Test Bank Docx Technology and Performance Jones Ch.18

Contemporary Management, 11e (Jones)

Chapter 18 Using Advanced Information Technology to Increase Performance

1) Realistic information reflects current conditions in the organization.

2) The methods or techniques for organizing, storing, and transmitting information are referred to as information technology.

3) Management information systems came into existence during the computer age.

4) During the product life cycle, demand for a product is highest during the growth stage.

5) When advancing IT leads to the development of a more advanced product, older products become obsolete and enter the decline stage of the product life cycle.

6) Microsoft PowerPoint, a program which facilitates the creation of presentations using text, graphics, and animation, is an example of applications software.

7) Managers use an operations information system for nonroutine decision-making tasks.

8) Whereas a decision-support system organizes important information for managers, an operations information system gives managers model-building capability and the ability to manipulate information in a variety of ways.

9) A marketing manager is trying to decide whether or not to lower the price of one product in a product line. A transaction-processing system would be best suited to assist her in making this decision.

10) CEOs make frequent use of decision-support systems in their decision-making.

11) Managers cannot effectively plan, organize, lead, or control without access to

A) data.

B) information.

C) metrics.

D) feedback.

E) statistics.

12) ________ refers to raw, unsummarized, and unanalyzed facts.

A) Brainstorm

B) Data

C) Information

D) Feedback

E) Statistics

13) Each month, a sales team reviews a report that summarizes monthly sales, compares them to previous years, and projects possible trends going forward. This report is an example of

A) data.

B) knowledge.

C) artificial intelligence.

D) information.

E) facts.

14) A graph of the profitability of each product in an organization's product line over the past three years is an example of

A) raw data.

B) application software.

C) artificial intelligence.

D) transaction processing.

E) information.

15) What would be characterized as real-time information?

A) the price of a specific brand of chocolate

B) the number of cars sold by a manufacturer since January

C) census data over the last ten years

D) daily production line details

E) literature reviews by a particular research study

16) Before agreeing to discontinue a product, the CEO requested detailed information on recent sales trends, existing customer transition plans, cost projections, and many other aspects related to the product that would best help characterize the pros and cons. The CEO is ensuring the ________ of information available for making this decision.

A) quality

B) timeliness

C) completeness

D) quantity

E) relevance

17) ________ determine the quality of information.

A) Accuracy and reliability

B) Timeliness and relevance

C) Relevance and accuracy

D) Completeness and timeliness

E) Availability and reliability

18) While Margaret produced an insightful and comprehensive report comparing the attributes of key competitors' products, she delivered the report one week after the product planning team finalized features for the next production cycle. Margaret's report was lacking the information attribute of

A) relevance.

B) timeliness.

C) creativity.

D) completeness.

E) quality.

19) ________ information correlates to current conditions.

A) Static

B) Useful

C) Real-time

D) Complete

E) Quality

20) A manager spent hours reviewing a comprehensive report to determine that only two brief sections were helpful inputs to a decision that needed to be made. The manager thought that this report

A) lacked relevance and decreased the manager's performance.

B) lacked reliability in supporting a decision.

C) enhanced the decision-making process due to its completeness.

D) took too long to process to provide real-time information.

E) lacked timeliness due to the time wasted on some sections.

21) Kendra's weekly report is known to be extremely accurate and a reliable source of data for making management decisions. Her reports possess the attribute of

A) timeliness.

B) validity.

C) quality.

D) completeness.

E) relevance.

22) ________ refers to the set of methods or techniques for acquiring, organizing, storing, manipulating, and transmitting organized and meaningful data.

A) Data harvesting

B) Knowledge management

C) Data mediation

D) Compilation

E) Information technology

23) ________ refers to a specific form of IT that managers utilize to generate specific, detailed information they need to perform their roles effectively.

A) Knowledge management

B) Management information system

C) Real-time information

D) Content management system

E) Blockchain technology

24) Establishing measurable standards of performance, measuring actual performance, comparing actual performance against established goals, and evaluating the results and taking corrective action are steps to

A) launch a new product in the market.

B) indicate the life cycle of a product.

C) achieve control over organizational activities.

D) reduce group cohesiveness among members.

E) increase a company's investments in research and development.

25) The first step that managers need to take to achieve control over organizational activities is to

A) measure actual versus perceived performance.

B) establish measurable standards of performance or goals.

C) perform tests to confirm consistency.

D) compare actual performance against established goals.

E) evaluate the results and take corrective action.

26) To realize any of the benefits of actions taken to achieve control of an organization, managers must

A) measure actual performance.

B) establish measurable standards of performance.

C) perform tests to confirm consistency.

D) compare actual performance against established goals.

E) evaluate the results and take corrective action if necessary.

27) Decisions regarding ________ are within the scope of responsibility of top management in a company.

A) production volumes and assembly-line processes

B) supplier selection and inventory levels

C) how individual employees should be trained and compensated

D) allocation of scarce financial resources among competing projects

E) new product design details

28) The language used by computers is characterized as

A) geometric.

B) logarithmic.

C) digital.

D) analog.

E) symbolic.

29) A(n) ________ is a line of software code.

A) bit

B) byte

C) processor

D) instruction

E) application

30) A new product is experiencing some market buzz and sales are slow but beginning to trend upward. This product is in the ________ stage of the product life cycle.

A) maturity

B) mission critical

C) introduction

D) growth

E) decline

31) The sequence of stages in the product life cycle is

A) introduction, growth, decline, and maturity.

B) introduction, maturity, growth, and decline.

C) introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

D) growth, maturity, decline, and introduction.

E) growth, introduction, maturity, and decline.

32) During the ________ of the product life cycle the demand, and therefore sales, for a product are at the lowest levels.

A) introduction

B) maturity

C) growth

D) decline

E) saturation

33) CommNet recently offered a new smartphone featuring the latest in camera technology. Consumers were initially slow to spend on the upgrade, but sales have now taken off and demand is increasing rapidly. The smartphone is in the ________ stage of the product life cycle.

A) creation

B) maturity

C) decline

D) growth

E) conception

34) In reviewing marketing and sales data, top management determines that the majority of a product's sales are to existing consumers. This product is in the ________ stage of the product life cycle.

A) maturity

B) decline

C) introduction

D) growth

E) conception

35) A breakthrough technology is now available that will enable manufacturers to considerably reduce the size and weight of laptop computers. This will cause current products to enter the ________ stage of the product life cycle.

A) introduction

B) conceptual

C) growth

D) maturity

E) decline

36) The advent of ________ computers that allow individual employees to access companywide networks composed of hardware and software resources has increased the ability of companies to manage information, control activities, and make better decisions.

A) server

B) client

C) mainframe

D) cloud

E) hub

37) The client computers that are linked directly to a server constitute a(n)

A) local area network.

B) operating system software suite.

C) artificial intelligence network.

D) global positioning system.

E) content management system.

38) Large companies that need immense processing power have a ________ computer at the center or hub of the network that can quickly process vast amounts of information.

A) server

B) client

C) mainframe

D) cloud

E) personal

39) The ________ is the master computer that controls the operations of all the other types of computers and digital devices as needed and can link them into one integrated system.

A) mainframe

B) client

C) server

D) personal computer

E) ethernet

40) ________ software tells the computer hardware how to run.

A) Operating system

B) Diagnostic

C) Application

D) Local area network

E) Wide area network

41) ________ is developed for a specific task or use, such as word processing or database management.

A) Operating system software

B) Operating network hardware

C) Applications software

D) Cloud computing

E) Client hardware

42) Using a traditional organizational hierarchy to gather information and control activity

A) has become more popular due to technological advancements.

B) minimizes distortion of information when passed through the hierarchy.

C) decreases an organization's response time to changing market conditions.

D) results in a long time for information to reach individual employees.

E) enhances the usefulness of information received.

43) A computer software program that is developed for preparing graphs of sales performance over a required period of time is an example of ________ software.

A) applications

B) artificial intelligence

C) expert system

D) decision-support

E) operating system

44) A(n) ________ system is designed to handle a large volume of routine and recurring activities.

A) cloud-computing

B) artificial intelligence

C) transaction-processing

D) operations information

E) decision support

45) ________ systems effectively process routine tasks and generate volumes of data but do not summarize the data into a form most valuable for decision making.

A) Decision support

B) Expert

C) Transaction-processing

D) E-commerce

E) Operations information

46) Harvard Bank needs a computer system to record deposits and withdrawals from its customers' accounts. The bank is most likely to use a(n) ________ system.

A) inventory management

B) transaction-processing

C) expert

D) group decision support

E) artificial intelligence

47) A(n) ________ system is a computer system that gathers comprehensive data, organizes it, and summarizes it in ways that are useful to managers for controlling, controlling, and decision-making tasks.

A) transaction-processing

B) artificial intelligence

C) expert

D) operations information

E) decision support

48) An operations information system typically accesses data gathered by a(n) ________ system, and then it converts the data into useful information.

A) transaction-processing

B) artificial intelligence

C) expert

D) executive support

E) decision support

49) Oscar Groceries, a supermarket chain, uses scanners at the checkout counters, which contain computer software to track inventory levels of products. This store is using a(n) ________ system.

A) group decision support

B) artificial intelligence

C) e-commerce

D) executive support

E) transaction-processing

50) Executives in a company use an interactive system that analyzes transactional data and generates multiple potential scenarios to help inform market and product development strategies. The executives are using a(n) ________ system.

A) decision support

B) artificial intelligence

C) expert

D) transaction-processing

E) operations information

51) A decision support system would NOT be a recommended MIS for determining

A) whether to invest in a new production technology.

B) which features to include in a consumer product.

C) a launch strategy for a new promotional campaign.

D) how to expand sales into a new country.

E) which sales personnel missed targets last quarter.

52) A decision support system would be most relevant when

A) reorganizing office cubicle assignments.

B) investing in additional production equipment.

C) placing materials orders.

D) processing accounts payable.

E) reordering printer cartridges.

53) A decision support system is used by managers to

A) justify decisions previously made.

B) manipulate information in a variety of ways.

C) objectively make decisions.

D) provide a record of decisions made.

E) archive transaction data for future reference.

54) An executive support system is a type of ________ system.

A) transaction-processing

B) business support

C) expert support

D) e-commerce

E) decision support

55) Top managers often use a(n) ________ system, which provides summary graphics and a user-friendly interface that aids in decision analysis.

A) transaction-processing

B) expert support

C) enterprise resource management

D) e-commerce

E) executive support

56) When executive support systems are used to link top managers virtually in order for them to function as a team, it is called a(n) ________ system.

A) transaction-processing

B) expert

C) operations support

D) e-commerce

E) group decision support

57) ________ is behavior by a machine that closely mimics human logical behavior.

A) Nanotechnology

B) Continuous learning

C) Decision modeling

D) Information technology

E) Artificial intelligence

58) Expert systems are NOT required to

A) recognize problems.

B) display emotions.

C) formulate solutions.

D) explain solutions.

E) learn from experience.

59) A(n) ________ system is the most advanced management information system that incorporates artificial intelligence in its design.

A) expert

B) group decision support

C) executive support

D) transaction-processing

E) operations information

60) Problems that normally require human expertise are increasingly being addressed by ________ systems, which employ human knowledge embedded in computer software.

A) group decision support

B) expert

C) transaction-processing

D) operations information

E) executive support

61) Call center employees for an online store use sophisticated software that analyzes customer complaints and proposes solutions based on how customers with similar problems have perceived solutions in the past. This tool is an example of a(n) ________ system.

A) online help

B) expert

C) transaction-processing

D) operations information

E) decision support

62) ________ systems are multimodule application software packages that coordinate the various functional activities of organizations.

A) Enterprise resource planning

B) Decision support

C) Transaction-processing

D) Executive support

E) Operations information

63) A(n) ________ system handles sales that take place between companies and between companies and consumers using IT and the Internet.

A) enterprise resource planning

B) e-commerce

C) transaction-processing

D) executive support

E) operations information

64) ________ is trade that relies on IT and the Internet to link and coordinate the value chains of different companies.

A) Enterprise resource planning

B) Business-to-business commerce

C) Business-to-customer commerce

D) Business-to-business marketplace

E) Business-to-customer network structure

65) The platform, referred to as ________, is created to connect buyers and sellers in an industry.

A) business-to-customer commerce

B) e-commerce

C) mainframe networking

D) business-to-business marketplace

E) cloud computing

66) ________ is trade that takes place between a company and individual consumers using IT and the Internet.

A) Enterprise resource planning

B) Business-to-business commerce

C) Business-to-customer commerce

D) Business-to-business marketplace

E) Business-to-business network structure

67) When two organizations pool resources, know-how, rewards, and risk in order to produce and market a product, they are

A) establishing a coalition.

B) forming a strategic alliance.

C) engineering a business-to-business network.

D) outsourcing resources.

E) creating a boundaryless organization.

68) A(n) ________ is a formal series of global alliances that one or several organizations create with suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors to produce and market a product.

A) boundaryless organization

B) business-to-business (B2B) network structure

C) enterprise resource planning (ERP) system

D) expert system

E) business-to-business (B2B) marketplace

69) A factory in Europe has excess manufacturing capability and formally agrees to begin producing and distributing products for a U.S.-based company eager to build a presence in Europe. This is an example of

A) boundaryless organization structure.

B) strategic alliance.

C) business-to-customer (B2C) commerce.

D) business-to-business (B2B) commerce.

E) business-to-business (B2B) marketplace

70) Kendra is heavily dependent on IT to stay aligned with her job assignments, perform her role, and keep connected to her manager. She has an office but seldom uses it. Kendra is part of a

A) boundaryless organization.

B) business-to-business (B2B) marketplace

C) strategic alliance.

D) business-to-business (B2B) network.

E) virtual organization.

71) Rapid advances in IT have been associated with a flattening of the organizational hierarchy, which results in a(n)

A) increase in the establishment of boundaryless organizations.

B) move toward vertical information flow.

C) move toward greater centralization.

D) increase in face-to-face communication.

E) increase in the establishment of tall management hierarchies.

72) Modern information systems ________ an organization's need for hierarchy and ________ its efficiency.

A) eliminate; decrease

B) decrease; increase

C) increase; increase

D) increase; decrease

E) increase; do not affect

73) The use of rapidly advancing IT in business has

A) reduced the need for face-to-face communication.

B) resulted in taller organizational hierarchies.

C) popularized centralized decision making.

D) increased vertical information flow.

E) emphasized the need for vertical communication.

74) A(n) ________ is a company-specific virtual information system that systematizes the knowledge of its employees, facilitates sharing, and integrates their expertise.

A) expert system

B) knowledge management system

C) enterprise resource planning system

D) knowledge economy

E) knowledge market

75) Callie creates a spreadsheet to organize quarterly data. She was able to use the ________ to compare the changes in sales volume and costs over a period of time.

A) empirical data

B) information

C) transformed data

D) decision support facts

E) analyzed facts

76) Chen-Chu is compiling a thorough study of competitive products to create new product requirements. She is including only products with a similar use that target the same customer segment and price point. It is the ________ of the information that makes it useful for the company.

A) timeliness

B) completeness

C) relevance

D) accuracy

E) reliability

77) Rinaldo receives monthly reports from the accounting department that reflect his company's current financial condition. The report Rinaldo receives would be considered

A) complete data.

B) current data.

C) reliable data.

D) decision support information.

E) real-time information.

78) Information that has ________ gives managers all the information they need to make an effective decision.

A) timeliness

B) completeness

C) quality

D) relevance

E) accuracy

79) Reliable Electronics recently released a new product. Because consumers are buying the product for the first time, demand is low. The marketing manager, however, expects demand will increase rapidly in the ________ stage of the product life cycle.

A) maturity

B) introduction

C) decline

D) growth

E) saturation

80) A manufacturer is ready to launch a new line of bedroom furniture. The company expects the demand for the new pieces to be minimal in the ________ phase of the product life cycle.

A) introduction

B) growth

C) maturity

D) decline

E) saturation

81) A credit union uses an MIS to effectively record a large volume of routine payments and deposits. The type of MIS that the bank uses is a(n) ________ system.

A) expert

B) decision support

C) transaction-processing

D) artificial intelligence

E) executive support

82) Kristine owns a clothing design company. She wants to make intelligent and informed decisions that take into account various potential scenarios, so she implements an MIS for financial planning. Kristine's MIS would be characterized as a(n) ________ system.

A) expert

B) transaction processing

C) decision support

D) artificial intelligence

E) executive support

83) Alfred works in the human resources department, and he uses a management information system to find applicants' résumés on the web and filter them to match needed skills. The type of MIS that recruiters use is a(n) ________ system.

A) enterprise resource planning

B) transaction-processing

C) expert

D) decision support

E) executive support

84) An office supply store generates most of its sales revenues using IT and the Internet. The company uses an online store to connect directly to customers, enabling customers to process orders without using retailers. This is an example of

A) business-to-customer (B2C) commerce.

B) a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace.

C) business-to-business (B2B) commerce.

D) virtual commerce.

E) a business-to-business (B2B) network.

85) A(n) ________ system leverages IT, including application software, to link functional activities through every stage of the value chain and increase competitive advantage.

A) enterprise resource planning

B) executive support

C) business-to-business network

D) cloud computing

E) real-time information

86) Define data and information and provide an example that differentiates between the two. Explain why information is so important to managers.

87) You have been asked to compile a summary of your company's current competitive position for a specific product line. The report will be used as a key input to business and product goal setting for the coming year. Define the four factors you will need to consider to ensure the usefulness of the report and provide an example of how you could incorporate each factor.

88) Define the concepts of, and relationship between, information technology and management information systems. Identify the three primary reasons why managers need information.

89) Discuss the four steps of the "control process" that managers use within organizations. Give a specific example of each of these steps in a business decision situation.

90) You are the product manager for a next generation automobile, and the new vehicle is about to launch. Identify each stage of the product life cycle and explain your expectations with respect to market demand.

91) What is a computer network? Briefly explain the different components of a network.

92) Define and compare transaction-processing, operations information systems, and decision support systems. How do these types of MIS relate to each other? Provide an example of when each type of MIS would be most applicable.

93) Define the concept of real-time information and explain its value. Provide an example.

94) Define artificial intelligence and expert systems. What requirements must IT address in order to sufficiently mimic human expertise?

95) Define what an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is and discuss its benefits.

96) Define e-commerce. Provide examples to differentiate between the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) forms of trade and the goals of each.

97) Define a boundaryless organization and discuss the effects of rapid IT development on organizations.

98) Discuss and explain why you, as a manager of a supermarket, would use a transaction-processing system.

99) Explain how a decision support system can help managers make better nonprogrammed decisions and provide an example.

100) Define a virtual organization and provide specific examples of how employees in such an environment would do their jobs and interact.