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614 Glossary

multinational Form of business organization that concentrates operational management People who monitor the day-to-day
financial management and control out of a central home base activities of the organization.
while decentralizing opt-in Model of informed consent permitting prohibiting an
multitiered (N-tier) client/server architecture Client/server organization from collecting any personal information unless the
network which the work of the entire network is balanced over individual specifically takes action to approve information
several different levels of servers. collection and use.
multitouch Interface that features the use of one or more finger opt-out Model of informed consent permitting the collection of
gestures to manipulate lists or objects on a screen without personal information until the consumer specifically requests
using a mouse or keyboard. that the data not be collected.
organization (behavioral definition) A collection of rights,
nanotechnology Technology that builds structures and processes privileges, obligations, and responsibilities that are delicately
based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules. balanced over a period of time through conflict and conflict
net marketplace A single digital marketplace based on Internet resolution.
technology linking many buyers to many sellers. organization (technical definition) A stable, formal, social
network The linking of two or more computers to share data or structure that takes resources from the environment and
resources, such as a printer. processes them to produce outputs.
network economics Model of strategic systems at the industry organizational and management capital Investments in
level based on the concept of a network where adding another organization and management such as new business processes,
participant entails zero marginal costs but can create much larger management behavior, organizational culture, or training.
marginal gains. organizational impact analysis Study of the way a proposed
network operating system (NOS) Special software that routes system will affect organizational structure, attitudes, decision
and manages communications on the network and coordinates making, and operations.
network resources. organizational learning Creation of new standard operating
networking and telecommunications technology Physical procedures and business processes that reflect organizations’
devices and software that link various computer hardware experience.
components and transfer data from one physical location to output The distribution of processed information to the people who
another. will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.
neural network Hardware or software that attempts to emulate the outsourcing The practice of contracting computer center
processing patterns of the biological brain. operations, telecommunications networks, or applications
non-relational database management system Database development to external vendors.
management system for working with large quantities of
structured and unstructured data that would be difficult to packet switching Technology that breaks messages into small,
analyze with a relational model. fixed bundles of data and routes them in the most economical
nonobvious relationship awareness (NORA) Technology that way through any available communications channel..
can find obscure hidden connections between people or other paradigm shift Radical reconceptualization of the nature of the
entities by analyzing information from many different sources to business and the nature of the organization.
correlate relationships. parallel strategy A safe and conservative conversion approach
normalization The process of creating small stable data structures where both the old system and its potential replacement are run
from complex groups of data when designing a relational together for a time until everyone is assured that the new one
database. functions correctly.
particularism Making judgments and taking action on the basis of
object Software building block that combines data and the narrow or personal characteristics, in all its forms (religious,
procedures acting on the data. nationalistic, ethnic, regionalism, geopolitical position).
object-oriented development Approach to systems development partner relationship management (PRM) Automation of the
that uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and firm’s relationships with its selling partners using customer data
design. The system is modeled as a collection o objects and the and analytical tools to improve coordination and customer sales.
relationship between them. password Secret word or string of characters for authenticating
offshore outsourcing Outsourcing systems development work or users so they can access a resource such as a computer
maintenance of existing systems to external vendors in another system.
country. patch Small pieces of software to repair the software flaws without
on-demand computing Firms off-loading peak demand for disturbing the proper operation of the software.
computing power to remote, large-scale data processing centers, patent A legal document that grants the owner an exclusive
investing just enough to handle average processing loads and monopoly on the ideas behind an invention for 17 years;
paying for only as much additional computing power as the designed to ensure that inventors of new machines or methods
market demands. Also called utility computing. are rewarded for their labor while making widespread use of their
on-line analytical processing (OLAP) Capability for inventions.
manipulating and analyzing large volumes of data from multiple peer-to-peer Network architecture that gives equal power to all
perspectives. computers on the network; used primarily in small networks.
online transaction processing Transaction processing mode in personal area network (PAN) Computer network used for
which transactions entered on-line are immediately processed by communication among digital devices (including telephones and
the computer. PDAs) that are close to one person.
open-source software Software that provides free access to its personalization Ability of merchants to target marketing messages
program code, allowing users to modify the program code to to specific individuals by adjusting the message for a person’s
make improvements or fix errors. name, interests, and past purchases.
operating system Software that manages the resources and PERT chart Network diagram depicting project tasks and their
activities of the computer. interrelationships.
operational CRM Customer-facing applications, such as sales force pharming Phishing technique that redirects users to a bogus Web
automation, call center and customer service support, and page, even when an individual enters the correct Web page
marketing automation. address.

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