Chapter 1 Data: The New Corporate Resource
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Last Update: November 7, 2011— 5AM
Chapter 1: Data: The New Corporate Resource
Multiple Choice
1. All of the following were early forms of record keeping associated with the rise of
cities, except _____.
a. marriage records
b. family trees
c. annual reports
d. calendars
e. church contribution records
2. The Crusades eventually led to an increased interest in record keeping because _____.
a. they introduced Europeans to the possibilities of expanded trade
b. data was required for military activities
c. they involved the use of clay tokens sealed in hollow clay vessels
d. they required annual reports
e. none of the above
3. Double-entry bookkeeping _____.
a. was an outgrowth of the practice of sealing marked clay tokens in clay vessels
b. was an outgrowth of trading partnerships
c. became the “Code of Commerce” in France
d. was developed in England
e. was an early way of storing census data
4. The forerunner of the annual report was the Code of Commerce, which was instituted
in 1673 in _____.
a. France
b. England
Chapter 1 Data: The New Corporate Resource
c. Greece
d. Turkey
e. Italy
5. In 1805, Jacquard invented _____ as a data storage medium for storing patterns to be
woven into cloth.
a. magnetic tape
b. punched cards
c. floppy disks
d. double-entry bookkeeping
e. notches in wooden sticks
6. The data processing equipment that Herman Hollerith developed for the 1890 U.S.
census is classified as electro- _____ equipment.
a. optical
b. physical
c. rotational
d. mechanical
e. chemical
7. The data processing equipment that Herman Hollerith developed for the 1890 U.S.
census used _____ as a data storage medium.
a. magnetic tape
b. punched cards
c. floppy disks
d. double-entry bookkeeping
e. notches in wooden sticks
8. All of the following were types of electro-mechanical, punched card based devices,
except _____.
a. calculators
b. collators
c. punches
d. sorters
e. disk drives
9. The earliest (1870s) form of modern data storage was _____.
a. magnetic tape
b. magnetic disk
c. punched paper tape
d. optical disk
e. magnetic drum
10. Which of the following is the correct order in which these magnetic storage
technologies were introduced?
a. tape, drum, disk
b. disk, tape, drum
c. tape, disk, drum
d. drum, disk, tape
e. drum, tape, disk
11. All of the following are terms associated with magnetic disk technology, except
_____.
a. fixed
b. removable
c. non-removable
d. punched
e. multi-platter
12. Optical disk technology is based on _____.
a. radar
b. lasers
c. fusion
d. sonar
e. phasers
13. All of the following are kinds of corporate resources, except _____.
a. data
b. capital
c. inventory
d. plant and equipment
e. competitors
14. All of the following are challenges to the efficient storage and access of data, except
_____.
a. the data type
b. the data volume
c. the number of people who want access to the data
d. data security
e. data privacy
15. The software that was developed to handle the increasing volumes of data and treat it
as a corporate resource is called a(n) _____.
a. disk management system
b. file management system
c. optical management system
d. database management system
e. security management system
Chapter 1 Data: The New Corporate Resource
True/False
1. The pebbles-in-the-pouch technique used by ancient Middle Eastern shepherds to
keep track of their sheep was a primitive example of data storage and retrieval.
2. In ancient times, hollow clay vessels with descriptively marked clay tokens sealed in
them were primitive examples of annual reports.
3. The rise of cities encouraged the development of data because people depended on
each other for goods and services.
4. Blaise Pascal invented a mechanical adding machine in the 1640s in order to help his
father with a data tracking problem.
5. Jacquard’s loom included the invention of magnetic tape for data storage.
6. The data processing equipment that Herman Hollerith developed for the 1890 U.S.
census is classified as electro-mechanical equipment.
7. The magnetic disk was developed before the magnetic drum.
8. Some magnetic disks have only a single platter.
9. All magnetic disks are non-removable.
10. Optical disk technology is based on lasers.
11. Data is a corporate resource.
12. Capital is the corporate resource that describes all of the other corporate resources.
13. The efficient storage and access of data is challenged by increasing data volumes and
decreasing numbers of people who want access to the data.
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14. Data security and data privacy are two factors that affect the efficient storage and
access of data.
15. A database management system is software that is designed to handle large amounts
of data efficiently.
Problems
Notes to the Instructor:
1. Certain examples were developed throughout the text and other examples were used
repeatedly in the exercises and minicases at the ends of the text chapters. Continuing
this strategy, two examples, one on a zoo and one on an airline, will be used in the
test bank problems. Each individual problem will be written in an independent
fashion so that there should be no problem using, say, a zoo problem on one of your
exams and an airline problem on another. In fact, some details of the problem
statements may change from chapter to chapter to make specific points, meaning that
the individual problem statements must be independent, anyway.
2. The zoo problem will be based on the “Central” Zoo; you can easily substitute any
city or other name for “Central” in the problem. Geographic examples in the airline
problems will generally be based on U.S. cities but can easily be modified to any
other country. Some of the examples may be international in nature.
3. The formats of the problems will in some cases deliberately follow the formats of the
questions in the end-of-chapter exercises and minicases. Our philosophy is that the
student should be able to demonstrate that he or she has learned the material by
working on the homework problems and can now successfully apply it to other
examples in the exams. Once again, though, the test bank problems are self-
contained and independent and do not depend on the students having been assigned
the end-of-chapter exercises or minicases.
1. The Central Zoo has decided to build a database to help it manage its operations. It is
interested in keeping track of its animals, the cages or other enclosures in which they
live, and the zookeepers and veterinarians who care for the animals. It also wants to
track the college degrees or training courses that the zookeepers have completed. Also,
the zoo has members who make annual donations to the zoo and, optionally, can
“sponsor” specific animals by specifically contributing to their annual upkeep.
Chapter 1 Data: The New Corporate Resource
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a. Using this introductory description of (and hints about) the Central Zoo Database,
make a list of the things in the zoo environment about which you think the zoo
would want to maintain data.
b. How can Central Zoo use this data to improve its operations? For example, it might
keep track of which veterinarians treated which animals and what they did.
2. Grand Travel Airlines has decided to build a database to help it manage its operations.
It is interested in keeping track of its airplanes, the airports to which they fly, its
passengers and the trips they have taken, its employees, and data about the maintenance
of its airplanes.
a. Using this introductory description of (and hints about) the Grand Travel Airlines,
make a list of the things in the company’s environment about which you think the
company would want to maintain data.
b. How can Grand Travel Airlines use this data to improve its operations and gain a
competitive advantage?
Answer