MIS Essentials 4th edition David M. Kroenke - Solutions

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What are several business decisions that you will have to make as a manager that have both ethical and IT dimensions? Give examples to illustrate your answer.
Refer to the Real World Case on endpoint security in the chapter. How do companies strike a balance between providing users with access to the information they need in the form that is most useful to them, while at the same time enforcing adequate security? What issues should organizations consider
What would be examples of one positive and one negative effect of the use of information technologies in each of the ethical and societal dimensions illustrated in Figure. Explain several of yourchoices.
The passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the United States has greatly increased the compliance obligations of publicly traded companies. Go online to research how this landmark legislation affected the obligations of IT departments, and the way in which they develop and implement new technologies.
Should an IT department hire a more expensive vendor because the vendor shares its own company’s ethics standards, or should it go with a lower-cost provider that doesn’t? This is an important question posed in the case above. What do you think? Break into small groups with your classmates to
Data loss prevention (DLP) was a technology mentioned in the case, and one that is garnering more and more attention from corporate security departments. Go online and research what DLP involves, and look for examples of its application to actual problems, and their outcomes. Prepare a report to
Whether to allow employees to use their own smart phones (or other devices yet to be invented) on corporate networks is quickly becoming a contested issue. What do companies stand to gain, or lose, in either case? What about employees? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss these
Go online to follow up on John Mackey’s story and search for other instances of debatable behavior where IT has been an important factor. Are the ones featured in the case exceptions, or are these occurrences becoming more and more common? How do organizations seem to be coping with these issues?
The case features many examples of what is arguably unethical behavior, including child pornography, accessing adult content on company-owned equipment, installing unlicensed software, and so on. Are some of these practices “more wrong” than others? Is there any one that you would not consider
Technologies such as VoIP used by Skype and similar products make it more difficult to monitor outgoing information. Search the Internet to help you understand these technologies and why these problems arise. Other than banning them, what alternatives would you suggest to companies facing this
As a customer of many of the companies noted in the case, or others in the same industries, what is your expectation about the measures and safeguards that these organizations have implemented to protect inappropriate leaking of your personal information? After reading the case, has your
1. What are the two meanings of ‘corporate ethics’ in organizations today? What does each definition imply for IT practices? How does the economic environment affect this?2. How does IT provide more opportunities for difficult ethics issues to arise? How does IT help address those?3. Use
1. What is the underlying issue behind endpoint security, and why is it becoming even more difficult for companies to address it? Define the problem in your own words using examples from the case.2. What are the different approaches taken by the organizations in the case to address this issue? What
1. Companies are developing ethical policies and guidelines for legal reasons, but also to clarify what is acceptable and what is not. Do you think any of the issues raised in the case required clarification? Would you take exception to any of them being classified as inappropriate behavior? Why do
1. Barring illegal activities, why do you think that employees in the organizations featured in the case do not realize themselves the dangers of loosely managing proprietary and sensitive information? Would you have thought of these issues?2. How should organizations strike the right balance
Check out CEO Express (www.ceoexpress.com), a to prated Web portal for busy executives. See Figure. The site provides links to top U.S. and international newspapers, business and technology magazines, and news services. Hundreds of links to business and technology research sources and references
More than one billion people take their electrical and telecommunications systems for granted. However, for billions more, the service-on-demand mentality remains a distant dream and Internet access only a rumor. Recognizing the need to promote global information and communications technologies
Business travelers who need to remain connected face special challenges outside their home country, especially those who work out of their hotel rooms. Electricity varies by voltage, cycles, and electric-plug shape. Likewise, telephone jacks may vary from country to country and, for the most part,
As a result of the location independence of knowledge work, many organizations seek to lower their labor costs by moving their digital operations overseas. When managers evaluate such opportunities, they must consider the following regional attributes:• Political and regulatory environment•
What has been the impact of information technologies on the work relationships, activities, and resources of managers?
What can business unit managers do about performance problems in the use of information technology and the development and operation of information systems in their business units?
Refer to the Real World Case on BP’s IT transformation in the chapter. Dana Deasy discusses the long-term benefits of “embedded IT” while noting the need to centralize the department in the short term. How does one organization make the transition from one approach to the other? What does it
How are Internet technologies affecting the structure and work roles of modern organizations? For example, will middle management wither away? Will companies consist primarily of self-directed project teams of knowledge workers? Explain your answers.
Should the IS function in a business be centralized or decentralized? Use the Internet to find recent developments to support your answer.
Refer to the Real World Case on the globalization challenges faced by CIOs in the chapter. All those mentioned are CIOs from headquarters who went abroad, but there is no mention of CIOs from emerging countries taking over the global helm. Why do you think this is the case?
How might cultural, political, or geo-economics challenges affect a global company’s use of the Internet? Give several examples.
Will the increasing use of the Internet by firms with global business operations change their move toward a transnational business strategy? Explain.
How might the Internet, intranets, and extranets affect the business drivers or requirements responsible for a company€™s use of global IT, as shown in Figure? Give several examples to illustrate youranswer.
Go back and reread the last two paragraphs in the case. What do you think Deasy means when he discusses the nonlinear and iterative nature of the process? What does he mean by “temptation”? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss these questions.
Go online and search for other examples of large multinational organizations facing similar challenges. Summarize your findings and compare them to the ones chronicled in the case. Can you find any new ones not mentioned here?
Do you think some form of international experience is key to your long-term career success? Have you ever considered taking a position abroad? Why or why not? Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of moving abroad to gain these experiences.
Go online to research the topic of executive succession planning and the different approaches in use by companies today. Are there any differences for those in information technology, as opposed to other functional areas, because of the dynamics of technology change and evolution? Which
Both organizations featured in the case have been quite successful with their global rollouts. Search the Internet for examples of less-than-thriving global or international system implementations. How do they compare to the ones in the case? What differences in the approaches taken by the
Implementing major systems in global organizations, particularly when development is concentrated in headquarters or a powerful country subsidiary, can cause a lot of resentment and frustration for the other units in the organization. Break into small groups with your classmates to discuss which
1. The case mentions the dependence of BP’s IT organization on external contractors. Why would this be an issue? When is it a good idea for IT departments to hire contractors, and when is it not? Discuss some scenarios.2. The culture of the IT organization is mentioned as an important issue. How
1. What are the challenges faced by the CIOs mentioned in the case? Group them into categories and use examples from the case to define each.2. The case mentions that the traditional approach toward emerging countries had been to develop technology in the corporate offices and then hand them down
1. Several comments in the case note that chief information officers are in a unique position for companywide leadership, extending beyond their primary technological concerns. Why do you think this is the case? How are CIOs different in this regard from other chief officers, for example, in
1. What is the business value of these global system developments for the companies mentioned in the case? How did they achieve these benefits? What were the major obstacles they had to overcome?2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a full blown versus a phased approach for system
Summarize the matching process that is used by each site.
Describe the revenue model of each site.
Using general terms, describe the need these sites have for: a. Hardware b. Software c. Data d. Procedures e. People
People sometimes stretch the truth, or even lie, on matching sites. Describe one innovative way that one of the two companies your team chose could use information systems to reduce the impact of this tendency. As you prepare your team’s answer, keep the availability of nearly free data
Suppose that the company in your answer to step 5 has requested your team implement your idea on reducing the impact of lying. Explain how having strong personal skills for each of Reich’s four abilities (abstract thinking, systems thinking, experimentation, and collaboration) would enable each
Do you agree that this course is the most important course in the business school? Isn’t accounting more important? No business can exist without accounting. Or isn’t management more important? After all, if you can manage people, why do you need to know how to innovate with technology? You can
Describe three to five personal goals for this class. None of these goals should include anything about your GPA. Be as specific as possible, and make the goals personal to your major, interests, and career aspirations. Assume that you are going to evaluate yourself on these goals at the end of the
Consider costs of a system in light of the five components: costs to buy and maintain the hardware; costs to develop or acquire licenses to the software programs and costs to maintain them; costs to design databases and fill them with data; costs of developing procedures and keeping them current;
Abstract reasoning a. Define abstract reasoning, and explain why it is an important skill for business professionals. b. Explain how a list of items in inventory and their quantity on hand is an abstraction of a physical inventory. c. Give three other examples of abstractions commonly used in
Systems thinking a. Define systems thinking, and explain why it is an important skill for business professionals. b. Explain how you would use systems thinking to define why Moore’s Law caused a farmer to dig up a field of pulp wood trees. Name each of the elements in the system and explain their
a. Define collaboration, and explain why it is an important skill for business professionals. b. Explain how you are using collaboration to answer these questions. Describe what is working with regards to your group’s process and what is not working. c. Is the work product of your team better
a. Define experimentation, and explain why it is an important skill for business professionals. b. Explain several creative ways you could use experimentation to answer this question. c. How does the fear of failure influence your willingness to engage in any of the ideas you identified in part
a. State the text’s definition of job security. b. Evaluate the text’s definition of job security. Is it effective? If you think not, offer a better definition of job security. c. As a team, do you agree that improving your skills on the four dimensions in Collaboration Exercises 1 through 4
1. In what ways does Amazon, as a company, evidence the willingness and ability to collaborate? 2. In what ways does Amazon, as a company, evidence the willingness and ability to experiment? Use Amazon coins as an
The U.S. Department of Labor publishes descriptions of jobs, educational requirements, and the outlook for many jobs and professions. Go to its site at www.bls.gov and answer the following questions: a. Search for the job title systems analyst. Describe what such people do. Is this a job that
Use Google or Bing (or another Internet search engine) to search for the phrase “quarter versus semester.” Read several of the opinions,then adjust and augment the tableof pros and cons.
List business processes involved in starting a new term. Examples are processes to develop the roster of classes, to staff classes, and to enroll students. Name as many more of the processes required as you can. Examine the list of processes presented in the case study above and addprocesses that
List the sources of costs for each of the two processes you chose in your answer to step 2.
Considering just the College of Business at your university, estimate each of the costs for processes. Make and justify assumptions about labor rates and other factors.
Assuming that costs for other colleges are the same as for the College of Business (an unrealistic assumption; law and medicine probably have higher costs), what is the total cost forthe two processes you selected for your university, in total?
List and describe five factors that you think could be keeping a university that is on a quarter system from converting to a semester system.
Suppose you actually did this at your university. Explain how you could use this experience to demonstrate yourcapabilities in a job interview.
Suppose you are discussing 3D printing with Kelly at AllRoad and assume you do not have a process abstraction like that in Figure 2-3. Describe how you would explain your concerns about 3D printing at AllRoad. Now, assume you do have the abstraction in Figure 2-3. Again, describe how you would
Suppose you manage the buyers at AllRoad and you have been asked to help determine the requirements for a new vendor selection information system. As you think about those requirements, you wonder how much autonomy you want your employees to have in selecting the vendors and products to sell. You
Suppose management has left you out of the requirements definition process for the development of the system in question 2-2. Explain how you could use the knowledge you developed in answering this question to justify your need to be involved in the requirements definition.
In Figure 2-8, explain why inventory must be allocated.
Using Figure 2-8, explain why credit must be allocated to customers. What is the business consequence if these allocations are not adjusted when special terms are not approved?
Recommend a process for adjusting credit for orders for which credit or special terms are not approved. Indicate which role makes the adjustment and how they receivethe data for doing so?
Change the process in Figure 2-8 so that allocated inventory is returned when credit or special terms are not approved. Indicate which role makes the adjustment and how they obtainthe data for doing so?
There are six different sequences for the three approval tasks in Figure 2-8.Name each and select what your team considers to be the most promising three.
Evaluate each of the three sequences that you selected in question 5.Identify which sequence you think is best.
State the criteria that you used for making your selections in questions 5 and 6.
So far, we haven’t considered the impact of this process on the salesperson.What information do salespeople need to maintain good relationships with their customers?
Optional extension.Download the Visio diagram version of Figure 2-8 from this book’s Web site, www.pearsonhighered.com/kroenke. Modify the diagram to illustrate the sequence of tasks you chose as best in your answer to question 6.
1. In your own words, define dogfooding. Do you think dogfooding is likely to predict product success? Why or why not? When would dogfooding not predict product success? 2. Summarize the ways that this text’s development team used information systems technology to improve its process
Consider the four definitions of information presented in this chapter. The problem with the first definition, “knowledge derived from data,” is that it merely substitutes one word we don’t know the meaning of (information) for a second word we don’t know the meaning of (knowledge). The
The text states that information should be worth the cost required to produce it. Both cost and value can be broken into tangible and intangible factors. Tangible factors can be measured directly; intangible ones arise indirectly and are difficult to measure. For example, a tangible cost is the
The following pairs of Web storefronts have market segments that overlap in some way. Briefly visit each site of each pair:
Select two pairs from the above list. For each pair of companies, answer the following questions: a. How do the companies’ market segments differ? b. How do their competitive pressures differ? c. How do their competitive strategies differ? d. How is the “feel” of the content of their Websites
Use your answers in question 2 to explain the following statement: “The structure of an organization’s information system (here a Web storefront) is determined by its competitive strategy.” Write your answer so that you could use it for a job interview to demonstrate your overall knowledge of
Suppose you decide to start a business that recruits students for summer jobs. You will match available students with available jobs. You need to learn what positions are available and what students are available for filling those positions. In starting your business, you know you will be competing
Consider the two different bike rental companies in Figure 3-6. Think about the bikes that they rent. Clearly, the student bikes will be just about anything that can be ridden out of the shop. The bikes for the business executives, on the other hand, must be new, shiny, clean, and in tip-top
Samantha Green owns and operates Twigs Tree Trimming Service. Samantha graduated from the forestry program of a nearby university and worked for a large landscape design firm, performing tree trimming and removal. After several years of experience, she bought her own truck, stump grinder, and other
Suppose you are told that the business process in Figure 3-13 has a negative margin. Explain what that means. Suppose the margin of some business process is a negative $1 million. If costs are reduced by $1.2 million, will the margin necessarily be positive? Explain why or why not.
Consider the alternative of replacing the rental personnel from the business process in Figure 3-13. a. Describe the changes that will need to be made to the process documented in Figure 3-13.You can download a copy of this Visio diagram from this text’s Website at
Consider the alternative of increasing the value delivered by existing rental personnel. The text suggests possibly renting more kinds of equipment or selling items of use to guests who are renting bicycles, but consider other options as well. a. Describe five ways that you think the existing
1. Review the principles of competitive advantage in Figure 3-7. Which types of competitive advantage has BOSU used to defeat copycat products? 2. What role did information systems play in your answer to question 3-4? 3. What additional information systems could Fitness Quest develop to create
YourFire Inc. is a small business owned by Curt and Julie Robards. Based in Brisbane, Australia, YourFire manufactures and sells a lightweight camping stove called the YourFire. Curt, who previously worked as an aerospace engineer, invented and patented a burning nozzle that enables the stove to
Update the table with the latest announcements and data. Go to finance.yahoo.com and update the financial data. Add new devices as appropriate. Search the Internet, using terms such as iPhonevs. Android market share to update the market share data.
According to the latest data, how has the market share of these three companies changed? Has Apple made continued inroads on Android phones? Has Surface made inroads on the iPad? What’s happened to the Kindle? And what about Microsoft’s measly 2 percent of the phone market? Has Surface helped?
Unlike Apple and Google, Microsoft controls Windows Server, a server operating system. Does that provide an advantage to Microsoft in this race? There are rumors, in fact, that Apple runs Windows Server in its iCloud data center. If true, does it matter?
In October 2011, Microsoft purchased Skype. Does Skype contribute to Surface? Can you find announcements that indicate there is some convergence there?
Microsoft makes and sells the Xbox with motion-sensing Kinect. Can you envision a way for Microsoft to use either of those to help increase market share of its Surface/phone devices? If so, what?
Microsoft enjoys incredible success in the PC market, but it has, at least so far, never been able to succeed with a phone, and, as of May 2013, Microsoft Surface does not seem very successful. Christopher Mims thinks it's time for Microsoft to give up on consumers and focus on businesses,
Suppose that your roommate, a political science major, asks you to help her purchase a new laptop computer. She wants to use the computer for email, Internet access, and note-taking in class. She wants to spend less than $1,000.a. What CPU, memory, and disk specifications do you recommend?b. What
Your father asks you to help him purchase a new computer. He wants to use his computer for email, Internet access, downloading pictures from his digital camera, uploading those pictures to a shared photo service, and writing documents to members of his antique auto club. a. What CPU, memory, and
Microsoft offers free licenses of certain software products to students at colleges and universities that participate in its DreamSpark program. If your college or university participates in this program, you have the opportunity to obtain hundreds of dollars of software for free. Here is a partial
Until June 2012, PixelSense was called Surface. At that time, Microsoft repurposed the name to use on its tablet devices. Surface was changed to PixelSense. What conclusions do you draw from these naming decisions?
1. Which of Porter’s four competitive strategies (from Chapter 3) does Apple engage in? Explain.2. What do you think are the three most important factors in Apple’s past success? Justify your answer.3. Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011.Until his death, he had been the heart and soul of
Suppose you work at AllRoad and Kelly asks you to list five criteria she should use when considering whether AllRoad should develop a thin- or thick-client application for mobile devices. Justify your criteria.
Visit www.apple.com, www.microsoft.com, and www.ibm.com. Summarize differences in the look and feel of each of these sites. Do you think one of these sites is superior to the others? If not, say why. If so, do you think the look and feel of the superior site should be copied by the other companies?
Many small business owners have found it financially advantageous to purchase their own building. As one owner remarked upon his retirement, “We did well with the business, but we made our real money by buying the building.”Explain why this might be so.

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