Deck 13: Collaboration Information Systems for Decision Making, Problem Solving, and Project Management

Question 1

Sean is in charge of setting up the new IT department at his firm. He allots the budget, and decides the number of analysts and technicians that would be required to set up the department. Sean's decisions in this case are ________.

A) behavioral
B) operational
C) managerial
D) strategic

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Differentiate between cooperation and collaboration with examples.

Answer 2

Cooperation is defined as a group of people working together, all doing essentially the same type of work, to accomplish a job. Collaboration is defined as a group of people working together to achieve a common goal via a process of feedback and iteration.
For example, when a group of five students is given an assignment, they will break it up into five pieces, work to accomplish their piece independently, and then merge their independent work for grading by the professor. Using this practice, the students work cooperatively as a group.
In contrast, when students work collaboratively, they set forth an initial idea or work product, provide feedback to one another on those ideas or products, and then revise in accordance with feedback.

Question 3

Judy heads the marketing department, which has the maximum number of employees in her organization. To improve the efficiency of the employees, Judy forms ten teams and gives each one a different target. At the end of the quarter, the most successful team would be chosen and awarded. Which of the following primary criteria should Judy use to judge the success of the teams?

A) changes in organizational structure
B) growth in team capacity
C) working in a series of stages
D) meaningful and satisfying experience

Answer 3

D

Question 4

________ decisions are those that support day-to-day activities, such as the number of widgets to order from a particular vendor.

A) Managerial
B) Tactical
C) Strategic
D) Operational

Question 5

In collaboration, the work proceeds in a series of steps in which one person produces something, others criticize it, and then a revised version is produced. These steps are known as ________.

A) iterations
B) alternatives
C) redundancies
D) strategies

Question 6

Being informed is considered the most fundamental collaboration purpose because ________.

A) individuals can construct different perceptions of the same data
B) all the members of a team usually perceive information in the same way
C) members will be able to avoid critical feedback
D) conflicting ideas can be eliminated

Question 7

Which of the following should be avoided for a collaboration to be successful?

A) replying to the criticisms offered by different members in the group
B) giving different perceptions of the topics under discussion
C) giving critical feedback against other members of a group
D) giving critical feedback that leads to distrust among group members

Question 8

________ is defined as a group of people working together to achieve a common goal via a process of feedback and iteration.

A) Abstract reasoning
B) Systems thinking
C) Collaboration
D) Dissolution

Question 9

Which of the following should be followed for an effective collaboration?

A) Iterations should be avoided for the smooth functioning of a collaborative process.
B) Group members should never be critical, or give each other negative feedback.
C) Multiple iterations and feedback should be used to improve collaboration.
D) Collaboration should take place at the final stage of a project to be more effective.

Question 10

Business professionals are primarily concerned about the successful outcome of collaboration.

Question 11

Multiple versions of a document are created when a group of people collaboratively work on it to achieve a common goal.

Question 12

Leo Technologies, a software firm, has appointed a team of five members to work on an important project. The project involves the development of a high security program for a client. For the project to be successful, the members need to collaborate. Which of the following steps should the members take to ensure collaboration in the team?

A) The members should resist putting forward unpopular ideas.
B) The members should avoid entering into difficult conversations.
C) The members should provide and receive critical feedback.
D) The members should be very polite and not say anything critical.

Question 13

Neal heads the sales team in his organization. He has observed a decline in the performance of a few members in the team, and needs to give them critical feedback. Which of the following should Neal keep in mind while providing feedback?

A) Make personal comments.
B) Give specific details.
C) Avoid suggestions.
D) Dominate the team.

Question 14

It is important for team members to have different ideas and opinions and to express them to each other.

Question 15

Listed below are perspectives of different people working as a team. Which of the following approaches to teamwork will provide the best results?

A) Sarah disagrees with the project plan but does not voice her opinion because she doesn't want to disrupt the functioning of the team.
B) Andrew believes that conflict is healthy for teamwork and doesn't hesitate to criticize the shortcomings of his coworkers' perceptions.
C) Caleb and Adam hold opposing political views but do not discuss their opinions while working so that other team members aren't distracted.
D) Daniel is the team leader and discourages disagreements among team members so that the project can proceed faster.

Question 16

How do group iterations and feedback provide better results than those provided by a single individual?

A) They motivate the members of a group to work on individual goals.
B) They allow individuals to put forth different perspectives.
C) They encourage the members of a group to share ideas and collaborate at the end of a project.
D) They restrict individuals from criticizing one another's perspectives.

Question 17

A cooperative result is usually better in quality than the result of someone working alone.

Question 18

________ is the first and most fundamental collaboration purpose.

A) Decision making
B) Informing
C) Managing projects
D) Experimenting

Question 19

Explain the three primary criteria for successful collaboration.

Question 20

An extremely critical group cannot collaborate effectively.

Question 21

Based on the phases of project management, the ________ stage is characterized by defining activities, assigning personnel and budget to those activities, and determining project schedule.

A) finalizing
B) starting
C) doing
D) planning

Question 22

The ________ phase of project management requires a team to document its results, document information for future teams, close down the project, and disband the team.

A) finalizing
B) starting
C) doing
D) planning

Question 23

Decisions at the operational level tend to be unstructured.

Question 24

Different people usually perceive a problem in the same way.

Question 25

What are the three levels of decision making?

Question 26

In project management, accomplishing tasks on time is the objective of the ________ phase.

A) finalizing
B) starting
C) doing
D) planning

Question 27

Which of the following statements is TRUE of project data?

A) It is a part of the collaboration's work product.
B) It is data that is used to manage the project.
C) It includes schedules, tasks, budgets, and other related data about a project.
D) It is not subject to iteration and feedback.

Question 28

Explain the four phases of project management.

Question 29

Strategic decisions are almost always collaborative.

Question 30

Rochelle, a senior program analyst at Levy Inc., reschedules various tasks assigned to her subordinates in order to meet a project's new guidelines. In this case, Rochelle is in the ________ phase of project management.

A) starting
B) doing
C) planning
D) finalizing

Question 31

Which of the following tasks is performed during the starting phase of project management?

A) preparing archival documents
B) managing tasks and budget
C) establishing team rules
D) determining project schedule

Question 32

The first and most important task for a problem-solving collaborative group is to define the problem.

Question 33

Hanna, a project manager at Rinehart Inc., adds additional resources to a new project that has insufficient resources to meet its tight schedules. In this case, Hanna is in the ________ phase of project management.

A) planning
B) starting
C) doing
D) finalizing

Question 34

Which of the following tasks is performed during the finalizing phase of project management?

A) solving problems
B) documenting and reporting project progress
C) revising budget
D) preparing archival documents

Question 35

Which of the following statements is TRUE of an unstructured decision process?

A) Collaboration is seldom required in this process.
B) Individuals use a standardized decision process to assess a situation.
C) Individuals vary in the manner in which they make decisions in this process.
D) There is an understood and accepted method for making decisions.

Question 36

Which of the following statements is TRUE of a structured decision process?

A) There is an understood and accepted method for making such a decision.
B) Collaboration is often required in this process.
C) The nature of an underlying problem is given more importance in this type of decision-making process.
D) The decisions taken depend largely on the manner in which managers make assessments.

Question 37

Operational decisions are always collaborative.

Question 38

In project management, setting the ground rules for a project and its team is the fundamental purpose of the ________ phase.

A) finalizing
B) starting
C) executing
D) planning

Question 39

________ decisions are those that support broad-scope, organizational issues.

A) Strategic
B) Behavioral
C) Operational
D) Managerial

Question 40

Team roles, responsibilities, and authorities are established during the planning phase of project management.

Question 41

Which of the following collaborative activities requires tracking many versions of many documents and other work products?

A) increase in team satisfaction
B) feedback
C) promotion of team growth
D) iteration

Question 42

Which of the following tasks is in the finalizing phase of project management?

A) establish team rules
B) determine schedule
C) prepare archival documents
D) document progress

Question 43

Schedules, tasks, budgets, and other managerial data are examples of project metadata.

Question 44

Team capability grows because team members provide prospective for each other.

Question 45

Which of the following is NOT part of a project metadata?

A) schedules
B) tasks
C) budgets
D) databases

Question 46

A store manager is looking at inventory and decides it is time order swim suits because the spring time is approaching. This is an understood and accepted method for ordering swimsuits, therefore it is a ________.

A) easy
B) structured
C) unstructured
D) necessary

Question 47

The two key characteristics of collaboration are iteration and cooperation.

Question 48

Why would a permanent team experience greater team growth than a temporary team such as a football team?

A) because the team provides more service over time for longer periods
B) because a football team lasts for multiple seasons
C) because permanent teams always trust each other
D) because there is more cooperation on a permanent team

Question 49

The primary function of a collaboration information system is information security.

Question 50

Which of the following collaborative activities requires providing easy-to-use and readily available multiparty communication?

A) promotion of team growth
B) feedback
C) accomplishment of task within time and budget
D) iteration

Question 51

Which of the following statements is TRUE for the "increase team satisfaction" collaborative activity?

A) provide for team and member recognition
B) provide for intrateam teaching
C) track team status
D) providing critical feedback

Question 52

According to Hackman, which of the following is NOT a primary criterion for judging team success?

A) successful outcome
B) growth in team capability
C) meaningful and satisfying experience
D) good collaboration

Question 53

Which of the following is an example of constructive criticism?

A) I don't know what to with this.
B) In the future, try to budget your time so you can meet the deadline.
C) The whole thing is disorganized.
D) I've done my part. I'm not rewriting my work. It's good enough.

Question 54

Differentiate between project data and project metadata.

Question 55

Which of the following is an IS requirement for making decisions during collaboration?

A) store problem definition
B) sharing data
C) store records of process and results
D) support group communication

Question 56

A group of company executives are trying to decide if they want to launch a new product. This decision is a ________ decision.

A) strategic
B) managerial
C) operational
D) planning

Question 57

Most collaboration systems are hosted on client computers.

Question 58

Jackie feels as if she is in a good group. The group is constantly giving each a positive feedback. Bill does not agree, he believes the group may be suffering from ________ because they continue to make poor decisions.

A) groupthink
B) collaboration
C) collusion
D) low self-esteem