Business Essentials, 12e (Ebert/Griffin)
Chapter 14 Information Technology (IT) for Business
1) Which of the following BEST describes enterprise resource planning?
A) An information processing application for routine business activities of a company’s business
units
B) An information system for organizing and managing a firm’s activities across product lines,
departments, and geographic locations
C) A system used for transforming data into information for use in decision making
D) A computer-based electronic technology that assists in designing products by simulating a
real product and displaying it in three-dimensional graphics
E) An internal inventory of a company’s product lines
2) Which of the following allows companies to produce in large volumes, but customers to
purchase based on unique feature options?
A) Mass production
B) Unit production
C) Process management
D) Mass-customization
E) Anti-virus software
3) How can e-commerce help businesses with scattered geographical locations better compete?
A) By coordinating remote deliveries
B) By creating portable offices
C) By creating leaner, more efficient organizations
D) By fostering increased collaboration
E) By improving management processes
4) Which of the following allow(s) businesses to save time and travel expenses by enabling
employees and suppliers to communicate from any location?
A) Coordinated activities in a centralized location
B) Portable offices
C) Delivery of goods from several remote locations
D) Simpler corporate structures
E) Network technology
5) How do IT communications support leaner, more efficient organizations?
A) By increasing collaborative efforts among all employees
B) By supporting shared activities between buyers and sellers
C) By providing better use of employee skills and greater efficiencies instead of resources
D) By allowing for more rapid exchange of information in the global market
E) By improving the management process
6) Which of the following is an essential element in coordinating design and testing while
minimizing costs?
A) Streamlined management processes
B) Improved global communications
C) Digital collaboration on a massive scale
D) Global technical collaboration
E) Fewer employees with a wider range of skills
7) Which of the following allows for instantaneous information designed to improve the
management process?
A) Mass customization
B) Global exchange software
C) Collaboration software
D) Enterprise resource planning
E) Shared activity planning
8) Flexible production and speedy delivery found in mass customization are dependent on which
of the following?
A) Unique features
B) Buyers tastes
C) Coordination between customers and manufacturers
D) Adaptable assembly lines
E) Integrated networks
9) Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is popular with consumers, but has hurt productivity.
10) Information networks are leading to leaner companies with fewer employees and simpler
organizational structures.
11) Enterprise resource planning (ERP) may allow a firm to check on the status of any customer
order for specific products.
12) Mass-customization tends to reduce the volume in which companies produce.
13) An application server, an e-mail server, and a print server are all computers that provide
services that may be shared by users.
14) Explain the principle of mass-customization.
15) How has information technology affected organizational structure in terms of the number of
employees and the organizational structure?
16) How might networks and technology lead to leaner companies?
17) Discuss the impacts information technology has had on the business world.
18) Which of the following BEST describes an extranet?
A) A software and hardware system that prevents outsiders from accessing a company’s network
B) A tool that searches Web pages containing the user’s search terms and then displays pages
that match
C) A private network of internal Web sites and other sources of information available to a
company’s employees
D) An Internet connection allowing outsiders limited access to a firm’s internal information
system
E) A delivery system linked to production schedules
19) What type of system allows customers electronic access to a supplier’s delivery times,
potentially increasing sales, profits, customer service, and loyalty?
A) Distribution channel
B) Intranet
C) Handbook
D) Extranet
E) Product availability
20) What system includes data conferencing and videoconferencing?
A) Electronic communication systems
B) Electronic conferencing
C) Group conferencing
D) Data communication networks
E) Data mining
21) What advantage does a communication system using VSAT satellite have?
A) Speed
B) Low cost
C) Privacy
D) Groupware
E) Spyware
22) What does a company need to operate so that it has total control over its communications
without dependence on other companies?
A) Its own Web site
B) Its own VSAT system
C) An extranet
D) Its own groupware site
E) Enterprise planning
23) What is the most common type of network used in businesses?
A) Intranet
B) Client-server
C) Blogs
D) Hotspot
E) Anti-virus
24) What is the major limitation of Wi-Fi?
A) High cost
B) Availability
C) Productivity
D) Limited distance
E) Installation challenges
25) What are keyboards, monitors, and printers examples of?
A) Controls
B) Hardware
C) Software
D) Databases
E) Servers
26) Who generally has access to intranets?
A) Employees
B) Suppliers
C) Customers
D) Shareholders
E) Dealers
27) What system allows outsiders limited access to a firm’s internal information systems?
A) Intranets
B) Firewalls
C) Extranets
D) Directories
E) Satellites
28) What is a computer-based system that allows people to communicate simultaneously from
different locations via telephone, e-mail, or video?
A) Hotspots
B) Intranet
C) A management information system
D) Electronic conferencing
E) Hypertext
29) What feature allows people in remote locations to work simultaneously on one document?
A) Videoconferencing
B) Voice mail
C) Data conferencing
D) Digital information service
E) Text messaging
30) What type of network links computers and workstations, usually within one building?
A) Satellite communication
B) Global positioning
C) Personal digital
D) Wide area
E) Local area
31) In client-server networks, who or what is the usual client?
A) The computer through which users make requests for information
B) The application through which users answer information requests
C) The customer who does business online
D) The supplier who checks the availability of components
E) The network which supports the database and software systems
32) What feature does a firewall provide?
A) Internet access
B) Protection from electrical surges
C) Connectivity between stations in a LAN
D) Privacy protection
E) Links to computers in a WAN
33) Which component directs the computer to the correct resources to use, and how to use them?
A) An application program
B) System software
C) An electronic spreadsheet
D) A database
E) Management information systems
34) Which type of communication technology is attractive to businesses because it eliminates
travel expenses by allowing simultaneous communication globally?
A) Groupware
B) Extranets
C) Intranets
D) Hotspots
E) Client-server networks
35) What advantage does a super Wi-Fi network offer over other wireless technologies?
A) Signals flow freely through physical objects.
B) Software tells the computer what resources and applications to use.
C) More data can be stored and converted.
D) A wireless local area network can be used instead of a wide area network.
E) The client-server network can link other resources, such as printers.
36) What can be used to link all computers in an organization over long distances?
A) WiMAX
B) Wide area networks
C) Wireless networks
D) Local area networks
E) Wi-Fi
37) “Hotspots” in places such as coffee shops and airports access wireless Internet connections
using
A) wide area networks.
B) simple storage service (S3).
C) public cloud computing.
D) wireless local area networks.
E) client-server networks.
38) Which of the following is a disadvantage of wireless local area networks?
A) There is often a fee to access the hotspot.
B) The network is only available for an area of about 30 miles.
C) The hotspot must be able to utilize the worldwide interoperability for microwave access
system.
D) The connection can be interrupted by walls and beams.
E) There are limited natural-sounding voice interface capabilities.
39) What is used to provide privacy protection on a wireless wide area network?
A) WiMax
B) Groupware
C) Firewalls
D) Data warehousing
E) Data mining
40) What does a wireless wide area network use to link computers and electronic devices over
long distances?
A) Application programs
B) Hotspots
C) Access points
D) Client-server networks
E) Airborne electronic signals
41) Electronic conferencing is popular because it reduces travel expenses and saves money.
42) One pitfall with VSAT satellite communications is that they tend to lack privacy.
43) In a client-server network, the client is typically a customer or supplier.
44) System software tells the computer’s hardware how to interact with the software, what
resources to use, and how to use them.
45) IBM’s Visualization Data Explorer is an example of groupware.
46) Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) is a basic communications protocol used to receive e-
mail.
47) Hardware consists of programs that tell a computer how to function.
48) Identify the IT resources businesses have at their disposal and how these resources are used.
49) Why is electronic conferencing a desirable alternative for business?
50) Differentiate between data conferencing and videoconferencing.
51) How do companies use intranets to improve productivity and performance?
52) Discuss the advantages to developing a super Wi-Fi network.
53) Compare wide area networks with local area networks and indicate why a firm would use
one over the other.
54) Who is the person in charge of operating the systems used for gathering, organizing, and
distributing information?
A) Production Manager
B) Operations Manager
C) Information Systems Manager
D) Research and Development Manager
E) Communications Manager
55) What is the term used for searching, sifting, and reorganizing pools of data to uncover useful
information?
A) Data warehousing
B) Data access
C) Data tapping
D) Data cleaning
E) Data mining