978-0132437158 Chapter 2

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The Importance of Information Systems Management, 8e (McNurlin/Sprague/Bui)

Chapter 2 The Top IS Job

1) The term waves of innovation define how IT is used by industries and by enterprises.

2) Items above the line in the waves of innovation model all require a management focus on

operation control.

3) A recent shift in IS organizations has been towards developing IT computer operations

centers.

4) Architecture management is one of the biggest issues facing IS organizations in the future.

5) Senior executive involvement in guiding IT use is not needed until wave 5: Reaching the

customer.

6) The IS organization model has evolved to a federal model of centralized and decentralized

activities.

7) Database and network management work best when decentralized to place them closer to

customer locations.

8) Today's CIO has an increased emphasis on IT governance than past eras.

9) During the mainframe era, the focus of IS was on the delivery of application systems.

10) During the distributed era, the focus of IS was to be a business visionary.

11) A line of business is an organization unit that conducts business activities with common

customers, products, and market characteristics.

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12) A statement of how the future of the IS organization is going to look is called business

alignment.

13) Championing an IT innovation is an information-intensive activity.

14) Most organizations have centralized at IT functions in order to support increased IT

governance requirements.

15) A feudal governance style is where one IT group and one business group share a right.

16) The leadership of CIOSs is no longer limited to IS functions.

17) The management of IT in organizations has not changed drastically over the past 50 years.

18) Outsourcing has spread widely because companies see value in turning IS functions over to

specialist companies.

19) It is not reasonable to expect an outsourcing service provider to understand and satisfy all

the needs of the organization without active management.

20) The recent approach to making IT investments is to view all company systems as a portfolio

and to make investment decisions from that viewpoint.

21) Which wave of innovation focused on achieving clerical and administrative savings by

automating manual processes?

A) Wave 1: Reducing costs

B) Wave 2: Leveraging investments

C) Wave 3: Enhancing products and services

D) Wave 4: Enhancing executive decision making

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22) Which wave of innovation shifted attention to produce revenue by gaining a strategic

advantage?

A) Wave 1: Reducing costs

B) Wave 2: Leveraging investments

C) Wave 3: Enhancing products and services

D) Wave 4: Enhancing executive decision making

23) Which wave of innovation focused on changing the fundamental structure of an

organization?

A) Wave 1: Reducing costs

B) Wave 2: Leveraging investments

C) Wave 3: Enhancing products and services

D) Wave 4: Enhancing executive decision making

24) The traditional set of IS responsibilities includes all of the following except:

A) managing corporate data.

B) planning systems.

C) identifying opportunities for network expansion.

D) performing system analysis and design.

25) Which of the following has been reduced by the growing capabilities of users?

A) network operations

B) systems architecture

C) system maintenance

D) business requirements identification

26) The IS Lite model suggests that today's IS department should concentrate on:

A) driving innovation.

B) managing supplier and user relationships.

C) developing website content.

D) Both A and B

27) In the IS Lite model the development of Web site standards and operations is an example of

the:

A) outsource model.

B) federal model.

C) decentralization model.

D) None of the above

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28) Which of the following is true of today's CIOs?

A) They are expected to safeguard the privacy of customer data.

B) They need to look for IT innovations.

C) They are expected to do more with not as much money.

D) All of the above

29) The role of the IS executive in the ________ was that of being an operational manager of IS.

A) mainframe era

B) distributed era

C) Web era

D) None of the above

30) The role of the IS executive in the ________ was to align IT with the business.

A) mainframe era

B) distributed era

C) Web era

D) None of the above

31) The role of the IS executive in the ________ was to be that os a business visionary.

A) mainframe era

B) distributed era

C) Web era

D) None of the above

32) During the distributed era, which role did the CIO have to take on?

A) organizational designer

B) technology architect

C) informed buyer

D) All of the above

33) Which of the following is a method that a CIO could use to learn more about the business?

A) sponsor weekly briefings

B) read industry publications

C) partner with a line executive

D) All of the above

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34) The assignment of decision rights and the accountability framework to encourage desirable

behavior in the use of IT is referred to as:

A) knowledge management.

B) IT governance.

C) strategic alignment.

D) None of the above

35) Which type of risk should be addressed by project managers within their project proposals?

A) risk that the project will fail

B) risk of not doing the project

C) risk that it is the wrong project for what is trying to be achieved

D) All of the above

36)

Which of the following does not represent traditional IS functions?

A) running computers and networks

B) developing and maintaining systems

C)

setting a strategy and maintaining an architecture for BOTH IT and information

D) helping articulate what the business needs from IT

E) None of the above

37) Governance differs from management in that:

A) governance is about why decisions are made, whereas management is about deciding

who makes decisions.

B) governance is about when decisions are made, whereas management is about deciding

why decisions are made.

C) governance is about making decisions once decision rights have been assigned,

whereas management is about deciding who makes decisions.

D) governance is about deciding who makes decisions, whereas management is about

making decisions once decision rights have been assigned.

38) The type of governance arrangement where rights are shared by C-level executives and one

other

tier of the business hierarchy, such as business-unit presidents is called:

A) Anarchy.

B) Duopoly.

C) Federal.

D) Business Monarchy.

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39) The type of governance arrangement where one IT group and one business group share a

right is called:

A) Anarchy.

B) Duopoly.

C) Federal.

D) Business Monarchy.

40) IT investments, in industries that depend on information processing, create the greatest

productivity increases when:

A) the IT investments targeted the main levers of productivity.

B) the IT investments were made in the right sequence and at the right time.

C) the IT investments were complemented with innovations in management.

D) All of the above

41) Briefly describe the five IT waves of innovation.

42) Briefly describe Cox's four functions of IS.

43) Distinguish between the roles of the CIO in the mainframe, distributed, and Web Eras.

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44) List five approaches a CIO could use to increase their understanding of the business and

environment.

45) Why has IT governance become a prominent issue?

46) Why should a CIO develop a strategic vision?

47) How can the risk of technological change be managed?

48) Briefly describe the Enterprise wide Information Management Model.

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49) List three traditional responsibilities of IS and describe how these responsibilities can be

“nibbled” away IS departments.

50) List and briefly describe three decision domains from the Broadbent and Weill IT

governance arrangements matrix.

Information Systems Management 8th Edition