Midterm Review Flashcards
Zara’s use of information recourses has given it a substantial advantage over its competitors.
True
This risks of using information resources include all of the following except:
Missing cooperative opportunities
Porter’s value chain framework suggests that a competitive advantage can stem from:
Lowering costs and adding value
Kodak was once the largest supplier of photographic film. In 2004 it was dropped from the Dow Jones Industrial Average after having been listed for 74 years. Kodak failed to use IT to fend off which one of the following of Porter’s 5 competitive forces?
Threat of substitute products
What is co-opetition?
Companies cooperate and compete at the same time
(Example: Microsoft builds laptops but also supplies their OS to other laptop makers)
Sustaining competitive advantage
Resources must be difficult to transfer or relatively immobile
Suppose Zara has a linked supply chain with Silk City, a fabric supplier. Zara and Silk City use IT to seamlessly exchange data, communicating requirements as well as delivery expectations. The relationship between Zara andterm-48 Silk City is best described as:
Strategic alliance
L.L. Bean is an online/catalog retail company that aggressively uses tools like instant messaging to communicate with customers regarding potential purchases and uses Facebook for branding activities. This use of technology supports which strategy?
Social business strategy
Organizations seek to gain a competitive advantage by differentiation, cost, or _________.
focus
In which type of organizational structure is power distributed, and particularly suited for an environment that is dynamic and unstable?
Networked
The dimensions of national culture include all of the following EXCEPT:
The acceptance of technology by society
IS plays three important roles in management control processes. These processes are data collection, evaluation, and _______________.
communication
Which one of the following is a valid statement?
Most jobs today have a significant information systems component.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) realized it did not have adequate policies, education or technology in place for remote workers when:
An employee whose laptop carrying unencrypted, sensitive military personnel information was stolen.
ERP systems have all of the following characteristics except:
They are expensive but are easy to use.
Enterprise systems are large information systems that provide the core functionality needed to run a business and share data across all divisions of the business.
True
A manager must know enough about the IT architecture and IT infrastructure so that he or she can:
Make realistic use of IT and know what to expect from IT.
Risks associated with cloud computing include all of the following EXCEPT:
Scalability
1. Increased dependency on third-party suppliers
- Security
- Retooling existing applications to move to the cloud
- Lack of standards for virtual infrastructures
If you receive an email that says it is from Sam Johnson, your boss, with an odd EXE file as an attachment, it could be dangerous for all of the following reasons except:
- It could be dangerous because the email might be from Sam’s computer without his or her knowledge.
- It could be dangerous because Sam gave someone his password once a long time ago.
- It could be dangerous because the email might not really be from Sam.
- It could be dangerous even if it was sent knowingly because Sam didn’t know a virus might be attached.
None of the above (indicating that all are true).
Included in the five critical elements that are used to raise security in a firm are all of the following except:
Law enforcement
- Infrastructure
- Training
- Policies
- Investments
Organizational, cultural, and control variables are considered the ________ used by decision makers to effect change in their organization.
managerial levers
This framework is called the ____________________ because it relates business strategy with IS strategy and organizational strategy.
Information Systems Strategy Triangle
A link between a firm’s IS strategy and organizational strategy focuses more on its external requirements than internal requirements.
True
Different organization structures reflect the different organizational strategies that are used by firms to implement their business strategy.
True
When using information technologies to collect data for the purpose of monitoring workers, a manager should do all of the following EXCEPT:
Require workers to complete additional tasks.
Cognizant needed to reinvent its organizational structure many times to make sure that it properly facilitates the flow of information between employees.
True
Which virtual team challenge is more difficult for managers to manage/manipulate since there may be a great deal of difference between groups and individuals?
Diversity
Virtual teams and remote work have advantages but no known disadvantages over face-to-face teams and showing up at an office.
False
The speed and magnitude at which organizations must make changes today continues to decrease as a result of technology.
False
In this business structure the firm is a hierarchy organized around a set of functions. Each group has a core competency that it concentrates upon.
Functional
A legacy system is all of the following, except:
A system that often holds the middle tier of a multiple-tier system.
All of the following are reasons why a company may choose to use cloud computing for its IT infrastructure EXCEPT:
Reduce dependency on third-party suppliers
On the black market, stolen data in a “kit” that contains credit card information plus social security number and medical information is worth:
between $100 and $1,000 per record
A hacker who buys credit card information from hackers receives a short-term guarantee in case the card is declined.
True
GE recognized that it could only sustain its competitive advantage for a limited time as competitors attempted to outmaneuver them. What was the model that Welch applied to help solve this problem?
Destroy your business
When an organization qualifies its product or service in a way that allows it to appear unique in the marketplace, this is called:
Differentiation
Which one of the following is not considered to be a primary activity of the value chain of a firm?
Technology
Which part of the value chain includes the manufacturing of goods?
Operations
Organizational design is all about making sure that _________ are properly allocated, reflecting the structure of formal reporting relationships.
decision rights
The use of performance data by managers is generally welcomed by workers and nonthreatening to workers when the data is used for compensation rather than to improve performance.
False
IT has altered employees and the way they work by doing all of the following EXCEPT:
Providing distinct lines between work and play
The concept of “jobs” is being replaced with the concept of work, requiring a framework that links the IS Strategy with the organization strategy to answer all of the following EXCEPT:
Who will develop the IS?
_________________________ is an all-encompassing tool used for modeling, building, executing and monitoring business processes that go across organizational boundaries (and often systems).
Business Process Management systems
The Six Sigma process received its name from:
Six standard deviations, or less than 3.4 deects per million
_______________________ is the architecture where significant hardware, software and possibly even data elements reside on the Internet.
Web or Cloud-based architecture
Mohawk’s need for flexibility required a change to its IT architecture. SOA was chosen by Mohawk because Mohawk:
Needed to be able to scale up or down operations as called for by the market or by its own arrangements with suppliers.
___ of breaches are caused by stealing a password
A very high percentage (around 80%)
When the Office of Personnel Management was hacked, all of the following are true except:
The hackers gained access to the building to steal the records
The ____________ is a plan articulating where a business seeks to go and how it expects to get there.
business strategy
The “Managerial Levers” concept is useful for the following reasons:
Management should not make a change unless they align multiple issues, such as tasks, measures, values, incentives, etc.
Traditional organizations have one of four types of organizational design. What are these four structure types?
Hierarchical, flat, matrix, networked
Which organization structure typically assigns workers two or more supervisors in an effort to make sure multiple dimensions of the business are integrated?
Matrix
The Technology Acceptance Model states that the two main drivers of system use are management mandates and incentives.
False
All of the following are new types of jobs created by the growing reliance on technology EXCEPT:
Editors/writers
Personnel often react more favorable to incremental change rather than radical change because incremental change gives them control and ownership of improvements.
True
Enterprise Rent-A-Car was able to model and better understand how service requests were handled and then optimize the process, greatly benefiting the customer experience. Enterprise achieved this benefit using which tool?
Business Process Management (BPM)
Which of the following best describes cloud computing?
Computing services that can be accessed on demand across the Internet
An “evil twin” in the context of computer security is:
A counterfeit wifi connection in a hotel or coffee shop that appears to be genuine
Spoofing is:
When the “from” address says the name/email address of a person different from who really sent it.
A general manager should:
Understand the use and consequences of technologies relevant to the business
A link between a firm’s IS strategy and business strategy focuses more on its external requirements than internal requirements.
True
Cognizant’s organizational structure was ________, but realized as its organization grew and its services became more complicated that a __________ structure for the organization was more appropriate.
hierarchical, matrix
If a technology is to be successfully implemented into an organization, either the technology must fit the organization’s culture or the culture must be shaped to fit the behavioral requirements of the technology.
True
As a result of increased flow of information, firms have seen an increase in middle managers.
False
During an ice storm, JetBlue Airlines had an IT infrastructure that demonstrated which one of the following technical issues?
Scalability
A computer’s hardware and ____________ specify its platform.
system software
In the Office of Personnel Management’s case, the security breach made many people vulnerable to this.
Identity theft
It usually takes ____ for someone in a firm to discover a security compromise in a system, after the evidence shows up in logs or alerts
Several months
A bank provides its customers mobile applications that significantly simplify traditional banking activities. For example, a customer can use a smartphone to take a picture of a check and electronically deposit into an account. This unique service demonstrates the bank’s desire to practice which one of Porter’s strategies?
Differentiation
A social business strategy needs to align itself with the organization’s IT strategy but not the business strategy.
False
A link between a firm’s IS strategy and business strategy focuses more on its external requirements than internal requirements.
True
The ____________ view considers activities that create, deliver, and support a company’s product or service.
Porter value chain
All statements below are true about a matrix organization structure EXCEPT:
One weakness is that multiple dimensions of a business are not integrated well with a matrix organization.
In which type of organizational structure will employees report to two or more supervisors?
Matrix
This type of organizational structure is based upon the concepts of division of labor, specialization, and unity of command. Key decisions are made at the top and filter down through the organization.
Hierarchical
To help employees accept new technologies like an information system, a manager will do all of the following EXCEPT:
Provide minimal rationale for the new system
This model suggests that employee attitudes may change if they think the new system will help them to do more or better work for the same effort, and that it’s easy to use. Employee participation in the system’s design and implementation also helps.
Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
ERP systems are credited with establishing new business models, rather than simply making a firm improve its practices.
False
Early computer systems were designed to support the silo perspective rather than a cross-functional business process approach.
True
A small company in Des Moines wants to set up an IT infrastructure for its workforce. The company recently moved to an older building that has solid walls and ceilings. Furthermore, most of the staff likes the flexibility of moving around the open office space to perform work on their laptops. Which communication infrastructure makes most sense for this company?
Wireless
An IT architecture with a high level of flexibility and agility will be in a position to support changing business needs.
True
Firewalls can be either in hardware or software form.
True
An “evil twin” in the context of computer security is:
A counterfeit wifi connection in a hotel or coffee shop that appears to be genuine
Zara strategically uses information technologies to do all of the following EXCEPT:
Build silos of responsibilities with limited interaction between store managers, designers and market specialists
Through the use of various technologies, a ski resort tracks the slopes each customer skis and the times he or she skis them. Skiers then have the ability to view this information online, and can choose to seamlessly share their accomplishments on Facebook. In addition, photographers positioned at the resort post pictures on Facebook for the skier. This ski resort has worked hard to develop a strong:
Social business strategy
Business strategies based on hypercompetition focus on customer satisfaction and profit maximization but also build in a component of business intelligence. Business intelligence helps an agile organization to:
Predict and respond to new opportunities
A matrix organization:
-Was rare for quite a while but have become more common in recent years
-Can involve multiple bosses and multiple teams
-Requires quite a bit of communication to be successful
Porter’s five “Forces,” are used so often in the text for analysis of IT applications, include all of the following except:
Switching costs
The major difference between an ERP and ERP II system is this feature.
Information is made immediately available to external stakeholders using social and collaborative tools
The main benefit of ________ is that users can work collaboratively to easily create and edit Web pages, and link them to useful resources.
Wiki
At Zara, decision rights for ordering have been granted to whom?
Store managers
