Deck 6: Information and Decision Support Systems

Question 1

The first stage of the problem-solving process involves identifying and defining potential problems or opportunities.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The primary purpose of an MIS is to help an organization achieve its goals by providing managers with insight into the regular operations of the organization so they can control,organize,and plan more effectively.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Marketing functions are increasingly being performed on the Internet and mobile devices.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The ultimate goal of management information and decision support systems is to help managers and executives at all levels make better decisions and solve important problems.

Question 5

Auditing provides an objective appraisal of the accounting,financial,and operational procedures and information of an organization.

Question 6

Most financial management information systems integrate financial and operational information from multiple sources,including the Internet,into a single system.

Question 7

A satisficing model is one that finds a good,but not necessarily the best,solution to a problem.

Question 8

The input to most management information systems is a collection of reports that are provided by managers.

Question 9

Scheduled reports generated by management information systems are produced periodically,such as daily weekly,or monthly.

Question 10

In the context of financial management information systems,transaction processing systems or enterprise systems capture transactions entered by workers in all functional areas of the business.

Question 11

The economic order quantity is calculated to minimize the number of times an inventory item must be reordered.

Question 12

When the inventory level for a particular item falls to the reorder point,an inventory management system generates a report to stop any further orders of the item.

Question 13

A management information system can be divided along functional lines to produce reports tailored to individual functions.

Question 14

The use of management information systems spans all levels of management in an organization.

Question 15

Manufacturing companies seldom use computer-assisted design with new or existing products.

Question 16

Many manufacturing operations have been dramatically improved over the last decade as a result of advances in information systems.

Question 17

A well-known model developed by Herbert Simon divides the decision making phase of the problem solving process into five stages.

Question 18

Marketing functions determine the various media to be used to inform potential customers about a product or service.

Question 19

Programmed decisions are made using a rule,procedure,or quantitative method.

Question 20

An executive dashboard is a diagram that presents a set of key performance indicators about the state of a process at a specific point in time to enable managers make better real-time decisions.

Question 21

The Delphi approach is a group decision making approach that encourages diversity among group members and fosters creativity and original thinking in decision making.

Question 22

Decision support systems can provide help for managers at various levels within an organization.

Question 23

In the context of types of reports generated by management information systems (MIS),a(n)_____ summarizes the previous day's critical activities in an organization and is typically available at the beginning of each workday.

A) exception report
B) drill-down report
C) key-indicator report
D) demand report

Question 24

Product pricing is important to identify products,sales personnel,and customers that contribute to profits and those that do not.

Question 25

Developers of decision support systems have made them less flexible compared to management information systems.

Question 26

The performance of decision support systems is typically a function of decision quality and _____.

A) hardware compatibility
B) cost effeectiveness
C) problem complexity
D) software design

Question 27

According to Anthony Gorry and Michael Scott Morton's framework on decision support systems,the decisions where only some of the variables can be measured quantitatively are called _____.

A) programmed decisions
B) unstructured decisions
C) nonprogrammed decisions
D) semistructured decisions

Question 28

A(n)_____ is a type of management report that is automatically produced when a situation is unusual or requires management action.

A) exception report
B) drill-down report
C) scheduled report
D) demand report

Question 29

Decision support systems and management information systems are actually quite similar in numerous ways,including the types of problems solved,the support given to users,and the decision emphasis and approach.

Question 30

In the _____ stage of the problem-solving process,alternative solutions to a problem are developed and their feasibility is evaluated.

A) intelligence
B) implementation
C) design
D) choice

Question 31

During the _____ stage of the decision-making phase,a course of action is selected.

A) intelligence
B) implementation
C) choice
D) design

Question 32

Smaller companies hesitate to hire outside accounting firms to assist them with their accounting functions.

Question 33

With a group decision support system,people must take turns addressing various issues,and one person normally talks at a time.

Question 34

The nominal group technique (NGT)is a structured method for group brainstorming that encourages contributions from the top management of an organization.

Question 35

Multivoting is any one of a number of voting processes used in the nominal group technique of decision-making to reduce the number of options to be considered.

Question 36

_____ is the stage of the problem-solving process in which a solution is put into effect.

A) Decision
B) Monitoring
C) Choice
D) Implementation

Question 37

In the context of decision support system framework developed by Anthony Gorry and Michael Scott Morton,one characteristic of a structured decision is that _____.

A) it involves known variables that can be measured quantitatively
B) the relationships among the pieces of data are not always clear
C) it involves known variables that cannot be measured quantitatively
D) the decision maker might not know the information requirements of the decision in advance

Question 38

The dialogue manager of a decision support system can also connect to external databases to give decision makers even more information and decision support beyond that available through just corporate databases.

Question 39

The two phases of problem solving added by Huber to Simon's original three-stage model of decision-making are _____.

A) intelligence and design
B) implementation and monitoring
C) choice and implementation
D) design and choice

Question 40

The most significant internal data sources for a management information system are an organization's _____.

A) data from customers,suppliers,competitors,and stockholders
B) various Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)systems and related databases
C) executive dashboards containing a set of key performance indicators about the state of a process
At a specific point in time
D) various decision supporting systems (DSS)and group decision supporting systems (GSS)and users

Question 41

In the context of group decision support system alternatives,_____ can be used when group members are located in the same building or geographic area and under conditions in which group decision making is frequent.

A) decision rooms
B) wide area decision networks
C) teleconferencing
D) local area decision networks

Question 42

In general,computerized decision support systems can either optimize or _____.

Question 43

In the context of financial MIS subsystems and outputs,a _____ is an independent business unit that is treated as a distinct entity enabling its revenues and expenses to be determined and its profitability to be measured.

A) cost center
B) revenue center
C) profit center
D) sales center

Question 44

An effective _____ MIS enables an organization to keep personnel costs at a minimum while serving the required business processes needed to achieve corporate goals.

A) financial
B) manufacturing
C) human resource
D) sales forecasting

Question 45

The final stage of the problem-solving process during which decision makers evaluate the implementation is called the _____ stage.

Question 46

The _____ approach forces members of a decision making group to reach a unanimous decision.

A) Delphi
B) brainstorming
C) group consensus
D) nominal group

Question 47

The _____ is NOT a component of the typical DSS.

A) database
B) user interface
C) model base
D) inference engine

Question 48

In the context of computerized decision support systems,_____ is used when modeling a problem properly to get an optimal decision would be too difficult,complex,or costly.

Question 49

A(n)_____ is the component of a decision support system that allows managers and decision makers to perform quantitative analysis on both internal and external data.

A) model base
B) dialogue manager​
C) executive dashboard
D) database

Question 50

_____ decisions deal with unusual or exceptional situations and,in many cases,these decisions are difficult to quantify.

Question 51

In the context of number of technologies used to control and streamline a manufacturing process,the goal of a _____ system is to tie together all aspects of production,including order processing,product design,manufacturing,inspection and quality control,and shipping.

A) computer-assisted manufacturing
B) computer integrated manufacturing
C) flexible manufacturing system
D) computer-assisted design

Question 52

Developers of _____ try to build on the advantages of individual support systems while adding new approaches unique to group decision making.

A) DSS
B) MIS
C) GSS
D) GIS

Question 53

The _____ MIS subsystems and outputs are used to monitor and control the flow of materials,products,and services through an organization.

A) human resources
B) marketing
C) financial
D) manufacturing

Question 54

In the context of computerized decision support systems,a(n)_____ model finds the best solution to a problem,usually the one that will best help an organization meet its goals.

Question 55

A typical decision support system (DSS)includes many components including a(n)_____ which allows decision makers to easily access and manipulate the DSS and to use common business terms and phrases.

A) model base
B) dialogue manager
C) database
D) external database access

Question 56

_____ auditing is performed by employees within an organization.

A) Employee
B) Financial
C) Internal
D) Operational

Question 57

A _____ MIS uses data gathered from both internal and external sources to provide reporting and aid decision making in areas of product design,media selection,channel distribution,and product pricing.

A) human resources
B) financial
C) marketing
D) manufacturing

Question 58

_____ includes and goes beyond decision making,and it also includes the implementation stage when the solution is put into effect.

Question 59

The focus of a DSS is on decision-making _____ when faced with unstructured or semistructured business problems.

A) accuracy
B) efficiency
C) effectiveness
D) timeliness

Question 60

_____ are divisions within a company that do not directly generate revenue.

A) Profit centers
B) Sales centers
C) Revenue centers
D) Cost centers

Question 61

A(n)_____ is a computer system capable of assembling,storing,manipulating,and displaying geographically referenced information;that is,data identified according to its location.

Question 62

In the context of types of reports generated by MIS,_____ reports provide increasingly detailed data about a situation that helps analysts to see data at a high level first and then at a more detailed level.

Question 63

An organization might hire an outside accounting firm to perform a(n)_____ to assess the financial condition of the firm and determine whether financial statements and reports produced by its financial MIS are accurate.

Question 64

Briefly describe the five stage decision-making process.

Question 65

In the context of process control,computers can directly control manufacturing equipment using _____ systems to control drilling machines,assembly lines,and more.

Question 66

​A(n)_____ MIS helps in providing aggregate information on accounts payable,accounts receivable,payroll,and many other applications.

Question 67

A(n)_____ is an organizational unit that gains revenue from the sale of products or services.

Question 68

A(n)_____ MIS provides financial information for workers who need to make better decisions on a daily basis.

Question 69

In the context of subsystems for a marketing MIS,_____ is the combination of various advertising channels used to meet the objectives of a marketing program.

Question 70

A(n)_____ provides managers with information that supports effective decision making and provides feedback on daily operations.

Question 71

_____ services are offered by many companies when employees leave the company in order to help them make the transition.

Question 72

In the _____ decision-making approach,members of a group offer suggestions "off the top of their heads."

Question 73

The purpose of _____ is to analyze the market to identify threats,opportunities,and customer needs and wants.

Question 74

A(n)_____ is an approach that allows manufacturing facilities to rapidly and efficiently change from making one product to making another.
​

Question 75

_____ are commonly accepted guidelines or procedures that experience has shown usually leads to a good solution.

Question 76

_____ is an approach that maintains inventory at the lowest levels without sacrificing the availability of finished products.

Question 77

_____ communications are used by many organizations to support decision making,it ties together and integrates various communications systems,including traditional phones,cell phones,e-mail,text messages,the Internet,and more.

Question 78

A(n)_____ DSS is concerned with situations or decisions that come up only a few times during the life of an organization.

Question 79

_____ reports are a type of MIS reports that are developed to provide certain information upon request than on a schedule.

Question 80

A(n)_____ DSS handles situations or decisions that occur more than once,usually several times per year or more.