Enterprise Systems for Management, 2e (Motiwalla/Thompson)
Chapter 2 Systems Integration
1) When data has to be manually re-entered from one system into another system, this indicates
that the systems have seamless integration.
2) When systems are integrated they can share information in real-time.
3) ERP systems allow organizations to integrate heterogeneous systems into one with an
integrated database system.
4) Until recently, information systems and organizations have evolved into functional silos.
5) Mid-level managers typically focus on planning the long-term strategy of the organization.
6) The current classification of organizations into departments like Accounting and Human
Resources shows how the organizational structure evolved by breaking complex tasks into
smaller, manageable tasks.
7) Organizations have horizontal and vertical divisions.
8) When organizations get large and complex they tend to break functions into larger units and
assign one or more staff the responsibility for these activities.
9) When organizations get large and complex sharing of information happens only at higher
levels of management.
10) The functional silo problem gave birth to BPR.
11) The business process view flattens the organization structure from a matrix to a hierarchical
structure.
12) Information systems that work independently and are grouped by the various functions
and/or departments are known as silos.
13) Independent information systems are good for sharing data between users.
14) Functional silos deliver value through their cross-functional performance but are evaluated
for their functional performance.
15) Silo environments help to foster enterprise decision-making and overall effectiveness.
16) The functional model of POSDCORB (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing,
Coordinating, Reporting, Budgeting) dates back to the 1930s yet is still in use today.
17) The distributed system architecture has been commonly used in organizations for quite some
time.
18) The first generation of computer architecture was the decentralized approach.
19) In a decentralized computer architecture, every user is given a personal computer.
20) A centralized computer architecture is based on using servers to share data and applications.
21) A distributed architecture is good for ERP systems because they are flexible and scalable.
22) The manufacturing area has basically the same information needs and reporting requirements
as the marketing area.
23) Transaction processing systems are designed to support office workers.
24) Decision support systems take data from the TPSs in the organization to help managers make
better decisions.
25) Expert systems are a type of Executive Support System to support top-level executives.
26) Silos will probably not prevent customer service representatives from accessing customer
data payment records in real-time.
27) Systems integration can’t help employees at a lower levels make better decisions and feel
more empowered and productive.
28) The people issues are the most challenging in systems integration.
29) Functional department heads will probably lose control of the data they produce in an
integrated system.
30) Getting employee buy-in on a systems integration project is very critical for the success of
the integrated system.
31) One consequence of making information more easily shared will be that integrated systems
won’t make it easier to get illegal access to the data.
32) CEOs and Presidents are involved in planning the long-term strategy of the organization.
33) Lower-level managers rarely focus on the day-to-day operations of the organization.
34) A cross-functional task such as order processing involves interactions between sales,
warehousing and accounting.
35) Heterogeneous or independent non-integrated systems create bottlenecks, interfere with
productivity, and breed inaccurate data.
36) The three major types of information system architectures include centralized, decentralized
and distributed systems architectures.
37) Today’s information systems are based on a centralized architecture that allows sharing of
applications and data resources between the end user and the server computers.
38) The distributed system architecture is very complex requiring careful planning and design.
39) Information systems support the major functional areas of a business including
manufacturing, finance, accounting, human resources, and marketing.
40) Operating systems and databases are examples of systems that support the end-users directly.
41) A(n) ________ provides a visual dashboard of strategic information to top-level management
in real time.
A) DSS
B) TPS
C) ESS
D) OAS
42) Information systems that are used for generating reports for mid-level managers are known
as:
A) ESS.
B) DSS.
C) databases.
D) MIS.
43) Systems integration means allowing access to a shared data resource by people from
different ________ areas of the organization.
A) functional
B) geographical
C) decisional
D) logical
44) At the physical level, systems integration means providing seamless connectivity between
________ systems.
A) software
B) functional
C) distributed
D) heterogeneous
45) Business ________ reengineering involves changing the mindset of employees to do their
tasks in a new way.
A) software
B) system
C) process
D) task
E) function
46) To get employees to do their task in a new way, managers must get them to shift their focus
from achieving ________ goals to organizational goals.
A) procedural
B) departmental
C) functional
D) individual
E) practical
47) One step in the systems integration process is to develop a policy on whether older,
________ systems will be supported and maintained.
A) business
B) functional
C) departmental
D) legacy
48) To avoid support and maintenance problems with the integrated system it is important to
create a ________ IT help desk and support.
A) strategic
B) business
C) centralized
D) network
E) distributed
49) If there is a system failure or a major disaster it is crucial that a good ________ system for
the integrated system be in place.
A) hardware
B) backup and recovery
C) database
D) crisis management
E) electrical
50) The first step in systems integration is to take inventory of the various IT ________ being
used in the organization.
A) resources
B) databases
C) hardware components
D) integrated systems
E) web-enabled applications
51) ________ tools are good for short-term integration of existing applications in the
organization.
A) Hardware
B) Data integration
C) Real-time access
D) Business process integration
E) Middleware
52) In general, the biggest benefits of implementing an integrated system include a reduction in
inventory and ________ costs.
A) personnel
B) direct
C) material
D) silo
E) indirect
53) Being able to approve a customer’s credit application on the spot is an example of how
integrated systems can provide better:
A) resources.
B) market research.
C) information visibility.
D) support.
54) A side benefit of integration is that the organization is forced to ________ its hardware,
software, and IT policies.
A) review
B) reengineer
C) upgrade
D) standardize
55) Because of the high initial setup costs for the integrated system, it is particularly crucial to
have a strong commitment from:
A) the consultants.
B) the IT staff.
C) top management.
D) the employees.
56) Because systems integration often involves sharing information across departments, this
often creates ________ among the functional departments.
A) power conflicts
B) new opportunities
C) network failures
D) better decisions
57) Many benefits of integrated systems are ________ so they are difficult to quantify.
A) financial
B) operational
C) intangible
D) decisional
E) tangible
58) ERP systems are integrated, multi-module ________ software packages.
A) network
B) web-service
C) database
D) application
E) platform
59) At the ________ level, ERP systems require organizations to focus on business processes
rather than functions.
A) presentation
B) logical
C) middleware
D) physical
E) hardware
60) ERP systems come with built-in ________ for a variety of functions such as entering a
customer order.
A) tasks
B) vendors
C) processes
D) users
E) roles
61) Because of an ERP system, customers should be able to find out ________ the current status
of their orders.
A) eventually
B) on the web
C) in real-time
D) quickly
62) Hershey’s ERP project failed initially because they failed to break their existing:
A) chocolate bars.
B) functional silos.
C) cross-functional roles.
D) hardware resources.
E) software development patterns.
63) The current generation of ERP systems does not work well with ________ architecture on
legacy platforms.
A) in-house
B) distributed
C) grid
D) centralized
E) cross-platform
64) An organization that wants to connect its systems with its partners and suppliers needs to
have a robust ________ system in place.
A) supply chain
B) ERP
C) DSS
D) TPS
65) One benefit of ERP systems is that they allow organizations to quickly form and break
________ with other companies.
A) networks
B) web services
C) protocols
D) alliances
66) Integrated systems should ________ share information with one another.
A) never
B) slowly
C) rarely
D) seamlessly
67) Manually reentering data in a system ________ leads to more errors and inaccuracies.
A) rarely
B) usually
C) always
D) never
68) Early business organizations focused on breaking complex work tasks into ________ tasks
that could be more easily managed and controlled.
A) larger
B) more complex
C) smaller
D) non-working
69) The hierarchical layers of an organization from strategic planning to operational control
represent ________ silos.
A) horizontal
B) matrix
C) corn
D) vertical
70) As organizations get more ________ and more virtual, information sharing and
communication problems get worse.
A) centralized
B) geographically dispersed
C) automated
D) integrated
71) The business process view flattens the organization from a hierarchical to a ________
structure.
A) vertical
B) relational
C) matrix
D) horizontal
72) A(n) ________ organization focuses all its business processes around improving its
relationship with its customers.
A) sales oriented
B) non-profit
C) vertical
D) customer-centric
73) ________ systems focus on individual tasks and/or functions rather than on a process and
supporting team collaboration.
A) Matrix
B) Vertical
C) Hierarchical
D) Silo
74) In silo systems information is captured and re-entered several times and is not available in
________.
A) batches
B) real-time
C) back-ups
D) hardcopy
75) The evolution of Information Systems is often viewed as a(n) ________ change process in
which technologies, human factors, organizational relationships and tasks change continuously.
A) easy
B) automated
C) simplified
D) socio-technical
76) How have organizations evolved into vertical silos over the years? What impact does this
have on information sharing?
77) How have organizations evolved into horizontal silos over the years? What impact does this
have on information sharing?
78) List and describe at least three different limitations of systems integration.
79) How does changing from a functional view to a process view of the business impact the
structure of the organization?
80) Describe three different limitations of integrating systems.
81) List and describe the three main information system architectures.
82) What is a distributed architecture? Why is it used so much for integrated systems such as
ERP?
83) Briefly describe three different levels in an organization and the different categories of
information systems that support them.
84) What is the difference between logical and physical systems integration? Give an example of
each.
85) Describe three different benefits of integrating systems.