Concepts

6. The majority of eBay's customers are using a business-to-business (B2B) ebusiness model.

7. System software includes the operating system and application software.

8. The term software refers to the physical components of a computer that perform the input, processing, storage, and output activities of the computer.

9. Investments in information technology can allow a business to lock in customers and suppliers by building valuable relationships with them.

10. ###### means the cell contains a negative value.

11. With the Five Forces Model, companies should watch the forces in the market. If the forces are strong competition generally increases and if the forces are weak competition typically decreases.

12. Product differentiation occurs when a company develops unique differences in its products or services with the intent to influence demand.

13. Strategic decisions are highly structured decisions.

14. A disruptive technology is a new way of doing things that initially does not meet the needs of existing customers. 

15. Biometrics is the identification of a user based on a physical characteristic, such as a fingerprint, iris, face, voice, or handwriting. 

16. Companies do not need a privacy policy for email because an employee's work email is private and cannot be viewed by the company. 

17. At the operational level employees develop, control, and maintain core business activities required to run the day-to-day operations.

18. Non-technical skills such as communications skills and knowledge of the organization are not important to IS personnel.

19. Compared to main memory, secondary storage offers the advantages of volatility, increased capacity, and lower costs.

20. Managing consumer trust is not a challenge for ebusinesses participants as the Internet has numerous security technologies in place to completely protect consumers and their online transactions. 

MULTIPLE CHOICE: Select the best answer and use BOLD to indicate your selection.

(2 points each)

1. Which one of the following would NOT be considered a good example of information? 

2. Accounting, finance, marketing, and human resources are known as ____.

3. Carfax is an example of a company who sells its products or services directly to its consumer's online. Which ebusiness model is Carfax using?  a. C2C c. B2B b. C2B d. B2C

4. Which of the following would NOT be considered hardware resources?

a. Microcomputer systems, midrange computer systems, and large mainframe computer systems

b. Keyboards and electronic mice

c. Magnetic and optical disks

d. Programs and procedures

5. Information technology can help all kinds of businesses improve the efficiency and effectiveness of _______.

6. $B$1 is an example of a(n) _____ reference.

7. Within a modern organization there is one thing that should be protected as tightly as money in a bank vault, it is the lifeblood of an organization, it is:

8. Within the context of an information system, which one of the following would be considered a typical end user?

9. Competitive forces that shape the structure of competition in an industry include all of the following except:

10. What consists of raw facts, such as an employee number?

11. Information technology can be used to implement one or more of the five basic business strategies. Which of the following is NOT one of the strategies?

12. Which of the following authentication methods is 100 percent accurate?  a. Smart card b. Fingerprint authentication c. User ID d. None of the above

13. When a firm sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry, that firm is said to possess:

14. Software that enables users to improve their effectiveness, increasing the amount of work they can do and its quality, is called _______________.

15. When evaluating the business value of disintermediation, the more ____________ that are cut from the distribution chain, the lower the product price.  a.  Technology c. Data stream b.  Customers d.  Intermediaries

SHORT ANSWER: Answer 3 of the following 6 questions. (5 points each)

1. How can information technology support a company’s business processes and decision making, and give it a competitive advantage? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

2. What are some of the toughest management challenges in developing IT solutions to solve business problems and meet new business opportunities?

3. How can Internet technologies help a business form strategic alliances with its customers, suppliers, and others?

4. What are several trends that are occurring in computer hardware? How will these affect business use of computers?

5. Which application software packages are the most important for a business end user to know how to use? Why? Explain the reasons for your choices.

6. What are ethics and why are they important to a company?

ANALYSIS: Answer 1 of the following 3 questions. (15 points)

1. Cyberspace is a world without laws and can serve to both help or hurt those who use it. Private and corporate information is under attack from a wide variety of sources. What are some of the threats to information security? What security measures should be taken to protect systems from being damaged or infected by cyber criminals?

2. Being able to integrate one organization’s website with another’s poses some interesting questions of privacy, intellectual property protection, and technical challenges. What are some of the risks associated with this type of cooperation? What are the opportunities that may exist with this type of cooperation?

3. The wealth of free information available via the Internet continues to grow at incredible rates. Search engines such as Google make locating useful information practical. As we explore the Internet’s impact on various industries, the textbook industry is no exception. Is it possible that free Internet content might one day replace textbooks? What are the implications of this (positive and negative)? What opportunities exist?