IS Chapter 1 Notecards

Journalist Thomas Friedman's description of the world as "flat" referred to: A) the flattening of economic and cultural advantages of developed countries. B) the use of the Internet and technology for instantaneous communication. C) the reduction in travel times and the ubiquity of global exchange and travel. D) the growth of globalization

A. The flattening of economic and cultural advantages of developed countries.

An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support: A) decision making and control in an organization. B) communications and data flow. C) managers analyzing the organization's raw data. D) the creation of new products and services.

A. decision making and control in an organization.

The use of information systems because of necessity describes the business objective of: A) survival. B) improved business practices. C) competitive advantage. D) improved flexibility.

A. survival

As discussed in the chapter opening case, the Giants' new ticketing information systems is an effort to achieve which of the primary business objectives? A) Customer and supplier intimacy B) Improved decision making C) Operational excellence D) New products and services

B. Improved decision making

The six important business objectives of information system investment include all of the following except: A) competitive advantage. B) employee morale. C) improved decision making. D) survival.

B. employee morale

All of the following choices describe ways for a company to achieve a competitive advantage, except: A) producing a superior product and charging less than competitors. B) implementing information systems to support better management decision making. C) garnering more sales and profits than your competitors. D) using information systems to create new and popular products that your competitors cannot duplicate.

B. implementing information systems to support better management 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: A) improved flexibility. B) improved decision making. C) improved efficiency. D) customer and supplier intimacy.

B. improved decision making

The three activities in an information system that produce the information organizations use to control operations are: A) information retrieval, research, and analysis. B) input, output, and feedback. C) input, processing, and output. D) data analysis, processing, and feedback.

C. input, processing, and output.

The move of retail banking to use ATMs after Citibank unveiled its first ATMs illustrates the information system business objective of: A) improved efficiency. B) customer and supplier intimacy. C) survival. D) competitive advantage.

C. survival

All of the following describe the effects of globalization except: A) significant decreases in operating costs. B) reduction of labor costs through outsourcing. C) ability to find low-cost suppliers. D) increases in transaction costs.

D. increases in transaction costs.

A network requires at least three computers and a shared resource.

False

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

False

IT managerial jobs are outsourced easily because of the universal standards used by the Internet.

False

Information systems consists of all the hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives.

False

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

False

Political conflict is an example of the people dimension of business problems.

False

There are two types of outsourcing: offshore outsourcing and foreign outsourcing.

False

Whereas marketing and financial careers have been transformed by the growth in information systems, management has-so far-remained relatively unaffected.

False

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

True

An IT infrastructure provides the platform on which the firm can build its information systems.

True

An extranet is a private intranet extended to authorized users outside the organization.

True

An understanding of enterprise-wide systems for customer relationship management is one of the skills relevant to careers in marketing.

True

As a result of new public laws, accountants are beginning to perform more technical duties, such as auditing systems and networks.

True

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

True

Employee attitudes about their jobs, employers, or technology can have a powerful effect on their abilities to use information systems productively.

True

Identifying a problem includes agreeing that a problem exists.

True

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

True

Purchase of information systems and telecommunications equipment constituted more than half of all capital investment in the United States in 2013.

True

The dimensions of information systems are people, 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