Chapter 14: End-of-Chapter Questions

1. The first OA application was word processing, made possible by the IBM MT/ST in 1964.

2. OA users include managers, professionals, secretaries, and clerical employees.

3. When the DSS has a GDSS capability it encompasses communications as well as data and information processing.

4. Telecommuting involves the accomplishment of office work in the home. The virtual office, on the other hand, encompasses a larger geographic area, stipulating that office work can be accomplished anywhere—in your car, in a customer’s office, in a hotel room, and so on. Telecommuting is a subset of the virtual office.

5. Word processing contributes in two ways. First, the manager’s information sources can use it to communicate information to the manager for problem solving. Second, the manager can use it to communicate problem solutions to the physical system.

6. E-mail and voice mail are both computer-based communications methods that involve the use of mailboxes and eliminate or reduce telephone tag because of their asynchronous nature. They differ in that E-mail requires typing, and voice mail requires special computing equipment.

7. Electronic calendaring does not directly communicate problem-solving information.

8. Both audio and video conferences should make use of a moderator, a copy of the agenda should be provided ahead of time, speakers should be identified, and a hard copy record of the proceedings should be kept. The two conference methods differ in that the video conference has the capacity for handling a much larger number of people. Also, the videotape provides an automatic taped record, eliminating the need for an audio recording.

9. Computer conferencing consists of a group of people who are addressing a specific issue or problem, and the material that is communicated bears on the solution of that issue or problem. E-mail has no such limitations.

10. Teleconferencing is the name given to the three types of electronic conferencing—audio, video, and computer.

11. Videotex material can be stored in the firm’s own computer, in the computers of other firms, and in the computers or on the computer media (such as compact disks) of videotex suppliers.

12. DJNRS is especially popular with financial analysts.

13. Document images are scanned into the DM system, using an OCR input device. Once in the computer, the images are stored on such a secondary storage device as a compact disk.

14. A manager would be least likely to use a DM system because of the time involved with the retrieval process. This is a duty that is easily delegated to a nonmanager.

15. DTP involves administrative applications, technical applications, and corporate graphics. Although all can conceivably support problem solving, the administrative applications include the types we address in this text—correspondence and reports.

16. In selecting her or his OA mix a manager will be influenced by the geographical distribution of the firm’s facilities, by personal preferences for certain communications media, and by OA resources that the firm makes available.

17. Audio or video conferencing could be used by a firm with a single location when that firm is part of an EDI network that involves other firms.