Exam
Name___________________________________
1. The cost of a project is based on the time taken to complete the project.
2. An information system project’s scope is directly related to its business requirements.
3. The information systems steering committee is composed of information systems managers and end–user
managers responsible for overseeing several specific information systems projects.
4. An information systems plan contains a statement of corporate goals and specifies how information
technology will support the attainment of those goals.
5. If an intended benefit of an IT project is improved decision making, managers should develop a set of
metrics to quantify the value of an improved decision.
6. Scoring models are used most commonly to support decisions rather than as the final arbiters of system
selection.
7. Transaction and clerical systems that displace labor and save space typically produce more measurable,
tangible benefits than management information systems.
8. Intangible benefits cannot be immediately quantified but may lead to quantifiable gains in the long run.
9. A benefit of using TCO analysis to evaluate an information technology investment is that it is able to
incorporate intangible and “soft” factors such as benefits and complexity costs.
10. More timely information is a tangible benefit of information systems.
11. Real options pricing models use the concept of options valuation borrowed from the financial industry.
12. The larger the systems project, the more risk the project runs in terms of being completed on time, within
budget, and according to project requirements.
13. The systems analyst is the catalyst for the entire change process and is responsible for making sure that
everyone involved accepts the changes created by a new system.
14. The relationship between users and information systems specialists has traditionally been a problem area for
information systems implementation efforts.
15. User concerns and designer concerns are usually the same at the beginning of the project but may diverge
later as the system is built.
16. A Gantt chart graphically depicts project tasks and their interrelationships.
17. Mandatory use of a system is one effective way of overcoming user resistance to an information system.
18. Counterimplementation refers to a deliberate strategy to thwart the implementation of an information
system or an innovation in an organization.
19. The design of jobs, health issues, and the end–user interface of information systems are all considerations in
the field of ergonomics.
20. The goal of sociotechnical design is to create systems with better user interfaces and contribute to fewer
health issues.
21. On average, private sector IT projects underestimated budget and delivery time of systems by ________
percent.
A) 30
B) 40
C) 60
D) 50
22. As discussed in the chapter, which of the following is not one of the immediate consequences of inadequate
software project management?
A) organizational conflict
B) cost overruns
C) technical shortfalls
D) time slippage
23. Which of the following is not one of the five main variables affecting project success?
A) goals
B) time
C) risk
D) quality
24. At the top of the management structure for information systems projects in a large company is
A) the board of directors.
B) project management.
C) the CIO.
D) the corporate strategic planning group.
25. The ________ reviews and approves plans for systems in all divisions.
A) project team
B) IS steering committee
C) corporate strategic planning committee
D) project management group
26. The ________ consists of systems analysts, specialists from the relevant end–user business areas, application
programmers, and perhaps database specialists.
A) project management group
B) IS steering committee
C) project team
D) corporate strategic planning committee
27. The ________ is directly responsible for the individual systems project.
A) corporate strategic planning committee
B) IS steering committee
C) project team
D) project management group
28. A road map indicating the direction of systems development, the rationale, the current systems, new
developments to consider, the management strategy, the implementation plan, and the budget is called a(n)
A) enterprise analysis.
B) information systems plan.
C) project plan.
D) portfolio analysis.
29. You have been hired to implement an enterprise system that will automate much of the billing and
accounting work for a statewide HVAC services company. Which of the following would you prepare to
describe how the new system will affect a firm’s structure and operations?
A) organizational impact analysis
B) internal integration report
C) sociotechnical design report
D) information systems plan
30. All of the following are indications of a failed information systems project except
A) employees have created a spreadsheet solution to manipulate the data generated by the system.
B) employees require training to properly use the system.
C) a redesigned Web site has fewer visits to the customer support pages.
D) employees are refusing to switch to the new system.
31. Which of the following project management variables indicates how well the project satisfies management
objectives?
A) quality
B) goals
C) scope
D) risk
32. The central method used in a portfolio analysis is to
A) perform a weighted comparison of the criteria used to evaluate a system.
B) interview a small number of top managers to identify their goals and criteria for achieving success.
C) inventory all of the organization’s information systems projects and assets.
D) survey a large sample of managers on their objectives, decision–making process, and uses and needs for
data and information.
33.
In using a portfolio analysis to determine which IT projects to pursue, you would
A) balance high–risk, high reward projects with lower–risk projects.
B) select only low–risk, high–reward projects.
C) select the most low–risk projects from the inventory.
D) limit work to those projects with great rewards.
34. Which method would you use to develop risk profiles for a firm’s information system projects and assets?
A) scoring model
B) information systems plan
C) TCO
D) portfolio analysis
35. You have been hired by a pharmaceutical company to evaluate its inventory of systems and IT projects.
Which types of projects would be best avoided?
A) any low–benefit projects
B) all high–risk, low–benefit projects
C) any high–risk projects
D) none, any project might be beneficial
36. The central method used in a scoring model is to
A) survey a large sample of managers on their objectives, decision–making process, and uses and needs for
data and information.
B) interview a small number of top managers to identify their goals and criteria for achieving success.
C) inventory all of the organization’s information systems projects and assets.
D) perform a weighted comparison of the criteria used to evaluate a system.
37. You are using a capital budgeting method to assess the worth of your company’s new information system.
Which of the following costs would you include in measuring the cash outflow?
A) increased sales of products
B) hardware and software expenditures
C) labor expenditures
D) reduced costs in production and operation
E) both A and D
F) both B and C
G) A, B, C and D
38. Which method is used to assign weights to various features of a system?
A) TCO
B) portfolio analysis
C) information systems plan
D) scoring model
39. The criteria used for evaluation in a scoring model are usually determined by
A) the IS steering committee.
B) lengthy discussions among the decision–making group.
C) systems analysts.
D) portfolio analysis.
40. The worth of systems from a financial perspective essentially revolves around the issue of
A) adherence to information requirements.
B) total cost of ownership.
C) asset utilization.
D) return on invested capital.
41. All of the following are intangible benefits of information systems except
A) reduced workforce.
B) improved asset utilization.
C) improved operations.
D) increased organizational learning.
42. Which of the following is not a tangible benefit of information systems?
A) reduced rate of growth in expenses
B) increased productivity
C) lower computer expenses
D) improved resource control
43. The principal capital budgeting models for evaluating information technology projects are the payback
method, the accounting rate of return on investment (ROI), the net present value, and the
A) ROPM.
B) future present value.
C) external rate of return.
D) internal rate of return.
44. In working with ROPMs and options valuation, a call option is a(n)
A) obligation to purchase an asset at a later date at a fixed price.
B) right to purchase or sell an asset at a later date at a fixed price.
C) obligation to either purchase or sell an asset at a later date at a strike price.
D) right to purchase an asset at a later date at a strike price.
45. ROPMs value information systems similar to stock options, in that
A) expenditures and benefits from IT projects are seen as inflows and outflows of cash that can be treated
themselves like options.
B) ROPMs can be bought and sold like stocks.
C) a company’s worth can be evaluated by the worth of their ROPMs.
D) initial expenditures on IT projects are seen as creating the right to pursue and obtain benefits from the
system at a later date.
46. To best evaluate, from a financial standpoint, an IT investment whose benefits cannot be firmly established
in advance, you would use
A) a scoring model.
B) the real option pricing model.
C) capital budgeting.
D) the net present value.
47. Which of the following is a limitation of using a financial approach to evaluate information systems?
A) inability to measure ROI
B) inability to assess costs from organizational disruption
C) inability to control vendor costs
D) inability to assess risk
48. Which of the following projects is the riskiest?
A) a project that requires technical expertise that your firm’s IT employees do not have
B) a project that will automate many clerical duties
C) a project that has a strict deadline, or sales will suffer
D) a project that managers are concerned will affect their roles and job descriptions
49. Which of the following statements best describes the effect that project structure has on overall project risk?
A) Highly structured projects tend to be larger, affecting more organizational units, and run both the risk
of out–of–control costs and becoming too difficult to control.
B) Highly structured projects are more complex, and run a higher risk of programmers and users
misunderstanding the ultimate goals.
C) Less structured projects are more able to be quickly developed, tested, and implemented using cutting–
edge RAD and JAD development techniques, and pose less risk of running up unforeseen costs.
D) Projects with relatively undefined goals are more likely to be subjected to users changing requirements
and to run a higher risk of not satisfying project goals.
50. The project risk will rise if the project team and the IS staff lack
A) financial studies and plans.
B) legacy applications as a starting point.
C) good equipment.
D) the required technical expertise.
51. The organizational activities working toward the adoption, management, and routinization of a new
information system are called
A) maintenance.
B) production.
C) acceptance.
D) implementation.
52. One example of an implementation problem is
A) inadequate user training.
B) poor user interface.
C) project running over budget.
D) changes in job activities and responsibilities.
53. According to your reading of the chapter, change management is a process that
A) must be addressed in all systems development.
B) begins when a project is implemented.
C) should be addressed before a project is developed.
D) is used primarily to mandate user acceptance.
54. Users prefer systems that
A) are able to provide optimum hardware and software efficiency.
B) are capable of storing much more data than they need.
C) are oriented to facilitating organizational tasks and solving business problems.
D) work with existing DBMS.
55. Which of the following is not one of the activities of the systems analyst?
A) formulation of capital budgeting models
B) acting as a change agent
C) communication with users
D) mediating between competing interest groups
56. Which of the following statistics from studies on failed projects is not true?
A) Thirty–two percent of technology investments are completed on time, within budget, and with
requirements met.
B) Between 30 and 40 percent of software projects fail in terms of budget, schedule, and quality.
C) The average cost overrun of IT projects is 60 percent.
D) One in six IT projects have an average cost overrun of 200 percent.
57. Which of the following types of projects is most likely to fail?
A) replacement of middleware with Web services for legacy application integration
B) integration of a third–party automated payment system
C) a business process redesign project that restructures workflow and responsibilities
D) redesigning a user interface to an online investment site
58. Which of the following is not a responsibility of effective change management?
A) enforcing user participation at all stages of system development
B) integrating legacy systems
C) dealing with fear and anxiety about new systems
D) training users of the new system
59. Which of the following tools would you use to control risk factors in an information systems project?
A) formal planning tools and formal control tools
B) external integration tools
C) internal integration tools
D) A and B
E) A and C
F) all of the above
60. Internal integration tools
A) consist of ways to link the work of the implementation team with users at all organization levels.
B) enable a project to have sufficient technical support for project management and development.
C) portray a project as a network diagram with numbered nodes representing project tasks.
D) enable a project manager to properly document and monitor project plans.