2) Deciding whether to introduce a new product line is the responsibility of an operational manager. Answer: True False

Transcription

1 Exam Name TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false. 1) Operational management is responsible for directing the day-to-day operations of the business and therefore needs transaction-level information. 2) Deciding whether to introduce a new product line is the responsibility of an operational manager. 3) Business processes refer to the manner in which work is organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a valuable product or service. 4) The performance of a business firm depends on how well its business processes are designed and coordinated. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Information systems automate many steps in business processes that were already automated. 5) 6) Ordering a book online from chapters.indigo.ca or downloading a music track from itunes are entirely new business processes based on old business models. 7) Functional systems that operate independently of each other are becoming a thing of the future because they cannot easily share information to support cross-functional business processes. 8) Operational management, middle management, and senior management each use a specific type of system to support the decisions they must make to run the company. 6) 7) 8) 9) At the operational level, tasks, resources, and goals are predefined and highly unstructured. 9) 10) Managers need TPS to monitor the status of internal operations and the firm s relations with the external environment. 11) Transaction processing systems are often so central to a business that TPS failure for a few hours can lead to a firm s demise and perhaps that of other firms linked to it. 12) Middle management needs systems to help with monitoring, controlling, decision-making, and administrative activities. 13) Sometimes you will hear TPS referred to as business intelligence systems because they focus on helping users make better business decisions. 10) 11) 12) 13)

2 14) Digital dashboards are becoming an increasingly popular feature of DSS. 14) 15) Information that was previously fragmented in different systems can be easily shared across the firm to help different parts of the business work more closely together. 16) Enterprise systems integrate the key business processes of an entire firm into a single software system that enables information to flow seamlessly throughout the organization. 17) Supply chain management (SCM) systems help businesses manage relationships with their customers. 18) Customer relationship management (CRM) systems help firms manage their relationships with their customers. 19) SCM systems consolidate and integrate customer information from multiple communication channels. 20) Salesforce.com, is a market-leading provider of on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) software. 21) Transaction processing systems (TPS) enable organizations to better manage processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise. 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) Knowledge management systems (KMS) also link the firm to external sources of knowledge. 22) 23) KMS support processes for acquiring, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge, as well as processes for creating new knowledge and integrating it into the organization. 24) DSS applications create deep-seated changes in the way the firm conducts its business, and they are often costly to implement. 23) 24) 25) Intranets and extranets are really more technology platforms than specific applications. 25) 26) An intranet typically centres on a portal that provides a single point of access to information from several different systems and to documents using a Web interface. 26) 27) End users are representatives of departments outside the information systems group for whom app lication

3 s are develope d. 27) 28) Tata Motors had to revise many of its manufacturing processes to support digital manufacturing. 29) Transaction processing systems are most commonly used by the senior management level of an organization. 30) A transaction processing system is a computerized system that performs and records the daily routine transactions necessary to conduct business. 28) 29) 30) 31) A hotel reservation system is a typical example of a management information system. 31) 32) Management information systems typically support non routine decision making. 32) 33) Enrolling employees in benefits plans is a business process handled by the finance and accounting function. 34) Functional systems that support business processes within a single functional group, such as human resources, are being phased out in favour of cross-functional systems. 35) Managers need TPSs to monitor the status of internal operations and the firm's relations with the external environment. 33) 34) 35) 36) Most MISs use sophisticated mathematical models or statistical techniques. 36) 37) Decision-support systems help managers make decisions that are unique, rapidly changing, and not easily specified in advance. 37) 38) Decision-support systems use internal information as well as information from external sources. 38) 39) ESSs are designed to serve the middle management of the organization. 39) 40) ESSs are designed to incorporate data about external events, but they also draw summarized information from internal MIS and DSS. 40)

4 41) ESSs are designed primarily to solve specific problems. 41) 42) Information supplied by an enterprise system is structured around cross-functional business processes. 42) 43) Enterprise systems often include transactions with customers and vendors. 43) 44) Supply chain management systems are more externally oriented than enterprise systems. 44) 45) Maintaining online directories of employees with special areas of expertise is one application of knowledge management systems. 45) MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 46) Tata Motors' new information system, enabling it to automate processes in product design and 46) production engineering planning, is best categorized as a(n) A) TPS B) KMS C) ESS D) DSS 47) Identifying customers is a responsibility of the function. 47) A) sales and marketing B) finance and accounting C) manufacturing and production D) human resources Answer: A 48) Producing bills of materials is a business process within the function. 48) A) finance and accounting B) manufacturing and production C) sales and marketing D) human resources 49) Which of the following is an example of a cross-functional business process? 49) A) identifying customers B) creating a new product C) paying creditors D) assembling a product 50) Which type of system would you use to change a production schedule if a key supplier was late in delivering goods? A) DSS B) MIS C) ESS D) TPS 51) To monitor the status of internal operations and the firm's relations with the external environment, managers need systems. A) knowledge B) decision-support C) transaction processing D) management information 50) 51) 52) Which systems are typically a major source of data for other systems? 52) A) management information systems B) transaction processing systems C) decision-support systems D) executive support systems

5 53) Which type of system would you use to determine the five suppliers with the worst record in delivering goods on time? A) ESS B) DSS C) TPS D) MIS 54) A relocation control system that reports summaries on the total moving, house-hunting, and home financing costs for employees in all company divisions would fall into the category of A) transaction processing systems. B) knowledge management systems. C) executive-support systems. D) management information systems. 55) The term "management information systems" designates a specific category of information systems serving: A) employees with online access to historical records. B) middle management functions. C) transaction process reporting. D) integrated data processing throughout the firm. 56) Decisions that are unique, rapidly changing, and not easily specified in advance are best suited to which type of system? A) TPS B) ESS C) DSS D) MIS 57) John has worked in the marketing department of a computer supplier for five years. He obtains information on marketing decisions from a system that handles only marketing data for the firm. John is using which kind of system? A) MIS B) functional C) cross-functional D) DSS 58) Mary has some decisions to make in regards to pricing her candy products. She is wondering what the effect will be on sales if she raises the price by 10% and reduces the amount of grams in the candy bags by 2%. Mary should use what kind of information system to help her make this decision? A) cross-functional B) MIS C) DSS D) functional 59) Richard has started a new food business. He will have about 300 customers per day and receive supplies from 50 suppliers per month. In order to keep track of all of these various business transactions, he needs a system. What kind of system should Richard install? A) MIS B) cross-functional C) DSS D) TPS 60) Donna works for a national pizza company in Calgary. They have over 100 stores across Canada. Every week they receive all the sales and cost data from all their stores. This data is processed and aggregated on a weekly basis. Then reports are given to Donna so that she can analyze the performance of the business. What kind of system is Donna using? 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60)

6 A) MIS B) cross-functional C) TPS D) DSS Answer: A 61) Helen is the head of a cosmetic distributor. They have over 300 accounts across Canada. Helen is tasked with scanning both the internal and external environment of the business. Helen then helps to determine overall strategies the company will pursue. What type of information system will Helen use to help her with her task? A) DSS B) MIS C) TPS D) ESS 62) Bill works for a firm that manufactures doors for commercial businesses. He is the accountant for the firm. To do his job he must collect data about raw inventory levels, goods in production, finished goods and all the costs of the inputs of those processes. Bill would most likely benefit by using what kind of system to perform his job at a high level? A) CRM B) TPS C) ERP D) SCM 63) Eddy is feeling a lot stress in his work life right now. He is a purchasing manager for a large retail store and the Holiday season is fast approaching. He needs to make sure that the store is well stocked so that they have enough inventory from all their suppliers to cover this busy time of year. Eddy would most likely benefit by using what kind of system to perform his job at a high level? A) TPS B) SCM C) ERP D) CRM 64) Susan is employed by a new car dealership. The dealership knows that it is less expensive to retain current customers than it is to get new customers. Her dealership likes to follow up with current customers every four months for up to two years to make sure that they are satisfied with their purchase. Susan would be well served to use what kind of system in her duties? A) TPS B) CRM C) ERP D) SCM 65) Bill works for Nike in Edmonton. Nike gives Bill access to internal company data such as inventory levels, pricing, product availability as well as training on new products. Nike is most likely using which system to help motivate and train their own employees? A) extranet B) SCM C) intranet D) CRM 66) Glen manufactures shoes for Nike in Hong Kong. His firm receives the plans for the shoes from Nike eight month before Nike needs the shoes. Glen needs a constant flow of information with Nike in Canada. Glen needs to know colour, sizes and number of models needed. Glen also gives Nike reports through the system as to the status and cost of production of Nikes' order. Nike is most likely using which system to keep in contact and manage their shoe production? A) intranet B) extranet C) CRM D) SCM 67) are a type of Web site that makes it easy for users to contribute and edit text content and graphics without any knowledge of Web page development or programming techniques. A) B) Social Networking C) Wikis D) Virtual worlds 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67)

7 68) are computer-based simulated environment intended for its users to inhabit and interact via graphical representations called avatars. A) Virtual worlds B) Social Networking C) Wikis D) Answer: A 69) are online communities for expanding users business or social contacts by making connections through their mutual business or personal connections. A) Virtual worlds B) Wikis C) D) Social Networking 68) 69) 70) are the computer-to-computer exchange of messages. 70) A) Virtual worlds B) C) Wikis D) Social Networking 71) Systems analysts are 71) A) senior managers in charge of the information systems function in a firm. B) specialists who translate business problems and requirements into information requirements and systems C) highly trained technical specialists who write computer software instructions. D) employees who heads the formal security function for an organization 72) systems are especially suited to situations in which the procedure for arriving at a solution may not be fully defined in advance. A) Management information B) Knowledge management C) Decision-support D) Transaction processing 73) Which type of system would you use to forecast the return on investment if you used new suppliers with better delivery track records? A) DSS B) TPS C) ESS D) MIS Answer: A 72) 73) 74) Decision-support systems are often referred to as business systems. 74) A) analysis B) intelligence C) modeling D) information 75) Which benefits of Air Canada's new Maintenix software best illustrate the DSS capabilities of their new information system? A) support of existing business model and enterprise resource planning and financial software B) enhanced visibility of fleetwide data C) ability to match work requirements against changing locations and flight schedules D) increased operational efficiencies 75) 76) ESS are specifically designed to serve which level of the organization? 76) A) middle management B) operational C) end-user D) senior management

8 77) Executive support systems are information systems that support the 77) A) day-to-day processes of production. B) decision-making and administrative activities of middle managers. C) knowledge and data workers in an organization. D) long-range planning activities of senior management. 78) Which systems often deliver information to senior executives through a portal, which uses a Web interface to present integrated personalized business content? A) transaction processing systems B) decision-support systems C) executive support systems D) management information systems 79) Which type of system would you use to determine what trends in your supplier's industry will affect your firm the most in five years? A) MIS B) DSS C) TPS D) ESS 78) 79) 80) What is the most important function of an enterprise application? 80) A) increasing speed of communicating B) enabling a company to work collaboratively with customers and suppliers C) enabling cost-effective e-business processes D) enabling business functions and departments to share information 81) are designed to support organization-wide process coordination and integration. 81) A) CRM systems B) Enterprise applications C) Decision-support systems D) Management information systems 82) A(n) system collects data from various key business processes and stores the data in a single, comprehensive data repository, usable by other parts of the business. A) enterprise B) management information C) transaction D) automatic reporting Answer: A 83) You manage the IT department at a small start up Internet advertiser. You need to set up an inexpensive system that allows customers to see real-time statistics such as views and click-throughs about their current banner ads. Which type of system will most efficiently provide a solution? A) extranet B) CRM C) intranet D) enterprise system Answer: A 84) The Smart Site Solution system used by Johnny's Lunch to help identify the best locations to open new franchises is best categorized as a A) POS system B) DSS C) KMS D) CRM 82) 83) 84) 85) The MICROS system used by Johnny's Lunch to captures sales transaction data and help mo nitor

9 inventor y, control waste, and adhere to governm ent regulatio ns is best categoriz ed as a(n) 85) A) KMS B) ESS C) CRM D) TPS 86) The four major enterprise applications are 86) A) SCMs, CRMs, ESSs, and KMSs. B) enterprise systems, SCMs, DSSs, and CRMs. C) SCMs, CRMs, DSSs, and KMSs. D) enterprise systems, SCMs, CRMs, and KMSs. 87) Enterprise systems are also known as systems. 87) A) management information B) enterprise support C) enterprise resource planning D) resource planning 88) Enabling management to make better decisions regarding organizing and scheduling sourcing, production, and distribution is a central feature of A) SCMs B) ERPs C) TPSs D) KMSs Answer: A 88) 89) systems integrate supplier, manufacturer, distributor, and customer logistics processes. 89) A) Reverse logistics B) Enterprise planning C) Supply-chain management D) Collaborative distribution 90) uses a set of integrated applications to address all aspects of the customer relationship. 90) A) MIS B) CLE C) CLU D) CRM 91) Which types of systems consolidate the relevant knowledge and experience in the firm to make it available to improve business processes and management decision making? A) Extranets B) TPS C) KMS D) CRM 91) 92) An information system for would NOT be categorized as a KMS. 92) A) discovering new sales channels for a product B) distributing documents C) enabling the discovery of new product applications D) documenting the expertise of company specialists Answer: A

10 93) Which type of information system is an intranet most easily adapted to? 93) A) TPS B) MIS C) CRM D) KMS 94) Which of the following types of system helps expedite the flow of information between the firm and its suppliers and customers? A) intranet B) KMS C) TPS D) extranet 94) 95) Which of the following occupations would NOT be categorized as an "interaction" job? 95) A) business manager B) operations manager C) sales representative D) engineer 96) Which of the following decisions requires knowledge based on collaboration and interaction? 96) A) How long will it take to manufacture this product? B) In which geographical locations are our products garnering the most sales? C) Which product design is the most efficient for the user in terms of energy use? D) Should we collaborate with outside vendors on new products and services? 97) E-government refers to the application of to digitally enable government and public sector agencies relationships with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. A) the Internet and networking B) e-business technologies C) e-commerce D) any computerized technology Answer: A 97) 98) Buying or selling goods over the Internet is called 98) A) e-commerce. B) an intranet. C) e-business. D) an extranet. Answer: A 99) The use of digital technology and the Internet to execute the major business processes in the enterprise is called A) e-commerce. B) e-business. C) MIS. D) enterprise applications. 100) The principal liaison between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization is a(n) A) CTO. B) systems analyst. C) information systems manager. D) programmer. 99) 100) 101) A is a senior manager who oversees the use of IT in the firm. 101) A) CEO B) CFO C) CTO D) CIO 102) The helps design programs and systems to find new sources of knowledge or to make better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes. A) CTO B) CKO C) CSO D) CPO 102)

11 103) The CPO is responsible for 103) A) overseeing the use of information technology in the firm. B) ensuring that the company complies with existing data privacy laws. C) making better use of existing knowledge in organizational and management processes. D) enforcing the firm's information security policy. 104) The advantage of a having a centralized information services department that operates as a separate department similar to other departments is that A) systems are built that can function independently and more efficiently. B) this lowers costs of technology purchases. C) this is more likely to produce more compatible systems and more coherent long-term systems development plans. D) systems are built that directly address that function's business needs. 104) 105) Which of the following roles falls into the duties of an information systems manager? 105) A) translating business problems into information requirements B) acting as liaison between the information systems group and the rest of the organization C) managing data entry staff D) writing software instructions for computers 106) Which of the following types of organizing the information systems function would you be most likely to find in a small company with 20 employees? A) represented within each major division of the company B) as a separate, centralized department C) as departments within each functional area D) none of the above 107) Which of the following types of organizing the information systems function would you be most likely to find in a very large, multinational corporation? A) as departments within each functional area B) represented within each major division of the company C) as a separate, centralized department D) none of the above 108) You work for a highly successful advertiser that is just about to expand nationally. Of utmost importance will be finding a way to store and disseminate their clients continually updated branding guides, which include multiple image files and text documents, to all of the firm's branches. What system will best serve these needs? A) a TPS with KMS capabilities B) an intranet with KMS capabilities C) an extranet with KMS capabilities D) a CRM 109) You have been hired by a non-profit agency to implement a system to handle their donations. Event fundraisers need to be able to quickly access a donor's information and history. The marketing department needs to be able to create customized mailing lists, in order to send 106) 107) 108) diffe ages rent to mess differe

12 nt types of donors. What system will best meet these needs? 109) A) TPS with DSS capabilities B) TPS with MIS capabilities C) TPS D) TPS with ESS capabilities 110) You have been hired by Inspiration Inc, to help improve their profit margin. Inspiration Inc. is a business communications consultancy that services many clients in different industries throughout the United States. The end products of the company are customized recommendations for the best use of a clients existing resources for improving internal communications, typically delivered via documentation in different media. The company has approximately 100 consultants, all of whom are located in their central headquarters in Chicago. What system do you recommend to improve the company's business processes and increase their profit margin? A) Extranet, to enable quick collaboration over the Internet, minimize the time spent communicating with the client, and minimize the amount of paperwork needed B) marketing system, for improving sales levels C) KMS, for minimizing redundant work on similar clients D) CRM, to maintain easily accessible customer records to minimize the time spent looking for client data Answer: A 110) SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question. 111) A(n) is a set of logically related activities for accomplishing a specific business 111) result. Answer: business process 112) A Web interface used to present integrated personalized business content to users is called a(n). Answer: portal 113) applications span the entire firm, integrating information from multiple functions and business processes to enhance the performance of the organization as a whole. Answer: Enterprise 114) systems are used by middle management to combine data and sophisticated analytical models or data analysis tools to support nonroutine decision making. ecision-support 115) IT includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. Answer: governance 112) 113) 114) 115) 116) The function is responsible for attracting, developing, and maintaining the firm's workforce.

13 116) Answer: human resources 117) A state Web site that allows citizens to pay parking fines online is a form of. 117) Answer: e-government 118) Supply chain management systems are one type of system because they automate the flow of information across organizational boundaries. Answer: interorganizational 119) are highly trained technical specialists who write the software instructions for computers. Answer: Programmers 120) Business refer to the manner in which work is organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a valuable product or service. Answer: processes 121) To a large extent, the of a business firm depends on how well its business processes are designed and coordinated. Answer: performance 122) Information systems automate many steps in business processes that were formerly performed. Answer: manually 123) systems that operate independently of each other are becoming a thing of the past because they cannot easily share information to support cross-functional business processes. Answer: Functional 124) Operational management, middle management, and management each use a specific type of system to support the decisions they must make to run the company. Answer: senior 118) 119) 120) 121) 122) 123) 124) 125) At the level, tasks, resources, and goals are predefined and highly structured. 125) Answer: operational 126) Managers need TPS to monitor the status of operations and the firm s relations with the external environment. Answer: internal 127) management needs systems to help with monitoring, controlling, decision-making, and administrative activities. Answer: Middle 128) are often so central to a business that failure for a few hours can lead to a firm s demise and perhaps that of other firms linked to it. Answer: Transaction processing systems; TPS 129) Sometimes you will hear referred to as business intelligence systems because they focus on helping users make better business decisions. 126) 127) 128) 129)

14 SS 130) Digital dashboards are becoming an increasingly popular feature of. 130) Answer: ESS 131) This of data in hundreds of separate systems ( silos of information ) degrades organizational efficiency and business performance. Answer: fragmentation 132) systems integrate the key business processes of an entire firm into a single software system that enables information to flow seamlessly throughout the organization. Answer: Enterprise 131) 132) 133) systems help businesses manage relationships with their suppliers. 133) Answer: Supply chain management (SCM) 134) Supply chain management systems are one type of because they automate the flow of information across organizational boundaries. Answer: interorganizational system 134) 135) systems help firms manage their relationships with their customers. 135) ustomer relationship management (CRM) 136) enable organizations to better manage processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise. Answer: Knowledge management systems (KMS) 137) KMS support processes for acquiring, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge, as well as processes for creating new and integrating it into the organization. Answer: knowledge 138) applications create deep-seated changes in the way the firm conducts its business, and they are often costly to implement. Answer: Enterprise 136) 137) 138) 139) Salesforce.com, is a market-leading provider of on-demand software. 139) Answer: customer relationship management (CRM) 140) Intranets and extranets are really more technology than specific applications. 140) Answer: platforms 141) An intranet typically centres on a that provides a single point of access to information from several different systems and to documents using a Web interface. Answer: portal 142) SwissAir s corporate for sales provides its salespeople with sales leads, fares, statistics, libraries of best practices, access to incentive programs, discussion groups, and collaborative workspaces. Answer: intranet 141) 142) 143) Companies can connect their intranets to internal company systems, enabling emp loyees to take

15 actions central to a company s operatio ns 143) Answer: transaction 144) expedite the flow of information between the firm and its suppliers and customers. Answer: Extranets 145) With, firms have teams around the globe in different time zones working on the same problem, so the need for continuous interaction and communication around the clock has greatly expanded. Answer: globalization 146) Teams of employees who work together from many different locations around the world need tools to support collaboration. Answer: workgroup 144) 145) 146) 147) LinkedIn.com provides services to business professionals. 147) Answer: networking 148) The most well-known wiki is. 148) Answer: Wikipedia 149) are ideal tools for storing and sharing company knowledge and insights. 149) Answer: Wikis 150) constitute the principal liaisons between the information systems groups and the rest of the organization. Answer: Systems analysts 151) The is a senior manager who oversees the use of information technology in the firm. IO 152) are representatives of departments outside the information systems group for whom applications are developed. Answer: End users 153) includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. Answer: IT governance 154) Very large firms with divisions and product lines might allow each division to have its own information systems group. Answer: multiple 150) 151) 152) 153) 154) 155) information systems groups report to a high-level central information systems group and CIO.

16 155) ivisional 156) are representatives of departments outside of the information systems group for whom applications are developed. Answer: End users 156) ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper. 157) Identify and discuss the major types of information systems that serve the main management groups within a business. What are the relationships among these systems? Answer: The four major categories of information systems are: 1. Transaction processing systems, such as payroll or order processing, track the flow of the daily routine transactions that are necessary to conduct business. 2. Management-information systems (MIS) provide the management control level with reports and access to the organization's current performance and historical records. Most MIS reports condense information from TPS and are not highly analytical. 3. Decision-support systems (DSS) support management decisions when these decisions are unique, rapidly changing, and not specified easily in advance. They have more advanced analytical models and data analysis capabilities than MIS and often draw on information from external as well as internal sources. 4. Executive-support systems (ESS) support senior management by providing data of greatest importance to senior management decision makers, often in the form of graphs and charts delivered via portals. They have limited analytical capabilities but can draw on sophisticated graphics software and many sources of internal and external information. The various types of systems in the organization exchange data with one another. TPS are a major source of data for other systems, especially MIS and DSS. ESSs primarily receive data from lower-level systems. 158) You have been hired to work with 10 salespeople from different branches of a national business in creating an online training site for new Sales employees. Identify six collaboration tools that are available to help the team work together. Which single tool would be the most helpful for the project, in your opinion, and why? ollaboration tools include (1) Internet-based collaboration environment; (2) and instant messaging; (3) Cell phones and smart phones; (4) Social networking; (5) Wikis; and (6) virtual worlds. The most helpful of these might be the Internet-based collaboration environment, because it would enable people to have discussions, calendars, conferences, and share documents. 159) Your aunt has asked you for your suggestions to make her business, a local sandwich shop, more efficient. Describe at least three types of business processes that a sandwich shop have. Can any be better coordinated through the use of information systems? Answer: The business processes of a sandwich shop would include: Taking orders, making sandwiches, selling to the customer, ordering supplies, opening the store, closing the store, cleaning the store, paying employees, hiring employees, paying creditors and vendors, creating financial statements, paying taxes, managing cash. Many of these processes could be helped by better information systems, specifically those that require recorded data, such as any financial processes (payments, cash management, taxes, salaries) and information gathered from and distributed to employees. 160) Describe the role of IT governance within the firm. Answer: IT governance is the management of how the information systems function is organized and handled within the firm. IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. It specifies the decision rights and framework for accountability to ensure that the use of information technology supports the organization's strategies and objectives. For example,

17 IT governance decides how decisions implementing and evaluating new systems are made, whether the IT function should be decentralized or centralized, who has power to create and manage systems, and what kind of ROI is expected from systems. 161) Apex Vacuum, a family-owned manufacturer of budget vacuums, has grown exponentially over the last few years. However, the company is having difficulty preparing for future growth. The only information system used at Apex is an antiquated accounting system. The company has one manufacturing plant located in Arkansas; and three warehouses, in Arkansas, Delaware, and California. The Apex sales force is national, and Apex purchases about a third of its vacuum parts and materials from a single overseas supplier. You have been hired to recommend the information systems Apex should implement in order to maintain their competitive edge. However, there is not enough money for a full-blown, cross-functional enterprise application, and you will need to limit the first step to a single functional area or constituency. What will you choose, and why? Answer: Student answers will vary. E.g. A TPS focusing on production and manufacturing to keep production costs low while maintaining quality, and for communicating with other possible vendors. The TPS would later be used to feed MIS and other higher level systems. 162) Describe at least two benefits of using enterprise systems. Answer: Enterprise systems integrate the firm's key business processes in sales, production, finance, logistics, and human resources into a single software system so that information can flow throughout the organization, improving coordination, efficiency, and decision making. These systems help create a more uniform organization in which everyone uses similar processes and information, and measures their work in terms of organization-wide performance standards. The coordination of the firm's key business processes allows the firm to respond more rapidly to customer demands. 163) How can a good CRM system increase profits for a company? ustomer relationship management uses information systems to coordinate all of the business processes surrounding the firm's interactions with its customers. The systems consolidate customer information from multiple sources telephone, , wireless devices, traditional sales and marketing systems, and the Web so that the firm can obtain a unified view of a customer. This allows the firm to identify its most profitable customers and make special efforts to please them. 164) What is the connection between organizations, information systems, and business processes? usiness processes refer to the manner in which work activities are organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a specific business result. They also represent unique ways in which organizations coordinate work, information, and knowledge and the ways in which management chooses to coordinate work. Managers need to pay attention to business processes because they determine how well the organization can execute, and thus are a potential source for strategic success or failures. Although each of the major business functions has its own set of business processes, many other business processes are cross-functional. Information systems can help organizations achieve great efficiencies by automating parts of these processes or by helping organizations rethink and streamline them. Firms can become more flexible and efficient by coordinating and integrating their business processes to improve management of resources and customer service. 165) What are cross-functional business processes? Give an example. ross-functional processes are those that require input, cooperation, or coordination between the major business functions in an organization. For instance, when a salesman takes an order, the major business functions of planning, production, inventory control, shipping, accounting, and customer relations will all be involved before the order is completed. 166) The retail home improvement chain you work for, DIY Discount, has noticed that one of its brands of faucets is not selling nearly as well as anticipated. What information systems of the business will you use to

18 determin e the reason for the poor sales? Discuss what information you will retrieve from which system. Which of the information systems will be most important for your analysis? Which of the systems will be least important? Answer: You might query operational level TPS to make sure that the product is actually getting to the stores and being restocked. You could query MIS to see average sales levels according to geography, location, and other factors to see if there are any specific factors affecting the sales. You might query ESS to see if the same faucets are being sold by competitors and what these prices are. You might use DSS to see what factors could increase sales. Assuming that the faucets are being properly stocked at the stores, the most important systems to query are the managerial-level systems: MIS for summaries of sales records to help pinpoint any other factors; ESS to check competition, and DSS for higher-level analysis to forecast possible solutions. 167) A retail sporting goods chain has been expanding rapidly for the last 4 years. This growth has exposed some problems in their old stand alone legacy computer systems. They are always stocking out of popular items. What type of system would you suggest they look at implementing and why? Answer: This sporting goods chain might look at implementing a supply chain management system. Supply chain management (SCM) systems help businesses manage relationships with their suppliers. These systems help suppliers, purchasing firms, distributors, and logistics companies share information about orders, production, inventory levels, and delivery of products and services so that they can make better decisions about how to organize and schedule sourcing, production, and distribution. The ultimate objective is to get the right amount of their products from their source to their point of consumption with the least amount of time and with the lowest cost. Supply chain management systems are one type of interorganizational system because they automate the flow of information across organizational boundaries. 168) An internet based company that retails concert tickets on the web has found a niche market selling 2nd tier band concerts. They would like to involve their customer in helping them with their business by creating a viral marketing atmosphere and getting feed back and participation from these customers who are passionate about their music. What tools would help them create this type of customer collaboration? Answer: Some of the systems they should be using include: and Instant Messaging (IM), Social Networking, Wikis, and perhaps Virtual Worlds. Using a multiple tools and media would give a variety to their customers who would appreciate this interaction about a service which they are passionate about. 169) You work for a national consulting firm with offices in every province across Canada. The Calgary office has developed a new technique for costing out natural resource extraction. This took the Calgary office about 3 months to develop. The Toronto office is also consulting with resource based companies in Ontario. What system would aid the sharing of information that might be useful in various provinces and why? Answer: This firm would be a prime candidate for a KMS. Knowledge management systems (KMS) enable organizations to better manage processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise. These systems collect all relevant knowledge and experience in the firm and make it available wherever and whenever it is needed to improve business processes and management decisions. They also link the firm to external sources of knowledge. KMS support processes for acquiring, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge, as well as processes for creating new knowledge and integrating it into the organization. They include enterprise-wide systems for managing and distributing documents, graphics, and other digital knowledge objects; systems for creating corporate knowledge directories of employees with special areas of expertise; office systems for distributing knowledge and information; and knowledge work systems to facilitate knowledge creation. Other knowledge management applications use intelligent techniques that codify knowledge for use by other members of the organization and tools for knowledge discovery that recognize patterns and important relationships in large pools of data.

19 1) TRUE 2) FALSE 3) TRUE 4) TRUE 5) FALSE 6) FALSE 7) FALSE 8) TRUE 9) FALSE 10) TRUE 11) TRUE 12) TRUE 13) FALSE 14) FALSE 15) TRUE 16) TRUE 17) FALSE 18) TRUE 19) FALSE 20) TRUE 21) FALSE 22) TRUE 23) TRUE 24) FALSE 25) TRUE 26) TRUE 27) TRUE 28) TRUE 29) FALSE 30) TRUE 31) FALSE 32) FALSE 33) FALSE 34) TRUE 35) TRUE 36) FALSE 37) TRUE 38) TRUE 39) FALSE 40) TRUE 41) FALSE 42) TRUE 43) TRUE 44) TRUE 45) TRUE 46) B 47) A 48) B 49) B 50) D 51) C

20 52) B 53) D 54) D 55) B 56) C 57) B 58) C 59) D 60) A 61) D 62) C 63) B 64) B 65) C 66) B 67) C 68) A 69) D 70) B 71) B 72) C 73) A 74) B 75) C 76) D 77) D 78) C 79) D 80) D 81) B 82) A 83) A 84) B 85) D 86) D 87) C 88) A 89) C 90) D 91) C 92) A 93) D 94) D 95) D 96) D 97) A 98) A 99) B 100) B 101) D 102) B 103) B

21 104) C 105) C 106) D 107) B 108) C 109) B 110) A 111) business process 112) portal 113) Enterprise 114) Decision-support 115) governance 116) human resources 117) e-government 118) interorganizational 119) Programmers 120) processes 121) performance 122) manually 123) Functional 124) senior 125) operational 126) internal 127) Middle 128) Transaction processing systems; TPS 129) DSS 130) ESS 131) fragmentation 132) Enterprise 133) Supply chain management (SCM) 134) interorganizational system 135) Customer relationship management (CRM) 136) Knowledge management systems (KMS) 137) knowledge 138) Enterprise 139) customer relationship management (CRM) 140) platforms 141) portal 142) intranet 143) transaction 144) Extranets 145) globalization 146) workgroup 147) networking 148) Wikipedia 149) Wikis 150) Systems analysts 151) CIO 152) End users 153) IT governance 154) multiple 155) Divisional

22 156) End users 157) The four major categories of information systems are: 1. Transaction processing systems, such as payroll or order processing, track the flow of the daily routine transactions that are necessary to conduct business. 2. Management-information systems (MIS) provide the management control level with reports and access to the organization's current performance and historical records. Most MIS reports condense information from TPS and are not highly analytical. 3. Decision-support systems (DSS) support management decisions when these decisions are unique, rapidly changing, and not specified easily in advance. They have more advanced analytical models and data analysis capabilities than MIS and often draw on information from external as well as internal sources. 4. Executive-support systems (ESS) support senior management by providing data of greatest importance to senior management decision makers, often in the form of graphs and charts delivered via portals. They have limited analytical capabilities but can draw on sophisticated graphics software and many sources of internal and external information. The various types of systems in the organization exchange data with one another. TPS are a major source of data for other systems, especially MIS and DSS. ESSs primarily receive data from lower-level systems. 158) Collaboration tools include (1) Internet-based collaboration environment; (2) and instant messaging; (3) Cell phones and smart phones; (4) Social networking; (5) Wikis; and (6) virtual worlds. The most helpful of these might be the Internet-based collaboration environment, because it would enable people to have discussions, calendars, conferences, and share documents. 159) The business processes of a sandwich shop would include: Taking orders, making sandwiches, selling to the customer, ordering supplies, opening the store, closing the store, cleaning the store, paying employees, hiring employees, paying creditors and vendors, creating financial statements, paying taxes, managing cash. Many of these processes could be helped by better information systems, specifically those that require recorded data, such as any financial processes (payments, cash management, taxes, salaries) and information gathered from and distributed to employees. 160) IT governance is the management of how the information systems function is organized and handled within the firm. IT governance includes the strategy and policies for using information technology within an organization. It specifies the decision rights and framework for accountability to ensure that the use of information technology supports the organization's strategies and objectives. For example, IT governance decides how decisions implementing and evaluating new systems are made, whether the IT function should be decentralized or centralized, who has power to create and manage systems, and what kind of ROI is expected from systems. 161) Student answers will vary. E.g. A TPS focusing on production and manufacturing to keep production costs low while maintaining quality, and for communicating with other possible vendors. The TPS would later be used to feed MIS and other higher level systems. 162) Enterprise systems integrate the firm's key business processes in sales, production, finance, logistics, and human resources into a single software system so that information can flow throughout the organization, improving coordination, efficiency, and decision making. These systems help create a more uniform organization in which everyone uses similar processes and information, and measures their work in terms of organization-wide performance standards. The coordination of the firm's key business processes allows the firm to respond more rapidly to customer demands. 163) Customer relationship management uses information systems to coordinate all of the business processes surrounding the firm's interactions with its customers. The systems consolidate customer information from multiple sources telephone, , wireless devices, traditional sales and marketing systems, and the Web so that the firm can obtain a unified view of a customer. This allows the firm to identify its most profitable customers and make special efforts to please them. 164) Business processes refer to the manner in which work activities are organized, coordinated, and focused to produce a specific business result. They also represent unique ways in which organizations coordinate work, information, and knowledge and the ways in which management chooses to coordinate work. Managers need to pay attention to business processes because they determine how well the organization can execute, and thus are a potential source for strategic success or failures. Although each of the major business functions has its own set of business processes, many other business processes are cross-functional. Information systems can help organizations achieve great

23 effici automating parts of these processes or by helping organizations rethink and streamline them. Firms can become encie more flexible and efficient by coordinating and integrating their business processes to improve management of s by resources and customer service. 165) Cross-functional processes are those that require input, cooperation, or coordination between the major business functions in an organization. For instance, when a salesman takes an order, the major business functions of planning, production, inventory control, shipping, accounting, and customer relations will all be involved before the order is completed. 166) You might query operational level TPS to make sure that the product is actually getting to the stores and being restocked. You could query MIS to see average sales levels according to geography, location, and other factors to see if there are any specific factors affecting the sales. You might query ESS to see if the same faucets are being sold by competitors and what these prices are. You might use DSS to see what factors could increase sales. Assuming that the faucets are being properly stocked at the stores, the most important systems to query are the managerial-level systems: MIS for summaries of sales records to help pinpoint any other factors; ESS to check competition, and DSS for higher-level analysis to forecast possible solutions. 167) This sporting goods chain might look at implementing a supply chain management system. Supply chain management (SCM) systems help businesses manage relationships with their suppliers. These systems help suppliers, purchasing firms, distributors, and logistics companies share information about orders, production, inventory levels, and delivery of products and services so that they can make better decisions about how to organize and schedule sourcing, production, and distribution. The ultimate objective is to get the right amount of their products from their source to their point of consumption with the least amount of time and with the lowest cost. Supply chain management systems are one type of interorganizational system because they automate the flow of information across organizational boundaries. 168) Some of the systems they should be using include: and Instant Messaging (IM), Social Networking, Wikis, and perhaps Virtual Worlds. Using a multiple tools and media would give a variety to their customers who would appreciate this interaction about a service which they are passionate about. 169) This firm would be a prime candidate for a KMS. Knowledge management systems (KMS) enable organizations to better manage processes for capturing and applying knowledge and expertise. These systems collect all relevant knowledge and experience in the firm and make it available wherever and whenever it is needed to improve business processes and management decisions. They also link the firm to external sources of knowledge. KMS support processes for acquiring, storing, distributing, and applying knowledge, as well as processes for creating new knowledge and integrating it into the organization. They include enterprise-wide systems for managing and distributing documents, graphics, and other digital knowledge objects; systems for creating corporate knowledge directories of employees with special areas of expertise; office systems for distributing knowledge and information; and knowledge work systems to facilitate knowledge creation. Other knowledge management applications use intelligent techniques that codify knowledge for use by other members of the organization and tools for knowledge discovery that recognize patterns and important relationships in large pools of data.