[問題]GWD5-25

[sandyclub]

Q22 to Q25:
Most pre-1990 literature on busi-
nesses’ use of information technology
(IT)—defined as any form of computer-
Line based information system—focused on
(5) spectacular IT successes and reflected
a general optimism concerning IT’s poten-
tial as a resource for creating competitive
advantage. But toward the end of the
1980’s, some economists spoke of a
(10) “productivity paradox”: despite huge IT
investments, most notably in the service
sectors, productivity stagnated. In the
retail industry, for example, in which IT
had been widely adopted during the
(15) 1980’s, productivity (average output per
hour) rose at an average annual rate of
1.1 percent between 1973 and 1989, com-
pared with 2.4 percent in the preceding
25-year period. Proponents of IT argued
(20) that it takes both time and a critical mass
of investment for IT to yield benefits, and
some suggested that growth figures for
the 1990’s proved these benefits were
finally being realized. They also argued
(25) that measures of productivity ignore what
would have happened without investments
in IT—productivity gains might have been
even lower. There were even claims that
IT had improved the performance of the
(30) service sector significantly, although mac-
roeconomic measures of productivity did
not reflect the improvement.
But some observers questioned why,
if IT had conferred economic value, it did
(35) not produce direct competitive advantages
for individual firms. Resource-based
theory offers an answer, asserting that,
in general, firms gain competitive advan-
tages by accumulating resources that are
(40) economically valuable, relatively scarce,
and not easily replicated. According to
a recent study of retail firms, which con-
firmed that IT has become pervasive
and relatively easy to acquire, IT by
(45) itself appeared to have conferred little
advantage. In fact, though little evidence
of any direct effect was found, the fre-
quent negative correlations between IT
and performance suggested that IT had
(50) probably weakened some firms’ compet-
itive positions. However, firms’ human
resources, in and of themselves, did
explain improved performance, and
some firms gained IT-related advan-
(55) tages by merging IT with complementary
resources, particularly human resources.
The findings support the notion, founded
in resource-based theory, that competi-
tive advantages do not arise from easily
(60) replicated resources, no matter how
impressive or economically valuable
they may be, but from complex, intan-
gible resources.

Q25:
According to the passage, most pre-1990 literature on businesses’ use of IT included which of the following?

A. Recommendations regarding effective ways to use IT to gain competitive advantage
B. Explanations of the advantages and disadvantages of adopting IT
C. Information about ways in which IT combined with human resources could be used to increase competitive advantage
D. A warning regarding the negative effect on competitive advantage that would occur if IT were not adopted
E. A belief in the likelihood of increased competitive advantage for firms using IT


A跟E讓我很困擾

A的Recommendation可能有點過度解讀
E的belief也讓我覺得原文沒有定位點

拜託聰明的大家 幫幫我囉

[micht]

Most pre-1990 literature on busi-
nesses’ use of information technology
(IT)—defined as any form of computer-
Line based information system—focused on
(5) spectacular IT successes and reflected
a general optimism concerning IT’s poten-
tial as a resource for creating competitive
advantage. But toward the end of the
1980’s, some economists spoke of a
(10) “productivity paradox”:




A. [s]Recommendations[/s] regarding [s]effective ways[/s] to use IT to gain competitive advantage
E. A belief in the likelihood of increased competitive advantage for firms using IT

Most pre-1990 literature 描述了 business 用了IT technology後的現象 特別針對用了IT後成功的business...

根據 literature描述的現象　只能判斷　use of IT technology 可能會使business 成功 by increased competitive advantage..

看不出來有recommond的現象...且也沒說 is the effective way?? 沒何其他方法compare怎知 others strategies are not more effective than the use of IT?

請參考看看 :)

[sandyclub]

Most pre-1990 literature on busi-
nesses’ use of information technology
(IT)—defined as any form of computer-
Line based information system—focused on
(5) spectacular IT successes and reflected
a general optimism concerning IT’s poten-
tial as a resource for creating competitive
advantage. But toward the end of the
1980’s, some economists spoke of a
(10) “productivity paradox”:




A. [s]Recommendations[/s] regarding [s]effective ways[/s] to use IT to gain competitive advantage
E. A belief in the likelihood of increased competitive advantage for firms using IT

Most pre-1990 literature 描述了 business 用了IT technology後的現象 特別針對用了IT後成功的business...

根據 literature描述的現象　只能判斷　use of IT technology 可能會使business 成功 by increased competitive advantage..

看不出來有recommond的現象...且也沒說 is the effective way?? 沒何其他方法compare怎知 others strategies are not more effective than the use of IT?

請參考看看 :)

謝妳...金剛...我瞭了

[訪客]

除了micht的解釋外,A的recommandation在本文也不適用
這是一個recommadation嗎?
本文是討論1990之前這個 productiviy parodox,並且指出問題所在
這個問題就是E. A belief in the likelihood of increased competitive advantage for firms using IT

[pcl12]

Q23:
The passage suggests that proponents of resource-based theory would be likely to explain IT’s inability to produce direct competitive advantages for individual firms by pointing out that

A.IT is not a resource that is difficult to obtain
B.IT is not an economically valuable resource
C.IT is a complex, intangible resource
D.economic progress has resulted from IT only in the service sector
E.changes brought about by IT cannot be detected by macroeconomic measures
請問Ｂ也在文中L36-41,為何不能選B呢?

[agk99]

Resource-based
theory offers an answer, asserting that,
in general, firms gain competitive advan-
tages by accumulating resources that are
(40) economically valuable, relatively scarce,
and not easily replicated. According to
a recent study of retail firms, which con-
firmed that IT has become pervasive
and relatively easy to acquire, IT by
(45) itself appeared to have conferred little
advantage.

to pc12:
其實你再仔細看一次，文章說得到競爭優勢的是靠economically valuable, relatively scarce, and not easily replicated，但並沒有說IT就是其中的任何一項(當然是可以間接推)。反觀在42-44行，直接點名IT很容易取得，所以A比B更好

[zackalien]

關於Ｑ２３
請大家注意第一段１９行，由此行開始是PROPONENT的ARGUEMENT
，一直到第一段的最後一行，就是本題的答案。所以應該是E而不是A，請大家參考一下。

[zackalien]

Dear all,
我看錯題目了，所以答案應是A，沒有錯。哈哈!

[raymangg]

這題我認為是E對

題目問的是pre-1990 literature on businesses’ use of IT , 不是問proponents ~~~所以直接定位到第一句話
Most pre-1990 literature on businesses’ use of information technology (IT).....focused on spectacular IT successes and reflected a general optimism concerning IT’s potential as a resource for creating competitive advantage

答案E就是
reflected a general optimism concerning IT’s potential as a resource for creating competitive advantage
的改寫

因為
A belief(這不就是optimism嗎) in the likelihood(IT's potential) of increased competitive advantage for firms using IT

所以選E E對

--
from encarta
optimism : the tendency to believe, expect, or hope that things will turn out well
--