THE INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS (GHANA) BUSINESS INFORMATION SYSTEM QUESTION PAPER NOVEMBER 2014

Transcription

1 SECTION A: COMPULSORY Read the following scenario carefully and answer the two (2) questions that follow it Scenario ThetaConstruct is an expanding electrical engineering group. As a growth strategy, it has been acquiring companies that produce similar or complementary products. When a company is acquired it becomes a division of the ThetaConstruct Group. Although it has greatly increased its turnover, ThetaConstruct Group is faced with increasing costs and incompatible computer systems. A recent study showed that the five main divisions all have different hardware, software, systems development standards and organizational structures. Some of the divisions share the same customers, but the organization is unable to exploit this because of the systems incompatibility. ThetaConstruct Group has also failed to grasp the opportunities for developing electronic commerce (E-commerce) with its customers and suppliers, particularly the application of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and the Internet. Recently a new Information Technology (IT) Director has been appointed. He has proposed a major IT centralization project with the objectives of: Bringing the main hardware and software systems together with IT staff, into one location Gradually re-developing and standardizing all systems so that they run on ThetaConstruct Group s preferred hardware and software platforms. The IT Director has suggested two organizational changes to accompany the centralization process. Each IT department is currently organized in a hierarchy. In every division there are at least five tiers of staff. He wishes to dismantle this hierarchy and replace it, in the centralized IT department, with a flatter, project-oriented structure with only three layers of staff. He wishes to outsource all non-core activities. The decision has already been made to outsource personal computer (PC) training support and technical trouble-shooting to a specialist PC company. Current staff undertaking these roles in the company will be given the opportunity to transfer to the specialist company or be made redundant.

2 Page 1 of 5 Required: QUESTION 1 (a) Explain the concept of centralized IT/IS operations, describing two (2) advantages and one (1) disadvantage of centralization to the ThetaConstruct Group. (10 marks) (b) Explain the proposal of the IT Director to outsource all non-core activities, citing three (3) benefits that will accrue to the ThetaConstruct Group. (10 marks) QUESTION 2 (a) It is recognized that the company has failed to exploit the opportunities of electronic commerce with its customers and suppliers. Explain: Electronic commerce Three (3) opportunities electronic commerce might offer to the ThetaConstruct Group. (14 marks) (b) As an advantage of the centralization process, it has been identified that there will be economies of scale and enforcement of system development standards. Explain this assertion. (6 marks)

3 SECTION B: Answer any three (3) questions from this section Page 2 of 5 QUESTION 3 Phi-Theta Company Limited manufactures and supplies detergents and other household products to three categories of wholesalers. Depending on the wholesaler and amount of order, the following table shows the discounts allowed. Wholesaler Order Amount Discount (%) Gold Order > GH 50,000 7 GH 20,000 < Order GH 50,000 5 Order GH 20,000 1 Silver Order > GH 50,000 6 GH 20,000 < Order GH 50,000 3 Order GH 20,000 1 Bronze Order > GH 50,000 4 GH 20,000 < Order GH 50,000 2 Order GH 20,000 1 Required: Draw a program flowchat for the system above. It is required to ascertain the total discount allowed at the end of the run. (20 marks)

4 QUESTION 4 (a) Page 3 of 5 What are passwords and what is their primary function? (4 marks) Describe two (2) potential problems with passwords (6 marks) (iii) Explain how each of these potential problems in above could be overcome. (6 marks) (b) In the context of system testing what is meant by performance (or load) test? (4 marks) QUESTION 5 (a) Describe each of the following giving an example of how they can make a system easier to use: (iii) Pull-down lists Default values Icons (15 marks) (b) Explain the term prototyping emphasizing its contribution to the requirements analysis process. (5 marks)

5 QUESTION 6 Page 4 of 5 (a) The development of computer systems is a project-based activity. The development project has a start and once it has met its objectives, an end. At the start of many projects a document, sometimes called a project initiation document (PID), is produced. List and briefly describe three (3) typical contents of such a document. (9 marks) Explain how computer software can be used to help the planning of project progress. (6 marks) (b) What is meant by creeping commitment to feasibility? (5 marks) QUESTION 7 (a) In the context of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC), briefly explain (iii) Feasibility study User acceptance testing Entity life history (12 marks)

6 (b) In the drawing of a decision tree, what is meant by the following: Expectation (2 marks) Alternative expectation (3 marks) (iii) Decision expectation (3 marks) Page 5 of 5