MIS 301 Discussion Questions & Quiz Questions

What is an entity?

An entity is composed of a person, place, thing, or event about which information is obtained. Examples of entities include an employee, customer, or a product of a business.

Describe the components of computer-based information systems.

An information system carries the primary jobs of collecting, processing, storing, analyzing, and disseminating information for any given purpose or task. Getting the right information to the right people, at the right time, in the right amount, and in the right format. Determining the difference between data and knowledge is a major factor an information system is in charge of completing. There are four main components of a computer-based information system. First, a hardware is necessary. This consists of devices such as a processor, monitor, keyboard, and printer. Next, a software must be programmed to enable the hardware to process data. Thirdly, a database to store the collection of related files or tables containing data should be implemented into the system. Lastly, a network is a connecting system that permits different computers to share resources.

As you are walking to the cafeteria to pick up your lunch, you see a poster with the word "apple" on it with a picture of an apple below it. This is ____. A. knowledge B. data C. information D. business intelligence

B. data

Six Sigma is a popular _________ methodology. A. BPS B. BPI C. BPM D. BPR

BPI

__________ is a methodology for achieving incremental improvements in the effectiveness and efficiency of a process. A. BPM B. BPR C. BPS D. BPI

BPI

Explain the benefits of being an informed user of information systems.

Being an informed user consists of being a person knowledgeable about information systems and information technology. There are several reasons as to why being an informed user is important. First, you will benefit from your organizations IT application because you will have an understanding of what is "behind" the application and why the things that happen are happening. Next, you can provide useful input to better your organizations IT application because of your enhanced knowledge. In addition, you may be in a position to recommend or even help determine what IT application your organization uses. Remaining on top of everything regarding IT applications and the new technologies that come out will never hurt you in your position within your organization. Lastly, if you have dreams of being an entrepreneur then having ideas will be useful for when you start your own business or company.

What is business process management?

Business Process Management (BPM) begins with process modeling, which is a graphical depiction of all the steps in a process. This step helps employees understand the tendencies and interactions among the people involved in the process, the information systems they rely on, and the information they require to optimally perform their tasks.

What is business process reengineering?

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is a strategy for making an organization's business processes more productive and profitable. The key to BPR is for enterprises to examine their business processes from a 'clean sheet' perspective as well as determine how they can best be reconfigured and structured so the processes improve business functions. I must note that BPR is not an effective tactic for large businesses or corporations because it is too lengthy, too difficult, too radical, and too comprehensive.

Walmart has a(n) ___________ strategy. A. Customer orientation B. Innovation C. Cost leadership D. Differentiation

C. Cost leadership

Which of the following is a support activity in Porter's value chain model? A. Customer service B. Logistics C. Human resource management D. Operations

C. Human resource management

An order from a customer is a(n) __________ for a business process. A. Output B. Resource C. Input D. Feedback

C. Input

Which of the following is a fast-growing company that is disrupting the traditional job recruiting industry? A. Google B. Amazon C. LinkedIn D. Facebook

C. LinkedIn

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of alignment? A. Organizations create a vibrant and inclusive company culture B. Organizations rotate business and IT professionals across departments and job functions C. Organizations view their IT department employees as supremely important D. Organizations provide overarching goals that are completely clear to each IT and business employee

C. Organizations view their IT department employees as supremely important

Continuous computing is NOT facilitated by _________. A. digital devices B. web-based tools C. societal standards D. wired and wireless networks

C. societal standards

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 holds ______________ personally responsible for disclosing the effectiveness of their financial controls. CIOs CFOs CSOs COOs

CFOs

__________________________ is an approach to managing information across an entire organization. Data governance Master data management Master data Big Data

Data governance

___________ support local control, whereas ____________ support central control. Data marts; data warehouses Data warehouses; data marts Data marts; data dictionaries Data warehouses; data dictionaries

Data marts; data warehouses

Your company decides to keep copies of your invoices on CDs. You decide the safest place to store them is in your company's basement since it is secure and people rarely go down there. When you get audited, you find the CDs got ruined during a recent rainstorm when the basement got flooded; you don't have access to the information for your audit. This is an example of _______. Data degradation Data integrity failure Low data quality Data rot

Data rot

You've been working at ABC Corp for 20 years. Even though they say they are an Equal Opportunity Employer, you know they prefer to hire people who personally know someone at the company. This is _________. Explicit knowledge Information Tacit knowledge Data

Tactic knowledge

____________ are/is able to track and target the same consumer across multiple devices using software algorithms. Tapad Google Web bugs Cookies

Tapad

Nonvolatile in the context of data storage means ________________. The data can't be changed in the source system. The data can only be changed by IT professionals. The data can only be changed by users. The data can't be changed in a data warehouse.

The data can only be changed by IT professionals

Expert systems can help doctors diagnose diseases. True False

True

Knowledge and knowledge management processes usually have a(n) ________ format. Mini-structured Unstructured Structured Semi-structured

Unstructured

___________ is NOT a challenge of KMS. Getting employees to share information Being willing to invest resources Maintaining and updating the knowledge Utilizing the knowledge

Utilizing the knowledge

The _____________ approach posits that ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or if unequally then fairly, based on some defensible standard. ethics digital dossier code of ethics fairness approach

fairness approach

The right of privacy ___________ absolute. can be is is not cannot be

is not

Describe how IT might change the manager's job.

Manager's have the responsibility of making decisions on large scale terms and small scale terms. An impact of IT on the managers job might consist of the manners in which managers make their decisions. Managers are provided with near-real-time decisions which is supposed to make their job's duties much more relaxed and stress-free. All of the tools in which IT can provide help managers handle the loads of information they are in charge of dealing with on a consistent and frequent basis.

Effectiveness focuses on doing the right things. True False

True

A ___________ is a remote attack requiring user action. denial-of-service attack phishing attack logic bomb back door

phishing attack

Cybercriminals _________ can be easily arrested, once they are found. target known software security weaknesses. are violent criminals. don't make that much money; they do it for fun.

target known software security weaknesses

Wireless is a(n) inherently _________ network. trusted useful untrusted neutral

untrusted

Which company used software to disrupt the previous market-leading companies in the book industry? A. Walmart B. Amazon C. Barnes and Noble D. Books-a-Million

B. Amazon

___________ handle tactical decisions. A. Knowledge workers B. Middle managers C. Clerical D. Lower-level managers

B. Middle managers

Information ______________ utilize information created by others. Producers Consumers Users Creators

Consumers

Procurement is NOT completed in this functional area: A. Accounting B. Purchasing C. Warehouse D. Sales

D. Sales

A smart ID card is something the user _______. Knows Does Has Is

Has

IT __________ be used to create a competitive advantage ___________. A. can; when it is used effectively B. can; because everyone has access to technology C. cannot; even when it is used effectively D. cannot; because everyone has access to technology

A. can; when it is used effectively

_______________ issues revolve around who should have access to information and whether they should pay a fee for this access. Accessibility Property Accuracy Privacy

Accessibility

______________ refers to determining who is responsible for actions that were taken. Accountability Acceptance Responsibility Liability

Accountability

Which of the following is NOT one of the most dangerous employees to information security? Janitors HR employees Accountants MIS employees

Accountants

Making sure your customer's information is correct in your information systems is a(n) _________ issue. Accuracy Property Accessibility Privacy

Accuracy

_________________ issues involve the authenticity, fidelity, and correctness of information that is collected and processed. Accuracy Property Accessibility Privacy

Accuracy

Big Data primarily deals with ______________ data. Semi-structured Structured Unstructured All of the above

All of the above

What is an unintentional threat to an information system?

As discussed in 4.1.1, information systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable to many dangers and threats which can be categorized into two subgroups, unintentional threats and deliberate threats. Touching on unintentional threats, human error is the main perpetrator of this offense. Nevertheless, the acts deemed as unintentional threats are performed without malicious intent yet still represent a serious threat to information security. Areas within a business where human error most frequently occurs includes the human resources department and information systems. Other areas may include janitors, contract laborers, and consultants as they tend to have access to the company's network and informational assets which can pose a threat to the information security of a company.

Banks have a lot of competition locally in addition to competing with online banks. This concept applies to ____________. A. Bargaining power of suppliers B. Bargaining power of buyers C. Threat of substitute products or services D. Threat of entry of new competitors

B. Bargaining power of buyers

Which of the following is TRUE? A. Most IT and business executives agree on their level of alignment. B. Businesses can utilize enterprise architectures to foster alignment. C. Alignment within a single organization is fairly easy. D. Most organizations are able to achieve alignment.

B. Businesses can utilize enterprise architectures to foster alignment.

The _________ stage in BPI is characterized by establishing process metrics and monitoring the improved processes. A. Improve B. Control C. Measure D. Analysis

B. Control

IT has changed the manager's job in many ways. Which of the following is NOT the result of this change? A. More information to address B. Easier to make a decision C. Real-time information D. Remote supervision

B. Easier to make a decision

Which of the following is NOT a fundamental element of a business process? A. Input B. Feedback C. Resources D. Output

B. Feedback

__________ analysis involves identifying the best advertising channels. A. Product B. Promotion C. Site D. Price

B. Promotion

________ is the result of optimizing the design, development, and production processes. A. Cost reduction B. Quality C. Productivity D. Differentiation

B. Quality

__________________ are/is the most effective and efficient way of doing things, readily available to a wide range of employees. Knowledge management Knowledge management systems Best practices Intellectual capital

Best practices

Which of the following is TRUE in regard to Big Data? Big Data systems need human intervention to improve over time. Big Data refers to large amounts of traditional data. Big Data systems work because people have taught those systems to think like humans; they just work faster than humans. Big Data is about predictions.

Big Data is about predictions.

Which of the following is FALSE? Big Data can come from untrusted sources. Big Data is often inaccurate, incomplete, incorrect, or erroneous. Big Data is valuable because it is structured. Big Data changes, especially in data streams.

Big Data is valuable because it is structured.

What are some of the difficulties involved in managing data?

Big corporations and large business run into troubles managing the amount of data they intake for several reasons. One of the primary difficulties faced consists of the fact that the data collected is always increasing as time elapses. Once the data is retrieved it must be kept in the system for long periods of time, all while new data is being obtained and stored as well. Another troubling force includes the differentiation within the data format, style, and locations. Given that big businesses have thousands of employees as well as hundreds of locations, the data collected frequently comes from different servers, databases, formats, and languages due to the various individual preferences regarding data collection methods and devices. Combining all of the information obtained through the several styles of data collection methods can be difficult for this reason. Furthermore, internal, personal, and external sources of data creates another inconsistency within the collected information. As of recently, the online Web has become an additional popular source of feedback and data retrieval. Lastly, physical troubles can occur within the media on which the data are stored. This is known as data rot and is usually seen in exposure to light, temperature, humidity, and inconsistent use over drawn out periods of time.

Which of the following is NOT an example of alien software? Spamware Blockware Adware Spyware

Blockware

What is the difference between tactic knowledge and explicit knowledge?

Both explicit and tactic knowledge consist of information and data generated around a business, however, explicit knowledge includes more objective, rational, and technical knowledge where as tactic knowledge incorporates an organizations experiences, expertise, know-how, insights, skill sets, trade secrets, and understanding. Additionally, tactic knowledge deals with an organizations culture, which is derived from the company's past occurances as well as the business's prevailing values. In contrast, explicit knowledge in an organization consists of the policies, procedural guides, goals, reports, strategies, products, IT infrastructure, and core competencies. Another dissimilarity between the two can be seen as explicit knowledge is codified in a manner that has the ability to be distributed to others or transformed into a process or a strategy fairly easily whereas tactic knowledge is unstructured and difficult to formalize or codify.

What is business process improvement?

Business Process Improvement (BPI) is a less radical, less disruptive, less timely, and more incremental approach to process improvement. BPI focuses on reducing variation in the process outputs by searching for root causes of the variation in the process itself. Individuals are able to be directly involved in the processes and their improvements.

All _______ are ____________. A. dashboards; TPS B. TPS; ERP C. TPS; dashboards D. ERP; TPS

D. ERP; TPS

Which of the following is TRUE of the IS function today? A. It should only be managed by end users. B. It should only be managed by the IS department. C. None of the above are true since the IS function is an outdated term. D. It is not the exclusive responsibility of the IS department.

D. It is not the exclusive responsibility of the IS department.

Fulfillment is triggered in the _________ department. A. Accounting B. Purchasing C. Warehouse D. Sales

D. Sales

Sarbanes-Oxley is an example of ________ A. an ethical issue B. customer focus C. our social responsibility D. a government regulation

D. a government regulation

The IT infrastructure is ___________. A. the IT components B. the IT personnel C. the IT services D. all of the above put together

D. all of the above put together

The web ____________ buyer power. A. decrease B. increase C. has no impact on D. has a mixed impact on

D. has a mixed impact on

A(n) __________ refers to a small number of companies that dominate the business and are making large margins. A. minopoly B. autopoly C. monopoly D. oligopoly

D. oligopoly

Career opportunities in IS are ___________. A. weak but are projected to strengthen over the next 10 years B. weak and are projected to remain weak for the next 10 years C. strong but are projected to stagnate or even decrease over the next 10 years D. strong and are projected to remain strong for the next 10 years

D. strong and are projected to remain strong for the next 10 years

______________ is a privacy policy guideline for Data Collection. Data should not be disclosed for reasons incompatible with the business objective for which they are collected. Data should be kept current, where and when necessary. Data should be adequate, relevant, and not excessive in relation to the business objective. Third parties should not be given access to data without the individual's knowledge or permission, except as required by law.

Data should be adequate, relevant, and not excessive in relation to the business objective.

________ is the result of optimizing the marketing and innovation processes. A. Productivity B. Quality C. Cost reduction D. Differentiation

Differentiation

____________ is one form of data integration. EDI ETL SAP SQL

ETL

What is an attribute?

Each characteristic or quality of a particular entity is known as an attribute. An employee's number, a customer's name, and a product's color are all examples of attributes.

_______________ is knowledge that has been codified or documented. Explicit knowledge Data Tacit knowledge Information

Explicit knowledge

Actions that are ethical are always legal. True False

False

Data warehouses maintain historical data while data marts are real-time. True False

False

In mass production, a company produces a large quantity of items that are customized to individual customers. True False

False

NoSQL databases only allow businesses to manipulate structured data. True False

False

The IS Director is the executive who is in charge of the IS function. True False

False

The bargaining power of buyers is low when buyers have many choices and high when buyers have few choices. True False

False

The right of privacy is absolute in the US since above all, we celebrate freedom. True False

False

When data are normalized, attributes in the table depend only on the secondary key. True False

False

_____________ is use to plan and control Business Intelligence activities. Governance Metadata A data dictionary ETL

Governance

How has IT positively and negatively affected the quality of your life and society as a whole? While this is partially opinion, your answer should be informed by material in the book.

IT has positively affected society as a whole as well as myself by providing increased flexibility which improves the quality of leisure time even if the amount of leisure time isn't lengthened by any amount at all. Contrarily, IT has given employers along with myself a pressure of being on 'constant call.' This means that employees feel as if they are never truly away from the office even when they are on vacation. People are spending time on their phones or computers attending to work related tasks even in their off time from work which adds increased pressure within the workforce.

If your sales team shows a customer's name is "Johnny Smith" but your shipping department says it is "John A. Smith", this is a data __________ issue. Inconsistency Security Redundancy Isolation

Inconsistency

______________ is the right to determine when, and to what extent, information about you can be gathered and/or communicated to others. A digital dossier Information privacy Privacy Profiling

Information privacy

Corporate databases are an example of a(n) _________ source of data. Clickstream External Personal Internal

Internal

Intellectual capital is also called __________. Wisdom Data Information Knowledge

Knowledge

______________ is a legal concept that gives individuals the right to recover the damages done to them by other individuals, organizations, or systems. Due Process Liability Responsibility Accountability

Liability

What is the difference between LANs and WANs?

Local Area Networks connect two or more devices in a limited geographical region, usually within the same building, so that every device on the network can communicate with every other device. A method of use consists of an Ethernet cable which connects the devices with other devices as well as the server to allow for the devices to physically connect to the LAN's communication medium. Contrarily, WAN's, or Wide Area Networks, connect several LAN's within the large geographic area covered. WAN's are generally covered by common carriers such as telephone companies and the international networks of global communications services providers. WANs, compared to LANs, have a much larger capacity and have the ability to combine several channels. The internet is a very good example of a WAN.

Which of the following is FALSE? Management doesn't always support security efforts. Mainframes make it easy to communicate freely and seamlessly with everyone. It is easier to be a hacker nowadays. Thumb drives make it easy to steal huge amounts of sensitive information.

Mainframes make it easy to communicate freely and seamlessly with everyone.

Big Data helps companies treat customers as individuals. This is called __________. business model creation data analyzation microsegmentation experimentation

Microsegmentation

The European Union's data protection laws are ___________ strict compared to the US laws. More Less Equally Non-existently

More

Describe how companies can use Big Data to gain competitive advantage.

One way that companies can leverage large gains within their comparative advantage against their competitors is through the use of Big Data. An instance of this strategy taking effect can be seen in the Velocity characteristic of Big Data. Decreasing the time it takes the feedback loop to process starting with a business, going through their customers, and coming back to them is an essential strategy to master for maximum data retrieval and information collection. For example, when a company recommends additional purchases right before a customer checks out online or a business incorporates information such as displaying products that other customers also viewed, purchased, or added to their cart, they have gained competitive advantage.

The Heartbleed bug is an encryption security flaw in the ___________ software package that was an _____________ mistake by the software developer. Microsoft; unintended OpenSSL; intended OpenSSL; unintended Microsoft; intended

OpenSSL; unintended

Please differentiate among a threat, an exposure, and a vulnerability.

Organizations that implement information systems within their operations must consider the fact that there will be threats that come with that decision. Any danger to which a system may be exposed is considered to be a threat to an information system. In addition, exposure of an information system includes the harm, loss, or damage that can come from a threat that compromises that system. The possibility that the information system will be harmed by a threat is known as it's vulnerability. In this day in age, vulnerability of information systems has been increasing which makes it much more difficult to keep them completely secure.

_____________________ is an attack in which the perpetrator uses social skills to trick or manipulate legitimate employees into providing confidential company information such as passwords. Tailgating Shoulder surfing Dumpster diving Social engineering

Social engineering

Which of the following is a good example of a primary key in a student table? Address Birthdate First and Last Name Social security number

Social security number

Phishing is an example of __________. Sabotage Software attack Copyright infringement Espionage

Software Attack

Please describe the issue of privacy as it is affected by IT.

The right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusion is what privacy is defined by in the book. Information privacy is a huge factor within the realm of IT and its uses. Determining when, what, and to what extent in which you are gathering information about someone which is where information privacy needs to be respected and understood so that no one has unwanted information about them going around. After considering several court cases from rulings around the world, there are two stipulations that are followed pretty closely in determining a conclusion. 1. The right of privacy is not absolute. Privacy must be balanced out with the needs of society. 2. The public's right to know supersedes the individual's right to privacy.

What are the three market pressures discussed in the book? List one positive and one negative for businesses that result from these pressures.

The three market pressures that the book discusses include globalization, the changing nature of the workforce, and powerful customers. Globalization is the integration and interdependence of economic, social, cultural, and ecological facets of life, made possible by rapid advances in information technology. Next, the changing nature of the workforce consists of increased diversity, increased numbers of women, single parents, minorities, and persons with disabilities. As a part of the higher numbers of these persons, positions of all types are being occupied by people that fall within these categories. IT also allows for an increased number of people who are able to perform their work duties from the comfort of their own home. This is useful for parents with young children, mobility troubles, and transportation issues. The aspect of powerful customers becomes present due to increased consumer sophistication and expectations as they obtain more knowledge regarding the products and services they are consuming. Examples of this might include price comparison, requiring more in-depth details, and using technology and the Internet to purchase items. Customers and clients are of great importance to companies and organizations so retaining consumers as well as acquiring new ones must become a high priority during this strategic aspect as well. To effectively carry this strategy out, businesses are putting increased efforts towards learning about their customers so that they can better reach them, please them, and most importantly, continue to do business with them. A key strategy organizations use to carry this out to the most efficient degree is CRM, or Customer Relationship Management. The goal of CRM is to maximize customer experience and happiness.

What is a relationship?

Tying the entities and attributes together can be done through the creation of relationships. Relationships illustrate an association between two entities and is typically named by a verb. Cardinalities and modalities are the indicators of the business rules within a specific relationship and can be seen in an entity-relationship model (ER Diagram). Cardinalities and modalities help define the relationship between two entities of a relationship.

There are 3 distinct characteristics of Big Data. The collection of social network data is an example of __________. Vintage Variety Velocity Volume

Variety

Which of the following is NOT an unintentional threat to information systems? Having an unlocked desk or filing cabinet after going home Choosing a weak password Viruses Careless monitoring of environmental hazards

Viruses

_________ is the possibility that the system will be harmed by a threat. Exposure Threat Vulnerability Security

Vulnerability

A ___________ is an attack by a programmer developing a system. phishing attack denial-of-service attack virus back door

back door

Which of the following is the correct order of the data hierarchy, from smallest to largest? byte, bit, field, file, record, database byte, bit, field, record, file, database bit, byte, field, record, file, database bit, byte, field, file, record, database

bit, byte, field, record, file, database

A _______ is an informal, personal journal that is frequently updated and intended for general public reading. blog profile privacy policy digital dossier

blog

The _____________ approach highlights the interlocking relationships that underlie all societies. rights fairness utilitarian common good

common good

A firewall is a _______ control. physical communication access virtual

communication

Which of the following is the correct order for the KMS cycle? create, capture, store, manage, refine, disseminate create, capture, store, refine, manage, disseminate create, capture, refine, store, manage, disseminate create, capture, refine, manage, store, disseminate

create, capture, refine, store, manage, disseminate

A __________________________ defines the required format for entering the data into the database data dictionary primary key entity DBMS

data dictionary

Weak passwords are a(n) ___________ threat. hardware software employee outside

employee

The _____________ approach posits that ethical actions treat all human beings equally, or, if unequally, then fairly, based on some defensible standard. common good rights utilitarian fairness

fairness

The airport's self check-in computers are a(n) __________ threat. hardware employee outside software

hardware

Data warehouses store _________ data, used primarily by _______ companies. historical; large real-time; large real-time; small historical; small

historical; large

_________ is one common example of SSL. https http www wwws

https

Data are scattered throughout organizations. An example of this is ________________. data hoardin human vs. computer languages media changing (cassette to CD) customers moving

human vs. computer languages

Data ___________ means all applications are able to access the same data, which is ___________ by databases. isolation; maximized independence; maximized isolation; minimized independence; minimized

independence; maximized

Biometrics is something the user _______. Does Is Knows Has

is

If you hire a cybersecurity company like FireEye to identify security weaknesses in your information systems, you are using a risk _________ strategy. analysis limitation acceptance transference

limitation

Data warehouses and data marts are __________; this means users cannot change or update the data in data warehouses or data marts. A. nonvolatile B. time variant C. organized by business dimension or subject D. integrated

nonvolatile

The _________ prohibits an organization from collecting any personal information unless the customer specifically authorizes it. opt-out model of informed consent digital dossier policy information privacy policy opt-in model of informed consent

opt-in model of informed consent

The _________ permits the company to collect personal information until the customer specifically requests that the data not be collected. digital dossier policy information privacy policy opt-in model of informed consent opt-out model of informed consent

opt-out model of informed consent

Employee # is the _______ in the Employee file and the _________ in the Class File. primary key; identifier secondary key; primary key primary key; secondary key secondary key; identifier

primary key; secondary key

At your company, you put the highest priority on making sure customer credit card information cannot be breached. This means you are using the __________ approach as an ethical framework. fairness common good rights utilitarian

rights

The _____________ approach maintains that an ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of the affected parties. fairness rights utilitarian common good

rights

You have a small business that has had problems with malware on your employees' computers. You decide to hire a third-party company such as GFI Software to implement security controls and then monitor your company's systems. You are adopting a risk ________ strategy. transference acceptance analysis limitation

transference

If you are most concerned about generating the highest profits margins to ensure your stockholders are getting the highest return on their investment, you would be using the _________ approach as an ethical framework. fairness common good rights utilitarian

utilitarian

The _____________ approach states that an ethical action is the one that provides the best good or does the least harm. common good utilitarian fairness rights

utlilitarian

Which of the following is a new and consultative function of the MIS department? A. Educating the MIS staff about the business B. Providing technical services C. Infrastructure planning D. Managing systems development

A. Educating the MIS staff about the business

The manufacturing equipment a company purchases is a(n) __________ for a business process. A. Resource B. Output C. Feedback D. Input

A. Resource

What is a business process?

A business process is typically demonstrated through a series of activities that are performed in a particular order to produce a defined set of results. Some examples of general tasks that might be carried out within business processes include sales, planning, and production activities. There are a wide variety of circumstances where the use of business processes within a company can come into play and provide beneficial outcomes. Some small factors involved in composing lucrative business processes involve effective concept collaboration along with healthy, meaningful, and thoughtful debates among your colleagues, departmental partners, and company-wide teammates. Additionally, finding the most successful practices and implementing them along with understanding the roles and duties within a project or activity are significantly vital for accomplishing the organization's or company's goal to its maximum potential. There are several factors to keep in mind while generating business processes as well as important areas to keep in the front of your mind. Some areas that should receive further attention consists of aiming to eliminate/avoid unnecessary costs, include as much process diversity and uniqueness as possible, and taking advantage of the opportunity to achieve competitive advantages over competitors. With the integration of business processes comes challenges and difficulties. Issues integrating new systems and aligning the technological bridge between two process can be difficult due to communication gaps and technological malfunctions. Inefficient processes frequently involve areas of work that get repeated or are not particularly necessary which increases the redundancy and overall time of the process. Additionally, human error will inevitably occur and mechanical/technological difficulties may arise, too. With that being said, the process will hit a lull and the lifecycle of the operations will decelerate until the issues are tended to and resolved.

Describe the characteristics of a data warehouse.

A data warehouse is a repository of past accumulated data which are organized by subject to support management within the business. An important aspect to consider, however, is the expensive price to incorporate resulting in large companies as the primary consumers. A low-cost, scaled-down version of data warehouse is a data mart. This version is able to be implemented easier and quicker as well as designed to fit the end-user's needs in a strategic business unit. Both data marts and data warehouses include the use of online analytical processing, is organized by business dimension or subject, and well integrated around subjects. Also, data warehouses and data marts include the use of historical data for increased overall operations of a business, involve multidimensional data, and are blocked to users disallowing them to change or update the data.within the warehouse or mart. For both cases, the use of business dimensions are used to increase consumers' understandability as they are presented in comprehensible business terms.

______________ is an electronic profile of you and your habits. Privacy A digital dossier Information privacy Profiling

A digital dossier

Describe a many-to-many relationship.

A many-to-many relationship describes a many-entity instance of one type being related to a many-entity instance of another type. This is exemplified in a student and class scenario. The student can have one or more classes along with a class being able to have one or more students. The cardinality of the student entity is many and a modality of 1. The class entity consists of a cardinality of many and a modality of 1.

Describe a one-to-many relationship.

A one-to-many relationship describes a single-entity instance of one type being related to a many-entity instance of another type. To exemplify this relationship, a class and professor scenario depicts the representation of the relationship as a professor can have many classes but each class only has one professor. The professor entity would consist of a cardinality of 1 and a modality of 1 along with the class entity consisting of a cardinality of many and a modality of 1.

Describe a one-to-one relationship.

A one-to-one relationship describes a single-entity instance of one type is related to a single-entity instance of another type. An example of this can be seen through a student and parking permit relationship given that one student can have one parking permit but is not required to have a parking permit. The parking permit entity would have a cardinality of 1 and a modality of 0 and the student entity would have a cardinality of 1 and a modality of 1.

What is a primary key?

A primary key is a uniquely identified field within a record of a file in a way that allows it to be retrieved, updated, and sorted.

What is a secondary key?

A secondary key is another field that has some identifying information but typically does not identify the record with complete accuracy and precision.

What is an instance?

A specific, unique depiction of the entity is known as an instance of the entity.

_________ is the most difficult, radical, lengthy, and comprehensive strategy. A. BPR B. BPM C. BPI D. BPS

A. BPR

_________ is NOT an example of something you can do on your smartphone. A. Creating a LAN B. Accessing class information like syllabi C. Making travel reservations D. Applying for jobs

A. Creating a LAN

___________ are the "capstone" information systems in an organization. A. Dashboards B. ERP systems C. TPSs D. FAISs

A. Dashboards

Describe several business processes carried out at your university.

Business processes can be categorized into many operational classifications depending on the procedural methods and the results of the series of actions that were taken. The categories frequently used to organize the operational tasks range anywhere from Human Resources to Health, Finance to Travel, and Banking to Manufacturing. With Iowa State being such a large university, there are more business processes implemented in daily functions as well as being planned to be put into action than I could ever imagine. A few major approaches in which ISU carries out business processes includes the use of a centralized database which was, at some point in time, precisely incorporated and purposely developed (ERP System). Moving on, Iowa State has an incredible amount of responsibility as a public university and enrollment surpassing 30,000 students. Collecting the tuition, room and board, and any other expense the students owe could be quite the task if the finance processes were out of date or inefficient. Luckily enough, the financial operational functions are sound and adequate. A specific example of a financial business process that Iowa State University implements would be the Student ID card process. Every student gets an ID that allows them to get food, enter certain buildings, buy school related materials, and rent resources from Parks Library or the two gyms. The system currently in place regarding the Student ID's exemplifies a business process perfectly. Additionally, there is an even smaller process within the bigger picture of the other business process. Lost, stolen, or broker Student ID's become invalid and as a student, you must follow a process within the financial sector of the university to get a new one.

Which of the following is a type of societal/political/legal pressure? A. Powerful customers B. Innovation C. Carbon management D. Globalization

Carbon management

If you have an empty building you can move into if your primary location is destroyed, you've implemented a _________ site. Cold Warm Hot Neutral

Cold

Chevron initially utilized ___________ to improve their supply chain, followed by employee-driven ________ initiatives, and then adopted a unified _____ approach to standardize business processes. A. BPI, BPM, BPR B. BPS, BPR, BPM C. BPM, BPI, BPR D. BPR, BPI, BPM

D. BPR, BPI, BPM

BYOD stands for _________________ (in Chapter 2 context) A. Be Your Online Discussion B. Be Your Own Deadline C. Bring Your Online Decision D. Bring Your Own Device

D. Bring Your Own Device

What is the purpose of a disaster recovery plan?

Otherwise known as the Business Continuity Plan, the Disaster Recovery Plan is an essential component to organizational strategic security. The purpose behind implementing such a plan is to provide guidance to the people that keep the business on a steady operational status after the circumstance of a disaster occurs. Employers find use of this strategy to help better prepare, react, and recover following disastrous happenings in which the security of informational assets is affected. Ideally, incorporating a recovery plan is supposed to decrease the amount of time it takes for the business to return to normal operations following an unfortunate event. Critical business functions are important to the success of a business so ensuring their continuous consistency even in the face of a disaster is optimal for an organization. A specific example of a strategy most Disaster Recovery Plan's include consists of a temporary relocation to an alternative site. These sites are known as hot, warm, or cold sites. A hot site is most expensive as well as most complexly configured for the critical business operations. Contrarily, a cold site is essentially an alternative site with the most basic configuration to the critical business operations of an organization.

According to Porter, what are the five forces that could endanger a firm's position in it's industry or marketplaces?

Porter's five competitive forces are as follows: 1. The threat of entry of new competitors 2. The bargaining power of suppliers 3. The bargaining power of customers and buyers 4. The threat of substitute products or services 5. The rivalry among existing firms in the industry These five competitive forces are important for companies to recognize and understand so that implementing efforts to combat them can effectively take place. Threats and endangering factors will always be present in any industry, however, if they are properly considered and understood then action can be taken to prevent the negative factors that could come about. Lowering costs, offering a diverse product line, including and promoting innovation to products, improving internal business processes, and keeping the customers satisfaction as a high priority are all potential factors that can be used to prevent the endangering aspects of actively participating in any given marketplace or industry.

Knowing what kind of surveillance an employer can use on its employees is a(n) _________ issue. Property Accuracy Privacy Accessibility

Privacy

_____________ issues involve collecting, storing, and disseminating information about individuals. Accessibility Privacy Property Accuracy

Privacy

______________ is the right to be left alone and to be free of unreasonable personal intrusions. Profiling Information privacy A digital dossier Privacy

Privacy

______________ is the process of forming a digital dossier. Profiling Dossiering Information privacy Privacy

Profiling

Determining whether or not corporate computers can be used for private purposes is a(n) _________ issue. Privacy Accuracy Property Accessibility

Property

____________ issues involve the ownership and value of information. Accuracy Property Accessibility Privacy

Property

______________ means that you accept the consequences of your decisions and actions. Acceptance Accountability Liability Responsibility

Responsibility

_______________ is a process whereby the organization takes concrete actions against risks, such as implementing controls and developing a disaster recovery plan. : Risk Risk analysis Risk mitigation Risk management

Risk mitigation

You start browsing your favorite home improvement company's website and notice someone has changed all the logos to their main competitor's logos. This is an example of ___________. Espionage Identity theft Sabotage Information extortion

Sabotage

What is business-IT alignment? Give examples of business - IT alignment at your university, regarding student systems. (Hint: What are the "business" goals of your university with regard to student registration, fee payment, grade posting, etc.?)

The tight integration of the IT function with the organization's strategy, mission, and goals. Furthermore, the IT function directly supports the business objectives of the organization. There are six characteristics of this strategy. They are as follows: 1. Innovation and continuous transformation within the business 2. Internal and external customers as well as the customer service function have very high importance 3. Rotation of business and IT professionals 4. Provide overarching goals that are completely clear to each IT and business related employee 5. Ensuring that IT employees understand how the company makes/loses money 6. Create a vibrant and inclusive company culture. Iowa State effectively integrates business-IT alignment into their processes by ensuring that all of the professors are updated and trained on using systems such as Blackboard, CyMail, AccessPlus, and more. Along with that, the university must keep the IT employees updated and modernized with what the students need/want within the systems so that it is as easy and accessible as possible for them. Furthermore, collecting payments as well as informing the students about what they are paying for is another important feature that must be carried out as a result of proper business-IT alignment. In my opinion, I see this as an automatic necessity that any business must feature within their functions if they want to carry out a tightly-knit and well rounded operation. Keeping everyone informed and in the loop on a higher level than their primary duties is always a great attribute a business can carry. With that being said, I feel as if Iowa State does an impressively adequate job at having all personnel within all departments aware and updated on the information within their department as well as other related departments.

Please describe the fundamental tenets of ethics.

There are four primary ethical standards that get widely used to guide decision making. The four standards consist of the utilitarian approach, the rights approach, the fairness approach, and the common good approach. First, the utilitarian approach strives to promote the decisions that involve the most good with the least harm with consideration of all affected parties included in the decision. Next, the rights approach involves an ethical decision which best protects and respects the moral rights of the affected parties. Furthermore, the fairness approach figures that ethical actions treat all humans equally and fairly based on some defensible standard. Lastly, the common good approach sheds light on the interlocking relationships that underlie society. To go into deeper detail, this approach argues that respect and compassion for all others is basis for ethical actions.The welfare of everyone is emphasized in the common conditions. Common conditions are typically derived from a systems of law, police and fire departments, healthcare, a public education system, and even public recreation areas sometimes.

Describe the characteristics of Big Data.

There are three prominent characteristics that appropriately describe Big Data. Volume, velocity, and variety are the three features which differentiate Big Data from traditional statistical information. The Volume aspect within Big Data carries both positive and negative weight as shown earlier in this chapter. The downright size of Big Data presents data management issues, however, it also adds important value to the superabundance of data collected worldwide. Collecting statistical information is always valuable if you look past their source, format, structure, and frequency. Every type of data carries some amount of value if effectively analyzed. If certain data types are not currently seen as valuable, they will likely resurface later in time and carry incredible value for companies. The rate at which data flow into an organization is increasing rapidly is known as Velocity. Velocity is essential as it speeds up the rate of which the feedback loop between a business and its customers. The Internet, as well as mobile technology in general, is a perfect example of how online retailers can compile histories on final sales, interactions on the site, or even every click the customer makes on their site. Last but not least, unlike traditional data formats, Big Data designs tend to change rapidly. Satellite imagery, broadcast audio streams, digital music files, document scans, comments and posts on social networks, broadcasted audio streams, and digital music files.

_________ is any danger to which a system may be exposed. Security Threat Information security Exposure

Threat

Compare and contrast fiber-optic, twisted-pair, and coaxial cable wireline communication channels.

To begin, there are three wireline communications channels, Twisted-pair wire, Coaxial cable, and Fiber-optic cable. There are several comparisons as well as contrasts that can be found within the aspects held by each channel. For example, both fiber-optic and twisted-pair are inexpensive where as coaxial is relatively expensive. Another example includes their difficulty to work with in which twisted pair is easy to work with compared to coaxial and fiber-optic which are difficult to work with. Other areas include bandwidth, tapability, and interference susceptibility. Regarding bandwidth, fiber-optic and coaxial have high bandwidth whereas twisted-pair has low bandwidth. Tapability is an aspect where both coaxial and twisted-pair are easily tapped, however, fiber-optic holds a better security. Lastly, twisted-pair is much more subject to interference than coaxial.

Coca-Cola's formula is an example of a ___________. Copyright Patent Trade secret All of above

Trade secret

Alignment often fails because business and IT managers have different objectives. True False

True

Big Data predictions come from applying mathematics to huge quantities of data to infer probabilities. True False

True

Data governance is implemented through master data management. True False

True

ERP systems and TPSs function primarily within a single organization. True False

True

Differentiate between authentication and authorization. Which one of these processes is always performed first?

When considering the differences between authentication and authorization, there are a few specific details that should be considered. Primarily, authentication must come before authorization within the process of securing information. The reasoning behind this strategy is that proving your authentication confirms that you are genuinely the proper person to be able to access the data, information, and systems within the business. Examples of manners in which this aspect is carried out within a business include the use of smart ID cards, challenging passwords, and voice/signature recognition technology. For optimal security, businesses often use a multifactor authentication system where multiple steps are required for access. Next, authorization is required to receive allowance of certain rights and privileges the organization has. Privileges within an organization's information systems are much different than what people might think when they hear this term as the privileges an employer is granted with proper authentication and authorization can be access to the data and secure information, important business news and processing, or confidential material. Frequently, businesses will implement the policy of least privilege to allow for minimal opportunity for a breach. The policy of least privilege consists of allowing employees access to secure information only if their is justifiable need for them to have it as well as only granting them access during the time period that they may need access to the information.