Deck 13: Building Information Systems

Question 1

In some forms of outsourcing, a company hires an external vendor to create the software for its system, but operates the software on its own computers.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A data flow diagram offers a logical and graphical model of information flow, partitioning a system into modules that show manageable levels of detail.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Objects are grouped into hierarchies, and hierarchies into classes.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Rationalization of procedures describes a radical rethinking of the business models.

Question 5

CASE tools facilitate the creation of clear documentation and the coordination of team development efforts.

Question 6

A structure chart is a bottom-up chart, showing each level of design, its relationship to other levels, and its place in the overall design structure.

Question 7

The oldest method for building information systems is prototyping.

Question 8

The system is not in production until conversion is complete.

Question 9

End-user-developed systems can be completed more rapidly than those developed through the conventional systems lifecycle.

Question 10

One advantage of fourth-generation tools is that they can easily handle processing large numbers of transactions or applications with extensive procedural logic and updating requirements.

Question 11

Systems development activities always take place in sequential order.

Question 12

Thorough testing is not required if, during the programming stage, the design documents are sufficiently detailed.

Question 13

A primary benefit of offshore outsourcing is that this can substantially reduce hidden costs.

Question 14

Prototyping is more iterative than the conventional lifecycle.

Question 15

A problem with prototyping is that the systems constructed using this method may not be able to handle large quantities of data in a production environment.

Question 16

Object-oriented development is more incremental than traditional structured development.

Question 17

Failure to address properly the organizational changes surrounding the introduction of a new system can cause the demise of an otherwise good system.

Question 18

The most common form of IT-enabled organizational change is automation.

Question 19

TQM describes the measurement of quality as 3.4 defects per million.

Question 20

Documentation reveals how well the system has met its original objectives.

Question 21

In automation

A) business processes are simplified.
B) business processes are reorganized to cut waste and eliminate repetitive, paper-intensive tasks.
C) standard operating procedures are streamlined to remove bottlenecks.
D) employees are enabled to perform their tasks more efficiently.

Question 22

Which process develops a detailed description of the functions that a new information system must perform?

A) feasibility study
B) requirements analysis
C) systems design
D) test plan development

Question 23

System testing

A) includes all the preparations for the series of tests to be performed on the system.
B) tests the functioning of the system as a whole in order to determine if discrete modules will function together as planned.
C) tests each program separately.
D) provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.

Question 24

Enabling organizations to make continual improvements to many business processes and to use processes as the fundamental building blocks of corporate information systems is the goal of

A) business process management.
B) business process redesign.
C) workflow engineering.
D) workflow management.

Question 25

System design specifications that address the category of database design issues will include specifications for

A) transaction volume and speed requirements.
B) data entry.
C) job design.
D) program logic and computations.

Question 26

What is the primary driving factor in firms to select domestic outsourcing firms to build system solutions?

A) to take advantage of technical skills the firm does not have
B) to save labor costs
C) to avoid change management issues
D) all of the above

Question 27

Unit testing

A) includes all the preparations for the series of tests to be performed on the system.
B) tests the functioning of the system as a whole in order to determine if discrete modules will function together as planned.
C) tests each program separately.
D) provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.

Question 28

In order, what are the first three steps in BPM?

A) (1) identifying processes for change, (2) analyzing existing processes, (3) designing the new process
B) (1) analyzing existing processes, (2) identifying processes for change, (3) designing the new process
C) (1) identifying processes for change, (2) designing the new process, (3) implementing the new process
D) (1) analyzing processes to change (2) designing the new process, (3) measuring the optimized process

Question 29

Determining methods for feedback and error handling would be defined by which category of system design specifications?

A) training and documentation
B) user interface
C) manual procedures
D) security and controls

Question 30

Acceptance testing

A) includes all the preparations for the series of tests to be performed on the system.
B) tests the functioning of the system as a whole in order to determine if discrete modules will function together as planned.
C) tests each program separately.
D) provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.

Question 31

A bank has reworked its mortgage application process so that several steps are handled by computer software, and some steps are combined to reduce bottlenecks in processing. The goal is to gradually improve its efficiency over time. This is an example of

A) automation.
B) rationalization of procedures.
C) paradigm shift.
D) business process redesign.

Question 32

The idea that the achievement of quality control is an end in itself describes a main concept of

A) BPM.
B) BPR.
C) six sigma.
D) TQM.

Question 33

Systems design

A) describes what a system should do to meet information requirements.
B) shows how the new system will fulfill the information requirements.
C) identifies which users need what information, where, when and how.
D) is concerned with the logical view of the system solution.

Question 34

The entire system-building effort is driven by

A) organizational change.
B) feasibility studies.
C) the information value chain.
D) user information requirements.

Question 35

In a parallel conversion strategy, the new system

A) is tested by an outsourced company.
B) replaces the old one at an appointed time.
C) and the old are run together.
D) is introduced in stages.

Question 36

Business processes are analyzed, simplified, and redesigned in

A) business process redesign.
B) rationalization of procedures.
C) automation.
D) paradigm shifts.

Question 37

The four kinds of structural organizational change enabled by IT, in order from least to most risky, are

A) rationalization, automation, reengineering, and redesigning.
B) rationalization, automation, reengineering, and paradigm shift.
C) automation, rationalization, reengineering, and paradigm shift.
D) automation, redesigning, restructuring, and paradigm shift.

Question 38

Transferring data from a legacy system to the new system would be defined by which category of system design specifications?

A) input
B) database
C) manual procedures
D) conversion

Question 39

________ provide(s) a methodology and tools for dealing with the organization's ongoing need to revise and optimize its numerous business processes.

A) Business process redesign
B) Business process management
C) CASE tools
D) TQM

Question 40

An upscale organic foods grocery chain is implementing an information system that will enable it to add same-day home delivery of groceries to its customers. This is an example of

A) automation.
B) rationalization of procedures.
C) paradigm shift.
D) business process redesign.

Question 41

Object-oriented development could potentially reduce the time and cost of writing software because

A) object-oriented programming requires less training.
B) iterative prototyping is not required.
C) objects are reusable.
D) a single user interface object can be used for the entire application.

Question 42

Which type of fourth-generation language tool contains preprogrammed modules that can be used to create entire applications?

A) PC software tools
B) report generators
C) application generators
D) application software packages

Question 43

To show each level of a system's design, its relationship to other levels, and its place in the overall design structure, structured methodologies use

A) structure charts.
B) Gantt and PERT charts.
C) process specifications.
D) data flow diagrams.

Question 44

When systems are created rapidly, without a formal development methodology

A) end users can take over the work of IT specialists.
B) the organization quickly outgrows the new system.
C) hardware, software, and quality standards are less important.
D) testing and documentation may be inadequate.

Question 45

In the traditional systems development lifecycle, end users

A) are important and ongoing members of the team from the original analysis phase through maintenance.
B) are important only in the testing phases.
C) have no input.
D) are limited to providing information requirements and reviewing the technical staff's work.

Question 46

An entire information system is broken down into its subsystems by using

A) high-level data flow diagrams.
B) low-level data flow diagrams.
C) process specifications.
D) structured diagrams.

Question 47

Which type of fourth-generation language tools are end-users most likely to work with?

A) report generators and query languages
B) report generators and application generators
C) PC software tools and query languages
D) PC software tools and report generators

Question 48

In object-oriented development

A) the class is used as the basic unit of systems analysis and design.
B) an object is a collection of data that is acted on by external processes.
C) processing logic resides within objects.
D) a strict, step-by-step development process is essential.

Question 49

In an object-oriented development framework for a university, how would the classes Degree, Mathematics, and Physics be related?

A) Degree would be a sister class to Mathematics and Physics.
B) Degree is a superclass to Mathematics and Physics.
C) Mathematics and Physics would be ancestors to Degree.
D) Degree would be a subclass to Mathematics and Physics.

Question 50

Changes in hardware, software, documentation, or production to a production system to correct errors, meet new requirements, or improve processing efficiencies are termed

A) compliance.
B) production.
C) maintenance.
D) acceptance.

Question 51

In the direct cutover conversion strategy, the new system

A) is tested by an outsourced company.
B) replaces the old one at an appointed time.
C) and the old are run together.
D) is introduced in stages.

Question 52

As a technical project manager you have decided to propose implementing a prototyping methodology for a small Web-based design project. What is the order of steps you will follow in this project?

A) Develop the prototype; use the prototype; revise and enhance the prototype.
B) Identify user requirements, develop the prototype, use the prototype, revise and enhance the prototype.
C) Define the requirements, develop solutions, select the best prototype, and implement the prototype.
D) Define the requirements, develop the prototype, revise and enhance the prototype.

Question 53

The primary tool for representing a system's component processes and the flow of data between them is the

A) data dictionary.
B) process specifications diagram.
C) user documentation.
D) data flow diagram.

Question 54

A systems building approach in which the system is developed as successive versions, each version reflecting requirements more accurately, is described to be

A) end-user oriented.
B) iterative.
C) object-oriented.
D) agile.

Question 55

In which type of systems building are the development stages organized so that tasks in one stage are completed before the tasks in the next stage begun?

A) traditional
B) prototyping
C) RAD
D) all of the above

Question 56

Object-oriented modeling is based on the concepts of

A) objects and relationships.
B) classes and objects.
C) class and inheritance.
D) objects and inheritance.

Question 57

CASE tools automate

A) documentation.
B) code generation.
C) creating data dictionaries.
D) all of the above.

Question 58

In what stage of systems development are design specifications created?

A) systems analysis
B) systems design
C) testing
D) conversion

Question 59

The oldest method for building information systems is

A) component-based development.
B) prototyping.
C) object-oriented development.
D) the systems development lifecycle.

Question 60

To understand and define the contents of data flows and data store, system builders use

A) a data dictionary.
B) process specifications diagrams.
C) user documentation.
D) data flow diagrams.

Question 61

________ is the process of changing from the old system to the new system.

Question 62

________ design is a process used to accelerate the generation of information requirements by having end-users and information system specialists work together in intensive interactive design sessions.

Question 63

Fourth-generation tools cannot replace conventional development tools because they

A) cannot handle large numbers of transactions or extensive procedural logic.
B) are not designed to integrate with legacy systems.
C) do not incorporate methods for documentation.
D) do not incorporate methods for testing.

Question 64

During the ________ stage of system development, system specifications that were prepared during the design stage are translated into software code.

Question 65

You are an IT project manager for an advertising firm. The firm wishes to create an online tool that will be used to survey focus group reactions to products in development. The most important consideration for the firm is being able to offer the tool as soon as possible as a new corporate service. However, you know that many of the senior managers that are business owners of this project have difficulty in understanding technical or software development issues, and are likely to change their requirements during the course of development. What development method would be most successful for this project?

A) RAD
B) JAD
C) end-user development
D) prototyping

Question 66

________ describe the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagrams.

Question 67

A software package evaluation process is often based on a series of questions sent to vendors, called a(n) ________.

Question 68

Management should control the development of end-user applications by

A) developing a formal development methodology.
B) requiring cost justification for end-user IS projects.
C) establishing standards for user-developed applications.
D) both B and C
E) both A and B

Question 69

Compared to the use of proprietary components, Web services promise to be less expensive and less difficult to implement because of

A) their ability to integrate seamlessly with legacy systems.
B) the use of universal standards.
C) the ubiquity of the Internet.
D) the ability to reuse Web services components.

Question 70

________ are software tools that enable end users to create reports or develop software applications with minimal or no technical assistance.

Question 71

Categories of tools for BPM include all of the following except

A) tools to integrate existing systems to support business processes improvements.
B) tools to automate business processes.
C) tools to identify and document business processes.
D) tools to test the security of business processes.

Question 72

A(n) ________ is an organizational change that involves rethinking the nature of the business and the nature of the organization itself.

Question 73

________ development focuses on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of small sub-projects that are completed in short periods of time using iteration and continuous feedback.

A) Agile
B) Rapid application
C) Joint application
D) Object-oriented

Question 74

A systems analysis includes a(n) ________ that is used to determine whether the solution is achievable from a financial, technical, and organizational standpoint.

Question 75

A(n) ________ is the model or blueprint for an information system solution and consists of all the specifications that will deliver the functions identified during systems analysis.

Question 76

What is the greatest barrier to successful business process change?

A) ineffective project management
B) usability of implemented solution
C) selecting the correct process to change
D) organizational change

Question 77

Which type of systems development is characterized by significantly speeding up the design phase and the generation of information requirements and involving users at an intense level?

A) RAD
B) JAD
C) prototyping
D) end-user development

Question 78

Groups of objects are assembled into software components for common functions, which can be combined into large-scale business applications, in which type of software development?

A) object-oriented development
B) component-based development
C) structured methodologies
D) RAD

Question 79

________ contain a detailed statement of the information needs that a new system must satisfy; identifies who needs what information, and when, where, and how the information is needed.

Question 80

The process of creating workable information systems in a very short period of time is called

A) RAD.
B) JAD.
C) prototyping.
D) B and C.