16cmbl23 Management Information System.docx

VISTAS SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES 16CMBL23 MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM

QUESTION BANK MBA LSM (II – SEMESTER)

Unit 1 Part A 1. 2. 3. 4.

Explain the basic components of Information Systems What are the Strategic Uses of Information Technology in business? What are the competitive strategies to counteract competitive forces What is a system? What are the functions of a system? How a system differs from a cybernetic system. 5. How information Technology can be used to implement the five basic competitive strategies? 6. What are the classifications of Information Systems other than Operational Support Systems and Management Support Systems 7. Explain the life cycle of business process Reengineering. 8. What are the fundamental roles of IS in business? 9. What are the managerial challenges of Information Technology? 10. What is Business Process Reengineering? How does it differ from business improvement? 11. What are the competitive strategiesother than the five basic strategies? 12. Explain the five Information system resources? 13. Explain the types of management Information system with examples. 14. What are the Basic Strategies in the Business Use of Information Technology? 15. Give the life cycle of the Business Process Reengineering?

Part B 1. Explain the various competitive forces a business might meet and the competitive strategies to counteract such forces. 2. Explain the concept of system? A business is an example of organizational systemJustify. 3. Explain how information technology can be used to implement the five basic competitive strategies. 4. Explain the life cycle of Business Process Reengineering and how BPR differ from business improvements 5. Explain the Business Process Reengineering 6. Explain the importance of Information system in business. 7. Explain the activities of Information System?

8. What is an IS? Explain the various components of an IS. 9. Explain the various types of Information Systems in detail

Unit 2 Part -A 1. 2. 3. 4.

Write about micro computers What are peripherals? What is hardware? Describe any two hardware of your choice. What other peripheral devices and capabilities wouldyou want to have for your business PC? Explain yourchoices. 5. Write a short note on GUI and pointing device 6. What are two types of storage devices used in a computer and its classification 7. Briefly describe about primary memory. 8. Write a short note on sequential and direct access. Give two examples for each type of access. 9. Write a short on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) 10. What are the devices used for output? Briefly describe any two devices 11. What is Software? Write briefly about the different types of software 12. Write a short note on web browsers 13. Explain the fundamental concept of networks 14. Write a short note on database management. 15. How data mining extracts business knowledge from a data warehouse? 16. What is a network? What are the physical components needed for the network? 17. What is the role of intranets and extranets in business?

Part B

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Explain the types of computers. Explain the parts of a computer with a block diagram Discuss about computer peripherals Discuss the various Input technologies. Discuss about the secondary storage devices Briefly discuss any five general purpose application software. Explain the steps in database development. Explain the two types of databases in detail What is the purpose of data ware house? Describe the components of a complete data warehouse system. 10. Explain the concept of computer networking

Unit 3 Part - A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

What is e-commerce? What is the scope of it? Which technologies are necessary for e-commerce? Describe the Categories of e-Commerce Write a short note on Content Management and catalog management Write a short notes on B2C e-commerce What is electronic funds transfer? Explain. What are the basic security measures are being used to solve the security problem in Secure Electronic Payments 8. What are the key factors for success in e-commerce? 9. What Web store requirements must be implemented by a company to develop a successful e-commerce business? 10. What are applications of e-commerce? 11. Describe the issues in e-commerce.? 12. Write about the top retail web sites. 13. What are the types of e-commerce marketplaces? 14. Write briefly about Business-to-Business e-Commerce 15. What is the role of catalog/content management and workflow management in a Webbased procurement process

Part B 1. Explain the architecture of e-commerce with a neat diagram. 2. Discuss how funds could be transferred Electronic Funds Transfer. Explain with an example of a secure electronic payment system with many payment alternatives. 3. Explain the various Electronic Payment Processes 4. Discuss the success factors of e-commerce 5. Explain the steps in developing a webstore 6. Explain the role and importance of catalog/content management and workflow management in a Webbased procurement process. Give an example. 7. What is Business-to-Business e-Commerce? Write about B2Be-commerce Web portal. 8. Discuss the applications and issues of e-commerce

Unit 4 PART – A 1. What are the various levels of managerial decision making that must be supported by information technology in a successful organization 2. Write briefly about decision support system 3. What are the type of information required by decision making in a company 4. What are the attributes of information quality? 5. Explain the different type of Decision structures with example.

6. What is Decision structures? With example. 7. Write about Business Intelligence. 8. What is Decision Support System? What are the components of Decision Support System? 9. Write a short note on MIS. 10. Write about Online Analytical Processing. 11. Give an example of the components in a Marketing Intelligence System that uses Internet and Intranet. 12. Explain the Various Analytical Operations in Online Analytical Processing. 13. What is Artificial Intelligence? What are the Attributes of Intelligence behavior? 14. Write a short note on intelligent behavior. 15. Write a short note on Expert System. 16. What are the benefits and limitations of Expert System? 17. Who is knowledge Engineer? What is his role in Expert System? 18. What is Virtual Reality? Write down its applications. 19. Briefly discuss the various methods of Knowledge representation. 20. Write down the difference between Management Information System and Decision Support System PART –B 1. Explain about a) Information Decision Management. b) Decision Structure c) Information Quality 2. What is MIS? What is DSS? Write about the Difference between MIS & DSS. 3. What is Decision Support System? Explain the components of DSS in detail. 4. What is MIS? Discuss its role in supporting the managers in Business. 5. Explain in detail about the Online Analytical Processing. 6. What is Expert System? Explain the various Application categories and examples of Expert System. 7. How Expert System Developed? State its Benefits and Limitations. 8. Explain the components of an Expert System and its Applications. 9. What is Artificial Intelligence and Discuss the latest Commercial Application of AI

Unit 5 Part-A 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

What is a system approach in analyzing and formulating a solution to a problem? Describe the activities. Write a short note on system analysis and design? What are the benefits of the new information system? Write a short note on user interface design? What is prototyping? Briefly explain the prototyping process. Give the system specification for a new e-commerce system for a business. What is a project? Write about the process of project management?

8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.

What are keys for a successful implementation of a new business system? Write a brief note on the security challenges faced by the business when using IT in their process? Briefly explain the basic categories of ethical business issues. Write a short note on business ethics? What are computer crimes? How are large companies protecting themselves from cybercrime? Write a short note on hacking and cracking? What are the various common tactics to attack companies through the internet and other networks? What is cyber theft? Write a short note encryption? Brief about various security measures that are used to protect business systems? What are the components of managing information technology? Explain the business/IT planning which focus on innovative approach to satisfy customer. Briefly describe about the components in IT architecture created by the business/IT planning process. What are the five main reasons behind an organization to take a decision to outsource? What is offshoring and outsourcing? What are the reasons for failures in IT management?

Part - B

1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

How should information technology he managed? Identify the components of information technology management compare conventional and e-business-driven IT management approaches. Explain in detail about the outsourcing and offshoring IT and IS. Explain the business/IT planning process in satisfying a company's customer values and business values goals. Discuss the variety of security measures that are used to protect business system and networks. Explain about the unauthorized use of computer system and networks by employees in a company? What is computer crime? Explain about the hacking attacks through the network. What is a project? Explain the process of project management. Discuss about the system development life cycle.

Part – C Case Studies

1. Case Study:GREENFINGERS GARDEN SERVICES Greenfingers Garden Services was established in Cape Town in 1990, starting as a small suburban garden maintenance service (mowing lawns, weeding flowerbeds, etc), employed by a limited number of clients on an annual contract basis. Over the last decade the business has expanded considerably, and it now has three branches (in the Southern Suburbs, Northern Suburbs, and Camps Bay area) which offer consulting and landscaping services, one-off “spring cleans” as well as regular garden maintenance. The company has both residential and corporate clients, and ascribes its success to the efficient and personal service that it has always provided. The main Southern Suburbs branch is run by the owner, Alice Cooper, and is responsible for overall management of the business, including all the accounting and general administration functions, marketing, consulting, and stock. Each branch manages its own supplies of gardening equipment and schedules its labour force (permanent and casual staff) to ensure that jobs are completed on time. With the growth of the business, its administration is turning into a nightmare, and Alice finds that her evenings and weekends are being spent collating information, working out schedules, and trying to overcome problems by sharing equipment and even staff between branches. More and more clients are complaining that special instructions given to Steve Carlton are not being carried out by their work team, or that discounts that were promised have been omitted from the invoice. Alice is also aware that opportunities are being missed for the provision of extra services such as spraying and pruning, which are highly profitable since the work team is already on site and no additional time or cost is needed for transport.    

Explain how the automation of this information flow could improve the running of Greenfingers Garden Services. At a Transaction Processing level, what data would need to be captured in order to provide the input for an automated information system? Provide a comprehensive list of useful reports that could be produced by a Management Information System, and specify who each would be used by. What feedback mechanisms could be put in place to monitor and control business activities

2. Case Study –KitchenAid : Do You Let Your Brand Go Online All by Itself? Areputation is a fragile thing—especially on the Internet, where trademarked images are easily borrowed, corporate secrets can be divulged anonymously in chat rooms, and idle speculation and malicious commentary on a blog can affect a company’s stock price. Brands are under constant attack, but companies such as BrandProtect, MarkMonitor, and NameProtect (now part of Corporation Services Company) are stepping in to offer companies some artillery in the fight for control of their brands and reputations. Brian Maynard, director of marketing for KitchenAid, a division of Whirlpool, had a rather unique problem. Like the classic Coke bottle and Disney’s Mickey Mouse

ears, the silhouette of the KitchenAid mixer, that colorful and distinctively rounded wedding registry staple, is a registered trademark. Although the KitchenAid stand mixer silhouette has been a registered trademark since the mid-1990s, it has been a well-recognized symbol since the current design was introducedin the 1930s. “The KitchenAid mixer is an incredible asset so it is important for us to protect both the name and the image from becoming generic,” says Maynard, who reports that the equity of the brand has been estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Any kind of violations that go unnoticed can quickly erode that precious equity. KitchenAid had experienced some problems on the Web with knockoffs and unauthorized uses of the mixer’s image, but getting a handle on the many and varied online trademark infringements seemed daunting. Maynard knew that historically, corporate brands that were not well-protected and policed by their owners had been ruled generic by the courts—aspirin and escalator are two examples. “Throughout history terms like escalator and aspirin have become generic simply because people did not do the work to protect them,” says Maynard. “To avoid that fate, you have to show the courts that you have put every effort into protecting your brand. If you don’t police your brand, courts will typically rule that the mark is no longer meaningful and has become ubiquitous.” So when he received a cold-call from BrandProtect, he was intrigued. Criminals hijacking online corporate brands and masquerading for profit, however, are ramping up their efforts. Dubbed “brandjacking” by MarkMonitor Inc., a San Francisco–based brand protection service provider, the practice is becoming a major threat to household names. “Not only is the volume of these abuses significant, but abusers are becoming alarmingly savvy marketers,” says Frederick Felman, MarkMonitor’s chief marketing officer. In its first Brandjacking Index report, Mark- Monitor tracked 25 of the top 100 brands for three weeks by monitoring illegal or unethical tactics that ranged from cybersquatting to pay-per-click fraud. Media companies made up the greatest percentage of targeted brands.

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Consider your own online shopping patterns. How much weight do you place on the presence of a name or logo or other trademark (such as the KitchenAid silhouette) on a Web site when purchasing goods or services? Do you ever stop to consider whether you may have been misled? How could you tell the difference? The company mentioned in the case (e.g., KitchenAid,) was well established and enjoyed strong brand recognition well before the advent of the Internet. Do you think online-only companies face the same problems as they do? Why or why not? Justify the rationale for your answer.

3. CASE STUDY: CREAM ADVERTISING Cream is a large and well-established advertising company, with corporate clients in all the major South African cities. Over the last decade, Cream has developed a reputation for the creation of avant-garde and witty advertising campaigns, predominantly on television and in glossy magazines, and has scooped several prestigious national awards. Much of their success is ascribed to the diversity of talents and personalities within the company, and a strong ethos of teamwork. A lot of time is spent in meetings and informal discussions between staff, and the pervading culture within the organisation is that work should be not only challenging but also fun. Information technology is used to support various separate business functions: · Accounting and administration, including the general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, and payroll. · Graphic design for the development of new conceptual material. · Word processing and presentation software for writing copy and making presentations to clients

· E-mail for communications and internet browsing to keep up with advertising trends. Cream does not have an in-house IS department, and relies on the support provided by vendors and outside consultants to maintain their systems and solve any computer-related problems. A brief overview of their business activities is as follows: · The general manager, Jade Smith, contacts existing client by phone at least once a month to check that they are happy with the performance of their current campaigns, and perhaps make suggestions for future changes to content or media. · All members of staff listen to industry gossip, and if a competitor’s advertising campaign appears to be badly received, Jade is informed and decides whether to contact the client to market Cream instead. If so, she sets up an appointment for the marketing manager, Tim Mabusa, to give a standard presentation showing examples of previous work. Tim also provides a glossy brochure detailing the expertise and abilities within the firm, but his enthusiastic personality is a vital ingredient of the sales talk. · When a new campaign is initiated, Jade will appoint one of her senior staff as project manager, and the two of them will meet with the client to discuss the form that the campaign should take (content, media, etc), and provide an initial (estimated) quotation. In many cases this meeting involves travel to other cities, which adds to costs and seriously impacts their availability for dealing with other business issues. · A fee of 20% of the initial quote is payable before any further work on a new campaign is undertaken. A project team consisting of the project manager, a graphic designer and a copywriter will then work closely together to create several alternative ad outlines. These are presented to the client for discussion and possible reworking before the final quote is submitted and production begins on the advertisement. · Cream take care of all the liaison with publication media, and confirm to the client the periods and costs involved. The actual account for publication or broadcasting is submitted directly to the client, and Cream is not involved in the client’s financial transactions other than the money charged by themselves for work done. Payment of the final quoted amount less the initial fee is due within 30 days of completion and invoicing. As the business has grown, so more and more time is being spent on travel, telephone calls and faxes. A lot of coordination is needed to keep track of the various elements of each campaign, and make sure that actual advertising material, publication arrangements and accounting are all being attended to. Holdups frequently occur because the initial 20% fee has not yet been debited, or else it has been received but the project team have not been informed that they can proceed; and several TV ads have received unsatisfactory broadcast times because bookings were made late. Staff are tired rather than stimulated, and Jade is concerned that the quality of their work will be affected. She is wondering whether the introduction of additional technology to support the business processes would free her staff to focus more on their creative abilities.   

Give practical examples of how information systems could be used to support the business at each of the management levels. If you were Jade Smith, what business strategy would you select (low-cost, differentiation, or niche marketing) and why? How could IS be used to support this strategy? In what ways could the implementation of e-commerce replace or enhance the existing business activities of Cream?

4. Case Study - The Future of Public Wi-Fi Public Wi-Fi hot spots have been popular for about eight years. During that time, companies providing the service have been trying to figure out how to monetize it. The dominant model to date has been just to charge for it. Pay us $20 a month, and you can log in at any of our many locations. Recently, however, a kind of tipping point has been reached; now, instead of being rented for a fee, Wi-Fi will increasingly be given away to motivate customers to buy other goods and services. Now Wi-Fi is just like the free toaster that banks used to hand out for opening a new account. Starbucks is leading a transition from Wi-Fi-for-money to Wi-Fi as a lure to get people to spend money on other things. It probably has to do with the strong competition Starbucks is facing for the morning breakfast crowd from the likes of McDonald’s, which is also being more aggressive with Wi-Fi access. The Starbucks offer may be a stroke of genius. Starbucks and AT&T will give you two hours of free Wi-Fi per day, but only if you use a Starbucks card. If you want more than two hours, you can pay $19.99 per month, which also entitles you to unlimited Wi-Fi offered by AT&T at some 70,000 hot spots in 89 countries. Starbucks not only trumps other sellers of sugar and caffeine by offering free Wi-Fi, but also pushes its lucrative Starbucks card and provides an upgrade path for people eager to hand over money in exchange for unlimited access. Starbucks cards benefit Starbucks in three ways. First, people with Starbucks cards in their pockets are probably more likely to choose Starbucks when there are other nearby alternatives. Second, by getting millions of customers to pay in advance, Starbucks gets more cash upfront (rather than waiting until people actually get their coffee). Last and best is that cards get lost, stolen, or forgotten. When that happens,Starbucks gets to keep the money without supplying anything. Like many indie cafes, Seattle’s Bauhaus Books and Coffee has long relied on free Wi-Fi to help bring in customers. “In the evenings, the whole bar along the window will be lined with people using their computers,” says Grace Heinze, a 13-year manager at Bauhaus, located between downtown Seattle and the trendy neighborhood of Capitol Hill. Bauhaus has thrived despite all of the Starbucks shops that have popped up around it: 15 within half a mile and 38 within one mile. So is Heinze worried that the fiercely artsy cafe, named for the 1920s German art movement and replete with memorabilia, might lose customers to Starbucks now that it is dumping its high Wi-Fi rate in favor of two free hours of Wi-Fi a day to any customer? Not really. “People come here because they like our atmosphere and because they like our coffee,” Heinze said. “We’re not feeling very uptight about this.” Wi-Fi hot spots began to emerge around the beginning of the millennium. Propelled by the fast-growing popularity of laptops, Wi-Fi-enabled coffee shops quickly supplanted the older-style cybercafés, which relied on the expensive purchase and upkeep of PCs. Still, until several years ago, many cafes were granting access to their Wi-Fi hot spots through codes given only to paying customers, according to Jack Kelley, president of Seattle regional chain CaffeLadro. There was the fear “that if public Wi-Fi was free, you’d fill your place up with ‘campers,’” Kelley said, referring to patrons who linger all day without buying anything. But that didn’t happen after Ladro’s 12 Seattle-area cafes switched to free Wi-Fi

several years ago. Nowadays, “we don’t even care if you sit in the parking lot and use it,” Kelley said. Asked about the impact of Starbucks’s move on his business, Kelley retorted, “Wi-Fi is free everywhere these days. Isn’t Starbucks a little behind the times?” As pressure mounts to make more Wi-Fi hot spots free, some operators are turning to Web advertising to offset costs or make money. Those ads are delivered during log-in or at the user’s landing page. JiWire serves up ads to more than 8 million users per month on various Wi-Fi networks, including Boingo, at rates far higher than ones on typical Web pages. That kind of advertising “sounds gross” to Ladro’s Kelley, though. “It’s just like all of those ads in the movie theatre,” he said. “I say, enough is enough.”

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Do you agree with the plans by Starbucks to offer time limited free Wi-Fi to customers? Justify Do you think free Wi-Fi would be enough to instill the kind of loyalty? There are some companies that offer free Wi-Fi in exchange for viewing advertisements or answering questions for market research studies. Would you be willing to do so in order to get free wireless access, say, at an airport? Would your answer change if you were using a corporate laptop versus your own, because of security concerns?