AIS Chapter 1

Engineers, scientists, or architects, who design new products or services for a firm, belong to which level of a business hierarchy?

knowledge workers

Which field of study focuses on both a behavioral and technical understanding of information systems?

management information systems

The field that 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 is called

management information systems.

In a hierarchical organization, the upper levels consist of

managerial, professional, and technical employees.

The average number of tickets sold daily online is an example of

meaningful information.

In a business hierarchy, the level that is responsible for monitoring the daily activities of the business is

operational management.

Disciplines that contribute to the technical approach to information systems are

operations research, management science, and computer science.

The discipline that focuses on mathematical techniques for optimizing parameters of organizations, such as transportation and inventory control, is

operations research.

Converting raw data into a more meaningful form is called

processing.

Which of the following roles in a firm would be least affected by using mobile devices to access firm information systems?

production workers

Order data for baseball tickets and bar code data are examples of

raw input.

Which of the following is not one of the primary environmental actors that interacts with an organization and its information systems?

sales force

The three principle levels within a business organization hierarchy are

senior management, middle management, and operational management.

A corporation that funds a political action committee, which in turn promotes and funds a political candidate who agrees with the values of that corporation, could be seen as investing in which main category of complementary assets?

social

In a(n) ________ perspective, the performance of a system is optimized when both the technology and the organization mutually adjust to one another until a satisfactory fit is obtained.

sociotechnical

Computer ________ consists of the detailed, preprogrammed instructions that control and coordinate the computer hardware components in an information system.

software

Data management technology consists of the

software governing the organization of data on physical storage media.

A firm that must invest in new information systems capabilities in order to comply with federal legislation can be said to be investing to achieve which business objective?

survival

The move of retail banking to use ATMs after Citibank unveiled its first ATMs illustrates the use of information systems to achieve which business objective?

survival

The temp agency that you own is having serious difficulties placing temps because few of them are familiar with Internet research. Investing in training software to enhance your workers' skills is an example of using technology to achieve which business objective?

survival

The use of information systems because of necessity describes the business objective of

survival.

An example of a social complementary asset is

technology and service firms in adjacent markets

Thomas Friedman's declaration that the world was now "flat" meant that

the Internet has reduced the economic advantages of developed countries.

An example of a business using information systems for customer and supplier intimacy is

the Mandarin Oriental hotel's customer-preference tracking system.

A managerial element in the UPS tracking system described in the chapter is

the decision to use automation.

From a business perspective, raw data is transformed systematically during various stages, transforming it into valuable information, in a process called

the information value chain.

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

Output

transfers processed information to the people who will use it or to the activities for which it will be used.

An example of an organizational complementary asset is

using the appropriate business model.

An example of raw data from a national chain of automobile stores would be

1 Toyota RAV4 sold March 3, 2008 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Which of the following choices may lead to competitive advantage: 1. new products, services, and business models; 2. charging less for superior products; 3. responding to customers in real time?

1, 2, and 3

________ is a global network that uses universal standards to connect millions of different networks around the world.

The Internet

There are four major business functions: sales and marketing; manufacturing and production; finance and accounting; and information technology.

False

________ is output returned to appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage.

Feedback

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

IT infrastructure.

________ is data that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful to human beings. Answer: Information

Information

Organizational culture is best described by which of the following statements?

It is a set of assumptions and values accepted by most members.

________ makes long-range strategic decisions about the firm's products and services.

Senior management

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.

A business model describes how a company produces, delivers, and sells a product or service to create wealth.

True

A firm that invests in efficient business processes is making an investment in organizational complementary assets.

True

A substantial part of management responsibility is creative work driven by new knowledge and information.

True

Computers are only part of an information system.

True

Developing a new product, fulfilling an order, and hiring a new employee are examples of business processes.

True

Government and private sector standards are examples of complementary social assets required to optimize returns from IT investments.

True

In order to understand how a specific business firm uses information systems, you need to know something about the hierarchy and culture of the company.

True

Information systems literacy describes the behavioral approach to information systems, whereas computer literacy describes the technical approach.

True

Internet advertising is growing at approximately 10 percent a year.

True

Investment in IT is over 50% of all invested capital.

True

The behavioral approach to information systems leaves aside technical solutions to instead analyze the psychological, social, and economic impacts of systems.

True

The 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 Web sites was an information systems solution used to achieve customer intimacy.

True

An example of a business using information systems to attain operational excellence is

Wal-Mart's RetailLink system.

The ________ is a service provided by the Internet that uses universally accepted standards for storing, retrieving, formatting, and displaying information in a page format.

World Wide Web/Web/WWW

All of the following are advantages, for a firm, of cloud computing except

ability to improve communication.

Apple Computer dominates the online legal music sales industry primarily because of a failure of recording label companies to

adopt a new business model.

The key elements of an organization are its people, structure, business processes, politics, and ________.

culture

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.

Which of the following objectives best describes the business strategy behind the technologies implemented in Disney's Operational Command Center, as discussed in the chapter case?

customer support

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.

Which main business function is responsible for maintaining employee records?

human resources

The six important business objectives of information technology are new products, services, and business models; customer and supplier intimacy; survival; competitive advantage; operational excellence; and

improved decision making.

Verizon's implementation of a Web-based digital dashboard to provide managers with real-time information such as customer complaints is an example of

improved decision making.

The three activities in an information system that produce the information organizations use to control operations are

input, processing, and output.

Which of the following are key corporate assets?

intellectual property, core competencies, and financial and human assets

An example of a business using information systems to create new products and services is

Apple Inc.'s iPod.

________ are private corporate networks extended to authorized users outside the organization.

Extranets

A fully digital firm produces only digital goods or services.

False

Business processes are logically related tasks for accomplishing tasks that have been formally encoded by an organization.

False

Information technology (IT) consists of all the hardware that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives, whereas information systems consist of all the software and business processes needed.

False

Intranets allow firms to work easily with third-party suppliers and vendors.

False

Knowledge workers assist with paperwork at all levels of the firm.

False

Studies have consistently shown that firms that invest greater amounts in information technology receive greater benefits than firms that invest less.

False

The enormous volume of data generated by Internet activity, such as Web traffic and e-mail, is referred to as ________.

big data

Which of the following would not be a complementary asset for a solar panel manufacturer?

centralized hierarchical decision making

Dell Computer's use of information systems to improve efficiency and implement "mass customization" techniques to maintain consistent profitability and an industry lead illustrates which business objective?

competitive advantage

Which of the following is not one of the current changes taking place in information systems technology?

development of video presence software

Which of the following would not be used as an input for an information system?

digital dashboard

Maintaining the organization's financial records is a central purpose of which main business function?

finance and accounting