Deck 9: Tasks in Organizational Context

Question 1

In the TSSL model, task is referred to activities that are at the similar level with:

A) copying a file
B) planning organizational schedules
C) recruiting organization members
D) deciding future developing direction of an organization
E) drafting a speech

Answer 1

copying a file

Question 2

Which of the following is a tool-level task within an organization?

A) developing the blueprint of a building
B) sending an email
C) composing a new song
D) choosing a place for vacation
E) attending a conference

Answer 2

sending an email

Question 3

An organizational-level task can be:

A) printing an organization chart
B) displaying a digital picture of the future office
C) copying an organizational contract onto a CD
D) selecting a future office location
E) browsing the online stock information about a company

Answer 3

selecting a future office location

Question 4

In an organization, an organizational-level task is defined as:

A) a worker's action of operating a computer in the organizational context
B) a worker's designed effort to accomplish an organizational demand
C) a worker's activities that need to be tied with use of various facilities
D) a task that is performed by an organization-owned information system
E) a worker's activities that require the use of an information system to communicate with other organization members

Question 5

Task analysis on work in an organization is concerned with:

A) Who will take the work?
B) When the work should be finished?
C) Where the work should be done?
D) Why the work needs to done?
E) How the work should be done?

Question 6

In TSSL, tasks are analyzed from the perspective of:

A) system developer
B) project manager
C) organization leader
D) system user
E) office administrator

Question 7

In the following description about the application of TSSL model, which one is appropriate?

A) TSSL model can be used directly to describe organizational-level tasks;
B) TSSL model is for the analysis of tasks that consist of subtasks such as operating computers;
C) TSSL model is used to represent tasks that can be supported by organizational level tasks in an organization;
D) Using TSSL model to describe a task is to represent the task and the associated human-computer implementation from a system designer's view;
E) In a hierarchical task analysis, TSSL model is used at the lowest level in the whole hierarchy.

Question 8

To develop the interface of an information system that supports organizational activities,

A) all attention should be focused on breaking organizational tasks into tool level tasks;
B) all attention should be focused on choosing hardware and software for this system;
C) tool level tasks for completing organizational tasks need to be identified through task analysis; and then analyzed using TSSL model;
D) users of this system should be trained;
E) the location for installing necessary equipments should be cleaned first.

Question 9

Which of the following methods is good for mapping organizational tasks with tool level tasks?

A) COMS
B) hierarchical task analysis
C) questionnaire
D) survey
E) context analysis

Question 10

Hierarchical task analysis is a method to:

A) define the responsibilities for people involved in a task;
B) depict the progress of a task;
C) construct a task model with bricks and mortar
D) decompose an organizational level task into tool level tasks;
E) establish a communication channel between lower level employees and higher level executives within an organization.

Question 11

Which of the following activities happens in a hierarchical task analysis?

A) describing an organizational level task with the TSSL multilayer interaction model
B) decomposing an organizational task so that it can be assigned to different members of the organization
C) describing the responsibilities of employees at different levels
D) depicting the structure of an information system that is implemented in an organization
E) decomposing a high-level organizational task into subtasks

Question 12

In the following statements about hierarchical task analysis, which one is appropriate?

A) The hierarchical task analysis is more straightforward for well-defined tasks than for less structured tasks;
B) Hierarchical task analysis is used to connect organizational level tasks with individual level tasks in an organization;
C) Hierarchical task analysis is not good for the analyzing tasks performed by work group level users within an organization;
D) Hierarchical task analysis is a simple method that directly connects organizational level tasks with tool level tasks without involving any middle steps;
E) Hierarchical task analysis can not be applied to decompose decision making tasks.

Question 13

A structured task refers to a task that:

A) has complicated structure;
B) has clear and explicit goals, and can be accomplished by following predefined procedures;
C) has a hierarchy with multi layers of subtasks;
D) is performed by high level members in an organization;
E) is relevant to develop the structure of a building or facility.

Question 14

A structured task is characterized as:

A) having ambiguous goals
B) having no explicit procedures
C) well defined
D) ill-defined
E) hard to ensure successful completion

Question 15

An example of a structured task can be:

A) designing an information system
B) doing research on a newly found material
C) creating a handicraft
D) filling a customer order
E) making an organizational policy

Question 16

A nonstructured task is a task that:

A) has no difference in the level of its components;
B) cannot be decomposed into subtasks;
C) cannot be described with components at different levels;
D) is perfectly defined, and has no need for a structure in the description of it;
E) has ambiguous goals, and has no explicit procedures to ensure the success in doing the task.

Question 17

A characteristic of a nonstructured task is:

A) having ambiguous goals
B) having clear goals
C) demanding minimal cognitive resources
D) requiring a lot of body movement
E) having explicit procedures for performing the task

Question 18

Which of the following is an example of nonstructured task in an organization?

A) entering students' grade into a database
B) developing a marketing plan for a product
C) backing up a digital file
D) transcribing a speech
E) updating payroll information

Question 19

Which of the following is appropriate to describe the difference between organizational tasks based on their nature?

A) Human-processed vs. machine-processed
B) calculation vs. analysis
C) structured vs. unstructured
D) logistic vs. human-resource relevant
E) paper-based vs. computer-based

Question 20

In an organization, clerical work usually can be characterized as:

A) involving multiple tasks performed in parallel
B) unstructured
C) complex
D) cognitive resource demanding
E) creative

Question 21

Users of Transactions Processing Systems usually are doing tasks that:

A) are nonstructured
B) are relatively uniform
C) generate new knowledge
D) involve in-depth activities
E) are unique

Question 22

Which of the following is a characteristic that a manager's work may have?

A) involving more written contacts than verbal ones
B) having pre-defined procedures
C) performing a great quantity of work with little free time
D) routine and predictable everyday
E) requiring long hours of work on preparation of meeting documents

Question 23

Decided by the role of managers within an organization, a characteristic of managerial work that is different from clerical work is:

A) information overload
B) concurrent tasks overload
C) repeated tasks
D) complex problem solving
E) being well-structured

Question 24

For clerical work, the complexity of information processing lies in:

A) the importance of information processed
B) the width of analysis and judgment
C) the depth of analysis and judgment
D) the quality of information processed
E) the quantity of information processed

Question 25

In information system design, the contextual design is an approach that begins the system development by:

A) understanding how users work
B) understanding available facilities
C) understanding users' personalities
D) understanding project manager's preference
E) understanding the organization mission

Question 26

Contextual design relies heavily on the method of ___ to collect information.

A) survey
B) interview
C) experiment
D) field study
E) literature review

Question 27

In the contextual design of an information system, which of the following should be included in contextual inquiry?

A) identifying how workers manage their work
B) designing the working environment for workers
C) determining the stakeholders involved in the system
D) combining information gained from individual interviews
E) redesigning the original work flow

Question 28

The Contextual Design approach of HCI is based on an understanding of how computer users work. An important aspect of the Contextual Design is:

A) developing project plan
B) analyzing Return on the Investment from the to-be-designed information system
C) assigning tasks to workers
D) conduct work modeling
E) distributing available resources to system developers

Question 29

A computer-aided decision making task can be analyzed at various interaction levels. The topmost decision making level can be described as:

A) being most close to the resources that facilitate the task
B) involving activities of operating a computer
C) including input operation on a computer
D) including output operation on a computer
E) being independent of which resource is used

Question 30

In a computer-aided decision making task, which of the following description is appropriate?

A) The levels of the direct interaction between the decision maker and the computer can be described with the four-layer model of HCI (TSSL);
B) The decision maker's direct interaction with the computer is at the highest level of the task hierarchy;
C) The decision maker's direct interaction with the computer can be decomposed into subtasks
D) The decision maker's direct interaction with the computer is an organizational-level interaction;
E) Operation of the computer in the given situation can be automated without involvement of the decision maker

Question 31

Given a computer-aided task of choosing the best location for a new shop, activities at the tool level should be supported with feedback.The following example activities (on the left hand of "-") are provided with a corresponding feedback (on the right hand of "-") respectively. Please select the pair in which the feedback can best support the matching activity.

A) the user wants to move around a map - "on floor 3"
B) the user is going up/down a floor - "Going up"
C) the user presses a key on the key board - "covered 2 out of 3 floors"
D) the user is comparing all floors on attributes - an arrow at the bottom of the map
E) the user reaches floor 3 - the counter pressure of the keyboard key

Question 32

A decision life cycle describes:

A) the main activities involved in a decision-making process;
B) how to develop computerized system;
C) when to make a decision;
D) how long a decision can survive;
E) how a discarded decision can get revived.

Question 33

Which of the following is a possible stage involved in a decision life cycle?

A) equipment procurement
B) information acquisition
C) user analysis
D) formative evaluation
E) usability test

Question 34

In a decision life cycle, the activity of constructing a structure for evaluating alternatives happens in the stage of:

A) pre-decisional activities
B) information acquisition
C) structuring and clarifying information
D) evaluation of alternative choices
E) post-decisional activities

Question 35

Which of the following statements about decision life cycle is appropriate?

A) All decision makers need to go through the five stages of decision life cycle each time they make a decision;
B) All decision makers follow the same sequence while going through the five stages of decision life cycle to perform a decision making task;
C) The decision life cycle describes steps to be followed for developing a computerized system;
D) Decision life cycle can help system developers determine the resources that users need in their decision making activities;
E) Decision life cycle is an analysis method mainly utilized by decision-makers.

Question 36

In the following, which may be a limitation or bias that a decision-maker has in information acquisition?

A) People tend to adjust their initial impressions more slowly than optimal rules derived from decision theory;
B) People tend to judge probabilities of events according to the number of occurrence instead of the rate of it;
C) People tend to select information that is readily available to them and ignore what is less available;
D) People tend to consider extreme value without considering the effect of randomness;
E) People tend to see relationships between variables even if there is not covariance.

Question 37

In the following, which statement appropriately describes how a system's functionalities affect a user's decision making behavior?

A) An appropriate functionality usually makes the decision life cycle more complicated with more detailed steps;
B) An appropriate functionality would make users errors less obvious;
C) An appropriate functionality calls for users' cognitive resources as much as possible in their decision making.
D) With appropriately designed functionalities, a system can automatically perform all steps of the decision making process for the user;
E) Some of a system's functionalities can make one strategy more attractive than other strategies;

Question 38

Human decision making process and performance can be limited by:

A) decision-maker's weight
B) decision-maker's height
C) decision-maker's ability to retrieve information from long-term memory
D) decision-maker's ability in learning language
E) decision-maker's ability to do handy work

Question 39

In the design of a decision support system, the situational and functional analysis is mainly for:

A) assigning a decision making task to the decision makers
B) defining the decision problem and decompose its goal into subgoals
C) examining possible means for presenting the final decision
D) choosing technologies that are suitable for supporting the decision making task
E) looking for organizational resources that can be utilized in the decision making task

Question 40

The protocol that can be used for situational and functional analysis in DDS (decision support system) design is:

A) HTTP
B) FTP
C) IP
D) STAR
E) TCP

Question 41

For the situational and functional analysis in DSS (decision support system) design, which of the following statements is appropriate?

A) The goal decomposition in situational and functional analysis should concentrate on concrete goals;
B) The goal decomposition in situational and functional analysis should start from specific goals to more general goals;
C) The activities around a low-level goal is the decision situation for high-level goals;
D) The situational and functional analysis can be performed using TSSL model;
E) The situational and functional analysis is in the second stage in DSS design.

Question 42

STAR is the abbreviation of ___ table.

A) Summary Tabulation of Aiding Resources
B) Summary Tabulation of Aiding Requirements
C) Sample Tabulation of Aiding Resources
D) Sample Tabulation of Aiding Requirements
E) Sample Tasks with Aiding Resources

Question 43

In the following, ___ is a component of a STAR table.

A) work breakdown table
B) project timeline
C) task dynamics
D) personnel roster
E) cost-benefit comparison

Question 44

As a component in STAR table, value criteria are:

A) the principles to be used for developing pricing policy for a product
B) the criteria for examining the cost-benefit ration of an investment
C) guidelines for developing a strategy for product study
D) a list of criteria against which alternative decisions are evaluated
E) a group of items to be check for evaluating contributions from each employee within an organization

Question 45

In a STAR table, the section of information environment needs to consist of:

A) information system developers
B) information system hardware
C) information system software
D) the technology utilized in the information system
E) information items that do not change value through out the decision making

Question 46

The information environment section in a STAR table should have descriptions about parameters, which is:

A) a list of information item that do not change value
B) a list of available information items
C) a list of information items that are created
D) a list of information items that need to be calculated by a information system
E) a list of information items that should be processed on a daily basis in an organization

Question 47

In a STAR table, decision representations refer to:

A) the final decision that is made
B) the forms of knowledge (e.g. graphs, tables, etc.) that the decision maker works with
C) the alternative decisions that can be choose from
D) the information that is necessary for making the decision
E) the representatives of the decision maker(s)

Question 48

If you are making an unaided decision on the college for your graduate education and you find it hard to compare alternatives on the basis of college prestige together with home distance, this indicates a human limitation in ___ in decision making.

A) predicting processes
B) controlling emotions
C) combining attributes that are competing
D) self-teaching
E) moving the physical body

Question 49

While designing a Decision Support System, the major purpose of constraint analysis is to:

A) analyze the decision situation of the decision task;
B) analyze the functional aspects of the decision task;
C) identify the decision-making needs that arise from the constraints on unaided decisions making process;
D) identify the limits in organizational resources that the decision maker can utilize;
E) identify the financial constraint for a specific decision making task.

Question 50

Which of the following can be a constraint on unaided decision making process within an organizational context?

A) difficulty in raising money
B) difficulty in finding colleagues
C) difficulty in contacting family members
D) difficulty in analyzing and reasoning
E) difficulty in obtaining the most state-of-art equipments