MIS2

83) Your aunt has asked you for your suggestions to make her business, a local sandwich shop, more efficient. Describe at least three types of business processes that a sandwich shop has. Can any be better coordinated through the use of information systems?

Answer: The business processes of a sandwich shop would include: Taking orders, making sandwiches, selling to the customer, ordering supplies, opening the store, closing the store, cleaning the store, paying employees, hiring employees, paying creditors and vendors, creating financial statements, paying taxes, managing cash. Many of these processes could be helped by better information systems, specifically those that require recorded data, such as any financial processes (payments, cash management, taxes, salaries) and information gathered from and distributed to employees.

An example of a collaboration tool that supports colocated, asynchronous collaboration is A) a team room. B) e-mail. C) a MUD. D) a wall display.

a

Enabling management to make better decisions regarding organizing and scheduling sourcing, production, and distribution is a central feature of A) SCMs. B) TPSs. C) KMSs. D) ERPs.

a

The CPO is responsible for A) ensuring that the company complies with existing data privacy laws. B) making better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes. C) enforcing the firm's information security policy. D) overseeing the use of information technology in the firm.

a

Which of the following types of collaboration tools allows you to communicate with avatars using text messaging? A) virtual worlds B) screen sharing C) collaborative writing D) large audience Webinars

a

________ systems are designed to help firms manage their relationships with their customers. A) CRM B) MIS C) CLE D) CLU

a

all of the following statements regarding Lotus Notes are true except which one? A) It began as an e-mail and messaging client. B) It is a widely used collaboration tool at larger firms. C) It provides capabilities for wikis and microblogging. D) It provides tools for full version control of all company documentation.

a

A(n) ________ system collects data from various key business processes and stores the data in a single, comprehensive data repository, usable by other parts of the business. A) transaction B) enterprise C) automatic reporting D) management information

b

Which type of system would you use to determine what trends in your supplier's industry will affect your firm the most in five years? A) ESS B) TPS C) MIS D) DSS

A

What is the connection between organizations, information systems, and business processes?

Answer: Business processes refer to the manner in which work activities are organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a specific business result. They also represent unique ways in which organizations coordinate work, information, and knowledge and the ways in which management chooses to coordinate work. Managers need to pay attention to business processes because they determine how well the organization can execute, and thus are a potential source for strategic success or failures. Although each of the major business functions has its own set of business processes, many other business processes are cross functional. Information systems can help organizations achieve great efficiencies by automating parts of these processes or by helping organizations rethink and streamline them. Firms can become more flexible and efficient by coordinating and integrating their business processes to improve management of resources and customer service.

88) You have been hired to work with 10 salespeople from different branches of a national business in creating an online training site for new sales employees. Identify six collaboration tools that are available to help the team work together. Which single tool would be the most helpful for the project, in your opinion, and why?

Answer: Collaboration tools include e-mail and instant messaging; social networking; wikis; virtual worlds, collaboration platforms such as virtual meeting systems, Google Apps/Google Sites. The most helpful of these might be a collaboration platform because it would enable people to have discussions, calendars, conferences, and share documents.

82) What are cross-functional business processes? Give an example.

Answer: Cross-functional processes are those that require input, cooperation, or coordination between the major business functions in an organization. For instance, when a salesman takes an order, the major business functions of planning, production, inventory control, shipping, accounting, and customer relations will all be involved before the order is completed.

87) Describe at least two benefits of using enterprise systems.

Answer: Enterprise systems integrate the firm's key business processes in sales, production, finance, logistics, and human resources into a single software system so that information can flow throughout the organization, improving coordination, efficiency, and decision making. These systems help create a more uniform organization in which everyone uses similar processes and information, and measures their work in terms of organization-wide performance standards. The coordination of the firm's key business processes allows the firm to respond more rapidly to customer demands

Enterprise systems are also known as ________ systems. A) resource planning B) enterprise resource planning C) enterprise support D) management information

B

What is the most important function of an enterprise application? A) increasing speed of communicating B) enabling business functions and departments to share information C) enabling a company to work collaboratively with customers and suppliers D) enabling cost-effective e-business processes

B

You work for a highly successful advertiser that is just about to expand nationally. Of utmost importance will be finding a way to store and disseminate their clients' continually updated branding guides, which include multiple image files and text documents, to all of the firm's branches. What system will best serve these needs? A) an intranet with KMS capabilities B) an extranet with KMS capabilities C) a TPS with KMS capabilities D) a CRM

b

________ systems integrate supplier, manufacturer, distributor, and customer logistics processes. A) Collaborative distribution B) Supply-chain management C) Reverse logistics D) Enterprise planning

b

The ________ helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge or to make better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes. A) CTO B) CSO C) CKO D) CPO

c

The principal liaison between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization is a(n) A) programmer. B) information systems manager. C) systems analyst. D) CTO.

c

Which types of systems consolidate the relevant knowledge and experience in the firm to make it available to improve business processes and management decision making? A) TPS B) extranets C) KMS D) CRM

c

An example of a highly structured decision is A) creating a new product. B) estimating the effect of changing costs of supply materials. C) calculating the best trucking routes for product delivery. D) granting credit to a customer.

d

Which of the following is not one of the reasons for the increased business focus on collaboration and teamwork? A) the need for creating innovative products and services B) growth of "interaction" jobs C) greater global presence D) the need for more efficient work hierarchies

d

You are planning the launch of your new company, an application service provider that provides an online timesheet and project tracking application. To best communicate with and manage your relationship with your users, you would want to implement a(n) A) extranet. B) intranet. C) KMS. D) CMS.

d

The four major enterprise applications are A) SCMs, CRMs, DSSs, and KMSs. B) SCMs, CRMs, ESSs, and KMSs. C) enterprise systems, SCMs, DSSs, and CRMs. D) enterprise systems, SCMs, CRMs, and KMSs.

d-ESCK

The retail home improvement chain you work for, DIY Discount, has noticed that one of its brands of faucets is not selling nearly as well as anticipated. What information systems of the business will you use to determine the reason for the poor sales? Discuss what information you will retrieve from which system. Which of the information systems will be most important for your analysis? Which of the systems will be least important?

: You might query operational level TPS to make sure that the product is actually getting to the stores and being restocked. You could query MIS to see average sales levels according to geography, location, and other factors to see if there are any specific factors affecting the sales. You might query ESS to see if the same faucets are being sold by competitors and what these prices are. You might use DSS to see what factors could increase sales. Assuming that the faucets are being properly stocked at the stores, the most important systems to query are the managerial-level systems: MIS for summaries of sales records to help pinpoint any other factors; ESS to check competition, and DSS for higher-level analysis to forecast possible solutions

You have been hired by an international architectural firm, with offices in Singapore, Paris, and Mumbai. The firm would like architects and draftspeople from different teams to be able to collaborate efficiently. How will you determine what the best collaboration tools are for their needs?

Answer: Collaboration tools include e-mail and instant messaging; social networking; wikis; virtual worlds, collaboration platforms such as virtual meeting systems, Google Apps/Google Sites. The most helpful of these might be a collaboration platform because it would enable people to have discussions, calendars, conferences, and share documents.

90) Describe the role of IT governance within the firm.

Answer: IT governance is the management of how the information systems function is organized and handled within the firm. IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. It specifies the decision rights and framework for accountability to ensure that the use of information technology supports the organization's strategies and objectives. For example, IT governance decides how decisions implementing and evaluating new systems are made, whether the IT function should be decentralized or centralized, who has power to create and manage systems, and what kind of ROI is expected from systems.

pex Vacuum, a family-owned manufacturer of budget vacuums, has grown exponentially over the last few years. However, the company is having difficulty preparing for future growth. The only information system used at Apex is an antiquated accounting system. The company has one manufacturing plant located in Arkansas; and three warehouses, in Arkansas, Delaware, and California. The Apex sales force is national, and Apex purchases about a third of its vacuum parts and materials from a single overseas supplier. You have been hired to recommend the information systems Apex should implement in order to maintain their competitive edge. However, there is not enough money for a full-blown, cross-functional enterprise application, and you will need to limit the first step to a single functional area or constituency. What will you choose, and why?

Answer: Student answers will vary. E.g. A TPS focusing on production and manufacturing to keep production costs low while maintaining quality, and for communicating with other possible vendors. The TPS would later be used to feed MIS and other higher level systems.

Identify and discuss the major types of information systems that serve the main management groups within a business. What are the relationships among these systems?

Answer: The four major categories of information systems are: 1. Transaction processing systems, such as payroll or order processing, track the flow of the daily routine transactions that are necessary to conduct business. 2. Management information systems (MIS) provide the management control level with reports and access to the organization's current performance and historical records. Most MIS reports condense information from TPS and are not highly analytical. 3. Decision-support systems (DSS) support management decisions when these decisions are unique, rapidly changing, and not specified easily in advance. They have more advanced analytical models and data analysis capabilities than MIS and often draw on information from external as well as internal sources. 4. Executive support systems (ESS) support senior management by providing data of greatest importance to senior management decision makers, often in the form of graphs and charts delivered via portals. They have limited analytical capabilities but can draw on sophisticated graphics software and many sources of internal and external information. The various types of systems in the organization exchange data with one another. TPS are a major source of data for other systems, especially MIS and DSS. ESSs primarily receive data from lower-level systems.