Chapter One: End-of-Chapter
Questions
1. The manager (1) acquires the physical
resources, (2) refines them, (3) maximizes their use, and (4) replaces them at
the proper time.
2. The manager (I) gathers data, (2)
processes the data to produce information, (3) makes the information available,
and (4) replaces obsolete data and information.
3. The first information-oriented computer
application was the MIS.
4. Users include managers, nonmanagers,
and persons and organizations in the firm’s environment.
5. Anthony
identified strategic planning, management control, and operational control
levels.
6. A functional area is a subunit of the
organization such as marketing or finance. A management function is a basic job
that the manager performs.
7. Mintzberg identified
interpersonal, informational, and decisional roles.
8. Managers should
possess communications and problem solving skills.
9. Decision making consists of selecting a
course of action. Problem solving is the process of responding to situations
that can have an exceptionally harmful or beneficial influence. Multiple
decisions are made in the process of solving a single problem.
10. The razor is a system because it
consists of multiple elements such as the handle, the head, and the blade, and it
has the objective of giving you a close shave.
11. A closed-loop system and open-loop
system both include input, transformation, and output elements. In addition,
the closed-loop system includes a control mechanism, objectives, and a feedback
loop.
12. All firms transform inputs into outputs.
In some cases the transformation is very abstract. For example, an insurance
firm transforms the policyholders’ premiums into financial security.
13. Management serves as the control
mechanism in a firm.
14. The bills are data to the phone company
and information to the customers.
15. The CBIS subsystems are MS (data), MIS
(information), DSS (specific problem), virtual office (communication), and
knowledge-based systems (consultation).
16. The information specialists who work
directly with the user include the database administrator, systems analyst, and
network specialist.
17. The
finance manager is engaged in EUC by developing his or her own application. The
application fits within the accounting information system component of the
CBIS, since one of the outputs of the MS is the income statement.
18. The
finance manager has computer literacy since he or she knows how to use the
computer. Most likely the manager also has information literacy because he or
she recognizes the importance of the income statement.
19. EDP
systems have been justified based on displaced clerical costs, achieving
increased
efficiency,
and achieving reduced inventory investment. The latter two have been the most
successful.
20. It is
difficult to justify an information-oriented CBIS subsystem because of the
difficulty in placing a monetary value on information.
21. The
five SLC phases are planning, analysis, design, implementation, and use. During
the first phase, the information specialist supports. During the remaining four
phases, the
manager
controls.
Topics for Discussion
1. A
trade agreement such as NAFTA increases the complexity of a firm’s business
operations because it expands the marketplace to include customers and
competitors around the world. This places strong demands on the firm’s data
communications network, forcing the firm to implement a GIS (global information
system). Chapter 3 explains this increased complexity in greater detail.
2. Answers
will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. The computer is a physical system, but its contents
(program and data) are conceptual systems. The program represents the firm’s
processes and the data represents the firm’s resources.
6. The
company needs to know (1) its sales objectives, (2) turnover rate for its sales
representatives,
(3) and how many sales representatives a recruiter can recruit each month. All
of the information can be found in the database. Turnover rate and recruiting
productivity
can be computed from historical data.