Question

1. What is the most profound way in which e-commerce and the Internet has changed the relationship between companies and their customers? Support your answer.

2. Americlinic, a national chain of budget health-care clinics, is creating an information system that will allow patients and doctors at participating franchises to communicate online. The goal of the system is to allow doctors to respond to minor health questions quickly and more efficiently, saving patients unnecessary visits to the clinic. This will be a major procedural change - what steps would you recommend to this company to ensure the user acceptance of the system?

3. Hackers and their companion viruses are an increasing problem, especially on the Internet. What are the most important measurers for a firm to take to protect itself from this? Is full protection feasible? Why or why not?

4. You are the CIO at an insurance firm and a manager has proposed implementing an expensive new project management software that would help increase the efficiency of the IT staff. The idea of improved efficiency sounds good, but is there any way you can evaluate her decision before purchasing the software? Be specific.

5. Explain three differences between traditional (waterfall) software development methodologies and agile software development methodologies. Support your answer with examples.

6.You are consulting for Lucky's, a chain of gas stations. What types of e-commerce opportunities, if any, are relevant to Lucky's? Could Lucky's make use of any Internet business models for this opportunity?