Management Information Systems, 14e (Laudon)
Chapter 15 Managing Global Systems
1) A force in the environment to which businesses must respond and that influences the direction
of the business is called a business
A) driver.
B) threat.
C) process.
D) matrix.
E) strategy.
2) The major dimensions of international systems architecture include each of the following
except
A) the global environment.
B) corporate global strategy.
C) technology platform.
D) transborder data flows.
E) management and business processes.
3) General cultural factors driving global business are
A) global communication and transportation technologies, a global knowledge base, and global
social norms.
B) the development of global markets, political stability, and a global workforce.
C) the rise of the global workforce, political stability, and a global knowledge base.
D) the rise of a global workforce, global economies of scale, and global production and
operations.
E) growth of a global village spurred by television, the Internet, and computerization.
4) Global coordination of all of the major business functions permits the location of business
activity according to
A) comparative advantage.
B) social norms and values.
C) competitive threat.
D) knowledge base.
E) labor costs.
5) International information systems refer to
A) systems that talk to one another using the global Internet.
B) systems used by international businesses.
C) business processes that span the globe.
D) the basic information systems required by organizations to coordinate worldwide trade and
other activities.
E) systems that are developed by global firms.
6) What is the first thing you should consider when thinking about building an international
information system?
A) the state of world politics
B) look for new technologies that will help you achieve your goals
C) consider the global environment where your business will operate, and identify the business
drivers for your firm and industry
D) the business challenges you face in the global environment
E) the different computing and communication standards in the world
7) Global markets, production, and administration create the conditions for:
A) global systems
B) global economies of scale
C) a truly global labor force
D) domestic exporter kinds of businesses
E) localized software
8) Transborder data flow refers to
A) the flow of information in international systems.
B) the ways in which a countries laws change the flow of data from one country to another.
C) the business of moving information from one country to another.
D) the movement of information across international boundaries.
E) the business process of coordinating information from many different countries.
9) Global business drivers can be divided into two groups: general cultural factors and specific
business factors.
10) The growth of powerful communications technologies and the emergence of world cultures
create the condition for global markets.
11) The collapse of the Eastern block has retarded the growth of a world culture.
12) Micromarketing describes the direct marketing of products to individuals rather than groups.
13) A powerful strategic advantage for a globalized firm is lowered cost factors in production.
14) Particularism is a concept based on accepting a shared global culture and the penetration of
domestic markets by foreign goods and services.
15) In international companies, English has become a kind of standard business language.
16) What steps do the authors recommend be taken to develop an international information
systems architecture?
17) List at least four general cultural factors and four specific business factors driving global
business. Which two factors (one of each) do you feel are most problematic at the current
moment? Why?
18) What are the four specific types of business challenges to global business systems? Which
one do you think will be easiest to solve? Why?
19) How do cultural, legal, political, and social expectations affect global business?
20) In a multinational business strategy, the ________ business function is decentralized,
dispersed to foreign units.
A) finance/accounting
B) production
C) human resources
D) strategic management
E) sales/marketing
21) In terms of global business strategy and structure, a multinational strategy
A) centralizes production and accounting and decentralizes marketing and human resources.
B) concentrates financial management and control out of a central home base while
decentralizing production, sales, and marketing operations to units in other countries.
C) centralizes production, accounting, marketing, and human resources.
D) disperses production and marketing, with centralized accounting, human resources and
strategic management.
E) concentrates production and marketing in each country, and decentralizes accounting and
human resources.
22) Most companies pursuing a global strategy begin as
A) domestic exporters.
B) multinationals.
C) franchisers.
D) transnationals.
E) conglomerate corporations.
23) A company that controls finances in the home country and decentralizes production, sales,
and marketing operations to other countries is using a ________ strategy.
A) domestic exporter
B) franchising
C) transnational
D) multinational
E) conglomerate
24) In terms of global business strategy and structure, a multinational company will use a policy
of
A) mixed sales and marketing, with centralized production, accounting, human resources, and
strategic management.
B) centralized production, accounting, marketing, human resources, with strategic management.
C) dispersed production, accounting, human resources, with centralized strategic management,
and marketing.
D) dispersed production and marketing, with centralized accounting and strategic management.
E) making local units that are clones of the mother country units.
25) Which of the following is not one of the system configurations used by global firms?
A) centralized
B) duplicated
C) decentralized coordinated
D) networked
E) localized
26) In terms of global business strategy and structure, a franchise company will use a policy of
A) centralized production, accounting, marketing, human resources, with strategic management.
B) dispersed production, accounting, human resources, with centralized strategic management,
and marketing.
C) dispersed production and marketing, with centralized accounting, human resources and
strategic management.
D) dispersed production, marketing, and human resources, with centralized strategic
management and finance/accounting.
E) decentralized production, accounting, human resources, with a decentralized management.
27) Which of the following is not one of the primary types of firm strategy discussed in the
chapter?
A) domestic exporter
B) multinational
C) franchiser
D) transnational
E) international exporter
28) In terms of global business strategy, the governance of ________ firms has been likened to a
federal structure—strong central management core of decision making, but considerable
dispersal of power and financial resources.
A) domestic exporter
B) multinational
C) franchiser
D) transnational
E) domestic importer
29) Which of the following is not a business driver of global business?
A) global communication and transportation technologies
B) development of global culture
C) emergence of global social norms
D) political stability
E) growth of international systems
30) Transnational firms have
A) no single national headquarters but many regional headquarters and perhaps a world
headquarters.
B) headquarters in each country where they do business.
C) headquarters in the home country with smaller headquarters around the world.
D) no single headquarters.
E) a centralized headquarters but not in the home country.
31) In a transnational business strategy, all of the regional units participate and coordinate over
all activities, from production to sales.
32) In a franchiser business strategy, each foreign unit designs its own solutions and systems.
33) There are two primary global organization types: management centralized in the home
country or distributed to foreign centers.
34) In a multinational strategy, financial management is centralized while production and sales
are decentralized.
35) Describe the four main global strategies that form the basis for global firms’ organizational
structure.
36) What are the organizational principles a company should follow to develop a global
company and its information systems support structure? Do you agree? Would you change these
principles, or add others? Support your answer.
37) Making judgments and taking action on the basis of narrow or personal characteristics is
referred to as
A) localization.
B) cooptation.
C) particularism.
D) prejudicial.
E) globalization.
38) All of the following present challenges to developing global business systems except
A) foreign accounting practices.
B) production costs.
C) language differences.
D) exchange rates.
E) shortages of skilled consultants.
39) Which of the following is not a specific challenge to global business systems?
A) shortages of skilled consultants
B) cultural expectations
C) different telecommunication standards
D) different data transfer speeds
E) unreliable phone networks
40) To avoid the cost and uncertainty of moving information across national boundaries, most
multinational firms
A) maintain a master database at their head offices.
B) develop a master system that meets the standards of all the countries concerned.
C) use microwave satellite transmission to move data.
D) develop separate systems within each country.
E) use a cloud-based service.
41) German companies
A) do not recognize the profit until the project is completely finished and they have been paid.
B) recognize profits before the project is finished.
C) recognize profits when the project is initialized.
D) do not recognize the profits until they have been formally audited.
E) do not have profits, but instead report dividends.
42) Most large companies with overseas operations have inherited
A) recently built technology platforms for international systems.
B) batch-oriented reporting from independent foreign divisions to corporate headquarters.
C) transaction-oriented reporting based at the home office for overseas business.
D) global marketing systems developed domestically.
E) enterprise systems developed by local firms.
43) Which of the following is not one of the main organizational issues facing firms who are
seeking to globalize?
A) choosing a global strategy
B) organizing the global business structure
C) organizing the systems management
D) defining the global environment
E) organizing the business
44) In centralized systems
A) development occurs at the home base and operations are handed over to autonomous units in
foreign locations.
B) each foreign unit designs its own unique solutions and systems.
C) systems development and operations occur in an integrated and coordinated fashion across all
units.
D) systems development and operations occur totally at the domestic home base.
E) systems development is a combined effort of domestic and international units.
45) In duplicated systems
A) development occurs at the home base and operations are handed over to autonomous units in
foreign locations.
B) each foreign unit designs its own unique solutions and systems.
C) systems development and operations occur in an integrated and coordinated fashion across all
units.
D) foreign units design the solutions and systems used at the domestic home base.
E) systems development is a combined effort of domestic and international units which are then
duplicated across the world.
46) In decentralized systems
A) development occurs at the home base and operations are handed over to autonomous units in
foreign locations.
B) each foreign unit designs its own unique solutions and systems.
C) systems development and operations occur in an integrated and coordinated fashion across all
units.
D) foreign units design the solutions and systems used at the domestic home base.
E) all systems are designed in domestic headquarters and then distributed to foreign units.