Deck 10: Governance of the Information Systems Organization

Question 1

The decision about approval and justification of new technologies would fall into which one of the five major IT decision categories?

A) IT principles
B) IT architecture
C) IT infrastructure
D) Business application needs
E) IT investment and prioritization

Answer 1

E

Question 2

IT organizations implement powerful information systems like ERP and SCM that provide centralized data repositories. In addition, business units have tools for their particular units that individuals can use to report on and analyze collected data. This IT governance approach is best described as:

A) Distributed Control
B) Decentralized
C) Federalism
D) Joint-Control
E) Centralized

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In which type of organization management does IT control most of its IT infrastructure in one location?

A) Distributed IS organization
B) Decentralized IS organization
C) Federalism
D) Joint-Control IS organization
E) Centralized IS organization

Answer 3

E

Question 4

________ of the 1980s allowed computing power to spread and gave rise to a decentralized approach to IT governance.

A) Servers
B) Mainframes
C) Networks
D) PCs
E) The WWW

Question 5

The archetype that is represented by IT executives and one other group is:

A) IT monarchy
B) Feudal
C) Federal
D) Business monarchy
E) IT duopoly

Question 6

The archetype that is represented by a group of business executives that might or might not include the CIO is:

A) IT monarchy
B) Feudal
C) Federal
D) Business monarchy
E) IT duopoly

Question 7

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was primarily aimed at which functional unit of a corporation?

A) Marketing
B) Production
C) Sales
D) IT
E) Finance

Question 8

All of the following are mechanisms that can be created to ensure good IT governance EXCEPT:

A) Policies
B) Review boards
C) Steering Committees
D) Consultants
E) IT Governance Council

Question 9

Which of the following is an IT governance for ensuring that IT provides the systematic rigor needed for the strong internal controls and SoX compliance?

A) HIPPA
B) COBIT
C) SoX
D) ISACA
E) ISO

Question 10

Which IT governance archetype consists of IT individuals or groups of IT executives?

A) Business monarchy
B) IT monarchy
C) Feudal
D) Federal
E) IT Duopoly

Question 11

Which of the following is a balanced approach to managing a company's IT organization?

A) Centralization
B) Decentralization
C) Federalism
D) Joint-Control
E) Business Centricity

Question 12

The IT Governance Council reports directly to the board of directors or the ________.

A) CIO
B) CTO
C) CEO
D) COO
E) CFO

Question 13

All of the following are frameworks for implementing Sarbanes-Oxley compliance EXCEPT:

A) COSO
B) BCP
C) COBIT
D) ITIL
E) ISO

Question 14

The decisions that determine how IT assets are structured fall into which one of the five major IT decision categories?

A) IT principles
B) IT architecture
C) IT infrastructure
D) Business application needs
E) IT investment and prioritization

Question 15

Most companies would like to obtain the advantages derived from both centralized and decentralized organizational paradigms. What type of IT governance model would best help them to achieve this goal?

A) Distributed Control
B) Decentralized
C) Federalism
D) Joint-Control
E) Centralized

Question 16

After Intel faced strong shifts in technologies, such as cloud services, social networking, mobile devices, etc., Intel realized that it needed to establish better governance, creating:

A) Employee boards
B) Customer boards
C) Security committees
D) Information governance boards
E) Higher control framework

Question 17

IT governance has two major components: the assignment of decision-making authority and responsibility, and the:

A) cost considerations
B) decision rights
C) business plan
D) capability maturity model
E) decision-making mechanisms

Question 18

________ of the 1960s dictated a centralized approach to IT governance.

A) Servers
B) Mainframes
C) Networks
D) PCs
E) The WWW

Question 19

______________ organizations scatter IT components in different locations to address local business needs.

A) Distributed Control
B) Decentralized
C) Federalism
D) Joint-Control
E) Centralized

Question 20

IT decisions have been categorized by Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross and include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) IT principles
B) IT architecture
C) IT infrastructure
D) Business application needs
E) IT security

Question 21

As a result of Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the CEO, CFO, and CIO must certify financial accounting records.

Question 22

The IT governance ____________archetype consists only of business unit leaders, key process owners, or their delegates.

Question 23

A steering committee is geared only toward the highest level of the organization and reports directly to the board of directors or the CEO.

Question 24

A steering committee works especially well with this particular IT governance archetype.

A) Business monarchy
B) IT monarchy
C) Feudal
D) Federal
E) IT Duopoly

Question 25

____________is the act through which behavior is aligned with business goals through empowerment and monitoring.

Question 26

The development of what technology allows for collecting and transmitting big data as well as allowing local processing to detect and solve problems on the spot?

A) Internet of Things
B) RFID
C) Edge computing
D) GPS
E) Cloud computing

Question 27

Which of the following control frameworks encourages more collaboration and communication across the entire business, resulting in fewer silos?

A) COSO
B) Treadway Commission
C) KPI
D) ITIL
E) COBIT

Question 28

The combinations of people to whom decision rights are allocated are classified by various IT governance ________.

Question 29

The global nature of business today makes complete centralization impossible.

Question 30

Gregory et al., argue that IT consumerization was developed to fit within traditional IT governance.

Question 31

As a result of Sarbanes-Oxley, IT managers are now required to manage the level of controls needed to mitigate risk in business processes.

Question 32

Most digital ecosystems have developed platforms that are based on standards for data exchange and applications.

Question 33

The technology that makes up an organization's digital ecosystem is its:

A) Digital platform
B) Internet of Things
C) Technology sponsor
D) IT consumerization
E) IT monarchy

Question 34

Federal IT provides for strong centralization, like the U.S. Federal Government.

Question 35

The____________ was passed in 2002 in response to the rogue accounting activities of major global corporations such as Enron and WorldCom?

Question 36

There were pressures for centralizing IT back when mainframes ruled, but today's use of "consumerized" technologies have provided strong pressure, by IT people, for decentralization.

Question 37

Which IT governance archetype consists of C-level executives and at least one other business group? An IT executive may be an additional participant.

A) Business monarchy
B) IT monarchy
C) Feudal
D) Federal
E) IT Duopoly

Question 38

The____________ is a highly specific measurement used to indicate whether business process goals are being met.

Question 39

IT plays a major role in ensuring the accuracy of financial data.

Question 40

A____________ is a committee that is formally designated to approve, monitor, and review specific topics that ensure IT governance.

Question 41

Match the disadvantages below as either being associated with a centralized IT governance approach or a decentralized IT governance approach.
$$\begin{array} { | l | l | } \hline \text { Centralized } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Techrology may not meet the needs of the } \\\text { business units }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Centralized } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Poor relations between the business units and the } \\\text { IT orgarization }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Centralized } & \text { Slow support for stratepic initiatives } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \text { Duplication of staff and data } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \text { Hipher infrastructure costs } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Difficulty negotiating preferential supplier } \\\text { agreerments }\end{array} \\\hline\end{array}$$

Question 42

Match the advantages below as either being associated with a centralized IT governance approach or a decentralized IT governance approach.
$$\begin{array} { | l | l | } \hline \text { Centralized } & \text { Global standards and corrmon data } \\\hline \text { Centralized } & \text { Econonies of scale } \\\hline \text { Centralized } & \text { Better control of security and databases } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \text { Techrology custonized to local business needs } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \text { Greater flexibility } \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Closer relationship between IT and business } \\\text { units }\end{array} \\\hline\end{array}$$

Question 43

Match the allocation of decision rights below with the IT governance archetype it represents.
$$\begin{array} { | l | l | } \hline \text { Business monarchy } & \begin{array} { l } \text { The CEO, COO and CFO } \\\text { decide to expand the SCM } \\\text { infonnation system to support } \\\text { marufacturing's erowth in } \\\text { China }\end{array} \\\hline \text { IT monarchy } & \begin{array} { l } \text { The CIO and the data center } \\\text { manager decide to outsource } \\\text { server maintenance. }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Feudal } & \begin{array} { l } \text { The Marketing department } \\\text { decides to irmplement a new } \\\text { social business stratepy }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Federal } & \begin{array} { l } \text { The CFO, CEO and CIO focus } \\\text { energies to ensure SoX } \\\text { compliance globally. }\end{array} \\\hline \text { IT Duopoly } & \begin{array} { l } \text { IT works the Sales department } \\\text { to roll out a new social } \\\text { networking marketplace. }\end{array} \\\hline\end{array}$$

Question 44

Why is it recommended that the IT governance archetype for an organization's information security strategy be business monarchy?

Question 45

Explain how federalism is able to capture the benefits of centralized and decentralized IT governance while eliminating the drawbacks of each.

Question 46

Review the description of 3 different IT organizations and map the organization's design to the IT governance model it best represents.
$$\begin{array} { | l | l | } \hline \text { Federalimn } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Strong IT vision and leadership; business } \\\text { units have ownership }\end{array} \\\hline \text { Decentralized } & \text { Flexible IT; lacks synergy and integration } \\\hline \text { Centralized } & \begin{array} { l } \text { Highly struetured IT; does not meet the } \\\text { needs of all business units }\end{array} \\\hline\end{array}$$

Question 47

Define federalism as it pertains to organizational structures. How does it improve on the centralized model?

Question 48

Explain the value steering committees offer the IT organization.

Question 49

Another term used to describe digital platforms is ____________.

Question 50

The____________ term is used to describe the increasingly powerful tools available to consumers that are impacting corporations.

Question 51

Explain the role the IT organization has in ensuring a company's Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.