Q&A Hero

Q: A(n) _____ is aset of interrelated components that collect, manipulate, store, and disseminatedata and information and provide a feedback mechanism to meet an objective.a. database management system (DBMS) b. electronic commerce (e-commerce) systemc. information system (IS) d. decision support system (DSS)

Q: _____ involves using information systems and the Internet to acquire parts and supplies.a. A transaction processingsystem (TPS) b. Electronic business (e-business)c. Mobile commerce (m-commerce) d. Electronic procurement(e-procurement)

Q: _____ are considered to be the most important element in a computer-based information system.a. Hardware b. Softwarec. Procedures d. People

Q: _____ is a network based on Web technologies that allows only selected outsiders, such as business partners and customers, to access authorized resources of a company's intranet.a. The Internet b. A blogc. A database d. An extranet

Q: _____ consists of computer programs that govern the operation of a computer.a. Hardware b. Softwarec. A server d. The Internet

Q: In information systems, _____ is information from a system that is usedto make changes to input or processing activities.a. a program b. feedbackc. an output d. software

Q: Quality information that can be used for a variety of purposes is said to be _____.a. flexible b. economicalc. relevant d. verifiable

Q: ______ are people who create, use, and disseminate knowledge and are usually professionals in science, engineering, business, and other areas.a. Systems analysts b. Knowledge workersc. Database administrators d. End users

Q: The process of defining relationships among data to create useful information requires ______.a. an information system b. intelligencec. knowledge d. intuition

Q: Employers often search the Internet to find information about potential employees before they make hiring decisions. a. True b. False

Q: The senior IS managers are responsible for the day to day running of IS hardware to process an organization's information systems workload. a. True b. False

Q: The number of H-1B visasoffered annually can be political and controversial. a. True b. False

Q: The time value of money is one of the factors taken into account forthe calculation of payback period. a. True b. False

Q: The shorter the payback period, the more attractive is the project. a. True b. False

Q: Introducing new products and services periodically or frequently helps a firm gain competitive advantage. a. True b. False

Q: Typically, highly competitive industries are characterized byhigh degrees of product differentiation. a. True b. False

Q: The more consumers can obtain similar products and services that satisfy their needs, the less likely firms are to try to establish competitive advantage. a. True b. False

Q: Organizational change can be caused by internal factors as well as external factors. a. True b. False

Q: An organization can have only one value chain. a. True b. False

Q: The unique value of learning systems is that they allow organizations to capture and use the wisdom of experts and specialists. a. True b. False

Q: While all types of personal computers have their own advantages and disadvantages, many people favor the mobility, functionality, and cost associated with tablet computers. a. True b. False

Q: Global opportunities introduce numerous obstacles and issues, including challenges involving culture and language. a. True b. False

Q: Augmented reality is a new form of virtual reality that enables a user to become fully immersed in an artificial, computer-generated 3D world. a. True b. False

Q: Some successful stock, options, and futures traders use expert systems to spot trends and improve the profitability of their investments. a. True b. False

Q: A decision support system (DSS)is an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices that provides routine information to managers and decision makers. a. True b. False

Q: A management information system (MIS)typically provides standard reports generated with data and information from a transaction processing system (TPS) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. a. True b. False

Q: Electronic business (e-business)goes beyond e-commerce and e-procurement by using information systems and the Internet to perform all business-related tasks and functions. a. True b. False

Q: Despite being technologically advanced, e-commerce offers few advantages for streamlining work activities. a. True b. False

Q: Mobile commerce (m-commerce)is the use of mobile, wireless devices to place orders and conduct business. a. True b. False

Q: An intranet is a network based on Web technologies that allows selected outsiders, such as business partners and customers, to access authorized resources of a company's extranet. a. True b. False

Q: The World Wide Web (WWW) is a network of links on the Internet to documents containing text, graphics, video, and sound. a. True b. False

Q: Information about the documents on the Web and access to these documents are controlled and provided by tens of thousands of special computers called Web servers. a. True b. False

Q: Both system software and application software are needed for all types of computers, from small handheld computers to large supercomputers. a. True b. False

Q: Application software, such as Microsoft Windows, manages basic computer operations such as start-up. a. True b. False

Q: The technology infrastructure is a set of shared IS resources that form the foundation of each computer-based information system. a. True b. False

Q: Using a computer to forecast future sales and order more inventory before a shortage can occur is an example of information system feedback. a. True b. False

Q: Information and data are essentially the same thing. a. True b. False

Q: Providing information to customers can help companies increase revenues and profits. a. True b. False

Q: Information is simply a collection of raw facts such as an employee number or the total hours worked in a week. a. True b. False

Q: Explain how managerial leadership can foster a high-performance culture.

Q: What constitutes effective managerial leadership in achieving superior strategy execution?

Q: Identify the actions that are key elements of leading the strategy execution process.

Q: Give two examples of "symbolic" culture-changing actions and two examples of "substantive" culture-changing actions.

Q: Identify and briefly discuss four steps that managers can take to change a culture that is out of step with the company's strategy.

Q: What are the distinctive features of adaptive corporate cultures?

Q: What are the characteristics of unhealthy cultures?

Q: Briefly identify three types of unhealthy corporate cultures.

Q: What is meant by the term corporate culture? Identify the three major types of corporate cultures. Which of the three types of company cultures is most beneficial to evolving a company's strategy? Why is corporate culture an important factor in implementing and executing strategy?

Q: Give at least three examples of nonmonetary motivation and rewards practices that have the capability to foster good strategy execution, and explain how they act to produce such a result.

Q: Identify at least four guidelines for creating incentive compensation systems that link employee behavior to organizational objectives.

Q: Identify types of support systems that a company can install to support the execution of its strategy. How important are these systems to the strategy implementation process?

Q: What three principles underlie the statistical thinking of Six Sigma quality control programs?

Q: What is the value of striving for continuous improvement in processes and activities? How does TQM differ from business process reengineering?

Q: How do well-conceived policies and procedures aid the task of implementing and executing strategy?Explain how well-conceived policies and procedures facilitate organizational change and good strategy execution.

Q: Why does a company's budget need to be closely linked to the needs of good strategy execution? Why might a change in strategy call for budget reallocations?

Q: What is meant by empowerment of employees? How does it differ from delegation of authority? In what ways can empowerment of employees aid the cause of good strategy execution?

Q: Explain the difference between a centralized and a decentralized organization structure. Which one is more likely to further the cause of good strategy execution? Why?

Q: Identify four tactics that are common among companies dedicated to staffing jobs with the best people they can find.

Q: Identify and briefly explain at least four major components of the strategy execution effort.

Q: Successfully leading the effort to foster a results-oriented, high-performance culture generally requires simple leadership practices, such asA. treating employees with dignity and respect.B. encouraging employees to use initiatives and creativity in performing their work to continually make changes to operating practices.C. setting strain objectives to push the envelope on sales efforts.D. focusing attention on motivational techniques that instill self-interest, which is the cornerstone of the free enterprise system.E. celebrating management's success with high incentives and loyalty trips.

Q: Successfully leading the effort to instill a spirit of high achievement into a company's culture and put constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results A. entails such actions as treating employees with dignity and respect; celebrating individual, group, and company successes; and setting stretch objectives. B. hinges on the extent to which top management emphasizes a positive rather than a negative reward system. C. requires that top executives make operating excellence the company's only core value. D. calls for top executives to stress the adoption of best practices, push for continuous product innovation, and provide employees with a stream of suggestions for improving company operations. E. hinges on the degree to which lower-level managers and supervisors are good practitioners of MBWA.

Q: Putting constructive pressure on the organization to achieve good results and operating excellence entails A. setting stretch objectives and creating an expectation that company personnel are to do their best in achieving performance targets. B. utilizing the full range of motivational techniques and compensation incentives to reward high performance. C. treating employees with dignity and respect. D. encouraging employees to use initiative and creativity in performing their work. E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: The purpose of managing by walking around or MBWA is to A. learn more about company operations and see how activities are really being done. B. gather information about what is happening from people at different organizational levels and learn firsthand how well the strategy execution process is proceeding. C. give employees a chance to make suggestions for improvement. D. gather information about what strategy to follow and to learn what competitors are doing. E. be visible and accessible to employees.

Q: MBWA refers to A. modifying businesses with action. B. a mission, balanced scorecard, and weighted assessment. C. the managerial practice of making regular visits to field operations and talking with many people at many different levels. D. the balanced scorecard perspectives of a company's strategy map. E. managing businesses with authority.

Q: Which of the following is most integral to the task of leading the drive for good strategy execution and operating excellence? A. pushing lower-level managers and supervisors to practice MBWA B. being a good motivator and a decisive decision maker C. staying on top of how well things are going, pushing organization units to achieve good results, pushing for corrective actions to improve both the company's strategy and how well it is being executed, and displaying ethical integrity and leading social responsibility initiatives D. practicing enlightened empowerment of employees and using a decentralized approach to decision making E. being good at designing a strategy-supportive reward structure

Q: Proficient strategy execution requires executive managers to A. be current with events and closely monitor progress, put constructive pressure on the organization for operating excellence, and initiate corrective action when necessary to improve performance and achieve desired results. B. understand all the tasks required to implement the strategy so as to ensure staff will not shortchange any strategic-critical activity. C. attach great importance to gathering statistics that define every task effort and ensure limited variability. D. initiate a problem-solving search to ensure obstacles to success are identified. E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: Leading the strategy execution process requires A. senior managers to be out in the field, seeing for themselves how well operations are going. B. company managers to be diligent and adept in ferreting out problems and issues. C. managers to push for better results when the strategy execution effort is not going well. D. managers to have good business judgment in deciding what actions to take when corrective actions are necessary. E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: Symbolic culture-changing actions are best represented byA. those actions top executives take to lead by example.B. frugality if a low-cost strategy is being executed.C. ensuring all management actions are "walking the talk."D. ceremonial events to celebrate actions that exemplify the performance culture.E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: Which one of the following is not a substantive culture-changing action that a company's managers can undertake to alter a problem culture? A. promoting individuals who have stepped forward to advocate the shift to a different culture and who can serve as role models for the desired cultural behavior B. revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change C. screening all candidates for new positions carefully and hiring only those who appear to fit in with the new culture D. urging company personnel to search outside the company for work practices and operating approaches that may be an improvement over what the company is presently doing E. designing compensation incentives that boost the pay of teams and individuals who display the desired cultural behaviors and hit change-resisters in the pocketbook

Q: Which one of the following is a substantive culture-changing action that a company's managers can undertake to alter a problem culture? A. identifying aspects of the present culture that pose problems B. revising policies and procedures in ways that will help drive cultural change and replacing senior executives who may be stonewalling needed organizational and cultural changes C. empowering employees to adopt whatever new work practices they believe will be an improvement D. making a concerted effort to turn the company's core competencies into distinctive competencies E. shifting from decentralized to centralized decision making so as to give senior executives more authority and control in driving cultural change

Q: When trying to change a problem culture, management should undertake such steps asA. selecting a team of key employees to lead the culture change effort and design a plan for cultural change.B. identifying which aspects of the present culture are supportive of good strategy execution and which ones are not.C. drawing up an action plan to change the present culture and then persuading company personnel why this plan of action is good and will be successful.D. conducting an employee survey to determine the organization's cultural norms and what company personnel like and dislike about the current culture.E. employing a consultant with expertise in culture change and following his or her advice on how to proceed.

Q: In moving to alter a problem culture, management should A. identify which aspects of the present culture are supportive of good strategy execution and which ones are not. B. specify what new actions, behaviors, and work practices should be prominent in the "new" culture. C. talk openly about the problems of the present culture and how new behaviors will improve performance. D. employ visible, forceful actionsboth substantive and symbolicto ingrain a new set of behaviors, practices, and cultural norms. E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: The place for management to begin in trying to change a problem culture is by A. selling company personnel on the need for a new set of behaviors and work practices. B. spending heavily on programs to train employees in the ways and beliefs of the new culture to be implanted. C. visibly praising and rewarding people who exhibit traits and behaviors that undermine the existing culture. D. writing a new values statement and describing in highly motivating terms the kind of culture that is needed. E. instituting incentive compensation programs that generously reward employees for adopting best practices.

Q: Changing a problem culture A. is one of the toughest managerial tasks because of the tendency of company personnel to cling to familiar practices and ways of doing things. B. is best done by instituting an aggressive program to train employees in the ways and beliefs of the new culture to be implanted. C. is best done by selecting a team of key employees to lead the culture change effort. D. requires writing a new statement of core values and describing in writing the kind of culture that is needed. E. can be done quickly only if managers tie incentive compensation to exhibiting the desired new cultural behaviors and if managers visibly praise people who exhibit the desired new cultural traits.

Q: The single most visible factor that distinguishes successful culture-change efforts from failed attempts is A. forceful management actions to empower employees to adopt new operating practices. B. competent leadership at the top. C. delayering the management hierarchy. D. developing a new values statement that inspires company personnel to put forth their best efforts to achieve performance targets. E. convincing employees that top management is genuinely committed to high ethical standards and the exercise of corporate social responsibility.

Q: Companies with insular, inwardly focused cultures usually A. tend to possess arrogant overconfident mind-sets, thereby tending to underestimate the competencies and accomplishments of rival companies and overestimate their own progress. B. tend to concentrate on benchmarking to find out the best methods of doing things. C. tend to concentrate greed and ego gratification. D. tend to discount and doubt their own performance statistics. E. All of these choices are correct.

Q: Companies with change-resistant cultures A. are typically opposed to performance-based incentive compensation and employee empowerment. B. are prone to be preoccupied with avoiding risks, are unlikely to pursue bold actions to capture emerging opportunities, have a widespread aversion to continuous improvement in performing value chain activities, and prefer following rather than leading market change. C. are often overly gung ho about looking outside the company for best practices, new managerial approaches, and innovative ideas. D. tend to be preoccupied with making sure the company has a safe, follow-the-industry-leader type of strategic vision and to avoid risky business strategies. E. are typically run by amoral managers who have little regard for high ethical standards.

Q: Companies with politicized cultures A. are typically opposed to performance-based incentive compensation and employee empowerment. B. tend to be preoccupied with making sure the company has a safe, follow-the-industry-leader type of strategic vision and to avoid risky business strategies. C. tend be plagued with infighting that consumes a great deal of organizational energy and often results in the company's strategic agenda taking a backseat to political maneuvering. D. are typically opposed to sound strategic initiatives designed to promote the well-being of specific functions. E. are typically run by political managers who have little regard for high ethical standards.

Q: Unhealthy company cultures typically have such characteristics as A. tight budget controls, overly strict enforcement of long-standing policies and procedures, and low ethical standards. B. a preference for conservative strategies, an aversion to incentive compensation, and excessive emphasis on profitability. C. a politicized internal environment; hostility to change; an insular, inwardly focused culture; and unethical or greed-driven behavior on the part of executives. D. overemphasis on employee empowerment, a complacent approach to building competencies and capabilities, no coherent business philosophy, and excessively bureaucratic policies and procedures. E. too little emphasis on innovation, a strong preference for hiring managers from outside the company, very few core values and traditions, and a weakly enforced code of ethics.

Q: Which of the following is not an example of an unhealthy company culture? A. insular, inwardly focused culture B. change-resistant culture C. unethical and greed-driven culture D. politicized culture E. hyper-adaptive culture