Accounting Information Systems, 13e (Romney/Steinbart)
Chapter 20 Introduction to Systems Development and Systems Analysis
20.1 Explain the five phases of the systems development life cycle.
1) A company that invests in a system in the hopes of improving product or service quality is
attempting to use their information system to gain
A) a competitive advantage.
B) improved business processes.
C) productivity gains.
D) better systems integration.
2) An information system used by an furniture maker took 48 hours to process an order received
over the internet. After upgrading the system, processing time was reduced to sixty seconds. This
is an example of
A) a competitive advantage.
B) a technological change.
C) an improved business process.
D) growth.
3) What is the correct sequence of the phases in the systems development life cycle?
A) conceptual design, physical design, system analysis, implementation and conversion, and
operations and maintenance
B) operations and maintenance, conceptual design, system analysis, physical design,
implementation and conversion
C) system analysis, conceptual design, physical design, implementation and conversion, and
operations and maintenance
D) system analysis, physical design, conceptual design, and operations and maintenance,
implementation and conversion
4) In which phase of the systems development life cycle are the broad needs of the users
converted into detailed specifics that are coded and tested?
A) conceptual design
B) implementation and conversion
C) physical design
D) systems analysis
5) The purpose of systems analysis is to
A) identify the problem to be solved by the new (or redesigned) system and the causes of the
problem in the current system.
B) determine design specifications for the new (or redesigned) system.
C) communicate information needs to consider during business process reengineering.
D) discover any violations of policies established by the information systems steering committee.
6) Which of the following activities is performed during the systems development life cycle?
A) assessing the ongoing feasibility of the project
B) managing the behavioral reactions to change
C) planning
D) All of the above activities are performed during the life cycle.
7) The ________ step of the systems development life cycle (SDLC) identifies and evaluates
design alternatives and to develop design specifications.
A) conceptual design.
B) implementation and conversion.
C) physical design.
D) systems analysis.
8) All of the elements of the system come together in which step of the systems development life
cycle?
A) conceptual design
B) implementation and conversion
C) physical design
D) systems analysis
9) When would a company go through a systems development life cycle?
A) only when major changes are needed
B) only when minor changes are needed
C) anytime changes are needed
D) Usually a company only goes through one complete systems development life cycle, after
which the only phase that is repeated is the operations and maintenance phase.
10) Identify the main reasons why companies change existing systems?
11) Describe the physical design stage of the systems development life cycle.
12) Identify the statement below that is not a major reason companies change their information
systems.
A) in response to changes in user needs
B) in response to technological changes
C) to gain a competitive advantage
D) to take advantage of tax benefits
13) Approximately what percentage of software development projects are cancelled before they
are ever completed?
A) 70%
B) 30%
C) 66%
D) 54%
14) Fairfax Corporation uses two systems for revenue cycle transaction processing. One system
keeps track of customer sales. The other system keeps track of accounts receivable. Last year,
Fairfax Corporation decided to merge the two systems into one so that both functions could be
performed in the same system. This is an example of
A) competitive advantage.
B) technological innovation.
C) productivity gains.
D) systems integration.
20.2 Discuss the people involved in systems development and the roles they play.
1) Which group of individuals listed below can be the most effective in generating employee
support and encouraging the development and acceptance of an AIS project?
A) accountants
B) information systems steering committee
C) management
D) project development team
2) Who is responsible for ensuring that the new system will meet the needs of users?
A) accountants
B) system programmers
C) the project development team
D) system analysts
3) Who is responsible for preparing the specifications used to create or revise system programs?
A) management
B) system programmers
C) systems analysts
D) accountants
4) What role does the information systems steering committee play in the systems development
process?
A) It guides project development.
B) It is an executive-level group established to plan and oversee the information systems
function.
C) It designs system controls and periodically monitors the system to verify the controls are
implemented and functioning properly.
D) None of the descriptions above are appropriate.
5) Who is responsible for planning and monitoring a project to ensure timely and cost-effective
completion?
A) information systems steering committee
B) management
C) project development team
D) accountants
6) Who prepares a systems analysis report?
A) computer analysts
B) management
C) the project development team
D) the steering committee
7) Identify the individuals who make up the project development team and describe the team’s
purpose.
8) Identify and discuss the role of the groups that influence the development and implementation
of an AIS.
9) An effective project development team consists of
A) systems analysts.
B) accountants.
C) users.
D) all of the above
10) Who should communicate frequently with users and hold regular meetings to consider ideas
and discuss progress so there are no surprises upon project completion?
A) information systems steering committee
B) management
C) project development team
D) accountants
11) True or False: External parties may need to participate in an organization’s systems
development and analysis process.
12) Who is responsible for maintaining existing computer programs?
A) management
B) system programmers
C) systems analysts
D) accountants
20.3 Explain the importance of systems development planning and describe planning
techniques.
1) Which of the following statements about systems development is true?
A) Planning throughout the systems development life cycle promotes coordination between
systems and strategic plans.
B) Organizations should conduct systems development activities at least once every five years.
C) The systems development steps are critical for profit-oriented businesses, but are too
expensive and time consuming for most not-for-profit organizations.
D) Diligently following the steps and suggestions in the systems development life cycle ensures
the final system will meet user needs and be implemented at or below the budgeted cost.
2) Which of the following about planning for systems development is false?
A) Project plans are developed for each new system and each system modification. Then, these
project plans are combined together to form the master plan.
B) A project development plan includes an economic feasibility analysis and a schedule of
activities.
C) The master plan identifies system goals, who will develop the system, and the resources that
will be needed.
D) The master plan includes details about organizational goals, existing systems and resources,
projects being conducted, and predictions of future needs and requirements.
3) All of the following are benefits of planning and managing systems development except
A) controlling costs.
B) ensuring systems are consistent with organizational goals.
C) guaranteeing that employees use the system.
D) aids in keeping the organization abreast of technological change.
4) In which tool is a prioritized list of projects contained?
A) project development plan
B) implementation plan
C) the master plan
D) all of the above
5) The ________ is the basic building block of information systems planning.
A) master plan
B) project development plan
C) systems analysis plan
D) implementation plan
6) A planning horizon of at least ________ years is common for any master plan; however, the
plan should be updated at least ________ each year.
A) 3; four times
B) 5; four times
C) 3; two times
D) 5; two times
7) ________ requires that all activities and the precedent and subsequent relationships among
them be identified.
A) A CASE diagram
B) A Gantt chart
C) A PERT diagram
D) A SDLC cycle
8) A network of arrows and nodes representing project activities that require an expenditure of
time and resources and the completion of initiation of activities, respectively, is called
A) a Gantt chart.
B) a PERT diagram.
C) a SDLC cycle.
D) CASE.
9) Which planning technique does not show the relationships among various activities?
A) Gantt chart
B) PERT
C) the critical path method
D) VAN
10) Refer to the diagram below, where the numbers next to the arrows refer to the number of
days required for completion of the corresponding activity. What is the critical path?
A) A-B-D-F
B) A-C-E-F
C) A-B-D-E-F
D) A-C-B-D-F
E) A-C-B-D-E-F
11) Refer to the diagram below, where the numbers next to the arrows refer to the number of
days required for completion of the corresponding activity. What is the critical path?
A) A-B-D-F
B) A-C-E-F
C) A-B-D-E-F
D) A-C-B-D-F
E) A-C-B-D-E-F
12) Refer to the diagram below, where the numbers next to the arrows refer to the number of
days required for completion of the corresponding activity. What is the critical path?
A) A-B-D-F
B) A-C-E-F
C) A-B-D-E-F
D) A-C-B-D-F
E) A-C-B-D-E-F
13) Describe the importance of the master plan in systems development.
14) PERT is an acronym that stands for
A) program evaluation and review technique.
B) process effort and resource table.
C) preliminary expenditures and revision template.
D) performance effectiveness and refinement target.
15) Identify the statement below that best describes a Gantt chart.
A) a network of arrows and nodes representing project activities
B) a bar chart with project activities on the left-hand side and units of time across the top
C) a pie chart with the size of estimated expenditures represented as slices
D) a scatterplot diagram with activities on the Y access and dots representing the potential
expenditures of each activity
16) One disadvantage of a Gantt chart is the fact that
A) it does not show the entire schedule for a project.
B) it does not show project progress.
C) it does not show relationships among project activities.
D) it does not permit an individual to quickly determine which activities are behind schedule.
20.4 Discuss the various types of feasibility analysis and calculate economic feasibility.
1) A feasibility study should first be performed in the ________ stage of the systems
development life cycle.
A) conceptual design
B) implementation and conversion
C) physical design
D) system analysis
2) Suppose a state law mandates that the firm maintained certain sales information. Where
should this requirement be considered in a feasibility study?
A) economic feasibility
B) legal feasibility
C) operational feasibility
D) technical feasibility
3) The most important and is frequently re-analyzed part of a feasibility study is the ________
aspect.
A) economic feasibility
B) operational feasibility
C) scheduling feasibility
D) technical feasibility
4) ________ model is the basic model used to create a framework for an economic feasibility
analysis.
A) The capital budgeting
B) The cash budgeting
C) The cost/benefit
D) All of the above models are used to create a feasibility framework.
5) It is most difficult to quantify ________ when assessing economic feasibility.
A) benefits
B) costs
C) the payback period
D) costs, benefits, and the payback period
6) Companies usually accept the project with the ________ when using the payback method to
determine a project’s economic feasibility.
A) longest payback period
B) weighted average payback period
C) payback period that is equal to the project’s economic life
D) shortest payback period
7) A consideration of whether an organization’s employees will use a new or revised system
represents the ________ aspect of a feasibility study.
A) economic feasibility
B) operational feasibility
C) scheduling feasibility
D) technical feasibility
8) Estimating benefits and expenditures to determine whether a proposed system would be
beneficial is known as
A) the “best guess” model of benefit analysis.
B) the “value added” benefit model.
C) the capital budgeting model.
D) the estimated benefits model.
9) Estimating future cash flows and discounting them back to the present is part of which capital
budgeting technique?
A) the future value method
B) the internal rate of return
C) the net present value method
D) the payback method
10) Refer to the table below, which shows the results of payback, net present value, and internal
rate of return analysis of four projects. Which is preferred by the payback criterion?
A) Project A
B) Project B
C) Project C
D) Project D
11) Refer to the table below, which shows the results of payback, net present value, and internal
rate of return analysis of four projects. Which is preferred by the net present value criterion?
A) Project A
B) Project B
C) Project C
D) Project D