Information Systems Midterm Study Guide
Which of the following may lead to competitive advantage? 1. New products, services, and business model 2. Charging less for superior products 3. Responding to customers in real time
1, 2 and 3
Approximately how many Americans access the Internet using a smartphone or tablet?
230 million
In 2017, what percent of the U.S. economy resulted from foreign trade?
30 percent
How many service jobs move offshore to lower-wage countries in a typical year?
300,000
How much did American businesses spend on information systems hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment in 2017?
About $1 trillion
Approximately how much revenue was generated by e-commerce in 2017?
About $700 billion
Which of the following is a private corporate network extended to authorized users outside the organization?
An extranet
Which of the following would not be a complementary asset for a solar panel manufacturer?
Centralized hierarchical decision making
Which of the following is an example of an organizational complementary asset?
Choosing the appropriate business model
Which of the following is not one of the IT innovations changing the world of business today?
Cloud computing
The Mandarin Oriental's use of computer systems to keep track of guests' preferences is an example of which of the following?
Customer intimacy
Non-typical business problems with causes and effects that are rapidly changing are typically handled by which of the following types of information system?
DSS
Maintaining the organization's financial records is a central purpose of which main business function?
Finance and accounting
Which of the following is an example of a cross-functional business process?
Fulfilling a customer order
Which of the following is not one of the current changes taking place in information systems technology?
Growth in the PC platform
Which main business function is responsible for maintaining employee records?
Human resources
Which of the following is not one of the six strategic business objectives of information systems?
Improved community relations
Which of the following statements is not true?
In 2017, American businesses spent $500 billion on business and management consulting and information technology services.
Which of the following statements best describes organizational culture?
It is a fundamental set of assumptions, values, and ways of doing things that has been accepted by most members of the organization.
Personnel who design new products or services for a firm belong to which level of a business hierarchy?
Knowledge workers
A relocation control system that reports summaries on the total moving, house hunting, and home financing costs for employees in all company divisions falls into which of the following categories?
MIS
If sales of your products declined in a specific region of the country, which of the following types of system would best help you understand why?
MIS
Which of the following would you use in order to determine which of your suppliers has the best and worst records for meeting your production schedules?
MIS
Which field of study focuses on both a behavioral and technical understanding of information systems?
Management information systems
Which of the following deals with behavioral issues as well as technical issues surrounding the development, use, and impact of information systems used by managers and employees in the firm?
Management information systems
Verizon's use of a web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with precise real-time information enabled it to improve which of the following?
Managerial decision making
Producing a bill of materials is a business process in which of the following functional areas?
Manufacturing and production
The total number of food items with storage temperature problems is an example of which of the following?
Meaningful information
Which of the following statements is not true?
Most PCs manufactured in China use microprocessor chips manufactured in Korea.
Which of the following is an example of raw data from an automobile manufacturer?
One Subaru Outback sold July 27, 20176 in Mohegan Lake, New York for $24,000
Walmart exemplifies the power of information systems coupled with state-of-the-art business practices and supportive management to achieve which of the following?
Operational efficiency
To make sure they stock clothes that their customers will purchase, a department store implements a new application that analyzes spending levels at their stores and cross-references this data to popular clothing styles. Which of the following business objectives is this information intended to support?
Operational excellence
In a business hierarchy, which of the following levels is responsible for monitoring the daily activities of the business?
Operational management
Which of the following disciplines focuses on mathematical techniques for optimizing parameters of organizations, such as transportation and inventory control?
Operations research
Which of the following would be used as an input for an information system?
Product ID, and price
Which of the following roles in a firm would be least affected by using mobile devices to access firm information systems?
Production workers
Which of the following constitutes a managerial element in the UPS tracking system described in the chapter?
Providing package status reports to customers
Which of the following is the key business objective behind the technologies implemented by PCL Construction, as discussed in the chapter-opening case?
Reduced delays in document management
Data management technology consists of which of the following?
Software governing the organization of data on physical storage media
A firm that invests in an information system because it is a necessity of doing business does so because it is seeking to achieve which of the following business objectives?
Survival
A firm that must invest in new information systems capabilities in order to comply with federal legislation is investing to achieve which business objective?
Survival
A(n) ________ is typically a major source of data for other systems.
TPS
To monitor the status of internal operations and the firm's relations with the external environment, managers need which of the following types of system?
TPS
You have been hired by a non-profit organization to implement a system to handle donations. The system must be able to handle and record telephone, text, and Internet donations, provide up-to-the-minute reports, and create highly customizable mailing lists. In addition, event fundraisers need to be able to quickly access a donor's information and history. Which of the following systems will best meet these needs?
TPS with MIS capabilities
Which of the following is an example of a social complementary asset?
Technology and service firms in adjacent markets
Which of the following is a global network that uses universal standards to connect millions of different networks around the world?
The Internet
Which of the following is an example of a business using information systems to improve customer and supplier intimacy?
The Mandarin Oriental's use of computers to keep track of guest preferences
Which of the following is a service provided by the Internet that uses universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a page format?
The World Wide Web
Which of the following constitutes an organizational element in the UPS tracking system described in the chapter?
The specification of procedures for identifying packages with sender and recipient information
Which of the following best describes the primary reason for implementing a new information system, from a business perspective?
The system will create new value for the firm, beyond its costs.
Which of the following statements about digital firms is not true?
Today, most firms are fully digital.
In ________, raw data is systematically acquired and transformed during various stages that add value to that information.
an information value chain
All of the following are new technology-related trends in MIS except:
co-creation of business value.
The fundamental set of assumptions, values, and ways of doing things that has been accepted by most of a company's members is called its:
culture
All business processes are formally documented by an organization.
false
Computers and programs are the only things required to produce the information an organization needs.
false
Creating a marketing plan is not an example of a business process.
false
Data is information that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful to human beings.
false
In order to be considered a digital firm, all of the firm's significant business relationships and core business processes must be digitally enabled.
false
Information systems literacy focuses primarily on knowledge of information technology.
false
Internet advertising is growing at approximately 5 percent a year.
false
Knowledge workers make long-range strategic decisions about products and services.
false
Middle managers make long-range strategic decisions about the firm's products and services.
false
Private business investment in information technology constituted 55 percent of all invested capital in 2017.
false
There are four major business functions: human resources; manufacturing and production; finance and accounting; and information technology.
false
There is little variation in returns on IT investment across firms.
false
The Toxic Substances Control Act requires firms to retain records of employee exposure to toxic chemicals:
for 30 years.
Psychologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:
how human decision makers perceive and use formal information.
Sociologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:
how systems affect individuals, groups, and organizations.
All of the following describe the effects of globalization except:
increases in transaction costs.
Networking and telecommunications technologies, along with computer hardware, software, data management technology, and the people required to run and manage them, constitute an organization's:
information technology (IT) infrastructure.
The three activities in an information system that produce the information organizations use to control operations are:
input, processing, and output.
Data collected at checkout counters in a grocery store is an example of:
input.
Output:
is the result of processing raw input data into meaningful information.
Order fulfillment involves all of the following business processes except:
making customers aware of the product.
A corporation that funds an employee training program to build computer skills could be seen as investing in which main category of complementary assets?
managerial
The term management information systems refers to a specific category of information systems serving:
middle management functions.
Disciplines that contribute to the technical approach to information systems include:
operations research, management science, and computer science.
Converting raw data into a more meaningful form is called:
processing.
The ________ function is responsible for making sure customers are aware of the company's products.
sales and marketing
All of the following are examples of environmental actors in an information system except:
sales force
In a hierarchical organization, the upper level consists of:
senior management
The three principal levels within a business organization hierarchy are:
senior management, middle management, and operational management.
According to the chapter case, Sanofi Pasteur is using Microsoft Yammer for all of the following reasons except:
strengthen management controls over employees
Thomas Friedman's description of the world as "flat" refers to:
the flattening of economic and cultural advantages of developed countries.
A business model describes how a company produces, delivers, and sells a product or service to create wealth.
true
A firm that invests in a strong IS development team is making an investment in organizational complementary assets.
true
Creative work driven by new knowledge and information is a significant part of management responsibility.
true
Detailed, programmed instructions that control computer hardware components in an information system are known as computer software.
true
Feedback is output returned to appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage.
true
Identifying customers is a business process handled by the marketing function.
true
Information technology (IT) consists of all hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives.
true
Intranets link different systems and networks within a firm.
true
Laws and regulations creating fair, stable market environments are examples of complementary social assets required to optimize returns from IT investments.
true
One example of a business process is shipping a product to a customer.
true
The behavioral approach to information systems focuses on analyzing the psychological, social, and economic impacts of systems rather than the technical aspects.
true
The key elements of an organization are its structure, business processes, politics, culture, and people.
true
The three main dimensions of information systems are management, organizations, and information technology.
true
UPS's use of web-based tools that allow customers to embed UPS functions such as tracking and cost calculations into their own website is an information systems solution used to achieve customer intimacy.
true
You need to know something about the hierarchy and culture of the company in order to understand how a specific business firm uses information systems.
true
