Chapter 1

The Information Age in Which You Live

True/False Questions

12

F 1. Knowledge workers work with and produce information as a product.

Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 26

F 4. Online banking is growing in popularity.

Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 26

F 6. Information may be information for one person but data for another.
Answer: True Level: Medium Page: 28

F 7. Business intelligence refers solely to information about your competitors.

Answer: False Level: Hard Page: 28

F 8. M-commerce relies on wireless technology.

Answer: True Level: Medium Page: 40

F 9. Information is raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon.

Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 28

F 10. Information is simply data that have a particular meaning within a specific context.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 28

2. Ten years ago, knowledge workers outnumbered all other workers by a four-to-one
margin.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 26

3. Management information systems deals with the planning for, development, management,
and use of knowledge workers to help people perform all tasks related to information
processing and management.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 26

5. The financial services industry will probably never adopt information technology for
customer service.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 26

Test Bank, Chapter 1

F 11. An executive information system (EIS) is a highly interactive IT system that allows you to
first view highly summarized information and then choose how you would like to see
greater detail, which may alert you to potential problems or opportunities.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 44

F 12. Information technology is any computer-based tool that people use to work with
information and support the information and information-processing needs of an
organization.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 26

F 13. Copying software so that your neighbor can install it on their machine is completely legal
and ethical, unless you charge a fee for the software.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 35

F 14. Hardware consists of the instructions executed by the computer to complete a specific task.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 37

F 15. Examples of input devices include a keyboard, mouse, or speaker.

Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 37

F 16. Software such as Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Access are all considered
examples of utility software.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 38

F 17. The concept of shared information suggests putting all of the organization's information
into one or more central locations in order to enhance security and protect the information
by only allowing access to a limited number of authorized people.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 39

F 18. Mobile computing refers to your ability to transport mobile equipment, such as laptops or
PDAs, to any location.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 40

F 19. Transaction processing systems are simply information systems that process transactions.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 40

F 20. Supply chain management involves tracking office supply usage.

Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 42

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14

F 21. A knowledge management system is used to train new employee.

Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 43

F 22. OLAP refers to the new ONline Application Program utilized by many companies to
automatically process job applications.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 44

F 23. An application service provider is an e-commerce software distributor that installs

software directly from the internet to the customers' hard drive.
Answer: False Level: Hard Page: 47

F 24. Sharing information with your coworkers through an information system can create a
competitive advantage.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 47

F 25. Competitive advantages are permanent.

Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 40

F 26. Losses from identity theft were about $300 billion in the United States in 2003.
Answer: False Level: Hard Page: 49

F 27. Random Access Memory is a temporary holding space for data and applications.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 38

F 28. The sole focus of MIS is technology.

Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 26

F 29. Telecommuting is the use of communications technologies to work in a place other than a
central location.
Answer: True Level: Easy Page: 27

F 30. The time dimension of information has only one aspect - having access to information
when you need it.
Answer: False Level: Hard Page: 28

F 31. Personal dimensions of information include information flows and information

granularity.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 28

Test Bank, Chapter 1

F 32. Information in an organization flows in four basic ways including up, down, inward, and
outward.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 30

F 33. Tactical management provides an organization with overall direction and guidance.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 30

F 34. Strategic management is the second level in the traditional organization pyramid.
Answer: False Level: Medium Page: 30

F 35. The horizontal flow of information consists of information that is communicated to

customers, suppliers, distributors, and other partners for the purpose of doing business.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 31

F 36. Objective information attempts to describe something that is unknown.

Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 31

F 37. A storage device is a tool you use to send information to and receive it from another
business or location.
Answer: False Level: Hard Page: 38

F 38. Online transaction processing is the manipulation of information to support decision

making.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 44

F 39. Electronic data interchange automates the flow of information between organizations to
support the planning, design, development, production, and delivery of products and
services.
Answer: False Level: Easy Page: 43

Multiple Choice Questions

40. Which of the following majors are preparing to enter the business world as knowledge workers?
A) Accounting
B) Information technology
C) Human resource management
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 26

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41. What is power in the information age?

A) Data
B) Knowledge
C) Computer
D) None of the above
Answer: B Level: Easy Page: 26

42. A computer-based tool that people use to work with information and support the information and
information-processing needs of an organization is:.
A) Management Information Systems
B) Computer Security
C) Collaboration System
D) Information Technology
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 26

43. Which of the following refers to using communications technologies to work in a location other
than a central location (such as an office building)?
A) Wireless networks
B) Business Intelligence
C) Telecommuting
D) Remote desktop
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 27

44. Which of the following are additional risks faced by a business when workers telecommute?
A) Internet Usage
B) Wireless Communications
C) Virus Attacks
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Hard Page: 27

45. Management information systems deals with the coordination and use of three very important
organizational resources including:
A) Information, Internet, and information-literate knowledge workers
B) Internet, information-literate knowledge workers, and people
C) Information, information technology, and people
D) Information, information technology, and Internet
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 26

46. Which term refers to the planning for, development, management, and use of information
technology tools to help people perform all tasks related to information processing and
management?
A) Management information systems
B) Information age
C) Customer-integrated systems
D) Online analytical processing systems
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 26

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

47. Which of the following is not a reason that information is important?

A) Information is one of the three key components of MIS
B) Knowledge can be a source of income
C) We are in the information age, a time when knowledge is power
D) Knowledge comes from having timely access to information and knowing what to do with it
Answer: B Level: Hard Page: 28

48. Business Intelligence includes which of the following?

A) Knowledge about your customers
B) Knowledge about your business partners
C) Knowledge about competitive environment
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 28

49. What are people called who use communications technologies to work in a place other than a
central location?
A) Telecommuters
B) Virtual workplace workers
C) Artificial intelligence workers
D) Management information system workers
Answer: A Level: Hard Page: 27

50. Which term describes electronic commerce conducted over a wireless device such as a cell phone
or PDA?
A) CIS
B) EIS
C) Now economy
D) M-commerce
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 40

51. Which of the following do customers, businesses, suppliers, distributors, and manufacturers
operate without regard to in a global economy?
A) Physical and technical boundaries
B) Physical and geographical boundaries
C) Technical and geographical boundaries
D) None of the above
Answer: B Level: Hard Page: 29

52. What are raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon?

A) Data
B) Information
C) Dimension
D) None of the above
Answer: A Level: Easy Page: 28

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53. What is information?

A) Data that has a particular meaning within a specific context
B) Information with a particular meaning within a specific context
C) Data that has no particular meaning
D) None of the above
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 28

54. Which of the following is included in the three personal dimensions of information?
A) Time
B) Location
C) Form
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 28

55. The time dimension of information includes two aspects: having access to information when you
need it and ?
A) Having access to information at the right moment in time
B) Having information that describes the appropriate time period
C) Having information about the most recent time period
D) None of the above
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 28

56. Which dimension of information describes the price of a stock in order to make a trade?
A) Time dimension
B) Location dimension
C) Form dimension
D) None of the above
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 28

57. Which dimension of information describes being able to access information from a hotel room?
A) Time dimension
B) Location dimension
C) Form dimension
D) None of the above
Answer: B Level: Easy Page: 29

58. Which dimension of information requires that information be free of errors?

A) Time dimension
B) Location dimension
C) Form dimension
D) None of the above
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 30

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

59. Which of the following does the form dimension of information deal with?
A) Having information in a form that is usable
B) Having information that is free of errors
C) Having information in a form that is understandable
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Hard Page: 30

60. Information in an organization flows in all of the following directions, except:

A) Up
B) Down
C) Horizontal
D) Backwards
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 30

61. Most people view a traditional organization as a pyramid with four levels and many sides. Which
of the following is not a level in the pyramid?
A) Strategic management
B) Tactical management
C) Organizational management
D) Nonmanagment employees
Answer: C Level: Hard Page: 30

62. Which form of management provides an organization with overall direction and guidance?
A) Strategic
B) Tactical
C) Organizational
D) Realistic
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 30

63. Which layer in the traditional organization pyramid manages and directs the day-to-day operations
and implementations of the goals and strategies?
A) Strategic management
B) Tactical management
C) Operational management
D) Nonmanagement employees
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 30

64. Which of the following represents the flow of information that describes the current state of the
organization based on its daily transactions?
A) Upward flow
B) Downward flow
C) Horizontal flow
D) Outward flow
Answer: A Level: Easy Page: 31

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65. Which of the following represents the flow of information between functional business units and
work teams?
A) Upward flow
B) Downward flow
C) Horizontal flow
D) Outward flow
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 31

66. What does internal information describe?

A) Specific operational aspects of the organization
B) The environment surrounding the organization
C) Something that is known
D) Something that is unknown
Answer: A Level: Easy Page: 31

67. What does objective information describe?

A) Specific operational aspects of the organization
B) The environment surrounding the organization
C) Something that is known
D) Something that is unknown
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 31

68. All of the following statements describe an information-literate knowledge worker, except:
A) Can define what information they need
B) Knows how and where to obtain that information
C) Understands information before they even receive it
D) Acts appropriately based on the information
Answer: C Level: Hard Page: 33

69. Which device permits the user to enter information and commands?
A) Input
B) Output
C) Storage
D) Telecommunications
Answer: A Level: Easy Page: 37

70. Which device is a tool you use to send information to and receive it from another person or
location?
A) Input device
B) Output device
C) Storage device
D) Telecommunications device
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 38

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

71. Which type of software provides additional functionality to an operating system?

A) System
B) Application
C) Operating system
D) Utility
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 38

72. Decentralized computing occurs when computing power is distributed to functional business areas
and knowledge worker desktops. Decentralized computing is made possible by
A) Inexpensive knowledge workers
B) Inexpensive personal computer systems
C) Decreasing network speeds
D) Increasing costs of electricity
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 39

73. Which of the following is an example of a transaction processing system?

A) Word processing system
B) Payroll system
C) Spreadsheet system
D) All of the above
Answer: B Level: Hard Page: 40

74. Which of the following manipulates information to support decision making?

A) Customer-integrated system
B) Online transaction processing
C) Transaction processing
D) Online analytical processing
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 44

75. Which system is used as a highly interactive IT system that allows you to first view highly
summarized information and then choose how you would like to see greater detail?
A) Customer-integrated system
B) Online transaction processing system
C) Management information system
D) Executive information system
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 44

76. Which of the following helps to create business partnerships and alliances?
A) Neural network
B) Online transaction processing system
C) Collaboration system
D) Electronic data interchange
Answer: D Level: Hard Page: 43

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77. Which system is designed specifically to improve the performance of teams by supporting the
sharing and flow of information?
A) Online transaction processing system
B) Collaboration system
C) Interorganizational system
D) Electronic data interchange
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 45

78. As a technology-literate and information-literate knowledge worker you will work with
information in which of the following ways?
A) To gain a competitive advantage
B) To promote social responsibility
C) To promote ethical responsibility
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 33

79. Ethics are the principals and standards that guide our behavior towards other:
A) Suppliers
B) Businesses
C) Customers
D) People
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 35

80. What are the basic categories of technology?

A) Hardware and input devices
B) Software and storage devices
C) Storage devices and hardware
D) Hardware and software
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 37

81. Which of the following is not a hardware device?

A) Keyboard
B) Monitor
C) MS Word
D) Central processing unit
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 37

82. What are the two main types of software?

A) Input and output
B) Application and system
C) CPU and RAM
D) Application and input
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 38

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

83. Which of the following items is the primary tool used by organizations to support shared
information?
A) PDA
B) Database
C) Application
D) None of the above
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 39

84. Which term describe the manipulation of information to support decision making?
A) OLAP
B) IOS
C) OLTP
D) EDI
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 44

85. What two things make up the brains of a computer?

A) IOS and EDI
B) Hardware and software
C) Input and output
D) CPU and RAM
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 38

86. Which device is used to store data for later use?

A) Input device
B) Output device
C) CPU
D) Storage device
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 38

87. Which software controls application software and manages the interaction of various hardware
devices?
A) Application software
B) Utility software
C) Operating system software
D) System Software
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 38

88. Mobile computing refers to your ability to:

A) transport computer equipment such as laptops or PDAs to the necessary location
B) wirelessly connect and use centrally located information and/or application software
C) transport data from location to location using portable media such as flash drives or diskette
D) none of the above
Answer: B Level: Hard Page: 40

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89. A self-checkout line at a grocery store is an example of which type of information system?
A) Transaction Processing System
B) Executive Information System
C) Knowledge Management System
D) Customer Self-Service System
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 40

90. Supply chain management tracks

A) inventory between stores and warehouses owned by the same company
B) information between stores and warehouses owned by the same company
C) inventory and information among business processes and across companies
D) information and inventory across companies
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 42

91. A supply chain management system is an information system designed to

A) manually track inventory levels
B) automatically track information transfer
C) automatically track information and inventory across business processes and companies
D) automatically track transactions across different companies
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 42

92. Which type of information system is used to capture, organize, and disseminate knowledge?
A) executive information system
B) knowledge management system
C) database
D) supply chain management system
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 43

93. Artificial intelligence refers to which of the following?

A) creating machines that think for themselves
B) creating machines that imitate human thinking and behavior
C) creating machines that can solve complex problems and carry out tasks for people
D) creating machines to replace people
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 45

94. Organizations use genetic algorithms for which of the following situations?
A) there are millions of possible solutions
B) there is no appropriate problem-solving algorithm to find the perfect solution.
C) all of the above
D) none of the above
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 46

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

95. Which of the following provides software applications over the internet to customers so that the
software does not need to reside on the customers' hard drives?
A) telecommunications software
B) network software sharing
C) distributed computing
D) application service provider
Answer: D Level: Medium Page: 47

96. Which type of software is often found hidden inside other, free software?
A) expensive software
B) stolen software
C) spyware
D) application software
Answer: C Level: Easy Page: 49

97. Software that tracks your online movements, mines your PC for information, or uses your
computer's CPU and memory for tasks you did not authorize is called:
A) spyware
B) applications software
C) operating system software
D) word processing software
Answer: A Level: Medium Page: 49

98. What occurs when someone pretends to be you so that they can use your credit record?
A) credit theft
B) identity theft
C) impersonation
D) software piracy
Answer: B Level: Medium Page: 49

99. What is the most valuable resource in any organization?

A) Technology
B) Information
C) People
D) Knowledge workers
Answer: C Level: Medium Page: 32

100. Which term describes the physical devices that make up a computer?
A) Hardware
B) Software
C) Storage
D) All of the above
Answer: A Level: Easy Page: 37

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101. Which of the following is considered information technology?

A) Cell phone
B) PDA
C) Computer
D) All of the above
Answer: D Level: Easy Page: 36

102. All of the following are key resources of management information systems, except:
A) People
B) Internet
C) Information
D) Information technology
Answer: B Level: Easy Page: 26

Fill in the Blank Questions

103. A(n) ______________ is an internal organizational Internet guarded against external access by a
firewall.
Answer: Intranet Level: Easy Page: 29

104. ______________ are the single most important resource in any organization.
Answer: People Level: Easy Page: 32

105. Knowledge workers work with and produce ______________ as a product.

Answer: Information Level: Easy Page: 26

106. A(n) ______________ is a tool you use to send information to and receive it from another person or
computer in a network.
Answer: Telecommunication device Level: Easy Page: 38

107. ______________ is the use of communications technologies to work in a place other than a central
location.
Answer: Telecommuting Level: Easy Page: 27

108. ______________ are raw facts that describe a particular phenomenon.

Answer: Data Level: Easy Page: 28

109. ______________ is simply data that have a particular meaning within a specific context.
Answer: Information Level: Easy Page: 28

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

110. Having information that describes the ______________ you are considering is one aspect of the
time dimension of information.
Answer: Time period Level: Easy Page: 28

111. The ______________ dimension of information deals with having access to information no matter
where you are.
Answer: Location Level: Easy Page: 29

112. The ______________ dimensions of information include information flows, what information
describes, information granularity, and how information is used.
Answer: Organizational Level: Easy Page: 30

113. Information in an organization flows in four basic direction including up, down, ______________
and ______________.
Answer: Horizontally and Inward/Outward Level: Easy Page: 30

114. ______________ management provides an organization with overall direction and guidance.
Answer: Strategic Level: Easy Page: 30

115. ______________ management develops the goals and strategies outlined by strategic management.
Answer: Tactical Level: Easy Page: 30

116. The ______________ flow of information consists of information that is communicated to

customers, suppliers, distributors, and other partners for the purpose of doing business.
Answer: Inward/Outward Level: Easy Page: 30

117. The ______________ flow of information consists of information that describes the current state of
the organization based on its daily transactions.
Answer: Upward Level: Easy Page: 30

118. ______________ information describes the environment surrounding the organization.

Answer: External Level: Easy Page: 31

119. ______________ computing is an environment in which an organization distributes computing

power and locates it in functional business areas as well as on the desktops of knowledge workers.
Answer: Decentralized Level: Easy Page: 39

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120. A(n) ______________ is an extension of a TPS that places technology in the hands of an
organization's customers and allows them to process their own transactions.
Answer: Customer self-service system Level: Easy Page: 40

121. ______________ is the manipulation of information to support decision making.

Answer: Online analytical processing Level: Easy Page: 44

122. A(n) ______________ is a system that is designed specifically to improve the performance of
teams by supporting the sharing and flow of information.
Answer: Collaboration system Level: Easy Page: 45

123. ______________ is the set of instructions that your hardware executes to carry out a specific task.
Answer: Software Level: Easy Page: 37

124. A(n) ______________ is a tool you use to see, hear, or otherwise accept the results of your
information-processing requests.
Answer: Output device Level: Easy Page: 38

125. A(n) ______________ person knows how and when to apply technology, while an
______________ person understands what information is needed and how to obtain that
information.
Answer: Technology-literate, Information-literate Level: Medium Page: 33

126. ______________ is the hardware that interprets and executes software.

Answer: CPU Level: Easy Page: 38

127. A(n) ______________ automatically tracks inventory and information among business processes
and across companies.
Answer: Supply chain management system Level: Easy Page: 42

128. ______________ refers to the direct computer-to-computer transfer of information contained in

standard business documents in a standard format.
Answer: Electronic data interchange Level: Easy Page: 43

129. ______________ gathers, processes, and updates information.

Answer: Online transaction processing Level: Medium Page: 44

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Test Bank, Chapter 1

130. The field of study concerned with creating a machine capable of imitating human thought processes
and behavior is called ______________.
Answer: Artificial Intelligence Level: Medium Page: 45

131. A(n) ______________ is an artificial intelligence system that mimics the evolutionary,
survival-of-the-fittest process to generate increasingly better solutions to a problem.
Answer: Genetic algorithm Level: Medium Page: 46

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