Is Second Life Ready for Business? Chapter 1 page 37

1. How can Second Life provide value to businesses that use it?

It can support customer service, product development, training, and marketing, attends

meetings, screening prospective employees, and orientating new employees around the

globe (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

2. What kinds of business are most likely to benefit from a presence on Second Life?

Information companies such as IBM, computer companies such as Hewlett Packer,

television and media companies like CNN may benefit from Second Life.

Why? To profit from the Second Life virtual online world, the companies would have to

be able to invest millions of dollars before they would see a profit without being able to

invest large sums of money, it is unlikely that a profit would be seen (Laudon & Laudon,

2010).

3. Considering what you have learned about Second Life, how could you as an

individual create a modest start-up business on the Grid?

The purchase of the premium membership would allow setting up a virtual business

online. The cost for this membership is $6.00 per month billed annually at $72.00; $7.50

per month billed annually at $22.50 or $9.95 per month billed monthly would allow you

to access the Grid where you would set up the virtual business. Basic membership which

is free does not allow you to go to the Grid, so preventing a business setup on the Grid

(Second Life, 2011).

What goods would you sell? Good to be sold would be custom cabinets.

Why would this be a good choice of product? Customers could go into the virtual

business and change anything they want to for their particular needs. They could change

the layout, add or delete items, change the overall design of the cabinets, and change the

stain color.

What in simple terms would your business plan be? The business plan would be to

buy the premium membership, go to the Grid to set up the virtual business, advertise to

prospective clients either through the virtual business if available or letting real life

customers know that the business is also on Second Life.

Why would it work? As far as it working, that would be unknown. It would depend on

whether or not it would generate enough business to justify the cost or whether the

customer would have to also buy the premium membership to get into the virtual

business, and whether or not there would be added fees once the business has been set up.

There are too many aspects of uncertainty to justify saying this would work or not.

4. Visit eBay on the Web and see what Second Life items you can find listed for

auction. How would you rate the activity surrounding these items? The items found

where 1000 Linden Second Life credits for $55.00 with a buy it now option; Second Life

Second Life Linden Dollar Guide for $29.99 with a buy it now option; Designing Your

Second Life Grid Book for $7.97 with a buy it now option; Virtual Worlds Handbook,

how to use Second Life for $26.79 with a buy it now option; and The Second Life Grid,

the official Guide for $51.49 with a buy it now option. Rating these would be classified

as not being a good auction item, not one of them have had any bidders, most have been

listed since December 23, 2009. This does not look as though this is a good venture to put

money into (eBay, 2011).

Are you surprised by what you see? I am not surprised as to what I saw.

Why or Why not? After visiting the site of Second Life, it was not what I would invest

money into. This idea just does not seem to be a profitable venture. Although for a social

aspect it looks as though it may be fun but it seems to be nothing more than a live chat

room only virtual, so this could be a dangerous situation.

5. What obstacle does Second Life have to overcome in order to become a mainstream

business tool? The obstacles are that the site is not generated for a business.

To what do you attribute the difference? Going to the site, the idea is more social than

business, looking more like this is an online game aspect rather than a business aspect

(Second Life, 2011).

6. Would you like to interview for a job using Second Life? No

Why or why not? The site login is distracting for a professional job atmosphere.

7. Is Second Life a precursor of how business will be conducted in the future or a

corporate experiment? Justify your answer. I do not believe that Second Life is how a

business will be conducted in the future. I believe this is a corporate experiment. In

justifying my answer, anyone going to the website at www.secondlife.com will see that

this is more for social interaction, browsing around and trying to set things up is time

consuming and terrible to do. Business that would venture to do this to conduct business

will spend an extremely long time just getting it set up and more time to get it to work the

way they want it to (Laudon, & Loudon, 2010).

JetBlue Hits Turbulence. Chapter 2 page 72

1. What types of information systems and business functions are described in this case?

TPS (transaction processing system) which is used for ticket reservation and tracking

flow of all transactions. CRM (customer relationship management system) which helps

firms manage their relationship with consumers. ESS (executive support system) which is

used by senior managers that addresses strategic issues and planning long term strategies.

The business function is circled by Human Resource matters such as too small of a staff

(Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

2. What is JetBlue’s business model? JetBlue’s business model was to provide high

quality air transportation and a reduce lower cost than other airlines, giving the

passengers the feeling of flying first class at a low cost (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

How does their information system support this business model? Under ideal

circumstances the information systems used would have worked and did for some time,

but under difficult unforeseen issues the information systems in place were unable to

handle the extreme volume when a crisis happened (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

What was the problem experienced by JetBlue in this case? An ice storm in 2007

affected flights out of New York. JetBlue was not prepared for this massive delay. Their

information systems could not keep up with passenger demand and flight attendance

could not be located. Passengers sat in the plane for up to 10 ½ hours with limited food

and water, and unsanitary conditions (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

What management, organization, and technology factors were responsible for

the problem? Navitaire’s reservation system, Sabre Solutions which manages

schedules, tracks planes and crew, and actual flight plans, and CEO David Neeleman

(Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

4. Based on what you’ve learned in this chapter, what kinds of systems and business

functions were involved in JetBlue’s problem? Management, organization and

technology (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

5. Evaluate JetBlue’s response to the crisis. What solutions did the airline come up

with? They implemented new software that would send recorded messages to pilots

and crew to inquire their availability. The CEO promised to train 100 employees to serve

as backups when needed; addressed its customer relations and image by creating a

customer bill of rights, and set a time of no more than 5 hours for a passenger to be sitting

in the plane if this disaster would happen again, penalizing the airlines if not followed

(Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

How were these solutions implemented? JetBlue cancelled 215 flights a month later

when another storm hit the area (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

Do you think that JetBlue found the correct solutions and implemented them

correctly? Yes, I think by implementing new information technology systems

and that they used better judgment in the second storm crisis that they did a decent job in

implementing them correct. Delaying expanding its fleet and reducing the number of

seats for sale also shows they have correctly implemented a solution. Although some may

feel that by firing Neeleman from the CEO position and putting him into a non executive

chairman position was unfair since he owned up publically to the issue, I do not feel this

was unfair. As a CEO he needed to place himself in the passenger’s shoes and do what

was best for the passengers and not think of the revenue lost. No one wants to lose

millions of dollars, but ethically it would have been right to put the passengers first

(Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

What other solutions can you think of that JetBlue hasn’t tried? They should hire

more staff, possibly on a will call basis or temporary basis to accommodate any overload.

Even possibly borrowing employees from other airlines would help. Also implementing

and putting in place a better technology information system.

6. How well is JetBlue prepared for the future? They may be prepared better for the

future as long as they keep up with current technology systems, hire more staff on a will

call basis to help in handling any further crisis that may come up.

Are the problems described in this case likely to be repeated? I do not believe that the

crisis within JetBlue will happen again. I think they have learned a hard lesson and will

not allow it to happen again.

Which of JetBlue’s business processes are most vulnerable to breakdowns?

Technology systems and communication between the upper management and all

employees down the ladder.

How much will a customer bill of rights help? The customer bill of rights from JetBlue

will only help in assuring that the plane and passengers are not sitting on the tarmac for

more than three hours unless deemed by the pilot there is a safety or security related

reason for remaining on the tarmac. This really is the only help that the bill of rights gives

a customer. The JetBlue’s bill of rights updated May 27, 2010 states in most all areas

(departure delays and cancellations) that it is for controllable irregularities. This means

that no compensation will be given for things such as weather delays (JetBlue, 2010).

Can Technology Save Soldiers’ Lives in Iraq? Chapter 3 page 93

1. What features of organizations are relevant for explaining the performance of

information systems during the Iraq War? The Chain of Command from the top to

the bottom (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

2. What difficulties did U.S. military forces in Iraq encounter with information

systems? It was less efficient than it was thought to be originally. Communicating data,

the units had to be stationary to send and receive the information causing the units to

vulnerable attacks (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

What management, organization, and technology factors contributed to these

difficulties? Slow download speeds, software problems and lockups lasting as long as

10 to 12 hours at any given time (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

3. Describe TIGR and explain why it has been so beneficial to U.S. patrol groups in

Iraq. TIGR is Tactical Ground Reporting System, which is an application described as a

cross between Google Maps and Wikipedia. This helps soldiers access and give

information about people, locations, and activity in Iraq (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

4. Why is TIGR an example of a horizontal technology? The TIGR revolves around

maps that can be reviewed and edited. The application supports media formats, voice

recordings, digital photos, and global positioning. Maps double as both standard

interface and navigational aids (Walker, 2009).

5. How helpful will TIGR be in future military campaigns? Explain you answer.

TIGR will be helpful for soldiers to locate areas they need to be in. They will be able to

see the area before they arrive by pinpointing the exact area. TIGR gathers information

about people, places, and activity giving the soldier beforehand information (Walker,

2009).

Flexible Scheduling at Wal-Mart: Good or Bad for Employees? Chapter 4 page 148.

1. What is the ethical dilemma facing Wal-Mart in this case? This can cause job

instability and could cause financial hardships to the employees. The employee has to be

more flexible since they do not know what their work hours will be from week to week.

This may cause extreme hardship for finding babysitters and school schedules. The pay

may be substantially reduced because they may not get the entire 40 hours per week they

have been counting on. They could be sent home if the day is slow or they could be

asked to be on call to fill in if needed (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

Do Wal-Mart’s associates also face an ethical dilemma? Yes

If so, what is it? They will have to do exactly what Wal-Mart says to do, by working the

exact hours they are told to work even if this will not work for the employee. Example

of this is if they cannot get a babysitter for their child and they are scheduled for a time

that they would normally not work and they cannot make it to work, they could be

reprimanded or fired.

2. What ethical principles apply to this case? Not giving the employee’s proper

scheduling times, leaving the employee to choose between having a job or not if they do

not follow the time schedule they are given for any given day.

How do they apply? Wal-Mart will insist on the employee submitting a personal

availability form and by limiting the personal availability can cause the number of hours

they are scheduled to be reduced (Laudon & Laudon, 2010).

3. What are the potential effects of computerized scheduling on employee morale?

The potential effects can make the employee’s morale very low. The feeling that they

mean nothing to the company other than a commodity that can be replaced easily. The

wages can be reduced and job relations can be stressed.

What are the consequences of these effects for Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart could lose a

number of their loyal employee’s and have to hire and train new staff which is

expensive. Employee’s may not show up for work or come in late, and this would put

stress on the entire store to run smoothly.