Chapter 5: Data and Knowledge Management

Question 1

What are some of the difficulties managing data

Answer 1

Data Rot

• refers to the gradual deterioration or corruption of digital data over time

Data Security

• Data security, quality, and integrity are critical, yet they are easily jeopardized.

Inconsistent Data

• repetition and conflicts across the organization (ex. marketing depart. having duplicate customer information as the sales depart)

Regulations

• Legal requirements relating to data also differ among countries as well as among industries, and they change frequently.
• Bill 198, the Canadian equivalent to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act—require companies to account for how information is being managed within their organizations

Question 2

define clickstream data

Answer 2

Clickstream data: are those data that visitors and customers produce when they visit a website

• provides user behaviour and browsing patterns

Question 3

define data goverance

Answer 3

Data governance: is an approach to managing information across an entire organization.

• involves a formal set of business processes and policies that are designed to ensure that data are handled in a certain, well-defined fashion - policies and procedures to manage data

Question 4

One strategy for implementing data governance is —- data ——–

Answer 4

Master data management

Question 5

define master data and master data management

Answer 5

Master data: semi-permeant, (it could change but it doesn’t change often), are a set of core data, such as customer, product, employee, vendor, geographic location, that span the enterprise’s information systems.
* Ex. A person’s last name, could be changed in case person gets married

Master data management: is a method of managing an organization’s critical data to ensure data consistency, accuracy, and reliability throughout the enterprise.

Question 6

define Transactional data

Answer 6

Transactional data: permeant data, which are generated and captured by operational systems, describe the business’s activities, or transactions

Question 7

What is the data hierarchy? List in order and try to define

5 words

Answer 7

Bit, Byte, Field, Record, Table

Bit (binary digit): represents the smallest unit of data a computer can process.
* The term binary means that a bit can consist only of a 0 or a 1.

Byte: A group of eight bits, represents a single character. A byte can be a letter, a number, or a symbol.

Field: A logical grouping of characters into a word, a small group of words, or an identification number
* Ex. a student’s name in a university’s computer files would appear in the “name” field

Record: A logical grouping of related fields, such as the student’s name, the courses taken, the date, and the grade

Table: A logical grouping of related records
* Ex. a grouping of the records from a particular course, consisting of course number, professor, and students’ grades, would constitute a data file for that course

Question 8

Define data file and database

Answer 8

Data file: is a logically related record

Database: is a structured system for managing and querying organized data

Ex. the student course file could be grouped with files on students’ personal histories and financial backgrounds to create a student database

Question 9

define Database management system (DBMS) and Relational database model

Answer 9

Database management system (DBMS): is a set of programs that provide users with tools to create and manage a database.

Relational database model made up of tables. Each of these tables contains records (listed in rows) and attributes (listed in columns).

Question 10

Define a Data base model, Entity, Instance, and Attribute

Answer 10

Data model: is a diagram that represents entities in the database and their relationships

Entity: is a person, a place, a thing, or an event—about which an organization maintains information

• ex. : “student”

Instance: of an entity refers to each row in a relational table, which is a specific, unique representation of the entity.

• Ex. a particular person named John Smith is an instance of the “Student” entity.

Attribute: each characteristic or quality of a particular entity

• ex. For a “Student” entity, attributes could include “Name,” “Student Number,” and “Grade.”

Question 11

Define primary key, secondary key, foreign key?

Answer 11

Primary key: Every record in the database must contain at least one field that uniquely identifies that record so that it can be* retrieved, updated, and sorted*.
* Ex. a Canadian university would use a unique student number as its primary key
Secondary key: is another field that has some identifying information but typically does not identify the record with complete accuracy
* Ex. the student’s major might be a secondary key if a user wanted to identify all of the students majoring in a particular field of study
* It should not be the primary key, however, because many students can have the same major.

Foreign key: It’s a column in one table that helps link that table to another table. It usually contains values that match with the primary key of the other table, creating a relationship.

Question 12

What are some of the disavantages and advantages of relational database model?

Answer 12

Advantages:
Data Integrity:
* ensuring that data is accurate and consistent.

Structured Query Language (SQL):
* SQL provides a standardized way to interact with the database, making it easy to retrieve, manipulate, and manage data.

Data Relationships:
* The model allows for the creation of relationships between tables, enabling complex queries and data retrieva

Disadvantages:
Inflexible for Unstructured Data:
* Not well-suited for storing unstructured data like documents, social media content, or sensor data.

Cost:
* Licensing and maintaining can be expensive.

Question 13

what are the three characteristics of Big Data?

Hint: VVV

Answer 13

Volume: We noted the huge volume of Big Data.

• Ex. Smart electrical meters, sensors in heavy industrial equipment, and telemetry from automobiles compound the volume problem

Velocity: The rate at which data flow into an organization is rapidly increasing.

• Ex. the Internet and mobile technology enable online retailers to compile histories not only on final sales, but on their customers’ every click and interaction.

Variety: Big Data formats change rapidly. They include satellite imagery, broadcast audio streams, digital music files, web page content, scans of government documents, and comments posted on social networks.

Question 14

How can companies use Big Data to gain a competitive advantage

Answer 14

Data-Driven Decisions

• Use big data analytics to inform strategic decisions. Analyze customer behavior, market trends, and operational data to make more informed and timely choices.

Customer Insights
Market Analysis
Operational Efficiency
Product Development
Risk Management
Competitive Analysis
Quality Control
Supply Chain Optimization
Predictive Maintenance
Fraud Detection
Personalized Marketing
E-commerce Recommendations
Healthcare Diagnosis
Energy Efficiency

Question 15

define Query by example (QBE)

Answer 15

Query by example (QBE): is a user-friendly way of searching for information in a database.

Question 16

define Data Warehouse and Data Marts

Answer 16

Data warehouse: is a repository/place of historical data that are organized by subject to support decision makers within the organization.

• for storing and managing large volumes of data from various sources
• they are used primarily by large companies

Data mart: is a low-cost, scaled-down version of a data warehouse that is designed for the end-user needs in a strategic business unit (SBU) or an individual department

Question 17

What are the characteristics of Data Warehouses and Data Marts

Answer 17

The basic characteristics of data warehouses and data marts include the following:

• Organized by business dimension or subject - which are subjects such as product, geographic area, and time period
• Use online analytical processing - oriented toward handling transactions. That is, databases use online transaction processing (OLTP)
• Integrated - Data warehouses integrate data from various sources across the organization
• Time variant - Data warehouses store historical data
• Nonvolatile - it is not changed or updated in response to day-to-day transactional activities
• Multidimensional structure: data warehouses and marts store data in more than two dimensions
  relational databases store data in two-dimensional tables

Question 18

What are the three possible architectures for data warehouse and data marts in organizations? Central enterprise data warehouse, Independent data marts, Hub and spoke

Answer 18

central enterprise data warehouse: It’s a central, organized place where a company stores all its data – information about sales, customers, products, and more. This data is kept in one location, making it easier to manage and access.

Independent data marts: are like these separate storage areas. They are designed to store and manage data that’s specific to a certain area of the business, such as sales, marketing, or finance.

Hub and spoke: Acts as a central point for data exchange and management, making it easier for different parts of the organization to connect and share information

Question 19

define Knowledge Management

Answer 19

Knowledge management (KM): is like a system that helps a company deal with its valuable information, which is often not neatly organized.
It’s about making sure that this knowledge can be easily shared among people in the organization and can also keep on growing

Question 20

Define Explicit and Tacit Knowledge

Answer 20

Explicit knowledge: deals with more objective, rational, and technical knowledge.

• In an organization, explicit knowledge consists of the policies, procedural guides, reports, products, strategies, goals, core competencies, and IT infrastructure of the enterprise.

Tacit knowledge: is the cumulative store of subjective or experiential learning. - based on experience that isn’t written in a document (experienced sales person vs new sales person)

• In an organization, tacit knowledge consists of an organization’s experiences, insights, expertise, know-how, trade secrets, skill sets, understanding, and learning.

Question 21

What is the purpose of Knowledge management systems (KMSs)?

Answer 21

are tools and processes that help organizations collect, store, organize, and share knowledge and information

Question 22

What is the KMS Cycle?

CCRSMD

Answer 22

Create Knowledge: People come up with new ideas and ways of doing things.
Sometimes, they bring in knowledge from outside sources.

Capture Knowledge: Identify and recognize this new knowledge as valuable.
Present it in a way that makes sense.

Refine Knowledge: Put this new knowledge in the right context, so it can be used.
Include both clear facts and personal insights.

Store Knowledge: Save this useful knowledge in a well-organized place where others in the organization can find it.

Manage Knowledge: Keep the knowledge up-to-date, like a library with current books.
Regularly check to make sure it’s still accurate and relevant.

Disseminate Knowledge: Share the knowledge in a way that’s helpful to anyone in the organization.
Make it available whenever and wherever it’s needed.

Question 23

define Structured query language (SQL)

Answer 23

Structured query language (SQL): It helps you find specific information in the database by using simple words and commands

• Typical key words are SELECT (to choose a desired attribute), FROM (to specify the table or tables to be used), and WHERE (to specify conditions to apply in the query).

Ex.
SELECT Student_Name

FROM Student_Database

WHERE Grade_Point_Average > = 3.40 and Grade_Point_Average < 3.60.

Question 24

Define Entity-relationship (ER) diagram

Answer 24

Entity-relationship (ER) diagram: consist of entities, attributes, and relationships. To properly identify entities,
attributes, and relationships, database designers first identify the business rules for the particular data model.

Question 25

what is normalization?

Answer 25

Normalization is a method for analyzing and reducing a relational database to its most streamlined form to ensure minimum redundancy, maximum data integrity, and optimal processing performance.

• Normalization is like tidying up and organizing your database to make it as efficient and reliable as possible. It helps remove unnecessary repetition, ensures data is accurate, and makes it work faster. So, it’s like decluttering and optimizing your data so that it’s in its best shape for use.

Question 26

Why do we need the join operation?

Answer 26

Join operations are necessary in databases to efficiently and accurately combine data from multiple tables. They support data retrieval, integrity, and complex queries, while also promoting data normalization and maintaining meaningful data relationships.