Question 1

Information that is timely is available to a manager ________.

Accepted Answer

Information that is timely is available when it is required to allow managers to make the optimal decision-not after the decision has been made.

Question 2

Samantha nods in agreement when her manager suggests increasing the workforce. What form of communication is she engaging in?

Accepted Answer

Nonverbal communication shares information by means of facial expressions (smiling, raising an eyebrow, frowning, dropping one's jaw), body language (posture, gestures, nods, shrugs), and even style of dress (casual, formal, conservative, trendy).

Question 3

Which attribute of useful information is to all the information managers need to exercise control, achieve coordination, or make an effective decision?

Accepted Answer

Information that is complete gives managers all the information they need to exercise control, achieve coordination, or make an effective decision.

Question 4

Which of the following is an example of verbal communication?

Accepted Answer

The encoding of messages into words, written or spoken, is verbal communication. We also encode messages without using written or spoken language. Nonverbal communication shares information by means of facial expressions (smiling, raising an eyebrow, frowning, dropping one's jaw), body language (posture, gestures, nods, shrugs), and even style of dress (casual, formal, conservative, trendy).

Question 5

The most advanced types of management information systems (MIS) are known as ________.

Accepted Answer

Expert systems are the most advanced management information systems available. An expert system employs human knowledge captured in a computer to solve problems that ordinarily require human expertise.

Question 6

How should managers work toward eliminating the dangers of ineffective communication?

Accepted Answer

Effective communication is so important that managers cannot just be concerned that they themselves are effective communicators; they also have to help their subordinates be effective communicators. When all members of an organization are able to communicate effectively with each other and with people outside the organization, the organization is much more likely to perform highly and gain a competitive advantage.

Question 7

A transaction-processing system processes ________ transactions, and an operations information system provides managers with information to be used in their ________ decisions.

Accepted Answer

A transaction-processing system processes routine transactions, while an operations information system provides managers with information that they can use in their nonroutine coordinating, controlling, and decision-making tasks.

Question 8

A website on which an individual, a group, or an organization posts information, commentary, and opinions to which readers can often respond with their own commentary and opinions is called ________.

Accepted Answer

A blog is a website on which an individual, a group, or an organization posts information, commentary, and opinions to which readers can often respond with their own commentary and opinions.

Question 9

What is a characteristic of a personally addressed written communication?

Accepted Answer

One of the advantages of face-to-face communication and verbal communication electronically transmitted is that they both tend to demand attention, which helps ensure that receivers pay attention. Personally addressed written communications such as memos and letters also have this advantage. Because they are addressed to a particular person, the chances are good that the person will actually pay attention to (and read) them.

Question 10

Hank, a sales manager, consults with his production manager and finance manager before rolling out his plan for increasing the sales of smartphones. To achieve his organizational goals, Hank is ________.

Accepted Answer

Coordinating department and divisional activities to achieve organizational goals is a basic task of management.

Question 11

A system that gives managers a model-building capability and provides them with the ability to manipulate information in a variety of ways in order to make nonprogrammed judgments is a(n) ________ system.

Accepted Answer

A decision support system is an interactive computer-based system that provides models that help managers make better nonprogrammed decisions.

Question 12

How can managers increase efficiency to take advantage of new and more efficient technologies?

Accepted Answer

Managers can increase efficiency by updating the production process to take advantage of new and more efficient technologies and by training workers to operate the new technologies and expand their skills.

Question 13

What is one of the steps by which managers achieve control over organizational activities?

Accepted Answer

Managers achieve control over organizational activities by taking four steps: (1) They establish measurable standards of performance or goals, (2) they measure actual performance, (3) they compare actual performance against established goals, and (4) they evaluate the results and take corrective action if necessary.

Question 14

Which of the following factors helps determine the quality of information?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy and reliability determine the quality of information. The greater its accuracy and reliability, the higher is the quality of information.

Question 15

When important information gets ignored while tangential information receives attention, it is a case of ________.

Accepted Answer

The problem with such information overload is the potential for important information to be ignored or overlooked while tangential information receives attention. Moreover, information overload can result in thousands of hours and millions of dollars in lost productivity.

Question 16

Behavior by a machine that if performed by a human being would be called intelligent behavior is known as ________.

Accepted Answer

Recent developments in artificial intelligence that go by names such as "fuzzy logic" and "neural networks" have resulted in computer programs that, in a primitive way, try to mimic human thought processes. Although artificial intelligence is still at a fairly early stage of development, an increasing number of business applications are beginning to emerge in the form of expert systems.

Question 17

A system that gathers comprehensive data, organizes them, and summarizes them in ways that are useful to managers for their nonroutine tasks is known as a(n) ________ system.

Accepted Answer

An operations information system provides managers with information that they can use in their nonroutine coordinating, controlling, and decision-making tasks.

Question 18

What does a social networking website enable people to do?

Accepted Answer

A social networking site, such as Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, enables people to communicate with others with whom they might have some common personal or professional interest or connection.

Question 19

In spite of face-to-face communication's having the highest information richness, managers should not always choose it because of the lack of ________.

Accepted Answer

Because face-to-face communication is highest in information richness, you might think that it should always be the medium of choice for managers. This is not the case, however, because of the amount of time it takes and the lack of a paper or electronic trail resulting from it. For messages that are important, personal, or likely to be misunderstood, it is often well worth managers' time to use face-to-face communication and, if need be, supplement it with some form of written communication documenting the message.

Question 20

Which of the following factors affects the choice of a communication medium?

Accepted Answer

One factor that managers need to take into account in selecting a communication medium is the time needed for communication, because managers' and other organizational members' time is valuable.

Quiz 13: Communication and Information Technology Management