ISQS 2340 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
What are the three key areas in which IT departments need to be aligned with business
needs? - Answers- Ensuring security and compliance -Modern companies simply
cannot function without the secure and dependable access to data facilitated by the IT
organization
- Increasing efficiency and productivity - IT makes the business more efficient by
optimizing systems streamlining workflows, and generally making everyone's job easier
- Gaining competitive advantage - IT must collaborate with the business to leverage
emerging technology for competitive advantage, turning strategy into reality.
1. What does the article suggest is the "bottom line"? - Answers- The bottom line is that
it is all about the business, not about the technology
2. According to the article, business value includes which "very specific" things? List and
briefly describe each of these. - Answers- 1. Increase revenue-The IT organization can
be instrumental in helping a company achieve more revenue through innovation
2. Decrease cost- IT organizations offer tremendous financial leverage. In fact the IT
organization can provide more leverage than any department in a company.
3. Improve productivity-
Eliminate paper
Implement business applications to improve processes and productivity
Implement video conferencing technologies to reduce travel and improve meeting and
training time
4. Differentiate the company- When this happens a company can become more
competitive or even have an advantage in selling its products and services.
5. Improve client satisfaction- It is much more profitable to keep a client than it is to
replace a client you lose. In most companies the major source of revenue is from
existing clients, not new clients.
3. What should IT managers think about when recommending IT projects? Why? -
Answers- "If this were my company, would I spend money and use resources of the
company to do it?
Because business owners want to make a profit, and if they're wasting money on IT
projects that aren't using their money properly then they're wasting valuable resources
1. According to the article, why have IT projects generally failed over the years? -
Answers- because the changes required at an organizational and employee level
weren't managed effectively
, 2. Investments in "digital" can be thought of essentially as investments in what? Why
might it be important to think about IT projects in this way? - Answers- think about
investments in digital as essentially investments in change. People can be working
towards something constantly rather than an end goal.
3. What is one tool the article suggests will help improve the likelihood of IT project
success? Briefly describe what this tool does and how it works. - Answers- Benefits
dependency network, this tool seeks to get managers to identify and map all the
changes that they will be required to make if expected benefits and outcomes are going
to be delivered.
1. List and define each of the components of an information system. What examples
does the chapter use to describe some of these components? - Answers- Hardware: is
the tangible, physical portion of an information system - the part than you can touch
Software: comprises the set of instructions that tell the hardware what to do
Data: data is a collection of facts for example street, city, state, postal code
People: When thinking about information systems, it is easy to focus on the technology
components and forget to look beyond these tools to fully understand their integration
into an organization
Processes: a series of steps undertaken to achieve a desired outcome or goal.
2. According to the chapter, how can we define what technology is? What components
of an information system are categorized as technology? - Answers- Technology can be
thought of as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
Hardware
Software
Data
3. What are the two main categories of software? What do each do and how are they
different? - Answers- Operating systems: provides the interface between the hardware
and the Application software.
Application software: allows the user to perform tasks such as creating documents,
recording data in a spreadsheet, or messaging a friend.
5. How did Walmart use information technology competitively? - Answers- allowed
Walmart's suppliers to directly access the inventory levels and sales information of their
products at any of Walmart's more than eleven thousand stores. Using Retail Link,
suppliers can analyze how well their products are selling at one or more Walmart stores
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