Deck 12: It Strategy, Sourcing, and Vendor Relationships

Question 1

Typically, ITs that provide competitive advantages, or that contain proprietary or confidential data are developed and maintained by __________.

A) Consulting companies
B) The in-house IT function
C) A single vendor
D) Multiple vendors

Answer 1

B

Question 2

____________________ are the most essential things that must go right or be closely tracked in order to ensure the organization's survival and success.

A) Critical success factors CSFs)
B) Data services
C) Application services
D) Balanced scorecard

Answer 2

A

Question 3

An organization's __________ are action-oriented statements, such as achieve a 10 percent ROI in 2015, which define the continuous improvement activities that must be done to be successful.

A) Strategies
B) Objectives
C) Targets
D) Mission statement

Answer 3

B

Question 4

__________ results in faster development of new apps because by reusing services or functions.

A) Mobility
B) High-end analytics
C) Service-oriented architecture SO
D) Cloud computing

Question 5

According to a survey of business leaders by Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, 87 percent believe that IT is critical to their companies' strategic success. In addition, the survey reported that __________.

A) Most business leaders work with IT to achieve success
B) Most IT staff are very involved in the process of developing business strategy
C) Only about one-third of business executives responsible for strategy work closely with the IT department
D) IT projects are rarely abandoned

Question 6

An organization's __________ defines) why it exists.

A) Strategy
B) Objectives
C) Targets
D) Mission statement

Question 7

By aligning IT strategic planning with the business strategy, companies can __________.

A) Build differentiating capabilities
B) Reduce planning time
C) Define their operating plan
D) Increase their use of cloud computing

Question 8

Consumer banks need to reassess their business strategies because of pressures and challenges, which include all of the following except ________________.

A) Limited growth opportunities
B) PayPal, Mint, and Prosper are eroding their customer base
C) Fierce competition has decreased revenues
D) Lower risk and regulatory constraints

Question 9

________________ refers to anytime/anywhere connectivity to clients, customers, and employees.

A) Mobility
B) High-end analytics
C) SaaS
D) Big data management

Question 10

Which is not one of the reasons why an IT project is discontinued or abandoned?

A) The project was under-budget
B) The business strategy changed
C) Technology changed
D) The project sponsors did not work well together

Question 11

It is the duty of the __________ to insure that information systems, technology, and other critical activities are effectively governed.

A) IT function
B) Board of Directors BO
C) End users
D) HR function

Question 12

Which of the following is not a customer-centric technology?

A) Mobility
B) High-end analytics
C) SaaS
D) Big data management

Question 13

IT governance covers each of the following areas except:

A) Inventory management
B) Resource management
C) Risk management
D) Strategy support

Question 14

Cloud computing and software-as-a-service SaaS) are two __________ options.

A) In-house development
B) Offshoring
C) Sourcing
D) BYOD

Question 15

Why is it necessary to develop a long-term IT strategy and reexamine the strategy on a regular basis?

A) Systems need to be maintained
B) To keep the CIO part of the executive team
C) Organizational goals change over time
D) To automate business processes

Question 16

__________ are the desired levels of performance.

A) Strategy
B) Objectives
C) Targets
D) Visions

Question 17

IT governance is concerned with insuring that organizational investments in IT __________.

A) Support operations
B) Provide sustainable competitive advantage
C) Deliver full value
D) Are audited quarterly

Question 18

What can managers expect from making IT investments on the basis of an immediate need that is isolated from business strategy?

A) Maximize ROI.
B) Minimize long-term costs.
C) Suboptimal outcomes
D) Competitive advantage

Question 19

Characteristics of resources that can help firms create a competitive advantage include all of the following except:

A) Appropriability
B) Governance
C) Rarity
D) Value

Question 20

The effectiveness of the IT function relies heavily on each of the following except:

A) Relationships with vendors
B) Implementing the latest social networks
C) Relationships with third-party suppliers
D) IT governance

Question 21

The __________ of organizations are the things they do best and that represent their competitive strengths.

A) Competitive advantages
B) Customer-facing activities
C) Core competencies
D) Back office functions

Question 22

__________ is used in planning situations that involve much uncertainty, like that of IT in general and e-commerce in particular.

A) Key performance indicators KPIs)
B) Scenario planning
C) Critical success factors CSFs)
D) Balanced scorecard

Question 23

All of the following are tools or methodologies that managers use for IT strategic planning except:

A) Business service management
B) Business systems planning model
C) Balanced scorecard
D) Dashboards

Question 24

The __________ is a group of managers and staff representing various organizational units that is set up to establish IT priorities and to ensure that the IS department is meeting the needs of the enterprise.

A) Steering committee
B) Board of directors
C) Executive suite
D) Audit team

Question 25

Business service management is an approach for linking __________ or metrics of IT to business goals to determine the impact on the business.

A) Key performance indicators KPIs)
B) Critical success factors CSFs)
C) Scorecards
D) Financials

Question 26

__________ are the most essential things that must go right, or be closely tracked, to ensure the organization's survival and success.

A) Key performance indicators KPIs)
B) Critical success factors CSFs)
C) Scorecards
D) Financials

Question 27

Outsourcing deals are typically __________.

A) Multi-year contracts
B) Short-term service level agreements
C) Temporary arrangements
D) One-year projects

Question 28

__________ is the process of hiring another company to handle business activities for you.

A) Cloud computing
B) Business processing outsourcing BPO)
C) SaaS
D) IT outsourcing

Question 29

The trend in outsourcing has been toward the __________.

A) Single vendor
B) Use of short term contracts
C) Mega-deal
D) Multi-vendor approach

Question 30

For best results, an organization's strategic IT plan is based on __________.

A) IT governance
B) Cloud computing
C) The latest mobile technologies
D) The strategic business plan

Question 31

Since the late 1980s, many organizations have outsourced __________.

A) Supply chain functions
B) The majority of their IT functions
C) Only incidental parts of their IT function
D) Marketing functions

Question 32

Based on case studies, which type of work is not readily offshored?

A) Work that has been routinized
B) Business activities that rely on common knowledge
C) Situations that would expose the client company to too much data security or privacy risks
D) Office work

Question 33

What do managers use KPIs for?

A) To measure real-time performance
B) To predict future results
C) To measure results of past activity
D) All of the above

Question 34

__________ includes many functions that are considered non-core to the primary business strategy, such as financial and administration processes, human resource functions, call center and customer service activities, and accounting.

A) Cloud computing
B) Business processing outsourcing BPO)
C) SaaS
D) IT outsourcing

Question 35

Which is not one of the characteristics of critical success factors CSFs)?

A) Organizations in the same industry have the same CSFs.
B) The CSF approach was developed to help identify the information needs of managers.
C) The fundamental assumption is that in every organization there are three to six key factors that, if done well, will result in the organization's success.
D) The failure of these factors will result in some degree of failure at the organization.

Question 36

Which is not one of the lessons that eBay learned from its BPO implementation?

A) Challenges can be avoided by partnering with a global leader in business process and technology management.
B) Build a project-management infrastructure
C) Create a governance mechanism
D) Properly define how success will be measured

Question 37

Outsourcing can be done __________.

A) Domestically or offshore
B) Via cloud computing or SaaS
C) Via business processing
D) a and b

Question 38

Cloud computing is for outsourcing of __________.

A) Routine tasks
B) Routine tasks and the delivery of real business services
C) Proprietary systems
D) Nonproprietary applications

Question 39

Lessons that eBay and Genpact learned from the BPO implementation include each of the following except:

A) Manage change by securing the commitment of senior leaders
B) Set realistic expectations and manage them actively
C) Focus on minimizing costs
D) Anticipate risks and formulate a plan for mitigating them

Question 40

Resource allocation is a contentious process in most organizations because opportunities and requests for spending far exceed the available funds. This can lead to __________ among organizational units, which makes it __________ to objectively identify the best investments.

A) Highly political competition; difficult
B) Highly political competition; easier
C) Cooperation; simple
D) Cooperation; difficult

Question 41

Before entering into any service contract with an IT vendor, get __________.

A) A demo or trial run
B) Everything in writing
C) The hardware installed
D) References

Question 42

Imitability is the feature that determines whether a competitor can imitate or copy the resource.

Question 43

Two of the biggest risks and concerns of top management are 1) failing to align IT to real business needs and, as a result, 2) failing to deliver value to the business.

Question 44

Which is not one of the risks associated with outsourcing?

A) Flexibility
B) Shirking
C) Poaching
D) Opportunistic re-pricing

Question 45

IT governance deals with one function, which is risk management.

Question 46

Which of the following statements about outsourcing is false?

A) Increasingly, organizations are leveraging existing global cloud infrastructures from companies such as Amazon and Google.
B) Established companies are less willing to outsource company-critical functions in an effort to reduce costs.
C) New start-up companies typically outsource and rely on SaaS to avoid upfront IT costs.
D) Outsourcing companies have started to offer interesting new business models and services around cloud computing.

Question 47

The major reasons why organizations are increasingly outsourcing include each of the following except:

A) To focus on core competency
B) It's a faster way to gain or enhance IT capabilities
C) To support supply chain transactions
D) Cloud computing and SaaS have proven to be effective IT strategies

Question 48

When companies run into legal problems or regulatory challenges, how effectively they managed IT governance is what saves or dooms them.

Question 49

According to a survey of business leaders by Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, 87 percent believe that IT is critical to their companies' strategic success, but few business leaders work with IT to achieve that success.

Question 50

For more productive service level agreements, companies may hire an outsource relationship management company to monitor and manage the outsourcing relationships.

Question 51

IT performance management refers to being able to predict and anticipate failures before it is too late and is a big part of IT governance.

Question 52

Business strategy sets the overall direction for the business; while the IT strategy defines what information, ISs, and architecture are needed to support the business and how infrastructure and services are to be delivered.

Question 53

The most effective CIOs are highly technical and software-focused,

Question 54

Making IT investments on the basis of an immediate need or threat is not a smart strategy because it can result in incompatible, redundant, or failed systems.

Question 55

When selecting a vendor, two criteria to assess first are _________________.

A) Experience and stability
B) Cost and delivery time
C) Location and product mix
D) Reputation and trial run

Question 56

Ultimately, it is the CIO's duty to insure that IT and other critical activities are effectively governed.

Question 57

IT is an enabler of core competencies or competitive strengths; and it is complex, expensive, and constantly changing.

Question 58

IT strategic plans should be made within the context of the business strategy that it needs to support, which is how most companies do their IT planning.

Question 59

IT plays a key role in improving corporate governance practices because most critical business processes are automated and provide the information that managers rely for their decision making.

Question 60

The two basic types of IT strategies are offshoring often with help from a consulting firm and/or vendor; and outsourcing to a third-party that resides either in the same country or is offshore.

Question 61

What are the four main points of IT strategic plans?

Question 62

Business processing outsourcing BPO) is the process of hiring another company to handle business activities for you.

Question 63

IT __________ is concerned with insuring that organizational investments in IT deliver full value.

Question 64

Cloud computing and software as a service SaaS) have expanded __________ options.

Question 65

A benefit of sourcing is lower costs because of economies of scale and from sharing hardware, software, and personnel.

Question 66

IT governance, like security, is an __________ and cannot be achieved by a mandate or set of rules.

Question 67

What are three issues driving the need for IT governance?

Question 68

The risk of opportunistic __________ occurs when a client enters into a long-term contract with a vendor, but the vendor changes financial terms at some point or over-charges for unanticipated enhancements.

Question 69

List four types of individuals concerned about IT governance.

Question 70

__________ means "no surprises"-just clear communication of fee structures, terms, restrictions, and deadlines to customers.

Question 71

When selecting a vendor, two criteria to assess first are experience and stability.

Question 72

What are the major reasons why organizations are increasingly sourcing?

Question 73

__________ refers to the degree to which another resource can be used instead of the original resource to achieve the same value,

Question 74

The CIO must understand and buy into the corporate _________ so that IS planning does not occur in isolation.

Question 75

It is not typical for a CIO to routinely work with business leaders on their strategy and translate it into action, and then be asked by the CEO to manage business strategy worldwide.

Question 76

Identify and briefly describe three important skill sets of CIOs.

Question 77

Risks associated with outsourcing are minimal because of service level agreements.

Question 78

Businesses need to understand the terms of the service level agreement SLA), or contract, and to not expect the vendor to do anything more.

Question 79

Cloud computing is simply about outsourcing routine computing tasks.

Question 80

__________ of software development has become a common practice due to global markets, lower costs, and increased access to skilled labor.