Exam 21: Bonus A: Using Technology to Manage Information

The most likely reason a firm would decide to establish an extranet would be the desire to:

Which of the following is the best assessment of the impact extranets have had on the way small businesses operate?

Y-5 Connections manufactures wireless equipment for laptop computers and PDAs.Current trends suggest that Y-5 should find the market for its products has strong growth potential.

When spyware is inadvertently downloaded to a user's computer the software tracks the user's online behavior.Spyware is installed without the users' knowledge and can infect the computer with a virus.

Data and information are two different names for essentially the same thing.

Heidi Luking has discovered that several of the Internet sites she has visited recently downloaded small files to her computer's hard drive even though she did not request them.The files Heidi discovered are known as crackers.

During the 1980s business technology became known as:

__________ refers to a variety of software applications that analyze an organization's raw data and obtain useful insights from it.

The first step in avoiding information overload is to identify four or five key goals and focus only on information that is related to those goals.

A(n)__________ is a hybrid of mainframe and network computing in which applications and data reside on a server which is connected to client machines that look like desktop PCs,but lack the processing power to handle the data and applications on their own.

A major problem with the rapid expansion in the amount of information available to managers is that:

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 30^th 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." -People in marketing want Cy's help because they are convinced that many hidden patterns and unexpected relationships could be found in the mountains of data the company accumulates.They think that discovering these relationships might help them develop new marketing strategies.This suggests that Cy's next project will be concerned with:

Kent Uchi is the CIO for a major corporation.Kent's job will require him to have an extensive knowledge of the hardware and software his company uses,but he will seldom be concerned about the methods and procedures used by specific departments.

Instability in technology:

The use of computers increases the number of layers of management,resulting in taller organizations.

A(n)____________ is a private data network that creates secure connections over regular Internet lines.

Regina Williams works for Findabuck Finance Company,but she seldom sees the inside of Findabuck's offices.Instead,she does most of her work on a computer located in the spare bedroom of her home.The computer is linked to Findabuck's office,so her work is distributed as quickly and efficiently as if she were at the office.Regina is one of the increasing number of workers who:

Subjectivity is one of the four characteristics of useful information.

A major impact of information technology has been to:

A basic truth in management is that you can never have too much information.