Essentials of IT - Final Practice Questions

The shift from physical to digital product offerings is often described as a shift from. - Switching costs to network effects - Long tail to longer tail - Churn to burn - Scale economies to scope - Atoms to bits

Atoms to bits

Which of the following strategies was followed by Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder? - He built e-commerce operations worldwide. - He consciously ignored cloud computing platforms. - He advanced profit harvesting. - He concentrated on quarterly results. - He reduced warehousing capacity.

He built e-commerce operations worldwide.

_____ refer(s) to a limit imposed by the Internet service provider on the total amount of traffic that a given subscriber can consume. - spectrum - long tail - bandwidth caps - price ceilings - cloudbursting

bandwidth caps

The temporary storage space used to speed up computing tasks like accessing Web sites is called a: - recall. - buffer. - cache. - backup. - reserve.

cache

To match content with customers, Netflix uses a proprietary recommendation system called Cinematch. While data and algorithms improve the service offered by Cinematch and further strengthen Netflix's brand, this data is also a(n): - additional overhead cost for Netflix - major privacy concern - redundancy factor for Netflix - short tail factor - switching cost for the user

switching cost for the user

High-speed last-mile technologies are usually referred to as: - high fidelity. - supraband. - broadband. - hyper-speed. - hyper-band.

broadband

The phenomenon known as _________ exists when a firm's potential partners see the firm as a threat. This threat could come because it offers competing products or services via alternative channels or because the firm works closely with especially threatening competitors. - disambiguation - imprints - disintermediation - channel conflict - agency

channel conflict

When firms find themselves in situations where they are both competitors and partners, the situation is called _____. - collaborative filtering - strategic balancing - crowdsourcing - coopetition - straddling

coopetition

Cable subscribers who drop premium cable channels are referred to as _____. - cord cutters - frenemies - disintermediators - disrupters - cord shavers

cord shavers

The term __________ refers to taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent and contracting it out to an undefined generally large group of people in the form of an open call

crowdsourcing

Amdahl's law states that a system's speed is: - independent of the characteristics of its components. - dependent on the speed of its fastest component. - most likely to increase along with the rising number of users participating on a given communications network. - determined by its slowest component. - inversely proportional to the number of its components.

determined by its slowest component.

Removing an organization from a firm's distribution channel thereby collapsing the path between supplier and customer is known as _____. - digital distribution - disintermediation - outsourcing - privatization - expulsion

disintermediation

What strategic asset does Netflix hope to create by getting its technology embedded in hundreds of consumer electronics devices? - churn - distribution channels - viral marketing - exclusivity - information asymmetries

distribution channels

Mistyping path or filenames in a Web address may result in a 404 error, which means: - incorrect case. - document not found. - unrecognized command. - access denied. - bad command or filename.

document not found

The _____ is a distributed database that looks up the host and domain names that a user enters, and returns the actual IP address for the computer that the user wants to communicate with. - Web hosting service - cache - domain name service - uniform resource locator - network address translation

domain name service

Pioneered by Facebook but now adopted by most services, _____ provide a timely list of the activities of and public messages from people, groups, and organizations that an individual has an association with. - hash tags - walls - feeds - profiles - comments

feeds

One possible solution that can provide improved wireless performance when a home otherwise suffers from poor cellular connectivity is: - FTTH - femtocell technology - DSL (but only in dense urban areas) - cable-fiber hybrids, but with one connection to each home. - HFT

femtocell technology

Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) systems - are the most popular form of mobile phone transmission technology - are less efficient than LEO systems because GEO satellites require many more satellites to cover a single geographic area - are being embraced by worldwide financial markets - have a higher latency than LEO systems - use unmanned drones (often leveraging solar power and flying above cloud cover) to circle an area and provide constant wireless Internet connectivity

have a higher latency than LEO systems

The _____ defines the rules for communication between Web browsers and Web servers. - internet message access protocol - session initiation protocol - hypertext transfer protocol - simple mail transfer protocol - file transfer protocol

hypertext transfer protocol

Which of the following was a primary reason for Amazon's decrease in profits of in 2012? - technological incompetence - poor stock performance - high employee attrition - poor customer retention - massive investments

massive investements

Telecom firms seeking to provide mobile phone and mobile data service - are at a distinct advantage over broadband providers, since they have no infrastructure costs associated with transmission - have been increasing their circuit-switching technology in hopes that this scale can deliver competitive advantage - must license the right to use wireless spectrum - increasingly leverage FTTH to reduce latency for over-the-air wireless transmissions - must deploy separate transmission standards in each country so that no 'free-riding' can occur when owners of foreign phones enter a local market

must license the right to use wireless spectrum

Mandated for Wikipedia contributions, this editorial style is free of bias and opinion: - bohemian style. - non-stereotypical writing style. - ombudsman approach. - independent observation. - neutral point of view.

neutral point of view

A hash tag allows Twitter users to: - search for "friends" they wish to follow. - block undesirable followers, such as stalkers and hackers. - determine the location of devices equipped with Twitter software. - organize tweets by prefixing keywords with the '#' symbol. - update their status messages.

organize tweets by prefixing keywords with the '#' symbol

Amazon does not _____. From Section: Chapter 6 - own the inventory of items sold through the 'Fulfilled by Amazon' program - focus on long-term goals - offer web-based services - postpone profit harvesting - allow third-party sellers to use its website

own the inventory of items sold through the 'Fulfilled by Amazon' program

A(n)_____ refers to a unit of data forwarded by a network. - cache - protocol - router - clip - packet

packet

____ includes social media sites and open source software and involves the participation of users to provide the infrastructure and computational resources that enable a service. - Coopetition - Collaborative filtering - Disintermediation - Peer production - User aggregation

peer production

When different ISPs connect their networking equipment together to share traffic, it is called: - load balancing. - caching. - peering. - traffic diffusion. - optimizing.

peering

Sermo is an example of an online community that focuses on which group of professional users. - social media executives - programmers and engineers - physicians - celebrities - human resource professionals

physicians

The limited cell coverage in the United States can often be attributed to a lack of towers resulting from: - Insufficient long-haul infrastructure to support towers. - anti-trust restrictions. - unsuitable topography. - inability of loss-making mobile service providers to invest in infrastructure. - public opposition to clouding of landscapes.

public opposition to clouding of landscapes.

The roll back feature of a wiki page allows: - organize content on the wiki page in chronological order. - users to edit content on the wiki page. - posting of hash tags that link to related wiki pages. - users to post messages, photos, and videos. - restoration of the wiki page to a prior version.

restoration of the wiki page to a prior version

The term _____________ refers to showing ads for products and services from a site that a user has previously visited. - flash sales - A/B testing - cookied product sales - retargeting - affiliate programs

retargeting

The relaying of data packets between the two ends of a communication over the Internet is carried out through special computers called: - messengers. - servers. - exchanges. - routers. - relays.

routers

Firms enjoy _____ when they are able to leverage the cost of an investment across increasing units of production. - economies of scope - absolute advantage - complementary benefits - scale economies - high stock market valuations

scale economies

Amazon reports a negative cash conversion cycle, which means it: - sells goods before it has to pay its suppliers. - defers profits in order to invest in long-term opportunities. - focuses on advancing profit harvesting. - sells goods after it pays the suppliers. - does not allow third-party sellers to use its website.

sells goods before it has to pay its suppliers.

A(n) _____ is an online community that allows users to establish a personal profile and communicate with others. - offline discussion board - social bookmarking site - social network - SMS system - public listing

social network

Storing digital goods in the cloud via a firm-controlled standard means a company will create the competitive asset of ______________. - low-cost - switching costs - brand - scale - marginal cost

switching costs

Wireless systems provided by earth-bound base stations like cell phone towers are referred to as: - middle earth wireless. - high-fidelity wireless. - satellite wireless. - terrestrial wireless. - geostationary wireless.

terrestrial wireless.

While some debate the size of the "long tail," one fact that is critical to keep above this debate is that: - the Internet allows large-selection inventory efficiencies that offline firms can't match. - the low cost of storefront maintenance make physical retail store models attractive. - a large collection of titles is not important in attracting subscriptions from customers. - it makes business sense for offline firms to stock obscure titles. - more than 95 percent of the titles in the inventories of physical storefronts are viewed every three months.

the Internet allows large-selection inventory efficiencies that offline firms can't match.

LTE refers to: - the dominant worldwide 4G wireless transmission technology - Local Telecommunications Extensions - a proprietary wireless technology, offered by Verizon Telecommunications - Sprint's failed wireless broadband technology - Location Transmission Equipment

the dominant worldwide 4G wireless transmission technology

The phenomenon whereby firms can make money by selling a near-limitless selection of less popular products is known as _____. - economies of scale - the long tail - the grey market - economies of scope - the product lifecycle

the long tail

The _____ protocol works at both the start and endpoint of an Internet communication between two computers to ensure perfect copies of messages are sent and received. -transmission control - internet message access - simple mail transfer - internet message control - file transfer

transmission control

A Web site anyone can edit directly within a Web browser is known as a _______. - cloud site - microblog - blog - torrent - wiki

wiki

An industry practice whereby content is available to a given distribution channel for a specified time period, usually under a different revenue model is known as _____. - hoarding - pre-empting - stalling - scheduling - windowing

windowing

The three sources of scale advantage which the Netflix DVD-by-mail business had over rivals imitating its effort were: - Cinematch, collaborative filtering, the long tail - Network effects, switching costs, brand - Foresee, Nielsen, ACSI - Brand, scale, data - A warehouse network, customer base, and long tail selection

A warehouse network, customer base, and long tail selection

Facebook and Twitter feeds are: - All Facebook posts appear in friend feeds, but Twitter posts are curated and only appear in the feeds of some followers. - Function nearly identically - Corporate posts will only appear in the feeds of Facebook fans and Twitter followers if they leverage paid media - All Twitter posts appear in the feeds of followers with an open Twitter app, but Facebook posts are curated and only appear in the feeds of some friends and fans.

All Twitter posts appear in the feeds of followers with an open Twitter app, but Facebook posts are curated and only appear in the feeds of some friends and fans.

In which ways is Amazon becoming a publisher? - None of the above, Amazon recognizes that if it publishes products it risks losing key suppliers. - The firm has its own book publishing divisions. - All of the above. - Amazon has begun to produce television shows to be aired over its video streaming network. - Amazon is a publisher of video games.

All of the above

Identify the accurate statement about Amazon. - Amazon employees are given the freedom to challenge even the most senior managers to all the way up to the founder. - Amazon looks to make money directly from Kindle hardware sales. - Amazon's items that produce the most sales volume are stocked on proper shelves. - The A/B testing used in Amazon is particularly difficult to run over the Internet on a firm's website. - Amazon does not allow third-party sellers to use its website.

Amazon employees are given the freedom to challenge even the most senior managers to all the way up to the founder.

Identify the true statement about Amazon. - Amazon focuses on the immediate harvesting of profits to gain a strategic advantage in the market. - Amazon made profits from the first year of its operation. - Amazon's profitability has remained constant over the years and analysts continue to predict profits for the firm's future. - Amazon takes a relatively long-view with respect to investing in initiatives and its commitment to grow profitable businesses. - Amazon is the second largest online retailer in the world.

Amazon takes a relatively long-view with respect to investing in initiatives and its commitment to grow profitable businesses.

Which of the following is true of Amazon? - Amazon initially adopted the domain of a non-profit organization. - Amazon has centered its focus on quarterly results. - Amazon has limited its product categories to only books. - Amazon went seven whole years without turning a profit. - Amazon's profitability has remained constant over the years and analysts continue to predict profits in the firm's future.

Amazon went seven whole years without turning a profit.

Which of the following is not a firm that has received an investment from Jeff Bezos? - Twitter - Uber - The Washington Post - BlueOrigin - Bezos has invested in all of the above businesses

Bezos has invested in all of the above businesses

_____ is a marketing term referring to the rate at which customers leave a product or service. - Jump - Churn rate - Attrition - Crossover number - Transit rate

Churn rate

The phrase ______________ refers to efforts where participants share access to products and services rather than having ownership. - Collaborative consumption - Journalism and publishing - Political science - Software development - Photography

Collaborative consumption

Which term refers to a classification of software that monitors trends among customers and uses this data to personalize an individual customer's experience? - Cloud computing - Data warehousing - The long tail - Collaborative filtering - Crowdsourcing

Collaborative filtering

Which of the following is true of Amazon's fulfillment operations? - Amazon's strength has always been dealing with customers directly. - In order to automate profit-pushing hyper-efficiency, Amazon warehouses are powered by at least as much code as the firm's website. - Staff known as warehouse pickers are not in charge of building a customer's order from a warehouse's inventory. - Amazon's items that produce the most sales volume are stocked on proper shelves. - Amazon's warehousing has always been efficient and part of a money-making process.

In order to automate profit-pushing hyper-efficiency, Amazon warehouses are powered by at least as much code as the firm's website.

In order to achieve a negative cash conversion cycle a firm would want to: - Increase its account payable terms and decrease its inventory turns. - Increase its account payable period and its inventory turns. - Decrease its account payable period and its inventory turns. - Decrease its account payable terms and increase its inventory turns.

Increase its account payable period and its inventory turns.

Which of the following is true of Amazon Web Services (AWS)? - AWS forms a large percentage of Amazon's overall revenue. - Amazon does not offer corporate-quality computing. - AWS is a fool-proof system. - It allows anyone with a credit card to access industrial-strength, scalable computing resources. - AWS doesn't provide services such as programming environments and networking services.

It allows anyone with a credit card to access industrial-strength, scalable computing resources.

Which of the following is true of Netflix DVD-by-mail? - It provides opportunities for new content and revenue models. - It is tough to profitably duplicate. - It has vast appeal for new entrants. - Its competitors are numerous with different models. - It allows for unlimited per-title rental to all content

It is touch to profitably duplicate

Which of the following is true of the packaging process at Amazon? - Warehouse software tells 'shelvers' the optimal size of smile-logoed Amazon cardboard box to use for a given order. - Items that produce the most sales volume are stocked in a single location so that staffers can remember exactly where to go to pick the most popularly ordered items from the shelves. - Amazon customer service reps move around the store, depositing orders into appropriately-sized cardboard boxes labeled with a customer's name and address for ready sealing, stamping, and shipment. - Items that produce the most sales volume are dropped in an area called 'mass land' so that they can be quickly picked and packaged for shipment. - Floor workers usually know who the customer is or what the customer has ordered.

Items that produce the most sales volume are dropped in an area called 'mass land' so that they can be quickly picked and packaged for shipment.

_____ is a type of short-message posting service, often made via mobile device, designed to provide rapid notification to a user's readership. - Blogging - Technological leapfrogging - Social networking - Social bookmarking - Microblogging

Microblogging

_____ has allowed Amazon to radically drop the price of Kindle offerings, while increasing device functionality. - Network Effects - Moore's Law - Publisher subsidies - Metcalfe's Law - Robotics-driven inventory turns

Moore's Law

Which of the following is one of the differences between Twitter and Facebook? - Facebook is designed to provide rapid notification to a user's readership, unlike Twitter. - Unlike Facebook, Twitter offers users the ability to post status messages. - Twitter settings allow asymmetrical following, unlike Facebook. - Facebook allows users to block unwanted followers, unlike Twitter. - Unlike Facebook, Twitter allows users to post videos and photos on their homepages.

Twitter settings allow asymmetrical following, unlike Facebook.

URL, the address one types into a Web browser, stands for: - Uniform Resource Locator. - Uniform Redirection Link. - University Resource Locator. - Universal Resource Link. - Universal Redirection Link.

Uniform Resource Locator

Identify the accurate statement about Kindle. - Amazon makes most of its digital book profits from the sale of Kindle hardware. - Various Kindle versions are regularly sold at or below costs. - Kindle titles are easily ported to third-party eBook reader software. - The Kindle delivered to customers cannot be linked to their Amazon accounts. - Using Amazon as a publisher means that your titles will only be available through Kindle.

Various Kindle versions are regularly sold at or below costs.

Net neutrality is the principle that: - all wireless services like mobile telephony and wireless broadband should be given access to the entire wireless transmission spectrum. - all Internet traffic should be treated equally. - developing countries should be given better technology to neutralize the gap between them and developed countries. - all Internet users should be provided services at a uniform rate irrespective of location. - all Internet users should be treated equally.

all Internet traffic should be treated equally.

The Fire Phone has struggled because it is fighting: - against competitors that have strong network effects - for consumers in a mature market high in switching costs - none of the above - all of the above - with a product that is not fully compatible with dominant smartphone standards

all of the above

Economists often consider the marginal costs of digital goods. - are decreasing - are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable - are effectively zero - are increasing - are infinite

are effectively zero

Advertising can build _____, but brands are built through _____. - product value; pricing strategies - recognition; viral campaigns - awareness; customer experience - customer loyalty; funding - image; television promotion

awareness; customer experience

The Amazon cloud computing product known as Workspaces allows firms to manage their inventory and fulfillment within Amazon's own warehouses (T/F).

False

The dominance of the U.S. Internet industry worldwide is a direct result of United States consistent appearance at the top of speed and cost rankings for consumer last-mile broadband access (T/F).

False

While Amazon is the largest online retailer, the firm has struggled with customer satisfaction, largely because processes are automated and the firm offers little phone support or human assistance. The firm allows this tradeoff because it helps cut costs (T/F).

False

While settlement of financial trades occurs over high-speed telecommunication lines, regulatory restrictions and security concerns require that the majority of worldwide stock and currency trading be done by humans selecting and executing trades (T/F).

False

GitHub and StackOverflow are websites that are especially useful for students and professionals focusing on the _______________________ industries - Airline - Software development - Political science - Journalism and publishing - Photography

Software development

The Netflix DVD-by-mail allowed users to pay per movie, akin to rental but with the efficiencies of an Internet business with inventory delivered via the mail (T/F).

False

_____ refers to a broadband service provided via light-transmitting fiber-optic cables. - Broadband over landline technology - Digital Subscriber Line technology - Broadband over power line technology - Fiber to the home technology - Fiber/copper hybrid technology

Fiber to the home technology

Although Netflix had a larger distribution network than rivals, other firms could build a similarly large warehouse network. What additional advantage made this more profitable for Netflix than newcomers? - The size of the firm's customer base, which enabled economies of scale. - The extent of analyst support in the investing community. - The bread of the firm's physical retail store network. - The computing power in the firm's proprietary data centers, which no rivals could replicate. - The long tail of products inside warehouses that rivals could never match.

The size of the firm's customer base, which enabled economies of scale.

Which of the following is true? - Amazon got its start selling games online. - Amazon's strength lies in being always able to sell well directly to its customers. - The three pillars of Amazon's business are large selection, convenience, and lower prices. - Amazon is no longer the world's largest online retailer. - Amazon's profitability has remained constant over the years and analysts continue to predict profits for the firm's future.

The three pillars of Amazon's business are large selection, convenience, and lower prices

_____ are links in a blog post that refer readers back to cited sources. - Redirectors - Blog rolls - Torrents - Trackbacks - Uniform resource locators

Trackbacks

Amazon offers personal cloud storage options for all forms of media, including books, games, music, and video. It even offers file storage akin to Dropbox and Google Drive (T/F).

True

Apple is allowed to charge app developers a 30 percent surcharge on digital goods sold through any apps on its devices (T/F).

True

Customers who purchase Kindle products buy significantly more products from Amazon than those who do not own a Kindle (T/F).

True

Flash sales refers to the process of offering deeply discounts on a limited quantity of inventory, often running for a limited time period or until inventory runs out (T/F).

True

Netflix runs on Amazon Web Services (T/F).

True

The evolution of Netflix has caused the firm to come into direct conflict with firms as varied as Facebook and Microsoft, leading to frequent clashes with founder Reed Hastings and the leadership of these other tech giants (T/F).

True

Which of the following was responsible for bringing firms such as Wal-Mart and Blockbuster into direct competition with Netflix? - The low costs associated w/ streaming content online - The Netflix IPO - The popularity of the blu-ray disc - The concept of crowdsourcing - The ease of acquiring digital distribution rights

The Netflix IPO

What key asset did Netflix embarassingly fail to secure when rebranding the DVD-by-mail business as Qwikster? - The images used at launch - The Trademark - The Facebook page - The internet domain name - The Twitter account

The Twitter account

________ are promotions that are not paid for or owned but rather grow organically from customer efforts or other favorable publicity. Examples include positive tweets, referring Facebook posts, and pins on Pinterest. - S.M.A.R.T. efforts - Owned media - Inbound marketing - Paid media - Earned media

Earned media

DSL technologies are more popular in European and Asian cities than in American cities because: - European and Asian cities have better infrastructure in place. - Internet service providers in Europe and Asia are government-funded. - European and Asian cities are densely populated and many high-value customers can be accessed over short distances. - European and Asian cities use copper/hybrid technologies, which are cheaper. - American cities are densely populated and traffic can get congested.

European and Asian cities are densely populated and many high-value customers can be accessed over short distances.

A/B Testing refers to an effort where prices fluctuate based on supply and demand conditions (T/F).

False

Agency pricing refers to a situation where retailers buy books at the price specified by suppliers, but can then sell at any price they want (T/F).

False

Amazon's AWS industrial cloud computing products have struggled to gain traction against stronger, tech-centric products offered by industry leaders Google and Microsoft, but Bezos remains undeterred and will continue to invest despite Amazon's meager cloud computing market share (T/F).

False

Computers inform shelf stockers in Amazon fulfillment centers exactly where they should go to ensure that similar items are stacked next to each other. The goal? Make sure that if an order picker seeks something like Legos, they'll find all of the firm's offerings in one spot (T/F).

False

Fire TV is a risky bet because it enters a very mature market for home television streaming devices (T/F).

False

Host and domain names are case-sensitive, meaning differences in the case of the domain or host names lead to different destinations (T/F).

False

Netflix has been able to rapidly add the streaming business with similar cost economics and product offerings because the fundamentals of this business are very similar to the firm's DVD-by-mail business, just streamed over the Internet (T/F).

False

One criticism of FTTH (Fiber to the Home) is that this capacity has to be shared, so if your neighbors are high-bandwidth users, they may reduce your Internet transmission speeds (T/F).

False

The "First-Sale Doctrine" refers to an over-100-year-old U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows Netflix to stream a nearly unlimited catalog of movies and television programs (T/F).

False

________ are media from communication channels that an organization controls. These can include firm-run blogs and Web sites, any firm-distributed corporate mobile Web site or app, and organization accounts on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram. - S.M.A.R.T. efforts - Paid media - Earned media - Inbound marketing - Owned media

Owned media

________ refers to efforts where an organization pays to leverage a channel or promote a message. Paid media efforts include things such as advertisement and sponsorships. - S.M.A.R.T. efforts - Inbound marketing - Owned media - Paid media - Earned media

Paid media

Netflix's DVD-by-mail service was rebranded under the name _____; however this move proved unsuccessful. - Hulu - Vizio - Qwikster - Vudu - BlinkBox

Qwikster

Which of the following is a significant advantage of the long tail model on which Netflix is based? - Scale advantage - Zero competition - High bargaining power - Scope advantage - Absolute advantage

Scale advantage