How Psychedelic or Hallucinogenic Drugs Work

How Psychedelic or Hallucinogenic Drugs Work Addiction Drug Use Hallucinogens Print How Psychedelic or Hallucinogenic Drugs Work By Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Elizabeth Hartney, BSc, MSc, MA, PhD is a psychologist, professor, and Director of the Centre for Health Leadership and Research at Royal Roads University, Canada. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Hartney, BSc., MSc., MA, PhD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on September 13, 2015 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on June 28, 2019 Science Photo Library / PASIEKA / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Hallucinogens Cocaine Heroin Marijuana Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Opioids Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery Psychedelics, also known as psychedelic drugs, hallucinogens, or hallucinogenic drugs are chemical substances that induce hallucinations and other sensory disturbances.  Probably the most well-known and notorious hallucinogenic drug is lysergic acid or LSD.  Other well-known hallucinogens include psilocybin, which occurs naturally in certain wild mushrooms, commonly known as magic mushrooms, or shrooms, and mescaline, which is found in the peyote cactus in Mexico and the Southwest United States. Ecstasy is less hallucinogenic and more stimulatingâ€"meaning it increases alertness more than LSD or magic mushrooms. It is sometimes classed as a stimulant and sometimes as an entactogen, rather than a hallucinogen.?? Less well-known psychedelic drugs that are chemically similar to the neurotransmitter, include Ololiuqui (found in the seeds of the morning glory flower)?? ; khat, dimethyltryptamine or DMT (found in certain plants from Central and South America)?? ; harmine (found in a South American vine)?? and 5-MeO-DMT and bufotenine (which naturally occurs in the venom of certain toads).?? Other obscure hallucinogenic drugs affect serotonin as well as other neurotransmitters.  These include dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine, or DOM or STP,?? which is a synthetic drug similar to mescaline. It is highly potent but carries a high risk of toxic reaction. Also 4- bromo-2,5-dimethoxypheethylamine or 2C-B, which is like ecstasy, and is sometimes classed as an entactogen rather than a hallucinogen. Finally, a number of hallucinogens, including atropine and scopolamine, affect the acetylcholine system in the brain. These substances are  found in various plants such as belladonna or deadly nightshade, mandrake, henbane, and datura plants. Different Types of Hallucinogens How Psychedelic Drugs Work Hallucinogens work by stimulating or suppressing the activity of the neurotransmitters they are chemically similar to.??  This causes a temporary chemical imbalance in the brain, which causes hallucinations and other effects such as euphoria. Much of the perceived effect of hallucinogenic drugs is dependent on the persons expectations, known as set and setting.?? Set is a persons previous experiences of the drug. Setting is their social and cultural expectations as well as their mental state and mood at the time of taking the drug.   The same person would probably have very different experiences on a hallucinogenic drug if they took it at a party with friends than if they took it alone after the death of a parent. How Long Do Hallucinogenic Effects Last? Hallucinogens tend to be quite slow in onset, but this varies from drug to drug, and also depends on factors such as whether the drug is taken on an empty stomach. LSD has a slow onset of about an hour but can last anywhere from four to 12 hours before it wears off.  In contrast, DMT takes effect much more quickly but only lasts about one hour. Although hallucinogenic drugs pass through the body quickly, the psychological effects can be long-lasting.   As well as potentially inducing mental health problemsâ€"such as substance-induced psychosis, substance-induced depression, and substance-induced anxiety disorderâ€"hallucinogens carry the risk of flashbacks or Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder.?? While hallucinogens are risky for anyone, people with a personal or family history of psychosis, depression or anxiety disorder are at higher risk of developing these long-term effects and should avoid taking hallucinogens. Symptoms of Hallucinogen Use Disorder

What Makes Politicians Stand Out Over The Rest - 1545 Words

What makes politicians stand out over the rest? The dictionary defines Demagogue as a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason. A demagogue always has an audience whose judgement he intends to influence. The significance they have in society is that most of the time they represent a specific group of people, whose believes are different from others; they are the voice of specific people. By understanding the strategies used by demagogues we can combat the negative influence these rhetors can have in our decisions. J. Justin Gustainis, an American college professor and fiction writer, wrote a paper explaining demagoguery, its different techniques, and how demagogues use them. One great example of demagogue is senator Joseph R. McCarthy’s speech â€Å"Enemies from Within†. During this speech, McCarthy expressed the people’s desired of peace while at the same time he said th at they were at war, the Cold War. He demonstrates different techniques of demagoguery which persuaded his intended audience, American society. For this essay, I will be exploring one demagogue characteristic in relation to McCarthy’s text, I will also be discussing one fallacy and how it shows potential weakness, and lastly I will be bringing a more contemporary example of demagoguery to analyze, identifying one characteristic using Fidel Castro’s text. McCarthy’s â€Å"Enemies from Within† speech took place in Wheeling,Show MoreRelatedEssay about Jimmy Carter and Political Maxim1017 Words   |  5 Pagesby Chris Matthews: Quotes Hardball by Chris Matthews is an interpretation of what many know as â€Å"hard-politics†. The book describes the skill of playing the game in Washington and how to be successful at it. 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However, it is the United Nation and NATO’s duty to recognize and defend Ukrainian sovereignty against the Russian incursion into Crimea. The Russians should not be allowed to have Crimea because Crimea is already a part of Ukraine. If no one intervenes, history will be repeated, and there will be war. Because of the historicalRead MoreA Plan For Student Loan Debt Burden995 Words   |  4 Pagestrillion, which is nondischargable, meaning that the debt could follow you for the rest of your life. States have cut education funding and in response, universities raised tuition. And it does not seem that politician s are taking any meaningful action to ameliorate this debt burden. Rubio wants businesses to invest in individual students and after graduation; the student â€Å"will pay a percentage of my salary over a defined period of time in return for that investment.† (The Wire) There are several

The Dangers Of Unprotected Sex - 956 Words

High schools usually have Sex Ed and general health as a mandatory class. But if they drop-out before they are given such knowledge how will they know the dangers of unprotected sex? But, not only can dropping out of school determine their educational level, but not getting the same education as another ethnicity can harm them in the same way. The African American community has almost always been targeted when it comes to not receiving a good education. A teacher of mine once said, â€Å"African American Students are not stupid. They are; however, followers. They follow what the trend is currently and that’s why there aren’t as many black children going to college because the majority are followers. You only get a few leaders from the crowd.† This spoke to me because I realized that schools had given up on African American students as a whole. Those few leaders weren’t even given a chance to lead. That’s why our society hands white children’s plans for a better education, They are already seen to succeed in the world while a black child is seen to destroy. African American children are restricted from getting a higher education because people stereotype and believe that they won’t go anywhere in life. HARC, or HIV/AIDS resource center, and other resource centers and prevention programs claim to help try and help with preventing the STD from spreading and providing help to those before they come in contact with an HIV/AIDS infected individual. But, as I seen through my researchShow MoreRelatedThe Risks of Unprotected Sex Essay672 Words   |  3 PagesThe Risk of Unprotected Sex Most teens do not think twice about indulging in unprotected sex, and doing it could be very dangerous to their health, and cause big changes in their lives and the lives of their families. 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Another claim a Utilitarian would have to face is that research that are performed in third world countriesRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Stay At 211300 Words   |  6 Pagesmost of the time misused. As a young adult it will take less time for them to become â€Å"drunk† and more likely to put them in negative situations which will harm them later as an adult. If the government were to lower the drinking age to under 21, unprotected sex, sexual assault, and ot her tragedies would become more predominant in our society. Alcohol is very harmful to our bodies and if given the opportunity to drink at a younger age the effects would be harmful to the young adult and to others in his

Christian Leadership to Change the World Free Essays

Christian leadership in my opinion is operating in and by Christ. We must be his hands and his feet with precepts. In order to lead and present change God must be in us and its evident must be known. We will write a custom essay sample on Christian Leadership to Change the World or any similar topic only for you Order Now Matthew 5: 13 -16 clearly proclaims the significance of our existence and Gods requirement of every believer. 2 Timothy 2:15 expresses the need for every believer to be approved by the Lord first and then going forth to preach the word throughout to Gods people. Leadership is the duty of the person who is in charge to take charge with courage and character while risking leading the people where they need to go. In doing this Christian leaders will need vision, opportunities, and needs. Then you will have to motivate others to get it done by providing resources, using their talents, and having them contribute their time, however we should be pragmatic of timing. As leaders we must understand the value of forgiveness, redemption and restoration and how essential they are to producing change in society or the world. Also identity and integrity are paramount as well in effective Christian leadership. This will equip us for the non believers who have a desire to come into the kingdom as well as the believers. To be effective Christian leaders we must seriously take our lead from scriptural principles and not from popular trends. We must maintain our focus on what the scripture says in spite of situations and circumstances. 2 Timothy1:7 reads â€Å"God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love†¦Ã¢â‚¬ when we fully recognize that God has given us the power and authority to create change it will then allow us to progress and elevate greatly towards change in society. Furthermore Proverbs 4 and 5 specifies the importance of gaining knowledge and wisdom from the Lord and Proverbs 3: 5 instructs us to trust God in all things so he can direct our path. We must as leaders become selfless and allow the Lord to speak to us so we can get to the people and back in front of society providing the church a forum to determine the direction of society. Christian leadership recognizes that the achievement of the vision is a contribution towards the coming and building of Gods kingdom and understands that where God rules it will then govern the behavior of the world. As Christian leaders we are to remain as a relevant influence providing Gods unchanging and everlasting word to an ever changing society. As the world continues to change the impetus for Christian leadership remains the same. Yet we must also acquire new leadership techniques as both the church and the world changes. SUBMITTED BY: RENEE D. SOBERS How to cite Christian Leadership to Change the World, Papers

Concentrating Innovation and Business Development

Question: Discuss about the Concentrating Innovation and Business Development. Answer: Introduction: Value proposition is one of the major segments of the Business Canvas Model. Starbucks is mainly concentrating on involving people who maintain the commendable work efficiencies. Moreover, the company tends to focus on the employees who are much committed towards accomplishing the business goals. In order to improve the satisfaction level, the company transfers the knowledge as well. It is noted that Starbucks has established the effective relationships with some of the key partners. For example, the company is tied up with some of the efficient coffee growers worldwide to grow farmer and eco friendly coffee beans. The key partnership is a term used for representing the buyer-supplier relationship (Kindstrm Daniel and Christian 2014). Starbucks is also paying the closer attention on acquiring the key resources. The customer relationship is also one of the major focuses of the company to structure their business model canvas. Starbucks has made the partnerships with specialised coffee machine makers that will supply the innovative machines for the shops (Foss, Nicolai and Tina Saebi 2015). The procedure is much helpful for Starbucks because, the company spend very less capital on infrastructures, manpower, and RD Departments (Martins et al. 2015). While structuring the business model canvas, Starbucks has paid the full attention on the partnership process since the partners already hold the expertise skill on this area. These partners of the company even receive the opportunity to deal with the steady buyers, which is essential for establishing a string brand value (Voigt, KOana and Kathrin 2016). The taste of the coffee and the innovative business process are the major value proposition strategies that the company has implemented to draw the attention of the customers. 10 Types of Business Innovation The impactful business innovations usually follow ten basic types, which ensure growth opportunity for the organisations. Similarly, Starbucks is also following such innovation types that can help the company to sustain the competitive position in the business market (Keeley Larry et al. 2013). The ten types of innovations are: These innovations are necessarily needed to be implemented by the organisations. However, the study is mainly focusing on Process and Structure innovations of Starbucks. Structure: Structure innovation is mainly concentrating on assimilating the tangible and intangible resources altogether. From managing the internal functionalities to build up the heavy capital equipment are considered as the organisation structure (Keeley Larry et al. 2013). The human resource management of Starbucks is much innovative and remarkable. The company is committed to provide the healthy and hygienic workplace for the associated workers. The human resource management provides the efficient training session to the employees to perform the organisational activities in a better way (Orta et al. 2015). On the other hand, Starbucks maintains an extended network for the operational and finance department. In order to make the most demanding restaurant chain, the company is focusing on investing more capitals on the technological resources (Letizia Paolo and George Hendrikse, 2016). The company even conducts the employee development programmes to involve the efficient workers in the opera tional activities. Apart from these activities, the company is also concentrating on the effective promotional process to spread the brand awareness among the potential customers (Ali 2016). The resource structure of Starbucks is thus much appreciable for managing the sustainability in this competitive scenario. Process: Process innovations are mainly involving the business activities that can produce the primary offerings of a company (Keeley Larry et al. 2013). The unique capabilities and value added processes are determined to bring more innovations (Starbucks.com 2014). Starbucks has also undertaken several innovative approaches in the business process. The company produced some of the innovative coffee types that are effective enough in drawing the attention of the customers. Teavana Oprah Chai Tea is produced by Oprah Winfrey. It is a distinctive blend of tea features along with the bold infusion of ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. A portion of the sales profit is invested for the benefits of young leaders. The company even introduced the Fizzio beverages, which are individually handcrafted for the potential customers. The use of the innovative technologies to produce such products is much commendable. The company even restructure the business process by making the mobile pay available f or the customers (Gassmann, Karolin and Michaela 2016). In current times, the company is focusing on becoming the leader in the mobile space (Starbucks.com 2014). Therefore, the company introduced the digital tripping, which enables the customers feedbacks in each store (Mateu et al. 2016). Apart from this, Starbucks has also introduced the Mobile Truck for moving into difference campuses. It becomes easier for the faculty to grab the beverages or snacks. References Ali, Syed Ahtsham. "Directions to Explore the Principles of Service Innovation: With Various Companies Case Study."Journal of Research in Business, Economics and Management6, no. 3 (2016): 971-978. Carayannis, Elias G., Stavros Sindakis, and Christian Walter. "Business model innovation as lever of organizational sustainability."The Journal of Technology Transfer40, no. 1 (2015): 85-104. Foss, Nicolai J., and Tina Saebi, eds.Business model innovation: The organizational dimension. OUP Oxford, (2015). Gassmann, Oliver, Karolin Frankenberger, and Michaela Csik. "Innovation Strategy: From new Products to Business Model Innovation." InBusiness Innovation: Das St. Galler Modell, pp. 81-104. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2016. Keeley, Larry, Ryan Pikkel, Brian Quinn, and Helen Walters., "10 Types Of Innovation: The Discipline Of Building Breakthroughs". John Wiley And Sons. (2013). Kindstrm, Daniel, and Christian Kowalkowski. "Service innovation in product-centric firms: A multidimensional business model perspective."Journal of Business Industrial Marketing29, no. 2 (2014): 96-111. Letizia, Paolo, and George Hendrikse. "Supply chain structure incentives for corporate social responsibility: An incomplete contracting analysis."Production and Operations Management25, no. 11 (2016): 1919-1941. Martins, Luis L., Violina P. Rindova, and Bruce E. Greenbaum. "Unlocking the hidden value of concepts: a cognitive approach to business model innovation."Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal9, no. 1 (2015): 99-117. Mateu, Jos M., Jos M. Mateu, Isidre March-Chorda, and Isidre March-Chorda. "Searching for better business models assessment methods."Management Decision54, no. 10 (2016): 2433-2446. Orta, Miguel, Otto F. von Feigenblatt, Edel Lemus, and Orlando Rivero. "Starbucks Corporation: Leading Innovation in the 21 st Century."Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences7, no. 1 (2015). Starbucks.com., "10 Starbucks Innovations Of 2014" (2014). Starbucks Newsroom. https://news.starbucks.com/news/10-starbucks-innovations-of-2014. Voigt, Kai-Ingo, Oana Buliga, and Kathrin Michl. "Globalizing Coffee Culture: The Case of Starbucks." InBusiness Model Pioneers, pp. 41-53. Springer International Publishing,

Grapes Of Wrath Essays (1083 words) - U.S. Route 66, Dust Bowl

Grapes Of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath is a novel by John Steinbeck that exposes the desperate conditions under which the migratory farm families of America during the 1930's lived. The novel tells of one family's migration west to California through the great economic depression of the 1930's. The bank took possession of their land because the owners could not pay off their loan. The novel shows how the Joad family deals with moving to California, and how they survive the cruelty of the landowners that took advantage of them, their poverty, and willingness to work. The Grapes of Wrath combines Steinbeck adoration of the land, his simple hatred of corruption; resulting from materialism (money), and his abiding faith in the common people to overcome the hostile environment. The novel opens with a retaining picture of nature on rampage. The novel shows the men and women that are unbroken by nature. The theme is one of man verses a hostile environment. His body destroyed but his spirit is not broken. The method used to develop the theme of the novel is through the use of symbolism. There are several uses of symbols in the novel from the turtle at the beginning to the rain at the end. As each symbol is presented through the novel they show examples of the good and the bad things that exist within the novel. The opening chapter paints a vivid picture of the situation facing the drought-stricken farmers of Oklahoma. Dust is described as covering everything, smothering the life out of anything that wants to grow. The dust is symbolic of the erosion of the lives of the people. The dust is synonymous with "deadness". The land is a ruined way of life (farming), people uprooted and forced to leave. Secondly, the dust stands for profiteering banks in the background that squeeze the life out the land by forcing the people off the land. The soil, the people (farmers), have been drained of life and are exploited: The last rain fell on the red and gray country of Oklahoma in early May. The weeds became a dark green to protect themselves from the sun's unyielding rays... The wind grew stronger, uprooting the weakened corn, and the air became so filled with dust that the stars were not visible at night. As the book continues a turtle, which appears and reappears several times early in the novel, can be seen as standing for survival, a driving life force in all of mankind that cannot be beaten by nature or man. The turtle represents a hope that the trip to the west is survivable by the Joad family. The turtle further represents the migrants struggles against nature/man by overcoming every obstacle he encounters: the red ant in his path, the truck driver who tries to run over him, being captured in Tom Joad's jacket: And now a light truck approached, and as it came near, the driver saw the turtle and swerved to hit it. The driver of the truck works for a large company, who try to stop the migrants from going west, when the driver attempts to hit the turtle it is another example of the big powerful guy trying to flatten or kill the little guy. Steadily the turtle advances on, ironically to the southwest, the direction of the migration of people. The turtle is described as being lasting, ancient, old and wise: horny head, yellowed toenails, indestructible high dome of a shell, humorous old eyes. The driver of the truck, red ant, and Tom Joad's jacket are all symbolic of nature and man trying to stop the turtle from continuing his journey westward to the promise land. The turtle helps to develop the theme by showing its struggle against life comparing it with the Joad struggle against man. The grapes seem to symbolize both bitterness and copiousness. Grandpa, the oldest member of the Joad family, talks of the grapes as symbols of plenty; all his descriptions of what he is going to do with the grapes in California suggest contentment, freedom, the goal for which the Joad family strive for. The grapes that are talked about by Grandpa help to elaborate the theme by showing that no matter how nice everything seems in California, the truth is that their beauty is only skin deep, in their souls they are rotten. The willow tree that is located on the Joad's farm represents the Joad family. The willow is described as being unmovable and never bending to the wind or dust.

Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay Example

Isys104 Tutorial Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay Isys104 Tutorial -Week4 Essay ISYS104 Tutorial – week 4 Review Questions 1. Which features of organizations do managers need to know about to build and use information systems successfully? What is the impact of information systems on organizations? Define an organization and compare the technical definition of organizations with the behavioral definition. Students can make use of Figures 3–2 and Figure 3–3 in answering this question. The technical definition for an organization defines an organization as a stable, formal social structure that takes resources from the environment and processes them to produce outputs. This definition of an organization focuses on three elements: capital, labor, and production and products for consumption. The technical definition also implies that organizations are more stable than an informal group, are formal legal entities, and are social structures. The behavioral definition states that an organization is a collection of rights, privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that are delicately balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict resolution. This definition highlights the people within the organization, their ways of working, and their relationships. The technical definition shows us how a firm combines capital, labor, and information technology. The behavioral definition examines how information technology impacts the inner workings of the organization. Identify and describe the features of organizations that help explain differences in organizations’ use of information systems. Common features for organizations include formal structure, standard operating procedures, politics, and culture. Organizations can differ in their organizational type, environment, goals, power, constituencies, function, leadership, tasks, technology, and business processes. Describe the major economic theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. The two economic theories discussed in the book are transaction cost theory and agency theory. The transaction cost theory is based on the notion that a firm incurs transaction costs when it buys goods in the marketplace rather than making products for itself. Traditionally, firms sought to reduce transaction costs by getting bigger, hiring more employees, vertical and horizontal integration, and small-company takeovers. Information technology helps firms lower the cost of market participation (transaction costs) and helps firms shrink in size while producing the same or greater amount of output. The agency theory views the firm as a nexus of contracts among interested individuals. The owner employs agents (employees) to perform work on his or her behalf and delegates some decision-making authority to the agents. Agents need constant supervision and management, which introduces management costs. As firms grow, management costs rise. Information technology reduces agency costs by providing information more easily so that managers can supervise a larger number of people with fewer resources. Describe the major behavioral theories that help explain how information systems affect organizations. Behavioral theories, from sociology, psychology, and political science, are useful for describing the behavior of individual firms. Behavioral researchers theorize that information technology could change the decision-making hierarchy by lowering the costs of information acquisition and distribution. IT could eliminate middle managers and their clerical support by sending information from operating units directly to senior management and by enabling information to be sent directly to lower-level operating units. It even enables some organizations to act as virtual organizations because they are no longer limited by geographic locations. One behavioral approach views information systems as the outcome of political competition between organizational subgroups. IT becomes very involved with this competition because it controls who has access to what information, and information systems can control who does what, when, where, and how. Explain why there is considerable organizational resistance to the introduction of information systems. There is considerable organizational resistance to new information systems because they change many important organizational dimensions, such as culture, structure, politics, and work. Leavitt puts forth a model that says that changes in technology are absorbed, deflected, and defeated by organizational task arrangements, structures, and people. In this model the only way to bring about change is to change the technology, tasks, structure, and people simultaneously. In a second model, the authors speak of the need to unfreeze organizations before introducing an innovation, quickly implementing the new system, and then refreezing or institutionalizing the change. Describe the impact of the Internet and disruptive technologies on organizations. The Internet increases the accessibility, storage, and distribution of information and knowledge for organizations; nearly any information can be available anywhere at any time. The Internet increases the scope, depth, and range of information and knowledge storage. It lowers the cost and raises the quality of information and knowledge distribution. That is, it lowers transaction costs and information acquisition costs. By using the Internet, organizations may reduce several levels of management, enabling closer and quicker communication between upper levels of management and the lower levels. The Internet also lowers agency costs. Disruptive technologies caused by technological changes can have different effects on different companies depending on how they handle the changes. Some companies create the disruptions and succeed very well. Other companies learn about the disruption and successfully adopt it. Other companies are obliterated by the changes because they are very efficient at doing what no longer needs to be done. Some disruptions mostly benefit the firm. Other disruptions mostly benefit consumers. 2. How does Porter’s competitive forces model help companies develop competitive strategies using information systems? Define Porter’s competitive forces model and explain how it works. This model provides a general view of the firm, its competitors, and the firm’s environment. Porter’s model is all about the firm’s general business environment. In this model, five competitive forces shape the fate of the firm: traditional competitors new market entrants substitute products and services customers suppliers Describe what the competitive forces model explains about competitive advantage. Some firms do better than other because they either have access to special resources that others do not, or they are able to use commonly available resource more efficiently. It could be because of superior knowledge and information assets. Regardless, they excel in revenue growth, profitability, or productivity growth, ultimately increasing their stock market valuations compared to their competitors. List and describe four competitive strategies enabled by information systems that firms can pursue. Table 3. 2 can be used to help answer this question. The four generic strategies, each of which often is enabled by using information technology and systems include: Low-cost leadership: lowest operational costs and the lowest prices. Product differentiation: enable new products and services, or greatly change the customer convenience in using existing products and services. Focus on market niche: enable a specific market focus and serve this narrow target market better than competitors. Strengthen customer and suppliers: tighten linkages with suppliers and develop intimacy with customers. Describe how information systems can support each of these competitive strategies and give examples. Low-cost leadership: use informa tion systems to improve inventory management, supply management, and create efficient customer response systems. Example: Wal: Google, eBay, Apple, Lands’ End. Focus on market niche: use information systems to produce and analyze data for finely tuned sales and marketing techniques. Analyze customer buying patterns, tastes, and preferences closely in order to efficiently pitch advertising and marketing campaigns to smaller target markets. Example: Hilton Hotels, Harrah’s. Strengthen customer and supplier intimacies: use information systems to facilitate direct access from suppliers to information within the company. Increase switching costs and loyalty to the company. Example: IBM, Amazon. com Explain why aligning IT with business objectives is essential for strategic use of systems. The basic principle of IT strategy for a business is to ensure the technology serves the business and not the other way around. The more successfully a firm can align its IT with its business goals, the more profitable it will be. Business people must take an active role in shaping IT to the enterpri se. They cannot ignore IT issues. They cannot tolerate failure in the IT area as just a nuisance to work around. They must understand what IT can do, how it works, and measure its impact on revenues and profits. 3. How do the value chain and value web models help businesses identify opportunities for strategic information system applications? Define and describe the value chain model. The value chain model highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies can best be applied and where information systems will most likely have a strategic impact. The model identifies specific, critical leverage points where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance its competitive position. The value chain model views the firm as a series of basic activities that add a margin of value to a firm’s products or services. The activities are categorized as either primary or support activities. Primary activities are most directly related to production and distribution of the firm’s products and services, which create value for the customer. Support activities make the delivery of primary activities possible and consist of organization infrastructure. A firm’s value chain can be linked to the value chains of its suppliers, distributors, and customers. Explain how the value chain model can be used to identify opportunities for information systems. Information systems can be used at each stage of the value chain to improve operational efficiency, lower costs, improve profit margins, and forge a closer relationship with customers and suppliers. Define the value web and show how it is related to the value chain. A value web is a collection of independent firms that use information technology to coordinate their value chains to collectively produce a product or service. It is more customer driven and operates in a less linear fashion than the traditional value chain. The value web is a networked system that can synchronize the business processes of customers, suppliers, and trading partners among different companies in an industry or in related industries. Explain how the value web helps businesses identify opportunities for strategic information systems. Information systems enable value webs that are flexible and adaptive to changes in supply and demand. Relationships can be bundled or unbundled in response to changing market conditions. Firms will accelerate time to market and to customers by optimizing their value web relationships to make quick decisions on who can deliver the required products or services at the right price and location. Information systems make it possible for companies to establish and operate value webs. Describe how the Internet has changed competitive forces and competitive advantage. The Internet has nearly destroyed some industries and severely threatened others. The Internet has also created entirely new markets and formed the basis of thousands of new businesses. The Internet has enabled new products and services, new business models, and new industries to rapidly develop. Because of the Internet, competitive rivalry has become much more intense. Internet technology is based on universal standards that any company can use, making it easy for rivals to compete on price alone and for new competitors to enter the market. Because information is available to everyone, the Internet raises the bargaining power of customers, who can quickly find the lowest-cost provider on the Web. 4. How do information systems help businesses use synergies, core competencies and network-based strategies to achieve competitive advantage? Explain how information systems promote synergies and core competencies. A large corporation is typically a collection of businesses that are organized as a collection of strategic business units. Information systems can improve the overall performance of these business units by promoting synergies and core competencies. Describe how promoting synergies and core competencies enhances competitive advantages. The concept of synergy is that when the output of some units can be used as inputs to other units, or two organizations can pool markets and expertise, these relationships lower costs and generate profits. In applying synergy to situations, information systems are used to tie together the operations of disparate business units so that they can act as a whole. A core competency is an activity for which a firm is a world-class leader. In general, a core competency relies on knowledge that is gained over many years of experience and a first-class research organization or simply key people who stay abreast of new external knowledge. Any information system that encourages the sharing of knowledge across business units enhances competency. Explain how businesses benefit by using network economics. In a network, the marginal costs of adding another participant are almost zero, whereas the marginal gain is much larger. The larger the number of participants in a network, the greater the value to all participants because each user can interact with more people. The availability of Internet and networking technology has inspired strategies that take advantage of the abilities of the firm to create networks or network with each other. In a network economy, information systems facilitate business models based on large networks of users or subscribers that take advantage of network economies. Internet sites can be used by firms to build communities of users that can result in building customer loyalty and enjoyment and build unique ties to customers, suppliers, and business partners. Define and describe a virtual company and the benefits of pursuing a virtual company strategy. A virtual company uses networks to link people, assets, and ideas, enabling it to ally with other companies to create and distribute products and services without being limited by traditional organizational boundaries or physical locations. One company can use the capabilities of another company without being physically tied to that company. The virtual company model is useful when a company finds it cheaper to acquire products, services, or capabilities from an external vendor or when it needs to move quickly to exploit new market opportunities and lacks the time and resources to respond on its own. . What are the challenges posed by strategic information systems and how should they be addressed? List and describe the management challenges posed by strategic information systems. Information systems are closely intertwined with an organization’s structure, culture, and business processes. New systems disrupt established patterns of work and power relationships, so there is oft en considerable resistance to them when they are introduced. Implementing strategic systems often requires extensive organizational change and a transition from one sociotechnical level to another. Such changes are called strategic transitions and are often difficult and painful to achieve. Moreover, not all strategic systems are profitable. They are expensive and difficult to build because they entail massive sociotechnical changes within the organization. Many strategic information systems are easily copied by other firms so that strategic advantage is not always sustainable. The complex relationship between information systems, organizational performance, and decision making must be carefully managed. Explain how to perform a strategic systems analysis. Managers should ask the following questions to help them identify the types of systems that may provide them with a strategic advantage. 1. What is the structure of the industry in which the firm is located? Analyze the competitive forces at work in the industry; determine the basis of competition; determine the direction and nature of change within the industry; and analyze how the industry is currently using information technology. 2. What are the business, firm, and industry value chains for this particular firm? Decide how the company creates value for its customers; determine how the firm uses best practices to manage its business processes; analyze how the firm leverages its core competencies; verify how the industry supply chain and customer base are changing; establish the benefit of strategic partnerships and value webs; clarify where information systems will provide the greatest value in the firm’s value chain. 3. Have we aligned IT with our business strategy and goals? Articulate the firm’s business strategy and goals; decide if IT is improving the right business processes and activities in accordance with the firm’s strategy; agree on the right metrics to measure progress toward the goals. Discussion Questions 1. It has been said that there is no such thing as a sustainable competitive advantage. Do you agree? Why or why not? Students will argue both sides, and there is no definite answer to the question. There is little that a company can do that cannot be duplicated over time. Citibank and its ATM machines and American Airlines and its reservation systems are good examples. Think about companies that had strategic advantages in the 1920s or 1940s that no longer exist. In contrast, some companies, such as Wal-Mart, maintain a strategic advantage for a long time. Wal-Mart maintains its lead by striving to advance even further. Gary Hamel, whom some call the leading strategy expert in business today, says there is no such thing as sustainable strategic advantage. Hamel is founder and chairman of Strategos and a research fellow at Harvard Business School. He believes that, in the past, most companies were built to do one thing exceedingly well for an exceedingly long period of time. In today’s marketplace, companies built for scale, replication, diligence, and exactitude must learn to change, adapt, and experiment at the speed that you see in the new economy. New economy companies must master some virtues of the old economy. These companies are learning that scale, operational excellence, and global infrastructure are important. They can constitute hard-to-duplicate competitive advantages that allow them to capture the rents on their innovation. Many have been trained to think that there is no such a thing as sustainable competitive advantage. They have been trained to think about innovation in products and technology, not innovation in business models. They assume that being radical is risky and being incremental is safe. We have to rewire people with new thinking skills. 2. It has been said that the advantage that leading-edge retailers such as Dell and Wal-Mart have over their competition isn’t technology; it’s their management. Do you agree? Why or why not? Student answers will vary but here are some points their answers should include: How well has each company, Dell and Wal-Mart, used information systems to reduce transaction costs and agency costs? How well has each company used information systems to take advantage of Porter’s Competitive Forces model: o Keeping new market entrants out o Either preventing substitute products and services that may compete with their own, or introducing substitute products and services that pull customers away from their competitors o Holding onto customers by c ompeting on prices alone when there is very little product differentiation o Exercising more control over suppliers How well has each company’s management used information systems to enhance o Low-cost leadership – Wal-Mart is the king at this; Dell sometimes uses this strategy o Product differentiation – Dell uses this strategy against Apple and HP (the two leading computer sellers) o Focusing on market niche – neither company uses this much o Strengthening customer and supplier intimacy – Wal-Mart wrote the book on this one; Dell uses this strategy extensively. Business Problem-Solving Case: YouTube, the Internet, and the Future of Movies 1. What competitive forces have challenged the movie industry? What problems have these forces created? What changes have these problems caused the movie and television studios to make? New market entrants and substitute products are the two main competitive forces challenging the movie industry. The traditional outlets for viewing movies – theatres, cable television, and movie rental businesses – are all challenged by new ways for customers to obtain products. The traditional outlets were very easy to control and ensured that the movie producers received compensation for their products. The distribution system was created, not necessarily for the customer’s convenience, but to provide an orderly process for all the players to make money. With the advent of downloadable movies, the system is changing to more of a viewer-centric process. The main problem is that movie studios and producers, outlets for selling the movies, and the myriad of people involved in the old system, have no way of controlling downloads from all the different Web sites that make them available. With no controls in place, the industry cannot ensure its receiving just payments and rewards for the work they produce. Several distributors have tried to squelch the download outlets but its virtually impossible to monitor all the Web sites and all their content. As NBC Universal’s general counsel, Rick Cotton admitted, â€Å"There is only so much we can do. † Some of the major studios entered into negotiations with YouTube and established licensing agreements. Other solutions follow the music industry trends of taking advantage of movie downloads and view them as another source of revenue. YouTube is helping build a revenue-sharing model with content creators and developing a filtering and digital fingerprinting technology that will help it control the unauthorized use of copyright protected material. 2. Describe the impact of disruptive technology on the companies discussed in this case? YouTube is to the motion picture industry what Napster was to the music industry. That is, it’s a conduit to new processes that are more customer-driven than the old ones. YouTube has become the most popular video-sharing Web site because it gives users what they want when they want it. People wanted an outlet for the creative video diaries and amateur films that they created using inexpensive digital video equipment. Disruptive technologies continually displace old technologies that, while they are still good products, no longer serve a customer base. That explains what is causing the changes in how customers want to receive motion pictures. Basically, once the cat is out of the bag, it’s very difficult to get it back in. 3. How have the movie studios responded to YouTube? What is the goal of the response? What can the movie studios learn from music industry’s dealings with online digital music and copyright infringement? If you want to lay blame for all that’s happening in the movie industry you could almost point your finger at hardware and software video-related manufacturers who provided cheap, easy-to-use tools for the average person. Originally the movie industry tried to fight the thousands of illegal uses of their copyrighted material- much as the music industry tried to fight their battle years ago. It was and is a losing battle- both in protecting their copyrighted content and in the public relations fight for loyal customers. Many producers have chosen to not fight their customers but are trying to find ways to meet the needs and demands of both sides- the producers and the customers. It’s a wise decision. 4. Should motion picture companies continue to use YouTube to promote their new films? Why or why not? The answers obviously will vary. It’s important to understand that YouTube continues to be the most popular video sharing Web site. With Google’s clout behind it, it will continue to be a force to reckon with. The movie industry should continue to work with YouTube to find ways to use the site, if for nothing else than promotional reasons. By putting their own short videos and film clips on the site, before others do, movie studios can thwart some of the illegal use of their films. The average person would rather see a well-produced video than a second- or third-rate clip. By taking proactive measures rather than being reactive, the industry can control (to a greater extent) what appears on YouTube’s site. 5. Go to YouTube. com and search for videos from your favorite movie or television show. What do you find on the site? Do you see any advertisements attached to the video? Do you feel this way of advertising is effective? Why or why not? Answers will vary to most of this question but it should provoke some good classroom discussions or discussions in a chat forum. Key elements students should understand is that all artists, producers, and distributors deserve some compensation for their talent, time, investments, and labor. Illegally using copyrighted material is an act of theft. Both users and video- and audio-sharing Web sites are equally and legally responsible for properly using someone else’s property. Advertising is becoming a major source of revenue for many Web sites and YouTube is no different. That’s especially true since Google, a company very dependent on advertising dollars, purchased YouTube. It’s probably true that YouTube ads help get customers excited about seeing the actual movie. Note: Demonstrating the use of Michael Porter’s competitive forces model would be a good exercise in this discussion.