Deck 4: Decisions and Processes

Question 1

Operational decisions or semi-structured decisions arise in situations where established processes offer potential solutions.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Digital dashboards integrate information from multiple components and tailor the information to individual preferences..

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Unstructured decisions occur in situations in which no procedures or rules exist to guide decision makers towards the correct choice.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Redundancy occurs when a task or activity is never repeated.

Question 5

Business processes should never drive MIS choices and should be based on business strategies and goals.

Question 6

Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of its business processes improves a firm's value chain.

Question 7

A business management system is a graphic description of a process,showing the sequence of process tasks,which is developed for a specific purpose and from a selected viewpoint.

Question 8

At the strategic decision-making level,employees develop,control and maintain core business activities.

Question 9

Benchmarks are baseline values the system seeks to attain.

Question 10

Loan processing is a customer-facing business process.

Question 11

Removing bottlenecks or redundancies in organisations can create master streamlined business processes that deliver both standard and custom orders reliably and profitably.

Question 12

A shopping bot is one of the simplest examples of an intelligent agent.

Question 13

Effectiveness MIS metrics include throughput,transaction speed and system availability.

Question 14

A neural network is a category of efficiency metrics where it attempts to measure the way the human brain works.

Question 15

Business-facing processes or back-office processes are invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management and operation of the business.

Question 16

Strategic planning is a customer-facing business process.

Question 17

Alternative business processes should be adaptable or flexible and support change as customers,market forces and technology shift.

Question 18

The structure of a typical organisation is similar to a pyramid,with different levels that require one consistent type of information to assist with all managerial decision making.

Question 19

One of the most important and challenging questions confronting managers today is how to lay the foundation for tomorrow's success,while competing to win in today's business environment.

Question 20

The primary goal of an As-Is process model is to simplify,eliminate and improve the To-Be processes.

Question 21

Business process re-engineering is the analysis and redesign of workflow within and between enterprises.

Question 22

Todd Haitz is the marketing manager for the Australian Cricket Association.Todd analyses and tracks his marketing campaigns to determine the best success rate per project for increasing ticket sales.Todd uses an internal KPI to track his marketing campaign success.Which of the below would be an internal KPI Todd would use to track his marketing campaigns?

A)Marketing campaign ROI
B)Marketing campaign percentage of fans purchasing Sports Illustrated magazine
C)Marketing campaign advertiser revenue sales
D)Marketing campaign market share

Question 23

What would a company like eBay or Amazon be constantly benchmarking?

A)MIS efficiency
B)MIS effectiveness
C)MIS efficiency and MIS effectiveness
D)Usability metrics only

Question 24

Drew Savage is an MIS manager for an international consulting firm.Drew travels to different European countries where he implements news response tracking systems.Some of the metrics he uses to track the performance of his system include tracking the response time it takes to respond to Twitter posts mentioning the news station,as well as the speed and accuracy of content posted on numerous websites and social media sites.What type of metrics is Drew using to measure his system?

A)Customer satisfaction metrics
B)Efficiency metrics
C)Effectiveness metrics
D)Benchmarking metrics

Question 25

As a manager for your company,some of your responsibilities include measuring metrics and overseeing company strategies.You observe some critical success factors and see large increases in productivity.What would you suspect would be the primary reason for the large increases in productivity?

A)Decreases in effectiveness
B)Increases in effectiveness
C)Increases in executive roles
D)Decreases in efficiency

Question 26

What are the crucial steps companies perform to achieve their goals and objectives,and implement their strategies?

A)Critical success factors
B)Crucial success factors
C)Key performance indicators
D)Key performance factors

Question 27

Which of the below is an example of a critical success factor?

A)Increase customer satisfaction
B)Number of new customers
C)Number of new products
D)Percentage of employee turnover

Question 28

Which of the following is a type of effectiveness MIS metric?

A)Transaction speed
B)System availability
C)Usability
D)Throughput

Question 29

Review the statements below.Which one does not represent an example of a structured decision?

A)Reordering inventory
B)Deciding to enter a new market
C)Creating the employee weekly staffing schedule
D)Creating the employee weekly production schedule

Question 30

Bill Schultz works at a high power investment firm in Sydney.Bill is responsible for promoting the organisation's vision and creating the company-wide goals and strategies.He also monitors the overall strategic performance of the company and its direction for future business strategies.At what level of the organisational pyramid would you categorise Bill?

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

Question 31

At the managerial level,which organisational abilities must employees continuously evaluate?

A)Identifying change
B)Adapting to change
C)Leveraging change
D)All the answers are correct

Question 32

CSFs and KPIs are the two core metrics used within a business to track progress or success.What is the relationship between CSFs and KPIs?

A)CSFs are business strategy elements; whereas KPIs measure the progress of the CSFs
B)CSFs build the business environment; whereas KPIs explain how to build the CSFs
C)KPIs are used first; whereas CSFs are applied after
D)KPIs promote employees on their performance; whereas CSFs demote employees based on their performance level

Question 33

Which of the following is a not an organisational decision-making level?

A)Operational level
B)Strategic level
C)Transnational level
D)Managerial level

Question 34

Which of the below would you include as decisions and responsibilities typically found at the operational level of a company?

A)Develop core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations
B)Control core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations
C)Maintain core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations
D)All the answers are correct

Question 35

Which of the statements below is most accurate?

A)Key performance indicators can have no more than four critical success factors
B)Critical success factors can have no more than four key performance indicators
C)Key performance indicators can have several critical success factors
D)Critical success factors can have several key performance indicators

Question 36

Which of the below would you include as decisions and responsibilities typically found at the managerial level of a company?

A)Monthly plans
B)Monthly budgets
C)Weekly schedule
D)All the answers are correct

Question 37

BPM systems include advanced features such as enhanced process modelling,simulation,execution and monitoring,providing a high level of flexibility,while reducing costs.

Question 38

Which of the below represents the three different levels of a company pyramid from the top to the bottom?

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

Question 39

When evaluating the six-step decision-making process,what occurs during the solution implementation step?

A)The process will begin again if the decisions made were incorrect
B)Definition of the problem as clearly and precisely as possible
C)Details of every solution possible including ideas that seem far fetched
D)The solution that best solves the problem is selected

Question 40

Andy Benton works at the local Starbucks coffee shop and his responsibilities include taking orders,fulfilling orders and ringing in sales.At what level of the organisational pyramid would you categorise Andy?

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

Question 41

Bob Silver loves playing a game called World of Warcraft where he has the capability to create his own character and even his own life-like environment.Which AI system would you categorise World of Warcraft?

A)Multi-agent system
B)Expert system
C)Virtual reality
D)Fuzzy logic system

Question 42

If the transactional data used in the support system is wrong,then the managerial analysis is set to be wrong.What will the DSS and the EIS then assist with?

A)Making a wrong decision faster
B)Making a right decision faster
C)Making a wrong decision slower
D)Making a right decision slower

Question 43

Organisations face decision-making environments for all types of problems that require optimisation techniques.Under which circumstances might a manager use optimisation techniques?

A)To help them decide which combination of projects a firm should invest in
B)To help in investment trading decisions
C)To determine the optimal configuration of fibre-optic cable in a network that may include many thousands of connection points
D)All of the above are appropriate environments for use of optimisation techniques
Organisations face decision-making environments for all types of problems that require optimisation techniques, such as the following.
• Business executives use genetic algorithms to help them decide which combination of projects a firm should invest in, taking complicated tax considerations into account.
• Investment companies use genetic algorithms to help in trading decisions.

Question 44

What do Executive information systems use to quickly deliver specific key information to top managers without them having to interact deeply with the system?

A)Interactability
B)Virtualisation
C)Visualisation
D)None of these, it varies from organisation to organisation

Question 45

What type of view allows managers to understand the impact business processes have across the entire organisation,so that both can be improved?

A)Business process systems view
B)Trans-organisational view
C)Intra-organisational view
D)Inter-departmental view

Question 46

Business process modelling usually begins with a functional process representation of what?

A)The business problem
B)The business function
C)The process function
D)The process problem

Question 47

What is drill-down capability?

A)Involves the aggregation of information and features simple roll-ups to complex groupings of interrelated information
B)The ability to look at information from different perspectives
C)Enables users to get details, and details of details, of information
D)Finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output

Question 48

Which of the following is an example of an intelligent system?

A)The Firefighter Robot that can extinguish flames at chemical plants
B)Shell Oil's Smart Pump robot that pumps gas for the customer
C)A robot that cleans and sweeps at a local airport
D)All the answers are correct

Question 49

What can permit employees to react to information as soon as it becomes available and make decisions,solve problems and change strategies daily instead of monthly?

A)Optimisation analysis
B)Digital dashboards
C)Transaction analysis
D)Goal-seeking dashboards

Question 50

Automation improves efficiency and effectiveness and reduces head count,lowering overall operational costs.What sort of system is primarily used to automate business processes?

A)Translation processing system
B)Transaction processing system
C)Terminal processing system
D)Technical processing system

Question 51

Which of the below offers a disadvantage for working virtually?

A)Increases in worker productivity
B)Increases in feelings of isolation
C)Decreases in expenses for the company
D)Alleviation of congested roadways

Question 52

What form of processes include loan processing for a bank,claims processing for an insurance company,reservation processing for a hotel and baggage handling for an airline?

A)Customer-facing processes
B)Business-facing processes
C)Industry-specific customer-facing processes
D)All the answers are correct

Question 53

What type of process includes order processing,customer service processing,sales processing,customer billing processing,and order shipping processing?

A)Customer-facing processes
B)Business-facing processes
C)Industry-specific customer facing processes
D)All the answers are correct

Question 54

Which of the categories of artificial intelligence (AI) below is used extensively in the finance industry to identify potentially fraudulent customer credit card transactions?

A)Expert system
B)Virtual reality
C)Neural network
D)Genetic algorithm

Question 55

What is slice-and-dice capability?

A)Involves the aggregation of information and features simple roll-ups to complex groupings of interrelated information
B)The ability to look at information from different perspectives
C)Enables users to get details, and details of details, of information
D)Finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output

Question 56

What is the process of learning from ecosystems and adapting their characteristics to human and organisation situations?

A)Data collection
B)Artificial intelligence
C)Biomimicry
D)Intelligent system

Question 57

What is consolidation?

A)It involves the aggregation of information and features simple roll-ups to complex groupings of interrelated information
B)The ability to look at information from different perspectives
C)It enables users to get details, and details of details, of information
D)It finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output

Question 58

As the product manager for the eatery division at Whole Foods,Jerry is responsible for analysing sales data to help him manage his team.Today Jerry is analysing his data using many different perspectives to identify different ways to improve his division.Which of the following common digital dashboard capabilities is Jerry using to analyse his department's success?

A)Slice-and-dice
B)Competitive tables
C)Drill-down
D)Consolidation

Question 59

As the product manager for the eatery division at Whole Foods,Jerry is responsible for analysing sales data to help him manage his team.Today Jerry is analysing his data using aggregation techniques allowing him to see simple roll-ups to complex groupings of interrelated information.Which of the following common digital dashboard capabilities is Jerry using to analyse his department's success?

A)Slice-and-dice
B)Competitive tables
C)Drill-down
D)Consolidation

Question 60

What type of management can encourage systems thinking throughout the organisation?

A)Effective management
B)Bottom-up management
C)Top-down management
D)Business process management

Question 61

Which of the following explains why a company would implement a BPR strategy?

A)To encourage competition
B)To decrease customers
C)To create value for the customer
D)All the answers are correct

Question 62

Demonstrate the value of business process modelling,and compare As-Is and To-Be models.

Question 63

The local florist in town is Cheryl Steffan who has been in business for over 20 years.Recently,Cheryl has noticed several complaints about delivery errors.Cheryl decides to investigate the errors in her business delivery process and finds that most of the inaccuracies occur during order taking.Cheryl decides to implement an electronic ordering system to help improve order efficiency and effectiveness.What method did Cheryl follow to solve her delivery issues?

A)Modelled the As-Is process, fixed the errors and then created the To-Be process
B)Modelled the To-Be process, fixed the errors and then created the As-Is process
C)Moved directly to implementing the To-Be process, without analysing the As-Is process
D)Moved directly to implementing the As-Is process, without analysing the To-Be process

Question 64

Define critical success factors (CSFs) and key performance indicators (KPIs),and explain how managers use them to measure the success of MIS projects.

Question 65

Explain the importance of decision making for managers at each of the three primary organisation levels along with the associated decision characteristics.

Question 66

Provide examples of the types of decisions made at the operational,managerial and strategic levels including whether the decision is structured or otherwise.

Question 67

What is the difference between the As-Is process model and the To-Be process model?

A)The As-Is process model represents the current state of the operation, and the To-Be process model displays the results of applying change improvement opportunities to the current (As-Is) process model
B)The process models are not related
C)Both process models determine when to solve the problem
D)The As-Is process model begins with where to apply change improvement opportunities, and the To-Be process model displays the current state of the operation

Question 68

Review the list of key terms below and determine which one typically occurs during operational business process improvement.

A)Automation
B)Streamlining
C)Re-engineering
D)Improvement

Question 69

What is the difference between customer-facing processes and business-facing processes?

A)Business-facing processes are front-office processes, customer-facing processes are back-office processes
B)Customer-facing processes are front-office processes, business-facing processes are back-office processes
C)Customer-facing processes are back-office processes, and industry-specific customer-facing processes are back-office processes
D)Customer-facing processes are back-office processes, and industry-specific customer-facing processes are front-office processes

Question 70

What is the primary goal of the As-Is process model?

A)To outline the process elements for the To-Be process
B)To create process choices for the As-Is process
C)To simplify, eliminate and improve the To-Be process
D)To analyse the To-Be process elements

Question 71

What is the system that integrates all of an organisation's business processes to make individual processes more efficient?

A)Business process management (BPM) systems
B)Semi-structured systems
C)Virtual reality
D)All the answers are correct

Question 72

Which of the following should a business follow for success?

A)MIS choices should drive business processes
B)Business processes should drive MIS choices
C)MIS choices should drive business strategies and goals
D)All the answers are correct, depending on the industry

Question 73

Which of the below examples indicates when the time is right to initiate a business process change?

A)The market being served makes a distinctive shift
B)The company is below industry benchmarks on its core processes
C)The company strategically passes or leapfrogs the competition on key decisions to regain competitive advantage
D)All the answers are correct

Question 74

What is the primary goal of using As-Is and To-Be process models?

A)To determine employee specific errors
B)To determine measurement metrics
C)To determine the best way to solve a problem
D)To determine the current state of the operation, and then apply change improvement opportunities

Question 75

Describe artificial intelligence,and identify its five main types.

Question 76

What does BPR assume about the current process in the extreme?

A)Current process is irrelevant
B)Current process is broken
C)Current process must be overhauled from scratch
D)All the answers are correct

Question 77

Describe business process management and its value to an organisation.

Question 78

Explain the value of business processes for a company,and differentiate between customer-facing and business-facing process.

Question 79

Differentiate among streamlining,bottlenecks,and redundancy.

Question 80

Which of the processes below attempts to understand and measure the current process and make improvements?

A)Business process mapping
B)Business process re-engineering
C)Business process improvement
D)Business process model