disruption.
Chapter 5 — Zara
Vocabulary
Fast Fashion
A model focused on quickly designing, producing, and delivering fashion in response to customer demand.
Inventory Turns
A measure of how often inventory is sold and replaced over a period of time.
Lead Time
The time between identifying demand and delivering the finished product.
Supply Chain
The network of activities and organizations involved in producing and delivering a product.
Key Questions
Why is Zara such a famous MIS and strategy example?
Zara shows how information systems, process design, and supply chain coordination can create competitive advantage through speed and responsiveness.
How did Zara use information systems to support fast fashion?
Zara used store-level information, fast communication, and tight coordination between stores, designers, and operations to respond quickly to changing demand.
Why does speed matter so much for Zara?
Speed lowers the risk of being stuck with unwanted inventory and helps the firm align products with current trends.
How is Zara’s supply chain different from a slower traditional retailer?
Zara prioritizes responsiveness over long production runs and low-cost offshore lead times. That makes it more flexible and trend-sensitive.
High-Value Big-Picture Connections
- Chapter 1 → understand MIS as people + processes + data + software + hardware.
- Chapter 2 → connect technology to competitive advantage and the value chain.
- Chapter 3 → understand how platforms grow through network effects.
- Chapter 4 → explain why incumbents often miss disruptive change.
- Chapter 5 → see how information systems and process design create operational speed.