module 1

Total Score: 100% Endcap sales have increased more than 20% over the past month. You have held on to all of your employees, and they are more optimistic and focused. The coupon you placed in the country music festival program brought in a lot of new business, and you were able to staff the store to reduce lines. A month later, the store is showing significant progress, breaking even on sales for the first time in more than a year. Your boss reports that she received several emails and phone calls from customers happy about the changes you've made to make shopping easier and more pleasant. She hints that you may be getting a raise, and says that she wants you to visit other under-performing stores to give them assistance.

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You are a manager for a grocery store chain and have recently been transferred to an older location that is on the brink of failing. The home office has assigned you the task of improving the store's processes, such as stocking and staff schedules, to try to make it profitable. Although there are normally pretty strict systems in place for managing inventory and staff hours according to specific rules and algorithms, the home office has given you extra leeway to try to figure out what needs to be fixed at this store. You are pleased that the staff, in general, seems fairly happy with their jobs. Many of them routinely ask for, and have received, overtime hours. You know that reviewing staffing and overtime will be a big part of making the store more profitable. To make a positive impact, you will need to make some important decisions. Each of these decisions will need to be based on information you learn about the store. You will also need to take into consideration the people who work there. Think carefully about what kinds of information systems will be most helpful to you as you explore your options.

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All of the following are among the new IT-related jobs except:

a. Search engine optimization specialist *b. Systems analyst* c. Data scientist d. Social media/online-community manager

You arrange to meet with each of the staff members one-on-one to get their feedback on staffing schedules and workload. You realize that the employees are a terrific resource for ideas for reworking the schedules to meet customers' needs. They are able to tell you which shifts typically are understaffed, and could use more workers to help the store meet customers' needs. Several of your employees mention that a three-day country music festival is coming to your city next month. The event features a few headline acts, and lots of other local bands and performers. The cashiers say that typically this type of event brings a lot of foot traffic into the store for snacks and convenience items. You decide to place some extra snack orders, and place an advertisement in the event program with a 10% off coupon valid for event-goers.

How should you choose what types of items to order? Check the sales records from this time last year.

As you read through the sales report, you get several good ideas based on what has sold well in the past. You come up with a plan for reorganizing the endcaps, and start assigning tasks to employees. As you read through the staffing schedule to start making assignments, you realize you may not have enough staff to complete your endcap reorganization idea. Pulling staff from the checkout areas may incur increased customer wait time.

What other source of information could be especially useful? asking the cashiers

Naomi is a market researcher for her company, which designs and manufactures carpets and rugs. She travels globally to conferences and trade shows to track current trends in her industry. During one trip, Naomi learns about a new dye technique that results in more resilient color at a lower cost. She brings the relevant information back to her team and other experts in her company to discuss the feasibility of implementing this technique in their products.

Which competitive force has Naomi capitalized on to benefit her company's manufacturing processes? rivalry among existing competitors Naomi's company is able to implement the new dye technique before competitors discover and implement similar techniques, thus increasing her company's supplier power

Which of the following statements is true about strategic planning?

a.Helps managers identify initiatives b.Involves more complex considerations c.Within the IS department a strategic goal aligns with the larger corporate objectives *d.All of the above answers are true*

management information system (MIS)

an organized integration of hardware and software technologies, data, processes, and human elements designed to produce timely, integrated, relevant, accurate, and useful information for decision-making purposes.

information

consists of facts that have been analyzed by the process component and is an output of an information system.

data

consists of raw facts and is a component of an information system.

Informational Literacy

understanding the role of information in generating and using business intelligence.

Information technologies are used to gain a competitive advantage by doing all of the following except:

*a. Replacing all key decision makers in the organization* b. Helping in reducing cost of operations c. Providing business intelligence d. Delivering timely and accurate information

Five Forces Model

analyzes an organization, its position in the marketplace, and how information systems could be used to make it more competitive. The five forces include buyer power, supplier power, threat of substitute products or services, threat of new entrants, and rivalry among existing competitors.

process

component of an information system generates the most useful type of information for decision making, including transaction-processing reports and models for decision analysis.

Computer literacy is understanding the role of information in generating and using business intelligence. True or False?

false

transaction-processing systems (TPSs)

focus on data collection and processing; the major reason for using them is cost reduction.

Business intelligence

provides historical, current, and predictive views of business operations and environments and gives organizations a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Computer literacy

skill in using productivity software, such as word processors, spreadsheets, database management systems, and presentation software, as well as having a basic knowledge of hardware and software, the Internet, and collaboration tools and technologies.

information technology

support information systems and use the Internet, computer networks, database systems, POS systems, and RFID tags.

Data consists of raw facts and is a component of an information system. True or False?

true

Michael Porter's Five Forces Model analyzes an organization, its position in the marketplace, and how information systems could be used to make it more competitive. True or False?

true

An information system is a complex system made up of many critical components. Identify which major component of an information system is being used in each scenario.

DATA: gina transcribes notes from the doctor regarding a patient's physical examination PROCESS: Raul generates reports that will be mailed to insurance companies DATABASE: dr. michaels reviews a patient's historical test results to look for trends INFORMATION: Dr. baggett checks the emergency departments tracking board to determine which patient to see next

All of the following are among the future outlook of information systems, except:

a. Hardware and software costs will continue to decline b. The computer literacy of typical information system users will improve c. Computer criminals will become more sophisticated *d. All of the above*

You're an HR director meeting with your CEO to discuss plans for a new application that will allow employees to track their own hours and earned vacation time. There are several pieces and parts that need to be coordinated, and the two of you are trying to decide which employees to bring on board for the project.

CEO: I like the idea of developing this app in-house. Let's talk about who we want to assign to the team for this project. You've got the HR expertise. But who should take charge of converting your ideas into a workable design? You: I'm thinking Natalie can take point on this. She's got a *SYSTEMS ANALYST* background and helped with this kind of thing at her prior company where she developed the initial design for some bookkeeping software. CEO: Okay, that's good. I don't think she knows coding, though. We need a *COMPUTER PROGRAMMER*. got anyone in mind? You: Yes, let's ask Miguel. He knows several coding languages and writes gaming software in his spare time as a hobby. CEO: I don't think they know each other yet, but I think it'll work. What about the user interface? We'll host the app on our intranet. I want to make sure it's got a clean layout with easy navigation through the site. You: Right—we can develop a web-hosted front-end for users to interact with. Zahira is our *WEBMASTER* I'll ask her to jump in as well.

Information systems can be used to address a wide variety of needs in business. Identify the type of information system most relevant to each scenario.

FIS: cam's financial management company subscribes to a carefully researched combination of databases and analyst reports SMIS: reginald relies on a crowdsourced online video library to research how to perform maintenance and troubleshooting tasks on networking equipment his company recently installed in their data center HRIS: shanna helps to manage updates for her company's mobile time tracking app that employees use to report their hours worked. MKIS: latoya's marketing team uses a crm tool to manage communications with her company's new customers around the country

You've recently been hired as part of the marketing team for a small company that organizes and hosts athletic fund-raising events for various non-profits. The most popular kind of event is a charity run/walk where racers pay to participate in a 5K, 10K, or half-marathon route that is supported by local businesses and volunteers offering aide stations with snacks and drinks and local law enforcement overseeing traffic flow along the routes. Your team is currently working to organize a personal fitness challenge that will hopefully help build some excitement for a large run/walk later in the year. This is the first time your organization has hosted this type of online event, and it's requiring some creative brainstorming.

Manager: I think we need to provide some guidance on how this works. Most people haven't heard of a personal fitness challenge like this before. You: I think we can make a video that will explain the basic idea and even show examples of people working out on their own or with friends. We could post the video on *YOUTUBE* Manager: That sounds good. We'll have some prizes and also give awards at the run/walk for the most proactive participants, based on the photos and reports they send in. How can we help people stay focused on their goals? You: I think regular reminders will be helpful. And lots of opportunities for them to post about their progress and get support from friends. Maybe we can use a daily thread on *FACEBOOK* that participants can reply to and report their activities. Manager: It's going to be a real challenge to keep track of all the moving pieces here. You: No worries. I'll post reminders and appointments on *GOOGLE CALENDAR*

you have spent a few days meeting the staff of your new store's location and becoming familiar with all of the existing business processes at this store, from the way staffing decisions are made, to the way customers move through the store, and also examining the layout of the departments throughout the store. You decide to begin your work by changing the products featured on aisle endcaps. To choose the featured products, you realize you need more information.

Which information system would give you the most relevant data to accomplish this task? A report showing recent sales numbers for each department.

Database

a collection of all relevant data organized in a series of integrated files.