Deck 5: Information Systems and the Design of Work

Question 1

Diversity in virtual teams increases the communication challenges. However, virtual teams with diversity have demonstrated which of the following?

A) More creative solutions.
B) Better compliance with deadlines.
C) Equitable performance management.
D) Tighter security policies.
E) A high degree of self-reliance.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

IBM has implemented a social network analysis tool that maps the _________ and the connections of IBM employees, supporting innovation by allowing employees to find others in the company with particular skills, interests or expertise.

A) knowledge
B) IS
C) friendships
D) departments
E) job descriptions

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Shoshana Zuboff studied how papermakers' jobs were changed by the introduction of computers. What was one of her findings?

A) Web portals were useful in a manufacturing context
B) The workers felt empowered by the technology
C) The workers sabotaged the technology
D) The managers were unable to take their typical shortcuts
E) The workers were no longer able to smell and squeeze the pulp, resulting in lower productivity

Answer 3

E

Question 4

While there are many advantages to working remotely, there are some potential problems. For example, once work has been successfully performed remotely, a company may find economic reasons to let go of workers and choose to _______ the work abroad.

A) Outplace
B) Offshore
C) Automate
D) Recruit
E) Isolate

Question 5

The qualities found in a successful remote worker include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Self-discipline
B) Socialized into the corporate culture
C) Self-starter
D) Ineffective communicator
E) Proficient in a wide range of technologies

Question 6

To help employees accept new technologies like an information system, a manager will do all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Ensure employees find the system easy to use
B) Demonstrate that the system will allow them do more or better work for the same amount of effort
C) Train the user on the new system
D) Reward users of the new system
E) Provide minimal rationale for the new system

Question 7

IT has altered employees and the way they work by doing all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Creating new types of jobs
B) Greatly changing day-to-day tasks
C) Supporting new ways to manage talent
D) Needing more technically knowledgeable individuals
E) Providing distinct lines between work and play

Question 8

Which collaboration technology is becoming more and more popular both inside and outside organizations, consuming much of our attention on a day-to-day basis?

A) Intranet
B) Wikis
C) VoIP
D) Social networking on mobile devices
E) Talking on mobile phones

Question 9

What was involved in the American Express BlueWork program?

A) A system that tracks the hours each employee works in a given day
B) Employees are provided with opportunities for flexible arrangements
C) Employees are provided with better office facilities so they stay in the office longer
D) Employees can work on tasks they choose, as long as they are in the office
E) Employees who are wary of newer technologies

Question 10

All of the following are new types of jobs created by the growing reliance on technology EXCEPT:

A) Database administrator
B) Web site designers
C) Network security advisor
D) Editors/writers
E) Social media specialists

Question 11

Which one of the following is NOT a factor driving the use of telecommuting?

A) Geographic flexibility
B) Higher productivity
C) Higher job satisfaction
D) Lower employee turnover
E) Stronger sense of company culture

Question 12

The main benefit of ________________ is that users can work collaboratively to easily create and edit Web pages, and link them to useful resources.

A) a Wiki
B) Groupware
C) RSS (web feeds)
D) Social networking sites
E) a Virtual Private Network

Question 13

Managers in today's global, virtual workforce must rethink how they break from traditional methods of managing, particularly in the all of the following ways EXCEPT:

A) Hiring new employees
B) Evaluating an employee's contribution to a team and the company
C) Creating individual-based rewards and compensation policies
D) Setting strategic objectives
E) Supervising employees

Question 14

Which one of the following is a valid statement?

A) The cost to access information has risen.
B) It takes more time to access information.
C) Personal productivity has dropped as a result of technology.
D) Traditional job roles have not changed much as a result of technology.
E) Most jobs today have a significant information systems component.

Question 15

Team members who are _______________ and prefer to do several activities at one time may want to have IM or VOIP available to them so that they can communicate with their colleagues and still work on other tasks.

A) bichronous
B) monochronous
C) asynchronous
D) synchronous
E) polychronous

Question 16

The concept of "jobs" is being replaced with the concept of work, requiring a framework that links the IS Strategy with the organization strategy to answer all of the following EXCEPT:

A) What work will be performed?
B) Who is going to do the work?
C) Where will the work be performed?
D) When will the work be performed?
E) Who will develop the IS?

Question 17

Steve works for a pharmaceutical company and he specializes in marketing and sales. He generally works from home. According to the text, what type of worker is Steve?

A) Telecommuter
B) Mobile device
C) Global worker
D) Vagabond worker
E) Contract worker

Question 18

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) realized it did not have adequate policies, education or technology in place for remote workers when:

A) An employee whose laptop carrying unencrypted, sensitive military personnel information was stolen.
B) Because of lack of coordination, all remote workers were not available for an extended period of time.
C) Employees posted sensitive data on a public social networking site.
D) Employees copied sensitive data over an unsecured network.
E) A virus from an employee's remote computer crashed the VA's intranet.

Question 19

This model suggests that employee attitudes may change if they think the new system will help them to do more or better work for the same effort, and that it's easy to use. Employee participation in the system's design and implementation also helps.

A) Information Management Model (IMM)
B) Employee Technology Model (ETM)
C) Capability Maturity Model (CMM)
D) Computer Access Model (CAM)
E) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)

Question 20

Which virtual team challenge is more difficult for managers to manage/manipulate since there may be a great deal of difference between groups and individuals?

A) communication
B) technology
C) diversity
D) management
E) location

Question 21

Technology today has increased the ways work blends together with other aspects of life. This is very similar to how work was configured in ____________ societies.

Question 22

Two dimensions of considering virtual team activity are: same or different ______ and same or different ______.

Question 23

The type of controls that will be most likely be used for remote workers is:

A) Behavior
B) Electric shock
C) Outcome
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 24

Telecommuting is (more/less) accepted by people in countries such as Japan and China

Question 25

According to Thomas Friedman, collaboration is the way that small companies can "act big" and flourish in today's flat world.

Question 26

As a result of increased flow of information, firms have seen an increase in middle managers.

Question 27

Virtual teams and remote work have advantages but no known disadvantages over face-to-face teams and showing up at an office.

Question 28

The factors driving the emergence of telecommuting include: changing demographics and lifestyle preferences, more powerful technologies, increasing reliance on web-based technologies, and _____________________.

Question 29

Knowledge-based work allows employees to work remotely rather than having to physically be present at a store, manufacturing facility or office building.

Question 30

What do we call members of the generation that's grown up using computers, the Web and social network sites as a normal, integrated part of their lives?

Question 31

Employees may resist a change in IS by: denying that the system is up and running, trying to convince others it has no value, refusing to use the system, and/or _________ the system by distorting or altering inputs.

Question 32

Teams operate in one of four ways, which are represented by combinations of two dimensions: "place" vs "time," and each dimension is either "same" or "different."

Question 33

Digital natives are willing to take a lower-paying job with better social media access, device choice, and mobility over a higher-paying job with less technological flexibility.

Question 34

The Technology Acceptance Model states that the two main drivers of system use are management mandates and incentives.

Question 35

The traditional approach uses subjective observation while the digital approach involves ____________

Question 36

This is a list of activities on a Web site that briefly highlights what individuals are doing, thinking, and updating and in return gives the community a sense of what is happening.

Question 37

An advantage of virtual teams is that members in different parts of the world can cooperate to get work done faster due to time zone differences. Teams can upload their results every evening and another distant team can download those files immediately, in what is the start of their day. What is this called?

Question 38

Today's IT increases the effectiveness of workers, particularly with the use of both ________ tools and collaboration tools.

Question 39

One of the best examples of outcome controls is the re-hiring of Steve Jobs by Apple as CEO

Question 40

The Internet greatly enhances collaboration.

Question 41

How have hiring practices been impacted by IT?

Question 42

Match the technology with its classification.

Question 43

Match the factor driving the use of telecommuting with its effect.

Question 44

Identify the following technologies as primarily supporting either communication or collaboration efforts.

Question 45

Lewin's change model to gain acceptance of new technology is based on 3 stages. Order the stages based on the stage a manager would seek to achieve 1?? and so on.

Question 46

Identify the following technologies as primarily supporting either communication or collaboration efforts.

Question 47

Explain how IS radically changed the paper maker's work at a paper mill.

Question 48

List the challenges that a global, virtual team must overcome to be successful.

Question 49

The life cycle of a virtual team consists of 5 phases. List these phases in the order they occur in the life cycle.

Question 50

Match the scenarios below as either representative of a virtual team or a more traditional team (non-virtual team).

Question 51

Why are teams using collaborative tools like groupware and wikis to coordinate their work rather than a communication tool like e-mail?

Question 52

Describe one job that once existed but today is obsolete (or is slowly becoming obsolete) because of technology.

Question 53

A virtual team is faced with communication, technology and ______ challenges.

Question 54

Data entry has always been a challenge in many business processes. There are technologies that have removed this challenge by allowing data to be captured at the time it is created, reducing the need for data entry clerks. List a specific example of this technology and the impact it has had on a particular industry.
Matching

Question 55

Lewin's change model to gain acceptance of new technology is based on 3 stages. Match the stage to its objective.