Exam 23: Extension: Using Technology to Manage Information

Data from RFID devices, miniature cameras, and wireless access used to understand where people or items are located is called:

Users of Internet2 each pay the same fee for their connection and share bandwidth equally.

Though the types of technology used by businesses have changed over the last several decades, the role of business technology has remained remarkably constant.

In today's technological environment, the typical chief information officer (CIO) spends the majority of his or her time overcoming glitches and making sure the organization's information system is up and running.

A(n) ________ is a companywide network that is based on Internet-like technology, but is closed to public access.

Firewalls can be constructed using software, hardware, or a combination of both.

In this age of technology, managers can easily become buried in information infoglut.

During the 1980s, the role of business technology changed from supporting business to doing business.

Perry Black has convinced top management at his company that they can use data-mining techniques to develop new marketing strategies. One of the keys to the success of Perry's suggestion is:

Joan Carlson is a marketing manager for a chain of clothing stores. She recently received a newsletter that contained some timely and reliable information about trends in men's clothing for next season. Unfortunately, Joan's store sells only women's clothes. The information in the newsletter was not useful to Joan because it lacked:

Virtual private networks are quick and easy to set up, but they are less secure than extranets.

Relevance is one of the key characteristics of useful information.

Intranets use a different, less sophisticated, type of technology than the Internet.

Mini-Case Cy Burspace first began working for Qwikbilt Enterprises in the mid-1970s as a business technology specialist. Today, he is the department head for the company's information systems department. Cy is well known and respected by everyone in the company, and his coworkers recently threw a party to honor his 30th year with Qwikbilt. Cy did a lot of reminiscing at the party, telling the newer employees how things were done in the "old days," and comparing them to newer methods. "I'm still amazed at how things have changed. When I first came to Qwikbilt, we had a central computer to handle everything. It took up a whole room, but all it really did was generate financial reports for management," said Cy. "Today, most employees have their own personal computer, and all these PCs are hooked up to a network. All of this connectivity has led to big improvements in our operations. For example, if a production worker wants to find out how many units of a particular component we have in inventory, or wants the name and address of a particular supplier who sells us that component, he or she can get the information in the blink of an eye. In fact, we have even given our suppliers and customers access to our network so that we can share information and provide them with better service. That change has really helped us compete against the bigger firms." "Now," Cy continued, "Most of the workers in my department don't even have to be at the office to be connected. We have cellular phones, laptop computers, PDAs with Wi-Fi technology, and pagers so we can do much of our work from home or while we are on the road." A new employee asked Cy if he was ready to retire. "No way," he said. "I'm in the middle of a major project right now. We're trying to design a single entry point for people to use when logging on to the Qwikbilt network. We want to set it up so that the log-on procedure identifies different types of users and automatically gives them access to the types of resources they need. For example, customers who logged on would be allowed to place orders, check on the status of previous orders, and interact with our technical support staff, but would not have access to other, more proprietary parts of our network. We think this approach will be more convenient for everyone. And," he continued, "once I finish that project, the marketing department has asked me to work on developing better ways to store and analyze the vast amounts of data we collect. So my work is cut out for me for quite a while yet." -When Cy first came to work for Qwikbilt, the application of business technology was called:

Which of the following statements about computer viruses is most accurate?

The HR department at Backstreet Books, Inc., wants to reduce the cost of benefits it offers its employees. A department specialist suggested that the company consider _____________ its HR system. By sorting and analyzing the demographics and lifestyle characteristics of its employees, Backstreet Books hopes to determine which benefits are most important, and possibly which can be eliminated. Marketers utilize the same technology to keep pace with sales trends.

A(n) _________ is a semiprivate network that uses Internet technology to enable more than one company to access the same information or to allow people on different servers to collaborate.

Manager Minnie Hope is overwhelmed by information overload. Unfortunately, in this day of technology, there is little she can do to control this problem.

The experiences of the past several decades show that, while improvements in technology frequently enhance the efficiency of basic business operations, such improvements never actually change the fundamental way that businesses operate.

Gregory Bowman is a manager who wants to be well informed. Like many managers, however, he is often overwhelmed by information overload. Which of the following would probably be the most useful first step for Gregory to take in order to deal with this problem?