U4 - Ch. 2 - Decision Processes and Business Practices

Question 1

Define a business process.

Answer 1

A series of activities or steps designed to produce a product or service.

Question 2

What are the components of a business process?

Answer 2

Activities, resources, facilities, & information.

Question 3

What are activities?

Answer 3

Activities transform resources and information from one type to another.

Question 4

What is information?

Answer 4

Knowledge derived from data in a meaningful context.

Question 5

What are some characteristics of good information?

Answer 5

Accurate, timely, relevant, just barely sufficient and worth its cost.

Question 6

What is BPM?

Answer 6

Business process management is taking business processes and making them better and more efficient. Examples include Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma and Lean production.

Question 7

Define automation.

Answer 7

Turning the procedures and human side of business processes into software and hardware instead. I.e. Transferring work done by people to people.

Question 8

3 levels of decision making in organization.

Answer 8

1. Operational activities concern the day-to-day activities (structured)
2. Managerial decisions concern the allocation of resources. Usually supported by MIS. (Structured & unstructured).
3. Strategic decisions concern broader-scope, organizational issues (unstructured).

Question 9

Unstructured vs structured decision making.

Answer 9

Understood and accepted method vs. lack of agreed-on-decision-making method.

E.g. Weather forecasting vs the actual weather.