MIS Chapter 1
8) Which of the following is an example of a business using information systems to create a new product?
Verizon's use of web based digital dashboard to provide real time company information for managers
16) The enormous volume of data generated by Internet activity, such as web traffic, email, and social media is referred to as:
big data
69) There are four major business functions: human resources; manufacturing and production; manufacturing and production; finance and accounting; and information technology. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
25) Internet advertising is growing at approximately 5 percent a year. A) true B) false
false
27) In order to be considered a digital firm, all of the firm's significant business relationships and core business processes must be digitally enabled. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
65) Computers and programs are the only things required to produce the information an organization needs. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
66) Information systems literacy focuses primarily on knowledge of information technology. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
68) Knowledge workers make long-range strategic decisions about products and services. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
71) All business processes are formally documented by an organization. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
75) There is little variation in returns on IT investment across firms. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
78) Data is information that has been shaped into a form that is meaningful to human beings. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
81) Middle managers make long-range strategic decisions about the firm's products and services. A) TRUE B) FALSE
false
7) Which of the following is the key business metric behind the technologies implemented by Kroger, as discussed in the chapter-opening case?
higher customer satisfaction levels
97) Psychologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:
how human decision makers perceive and use formal info
96) Sociologists study information systems with an eye to understanding:
how systems affect individuals, groups and organizations
56) Which main business function is responsible for maintaining employee records?
human resorces
20) All of the following describe the effects of globalization except:
increases in transaction costs
42) 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
32) The three activities in an information system that produce the information organizations use to control operations are:
input, processing, output
55) Personnel who design new products or services for a firm belong to which level of a business hierarchy?
knowledge workers
62) 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
36) Converting raw data into a more meaningful form is called:
processing
52) Which of the following roles in a firm would be least affected by using mobile devices to access firm information systems?
production workers
33) RFID sensor-generated data on stored food items such as storage location is an example of:
raw output
44) All of the following are examples of environmental actors in an information system except:
sales force
38) In a hierarchical organization, the upper level consists of:
senior management
54) The three principal levels within a business organization hierarchy are:
senior, middel, operational
49) 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
40) Data management technology consists of which of the following?
software governing the organization of data on physical storage media
18) Thomas Friedman's description of the world as "flat" refers to:
the flattening of economic and cultural advantages of developed countries
45) 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
60) 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
35) Output:
transfers processed info to the people who will use it or to the activities which it will be used
64) Information technology (IT) consists of all hardware and software that a firm needs to use in order to achieve its business objectives. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
74) 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 is an information systems solution used to achieve customer intimacy. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
79) Feedback is output returned to appropriate members of the organization to help them evaluate or correct the input stage. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
26) Creating a marketing plan is an example of a business process. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
67) The three main dimensions of information systems are management, organizations, and information technology. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
70) 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. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
72) Creative work driven by new knowledge and information is a significant part of management responsibility. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
76) Laws and regulations creating fair, stable market environments are examples of complementary social assets required to optimize returns from IT investments. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
77) A firm that invests in a strong IS development team is making an investment in organizational complementary assets. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
80) The key elements of an organization are its structure, business processes, politics, culture, and people. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
82) Detailed, programmed instructions that control computer hardware components in an information system are known as computer software. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
98) The behavioral approach to information systems focuses on analyzing the psychological, social, and economic impacts of systems rather than the technical aspects. A) TRUE B) FALSE
true
50) Which of the following is an example of an organizational complementary asset?
using the appropriate business model
3) Which of the following 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&3
23) Approximately how many Americans access the Internet using a smartphone or tablet?
194 million
19) In 2015, what percent of the U.S. economy resulted from foreign trade?
30%
21) How many service jobs move offshore to lower-wage countries in a typical year?
300,000
87) Define business process. What might be a business process used at a hospital? Short Answer:
A business process is a set of logically related tasks and behaviors for accomplishing work. Hiring a new employee, customer intake, and filing medical records are examples of business processes at a hospital.
61) Which of the following is a private corporate network extended to authorized users outside the organization?
An extranet
90) How does a company's use of information systems affect its corporate strategies? Provide an example. Short Answer:
A firm's ability to effectively use information technology is interdependent with its ability to implement corporate strategies and achieve corporate goals. More and more, the ability to compete and succeed depends on a company's ability to implement technology. What a business would like to do in the future can depends on what its systems will be able to do. Examples of this might be a company who invests in information systems that enable it to create new products or to make its distribution system more efficient, allowing the company to become the low-cost producer.
10) How much did American businesses spend on information systems hardware, software, and telecommunications equipment in 2015?
About $1 trillion
12) Approximately what percent of U.S. businesses have some form of remote work program?
About 60%
89) You work at the business headquarters for a chain of movie theaters. Describe this firm's information value chain. Short Answer:
An information value chain adds value to data at various stages, transforming it into valuable data. At a chain of movie theaters, data would be gathered from ticket sales and concession sales. Information systems would help transform this into meaningful information, such as determining the types of movies popular in certain regions, times and days of the week that people most often saw movies, what snacks were the most popular. This information would be valuable in making decisions, such as offering ticket discounts during less popular time slots and offering more popular snack items. Further feedback based on the results of these decisions could determine whether these decisions were effective.
46) Which of the following would not be a complementary asset for a solar panel manufacturer?
Centralized hierarchical decision making
93) What are complementary assets and how does investment in them impact returns on technology investments? Short Answer:
Complementary assets are those assets required to derive value from a primary investment. Research indicates that firms that support their technology investments with investments in complementary assets, such as new business models, new business processes, management behavior, organizational culture, or training, receive superior returns, whereas those firms failing to make these complementary investments receive less or no returns on their information technology investments.
5) The Mandarin Oriental's use of computer systems to keep track of guests' preferences is an example of which of the following?
Customer intimacy
53) Which of the following would not be used as an input for an information system?
Digital dashboard
43) Maintaining the organization's financial records is a central purpose of which main business function?
Finance and accounting
17) Which of the following is not one of the current changes taking place in information systems technology?
Growth in the PC platform
91) Why is the building of a house an appropriate analogy for the building of an information system? Short Answer:
Houses are built with hammers, nails, and wood, but these alone do not make a house. The architecture, design, setting, landscaping, and all of the decisions that lead to the creation of these features are part of the house and are crucial for solving the problem of putting a roof over one's head. Computers and programs are the hammer, nails, and lumber of computer-based information systems, but alone they cannot produce the information a particular organization needs. To understand information systems, you must understand the problems they are designed to solve, their architectural and design elements, and the organizational processes that lead to these solutions.
1) Which of the following is not one of the six strategic business objectives of information systems?
Improved employee morale
22) Which of the following statements is not true?
In 2015, American business spent $500 billion on business and management consulting and information technology services
85) What is the difference between information technology and information systems? Describe some of the functions of information systems. Short Answer:
Information technology (IT) consists of all the hardware and software that a firm needs to use to achieve its business objectives. Information systems are more complex. An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect (or retrieve), process, store, and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. An information system: - Supports decision making, coordination, and control. - Helps employees analyze problems. - Helps employees visualize complex subjects. - Helps create new products.
41) 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
63) Which field of study focuses on both a behavioral and technical understanding of information systems?
Management information systems
2) 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
24) Which of the following statements is not true?
Most PCs manufactured in China use micro compressor chips manufactured in Korea
86) You are a marketing manager for a national movie theater chain. Give an example of data that your department could use for creating meaningful information. What type of information could that data produce? Short Answer:
Movie ticket sales from individual theaters would be an example of raw data. Meaningful information from this would be: average number of tickets sold to seniors on certain days of the week.
83) Define operational excellence. How can information systems help achieve it? Short Answer:
Operational excellence is the achievement of higher levels of productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Information systems can help achieve operational excellence by improving communications to suppliers and optimizing the supply chain. Information systems could help managers communicate with workers more efficiently, enable technological innovation in products, minimize warehouse overhead, and streamline distribution.
99) Describe the sociotechnical view of management information systems. Short Answer:
Optimizing both the social and technical systems in production is when optimal organizational performance is achieved
88) This chapter discusses how each organization has its own culture and sets of values shared by most of its members. What kind of shared values might you find at a law firm? Short Answer:
Shared values at a law firm might be: The legal system works, the legal system is fair, lawyers help people, and people need help with the legal system because it is complicated.
100) Which academic disciplines contribute to the behavioral approach to information systems? Short Answer:
Sociologists, Psychologists, and Economists
4) 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
15) 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
58) Which of the following constitutes a managerial element in the UPS tracking system described in the chapter?
The decision to use automation
59) Which of the following is a global network that uses universal standards to connect millions of different networks around the world?
The internet
31) What are the main changes taking place in organizational use of information systems? Which of these do you think is having the greatest impact on businesses? Short Answer:
The main organizational changes taking place are: 1. businesses using social networking platforms to deepen interactions with employees, customers, and suppliers, 2. telework gaining momentum in the workplace, with growing numbers of people working away from a traditional office, and 3. co-creation of business value, with the sources of business value shifting from products to solutions and experiences and from internal sources to networks of suppliers and collaboration with customers. The increase in collaboration is having the greatest impact, as customers are essentially gaining greater control in determining the end product, businesses who are flexible enough to listen to and respond to customer demand will be more successful.
92) What is the single most important theme of the book? Short Answer:
The single most important theme of the book is that managers need to consider the broader organization and management dimensions of information systems to understand current problems as well as to derive substantial above-average returns from information technology investments.
57) 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 info
14) Which of the following statements about digital firms is not true?
Today, most firms are fully digital
28) A business model describes how a company produces, delivers, and sells a product or service to create wealth. A) TRUE B) FALSE
True
29) Private business investment in information technology constituted 37 percent of all invested capital in 2015. A) TRUE B) FALSE
True
73) Intranets link different systems and networks within a firm.
True
30) You are starting a small bike messenger company. Given your type of services (hand-delivering packages within a small geographical area), could your firm be a digital firm? If so, what would make this a digital firm? Short Answer:
Yes, the firm could be a digital firm. As long as most of its relationships with customers, employees, and suppliers are digitally enabled. For example, the company can use cell phones and information systems to order and organize deliveries and to connect and direct employees to track the deliveries.
84) You work for an auto manufacturer and distributor. How could you use information systems to achieve greater customer intimacy? Short Answer:
You could create a website that allows customers to customize cars, communicate with support personnel and other car owners. You could create an automated e-mail service reminding car owners to take their car in for periodic checkups. You could have an information system that tracks customer preferences in local areas, so you can provide cars that reflect local customer needs and desires.
48) In ________, raw data is systematically acquired and transformed during various stages that add value to that information.
an information value chain
13) All of the following are new technology-related trends in MIS except:
co-creation of business value
39) 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
34) The total number of food items with storage temperatures problems is an example of which of the following?
meaningful information
37) Which of the following is an example of raw data from an automobile manufacturer?
one subaru outback sold July 27, 2016 in Mohegan lake New York for $24,000
9) 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
11) 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
47) In a business hierarchy, which of the following levels is responsible for monitoring the daily activities of the business?
operational management
95) Which of the following disciplines focuses on mathematical techniques for optimizing parameters of organizations, such as transportation and inventory control?
operational research
94) Disciplines that contribute to the technical approach to information systems include:
operations research, management science and computer science
6) Competitors were seeking which of the following business objectives when they rushed to provide ATMs after Citibank introduced the first ATMs in New York?
survival
51) Which of the following is an example of a social complementary asset?
technology and service firms in adjacent markets
