MIS Final

Which of the following statements are true about data marts and data warehouses?

A data warehouse is a set of databases designed to support decision-making in an organization Data marts may aggregate enormous amounts of data from many different operational systems. A data mart is a database focused on addressing the concerns of a specific problem (e.g., increasing customer retention, improving product quality) or business unit (e.g., marketing, engineering).

Which of the following are true about content adjacency?

Advertisers can use negative keywords, which tell networks to avoid showing ads when specific words appear. Ad networks also refine ad-placement software based on feedback from prior incidents

The textbook indicates that Walmart's key source of sustained competitive advantage is scale. Which of the following might best indicate why its data asset is not a key source of competitive advantage?

All of the above

Running analytics against transactional data can bog down a system, because most transactional databases aren't set up to be simultaneously accessed for reporting and analysis

All of the above are true

What is the incentive for a firm to introduce a loyalty card for its customers and for its customers to opt-in and use loyalty cards?

All of the above are true

An "ad network" is a system that links advertisers to websites and other content providers (e.g., app firms, games) that are willing to host advertisements, typically in exchange for payment. Which of the following are true about ad networks?

All of these answers are true

Which of the following statements about interstitial ads and rich media ads are true

All of these answers are true

Why do law enforcement agencies struggle to cope with computer crime

All of these answers are true

Users are faced with so many destinations asking for passwords. Which of the following does not illustrate why it is a bad idea to use variants of existing passwords when registering for new websites?

All of these answers are true.

Which of the following is not a common method used by firms to ensure the integrity of their software, their hardware, their networks, and their partners?

All of these answers are true.

An understanding of database terms and technologies is important even for non-technical managers and staff because

Even if you don't become a database programmer or database administrator (DBA), non-technical managers and staff may have to use a database. You may even be asked to help identify your firm's data requirements. It's quite common for non-tech employees to work on development teams with technical staff, defining business problems, outlining processes, setting requirements, and determining the kinds of data the firm will need to leverage. Understanding a firm's business requirements is important when engaged in data-driven decision making

Cloud computing should generally not be used in some situations, such as where complex legacy systems have to be ported or where there may be regulatory compliance issues

Firms should enter the cloud cautiously, particularly where mission-critical systems are concerned. The cloud works well for handling large batch jobs or limited-time tasks, offloading expensive computing tasks, and cloud-bursting efforts that handle system overflow when an organization needs more capacity. For firms that require very tight amounts of control, for example, where there may be modest regulatory compliance issues, it may be possible to use Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) where the clients can select their own operating systems, development environments, underlying applications like databases, or other software packages (i.e., clients, and not cloud vendors, get to pick the platform). In this case, the cloud firm usually manages the infrastructure (providing hardware and networking).

Search engines use different algorithms for determining the order of organic search results - at Google the method is called PageRank. This is important: on average, 34 percent of clicks go to the top result, about twice the percentage that goes to number two. Which of the following are true about search engines and their ranking results?

Google's PageRank orders organic search results based largely on the number of websites linking to them, and the "weight" of each page as measured by its "influence." Search engine results can be manipulated using legitimate SEO techniques such editing a page's content and HTML associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines

The following statements describe Facebook's competitive advantage in the social media world

If Facebook has a source of competitive advantage, it is via the Social Graph. Facebook's social graph is considered stronger than that of its early competitors and it provides immense advantages in terms of brand and scale The competitive advantage that Facebook enjoys via the Social Graph lies in the data asset that is built up by Facebook users simply using Facebook

Which of the following statements are true about the role that technology and timing play in realizing advantages from the data asset?

If more data brings more accurate modeling, moving early to capture this rare data asset can be the difference between a dominating firm and an also-ran Technology that cannot be easily replicated or imitated will be key in distinguishing operationally effective technology from those efforts that can yield true strategic positioning

Social networks and other Web 2.0 tools are a potential gold mine for crooks seeking to pull off phishing scams. Which of the following is not a specific reason why social media sites are such a threat to information security?

Law enforcement agencies dealing with computer crime are increasingly outnumbered, outskilled, and underfunded

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors may offer their clients several cost-related benefits including

Lower costs by eliminating or reducing software, hardware, maintenance, and staff expenses. Financial risk mitigation since startup costs are low.

How do Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendors (companies that offer SaaS services, such as Amazon Web Services) charge their clients (companies like Salesforce.com) for their services?

Most SaaS firms earn money via a usage-based pricing model akin to a monthly subscription. Others offer free services that are supported by advertising. While others promote the sale of upgraded or premium versions for additional fees.

Why does it take longer, and require more processing power, to analyze sales trends by region and product, as opposed to posting a sales transaction at the point of sale?

Most transactional databases aren't set up to be simultaneously accessed for reporting and analysis. In order to run analytics the data must first be ported to a data warehouse or data mart

Several factors are leading to the new explosion in machine learning now used by organizations and making its way into consumer products.

Production and availability of data The cloud Fast/cheap processing Faster Internet connections Open standards for sharing and collecting data

The following statements describe how competition in services delivered in the browser on desktop computers differ from those delivered via smartphone app.

Smartphone apps can access a user's address book. This makes it easier to rebuild the social graph for a new mobile service Smartphones app can access a phone's media library, and can often plug into cloud storage. This makes it easier to share photos and video than on desktop services

If you were developing a product or service today, would you go 'mobile first,' concentrating on an app as the customer interface rather than a web-based interface?

The app store is always open, and apps are distributed at a fraction of the cost of conventional packaged software, completely cutting out costs associated with printing discs, boxes, and shipping product to retailers. Apps offer richer, more interactive interface options than simple web-based applications

Which of the following statements are true about data

The data a firm can leverage is a true strategic asset and source of competitive advantage when it's rare, valuable, imperfectly imitable, and lacking in substitutes Advantages based on capabilities and data that others can acquire easily will be short-lived

The major new trends in the software industry such as open source software, hardware clouds, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), and virtualization are creating challenges and opportunities across tech markets. All managers, investors, and technology buyers care about these changes and some types of organizations might benefit more from these trends than others

These trends can lower barriers to entry in an industry, by making it easier for startups to launch and smaller firms to leverage the backing of powerful systems and software. Lower entry barriers mean more new entrants and entrepreneurs. Some firms might benefit from lowered costs of buying, managing, and maintaining the physical computing that programs need The organizations that might be threatened by decreased revenue include software developers like Microsoft and Oracle, as well as computer manufactures like IBM and Dell.

Algorithms that learn based on data that includes bias may be biased. Many firms are working on improving ethical and responsible IS development Which one of these is not a factor?

all of the above are true

Enterprise software refers to

applications that address the needs of multiple, simultaneous users in an organization or work group and incorporates industry-standard best practices

Economies of Scale

scale advantage data -cost can be spread across increasing units of production or in serving multiple customers

brand loyalty and a strong brand can lead to

sustained competitive advantage