1. What Types of Decisions Are Most Likely Structured and Well-Defined?

CSIS 114: Exam 2

Name: ______

1. What types of decisions are most likely structured and well-defined? a. Strategic Decisions b. Tactical Decisions c. Operational Decisions d. Enterprise Decisions

2. Inventory control decisions are most likely a. Unstructured and infrequently made b. Structured and routine c. Ad hoc and unscheduled d. Highly level and strategic

3. Business Intelligence technologies include a. Decision Support Systems b. Data Mining Systems c. Knowledge Management Systems d. Online Analytical Processing Systems e. All of the above

4. Online Analytical Processing involves bottom-up discovery driven data analysis. a. True b. False. (this is the definition of data mining)

5. Applications of Business Intelligence include a. Discovering common characteristics of customers who buy the same products from your company. b. Predicting which customers are likely to leave your company and go to a competitor. c. Identifying which prospects should be included in a mailing list to obtain the highest response rate. d. All of the above

6. Top-down, query-driven analysis of multi-dimensional data is called Online Analytical Processing (OLAP).

7. Which of the following is not typically part of a decision support system a. Report generator, the other 4 are part of the definition of a DSS b. Analytical models c. Specialized databases d. A decision maker’s own insights and judgments e. An interactive, computer-based modeling process 8. Give an example of a positive function of culture in a business or organization, i.e., describe a way culture can improve or enhance an organization?

(1) Increased morale (2) Encourage risk taking (3) Increase competitiveness (4) Increase teamwork (5) Distinguishes organization from others (6) Conveys sense of identity to members (7) Commitment to group rather than self (8) Enhance social system stability – guidelines for behavior (9) Encourages conformity (control) - rewards

9. A flat organizational structure has less middle managers. a. True b. False

10. The following picture is an example of a. Heirachical structure b. Multi-dimensional structure c. Team-oriented structure d. Kieretsu structure

11. In lecture, we discussed 8 characteristics of intelligent behavior. List at least four of them below.

(1) Learning from experience (2) Handling complex situations (3) Solving problems when important information is needed (4) Reacting/Adapting to new situations (5) Determining what is important (6) Exhibit creativity and imagination (7) Process visual information efficiently (8) Use reason to solve problems 12. Robotics is considered an application domain or Artificial Intelligence. a. True b. False

13. The primary goal of a Decision Support System is to fully automate the decision-making process a. True b. False, people/human decision making is very important in DSS

14. When compared to Expert Systems, Decision Support Systems are more suited for unstructured decisions. a. True b. False

15. Which system is more likely used by someone without any knowledge of the decision domain. a. Expert System b. Decision Support System

16. List Porter’s 5 competitive forces.

(1) Rivalry of competitors within its industry (2) Threat of new entrants into an industry and its markets (3) Threat posed by substitute products which might capture market share (4) Bargaining power of customers (5) Bargaining power of suppliers

17. List or describe at least 4 strategies used to deal with completive forces.

(1) Cost Leadership (2) Differentiation (3) Innovation (4) Growth (5) Alliance (6) Raising barriers to entry that would discourage or delay other companies from entering a market. (7) Leveraging investment in information technology by developing new products and services that would not be possible without a strong IT capability. (8) Locking in customers or suppliers by building valuable new relationships with them. (9) Building switching costs so a firm’s customers or suppliers are reluctant to pay the costs in time, money, effort, and inconvenience that it would take to switch to a company’s competitors.

18. The ability of a company to prosper in a rapidly changing market is called Agility 19. Providing individualized products while maintaining high volumes of production is called Mass Customization

20. Briefly describe the 5 components of the value chain?

Inbound Logistics (or, raw material and supply acquisition) Operations (or, production and manufacturing processes) Outbound Logistics (or, order, delivery, and service fulfillment processes) Marketing and Sales Customer Service (or, after purchase service or maintenance, etc.)

21. Briefly describe some of the benefit of connecting the information systems of different types of companies, i.e., connecting suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. What is the formal name of this type of information system? Enterprise Resource Planning System. Note: A Collaboration system is more specialized and may not involve connecting the information systems of suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers.

Describe benefits here:

(1) Just-in-time inventory management. (2) Less inventory needed (3) Faster delivery time (4) Cost reduction (5) Increased agility (6) Mass customization

22. What are some of the fundamental differences between Business Process Re-engineering and typical business improvement. Which type of information system often leads to re- engineering a. MIS b. ERP c. DSS d. TPS

Describe differences here:

(1) Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) is long-term  business improvement (BI) is short-term. (2) BPR involves radical change BI involves incremental change (3) BPR broad, cross-functional scope BI narrow scope (4) BPR is top down  BI is bottom up. (see Page 53 of text for full other differences)