Management Information Systems (MC261) – July 2006

Section A : Basic Concepts (30 Marks)
1. A “data mart” is
(a) A shop where we get the data we want
(b) A small data warehouse designed for a department or a strategic business unit
(c) A hardware used for data base
(d) A section in the wall mart
(e) Data on markets.
2. ‘Meta data’ is
(a) A collection of data on metals (b) A huge data base (c) Data about data
(d) A method to retrieve data (e) Irrelevant data.
3. GIS stands for
(a) Geological Indian Survey
(b) Graphical Interactive System
(c) Graphical Information System
(d) Geological Information Society
(e) Geographic Information System.
4. Following are some of the Heuristic (developing rules to solve a complex problem) algorithms, except one:
(a) Construction heuristics
(b) Improvement heuristics
(c) Mathematical programming
(d) Random Number generation (e) Decomposition.
5. Except for one, the following are some of the advantages of “Simulation” method in Decision Support Systems.
(a) A great amount of time compression can be attained
(b) It is descriptive rather than normative, helping the user to pose ‘what-if’ question
(c) It automatically produces many important performance measures
(d) It can generally handle an extremely wide variety of problem types
(e) It is built for one particular problem and typically cannot handle any other problem.
6. In developing a DSS or MIS, the process of developing a “quick version” of a system, for the end user, is known as
(a) Prototyping (b) Photographing (c) Profiling (d) Performing (e) Promoting.
7. And user developed Decision Support System (DSS) has the following advantages except for one.
(a) The system delivery time is short
(b) The prerequisites of extensive and formal user requirements specifications are eliminated
(c) Lack of DSS design knowledge and controls, can result in poor quality
(d) Some DSS implementation problem are reduced
(e) The development cost is usually low.
8. Even though it can cripple an organization, sometimes people refuse to share what they know (knowledge). Except for one, the following are some reasons why people don’t share knowledge. Find the odd one out.
(a) People believe that knowledge is power and that hoarding it guarantees job security
(b) People won’t get credit for sharing knowledge
(c) People don’t have time to share knowledge
(d) People believe that giving away the information they have will result in the reduction in their bank account balance
(e) People are afraid of making mistakes and looking bad or being reprimanded.
9. Which of the following is not a reason as to why organisations implement Knowledge Management System?
(a) Better decision making (b) Reduced costs (c) Statutory obligation
(d) Faster response time to key issues (e) Improved productivity.
10. Which of the following is not a step/stage in a decision making process?
(a) Problem identification (b) Generation of alternatives (c) Choice
(d) Implementation (e) Salary.
11. The process of knowledge discovery / information harvesting using a database is known as
(a) Data description (b) Data encryption (c) Data mining (d) Data coding
(e) Data encoding.
12. Decision taken, that is not based on any rule or method, and is novel and non-recurrent in nature is
(a) Programmed decision (b) Non-programmed decision (c) Semi-programmed decision
(d) Set decision (e) Irrelevant decision.
13. Which of the following system caters to the operational needs of the finance department of an organization?
(a) Human Resource Information System
(b) Marketing Information System
(c) Executive Information System
(d) Finance & Accounts System
(e) Production Planning & Control System.
14. In a decision making process, where the decision maker considers situation in which several outcomes are possible for each course of action, comes under _______ type of decision making.
(a) Certianity (b) Risk (c) Uncertianity (d) Sure (e) No-risk.
15. Which of the following is a limitation of Decision Support Systems?
(a) Extend the decision maker’s ability to process information and knowledge
(b) Extend the decision maker’s ability to tackle large-scale, time consuming, complex problem
(c) Shorten the time associated with a decision making
(d) Cannot yet be designed to contain definitely human decision making talents such as creativity, imagination or intuition
(e) Improve the reliability of a decision process or outcome.
16. Which of the following is not a force acting upon a typical decision maker?
(a) Personal and Emotional (b) Gravitation (Earth’s) (c) Economic (Environmental) (d) Organisational (e) Contextual and Emergence.
17. Find the odd one out
(a) SAP (b) BAAN (c) Oracle Financial (d) People Soft (e) Oracle 10g.
18. Which of the following is not a major issue that need to be addressed in the evaluation and selection of an ERP software package?
(a) Cost and ROI benefits (b) Implementation time and support (c) Programming language
(d) Service support (e) Functionality fit.
19. Even when two individuals take a similar decision, their decision making style need not be the same. The manner in which individuals organize and manipulates data is known as
(a) Life style (b) Cognitive style (c) Hyper style (d) Hypo style (e) Hair style.
20. An effective MIS should have the following features, except
(a) Ability to provide information that will reduce uncertainity
(b) Building a knowledge base
(c) Reducing errors using high level validation techniques
(d) Building strong public relation with outsiders
(e) Ensuring that MIS is designed in such a way the information cannot be misused.
21. Sales Force automation will come under
(a) Finance & Accounting System
(b) Marketing Information System
(c) Manufacturing Information System
(d) Human Resource Information System
(e) Production Planning & Control System.
22. Management information system mainly deals with:
(a) Hardware (b) Software (c) Network (d) Information (e) Cables.
23. Internet-like networks between a company and its business partners is called
(a) Intranet (b) Extranet (c) Protocol (d) Internetworks (e) Fishnet.
24. If an organization has been collecting data regarding production units per shift then they should not shift to production units per day. This is an example of:
(a) Validity (b) Reliability (c) Consistency (d) Impartiality (e) Complexity.
25. Group method for eliciting a wide variety of suggestions by open flow of ideas can be termed as
(a) Guided brainstorming (b) Group consensus (c) Brainstorming (d) Open discussion
(e) Restricted discussion.
26. Which of the following enables workers at different locations to create a shared electronic environment and use IT to design the structure of the organization?
(a) Systemware (b) Shareware (c) Middleware (d) Groupware (e) Designerware.
27. Which of the following organizations have no structure?
(a) Virtual organizations
(b) Traditional organizations with electronic components
(c) Negotiated agreement organizations
(d) Electronic conglomerates
(e) Multinational companies.
28. The point at which the new system replaces the old system is called
(a) Flag point (b) Termination point (c) Milestone (d) Cutover (e) Shutdown.
29. Computers in manufacturing concerns are largely used for ______________
(a) Market intelligence (b) Advertising (c) Pay roll (d) Production and inventory control
(e) Public Relations.
30. The immediate step after MIS implementation is
(a) Feasibility study (b) Evaluation (c) Preparation of the project status report
(d) Documentation of the implementation process (e) Draw the data flow diagram.
Section B : Caselets (50 Marks)
Caselet 1
Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:
1. What business problems were solved at Visa-Pro India by linking call centers and product databases? (6 marks)
2. What business benefits does Visa-Pro India expect from this approach? (7 marks)
Visa-Pro India expected its call center agents to answer customer queries quickly, completely, and politely. But as the systems that the agents used couldn’t find al the answers a customer was sometimes transferred to several operators before all his questions were answered.
In 1995, Visa-Pro India increased the training for its call center agents enabling them to have more information on a range of products to reduce the number of call transfers. But it didn’t work. To increase customer satisfaction, Visa-pro India is changing its approach. It is using a software that links its eight call centers and a variety of product databases so an agent can answer questions without transferring the call and soon, agents will be able to interact with customers via email and the Internet. Visa-Pro India recently chose a Customer Communications Solution software and is rolling it out to a total of 800 agents in eight call centers across India. Once the system is in place, a customer will be able to call one agent about any of Visa-Pro India’s 8 credit-card and other financial products.
Instead of transferring a customer to a different operator for each product, the new software will give each agent access to eight different product databases. The new approach will help Visa-Pro save Rs.30 million annually on its call center budget.
3. “Merely designing an EIS does not ensure its success.” What are the various barriers that prevent the effectiveness of an EIS? (12 marks)
Caselet 2
Read the caselet carefully and answer the following questions:
4. Why was the implementation process an easy one for South India Shipping corporation Ltd.?
(6 marks)
5. What are the advantages of implementing financial software? (7 marks)
Companies generally purchase software and then customize it to meet their customer’s needs. But sometimes a company may have to change its business processes to conform to a software package. In line with a company-wide decree to move from mainframes to client/server computing, South India Shipping Corporation Ltd acquired R/3 financial software modules from Germany’s SAP AG. South India Shipping corporation Ltd is one of the world’s leading global container transportation companies. It has 100 offices in about 40 countries. The shipping major owns and charters about 34 container vessels deployed in 30 liner services carrying more than 1 million containers worldwide every year. SAP met the shipping company’s requirements for handling its international customers. With this software, customers can choose a particular currency for payment, the country in which they want to pay the bill, and identify the party that will pay-the shipper or the consignee. Adapting the shipper’s existing processes to suit the standard accounting modules of SAP was easy because the company wanted to make changes to these processes. The accounting function also reduced the number of employees from 100 to 70 with the help of process reengineering. The different part of the global implementation of the R/3 financial modules was not the roll out but the design phase that preceded it. During the design phase, the company invited representatives from its offices in various countries and continents to participate. South India Shipping corporation Ltd. also hired project consultants and used the consultancy’s project management methodology to document the design process. The implementation of the R/3 financial modules was started in Chicago. Then the company operated on country and module by module as it rolled out R/3 financials across its overseas offices.
6. The president of Abhilash Industries could not understand why his manager was unable to take a rational decision in a crisis. His manager explained the problem. What can be the problem according to the manager? (12 marks)
Section C : Applied Theory (20 Marks)

7. List the benefits and limitations of a Decision Support System. (10 marks)
8. How do information systems support the activities of manages in an organization? (10 marks)
Suggested Answers
1.
Answer : (b)
Reason : A “data mart” is a small data warehouse designed for a department or a strategic business unit.
2.
Answer : (c)
Reason : ‘Meta data’ is data about data.
3.
Answer : (e)
Reason : GIS stands for Geographic Information System.
4.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Random Number generation is not a Heuristic algorithm.
5.
Answer : (e)
Reason : “Simulation” has a limitation in the fact that it can be built for one particular problem and normally cannot handle any other. All other options given, are its advantages.
6.
Answer : (a)
Reason : In developing a DSS or MIS, the process of developing a “quick version” of a system, for the end user, is known as Prototyping.
7.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Lack of DSS design knowledge and controls, can result in poor quality, and hence this is a limitation, where as all others are its advantages.
8.
Answer : (d)
Reason : People believe that giving away the information they have will result in the reduction in their bank account balance is the odd one out, as all others are valid reasons for not sharing information.
9.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Statutory obligation is not a reason as to why companies implement knowledge management system.
10.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Salary is not a step/stage in a decision making process.
11.
Answer : (c)
Reason : The process of knowledge discovery / information harvesting using a database is known as data mining.
12.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Non-programmed decision are decisions taken that is not based on any rule or method and is novel and non-recurrent in nature.
13.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Finance & Accounts System caters to the operational needs of the Finance department of an organization.
14.
Answer : (c)
Reason : In a decision making process, where the decision maker considers situation in which several outcomes are possible for each course of action, comes under “Uncertianity type of decision making.
15.
Answer : (d)
Reason : The limitation of Decision Support Systems is that it cannot yet be designed to contain definetly human decision making talents such as creativity, imagination or intuition.
16.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Gravitation (Earth’s) is not a force acting upon a typical decision maker.
17.
Answer : (e)
Reason : Oracle 10g is a RDBMS package. All others are ERP softwares.
18.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Programming language is not a major issue that need to be addressed in the evaluation and selection of an ERP software package.
19.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The manner in which individuals organize and manipulates data is known as Cognitive style.
20.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Building strong public relation with outsiders is not a feature of MIS.
21.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Sales Force automation will come under Marketing Information System.
22.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Management information system mainly deals with Information.
23.
Answer : (b)
Reason : Internet-like networks between a company and its business partners is called Extranet. 24.
Answer : (c)
Reason : If an organization has been collecting data regarding production units per shift then they should not shift to production units per day. This is an example of Consistency.
25.
Answer : (c)
Reason : Group method for eliciting a wide variety of suggestions by open flow of ideas can be termed as Brainstorming.
26.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Groupware enables workers at different locations to create a shared electronic environment and use IT to design the structure of the organization.
27.
Answer : (a)
Reason : Virtual organizations have no structure.
28.
Answer : (d)
Reason : The point at which the new system replaces the old system is called Cutover.
29.
Answer : (d)
Reason : Computers in manufacturing concerns are largely used for Production and inventory control.
30.
Answer : (b)
Reason : The immediate step after MIS implementation is Evaluation.