WGU C724 - Information Systems
Management
What are the 6 components of Information Systems?
Which ones just belong to Information Systems ANS: 1. People 2. Processes 3. Networks 4. Software 5.
Hardware 6. Data
People and processes only belong to information systems
Executive Support Systems (ESS) ANS: a type of management support system that facilitates and
supports senior executive information and decision-making needs. It provides easy access to internal
and external information relevant to organizational goals
What is EIS - "Executive Information Systems?" ANS: a specific class of DSS that support the strategic
decision-making process of top-level executives. These systems incorporate summarized information
from decision support systems and management information systems, along with external factors to
forecast and analyze trends.
What is DSS - "Decision Support Systems?" ANS: focuses on supporting all phases of specific decision-
making processes and procedures for arriving at a solution. They are often developed to handle
unstructured problems at all levels.
What is MIS - "Management Information Systems?" ANS: represent a category of IS that serve lower to
middle managers. They provide performance reports based on the results from transaction processing
systems, such as product cost data, sales data, and expense data.
What is TPS - "Transaction Processing Systems?" ANS: collect, store, update, and retrieve transaction
data within an organization. Common business transactions include: employee payroll, customer sales,
and supplier payments. Developed to: decrease costs, decrease processing time, and increase accuracy.
Achieve these benefits by: automating and recording routine business transactions that are too tedious
and monotonous for front-line employees to process manually in an effective and efficient manner
,What is Information Systmes? ANS: The purpose is to get useful information to the right people within
an organization to support decision making and operations. Effective information systems can help
companies streamline business processes and planning, as well as help with data storage, data
management, and data security.
Identify the 7 major reasons firms invest in information systems ANS: 1. Achieve operational excellence
2. Develop new products and services 3. Attain customer intimacy and service 4. Improve decision
making 5. Promote competitive advantage 6. Ensure long-term survival 7. Develop strong relationships
with suppliers
What is data? An example. ANS: Data - Unorganized data that lacks meaning. Example: The number of
people below the poverty line in the region is 50,000
What is information? An example. ANS: Information - Data that has been organized in a meaningful
manner. Example: The number of people below the poverty line increases between 2010 and 2018
What is knowledge? An example. ANS: Knowledge - The practical application of information. Example:
The number of people below the poverty line has increased due to stagnating wages and cuts to social
programs
What does the functional area Human Resources do? ANS: Recruiting, training, and maintaining
employees and their records
What does the functional area Production, Operations & Quality Control do? ANS: Functions range from
receiving raw material to shipping finished goods or from production itself to equipment maintenance
What does the functional area Sales/Marketing do? ANS: Planning, promoting, and selling of goods and
services to satisfy customer needs and the objectives of the organization
, What does the functional area Accounting & Finance do? ANS: Managing financial assets and
maintaining financial records
Accounts payable, accounts receivable
Budgeting, general ledgers, payroll
Cash flow financial transactions
What are Porter's 5 Forces? ANS: 1. Threat of New Entrants 2. Threat of Substitutes 3. Bargaining Power
of Customers (Buyers) 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5. Competitive Rivalry
RAID " Redundant Array of Independent Disks" ANS: storage uses multiple disks in order to provide fault
tolerance, to improve overall performance, and to increase storage capacity in a system
Cloud Computing ANS: is facilitated by many computers meshed or connected together in what is
termed "cloud fabric," which provides common resources to service providers. Benefits include
redundancy, reliability, and scalability. Organizations that provide cloud computing are known as cloud
operators, which employ fabric controllers to administer operations within the fabric of computer
resources
Strategic-Oriented Evaluation ANS: the determination of whether the information system outputs
enable management to make strategic decisions that will help develop and achieve the future mission
and vision of the organization
Function-Oriented Evaluation ANS: examines the performance of data, hardware, software, networks,
and human resources
System-Oriented Evaluation ANS: the ability of an information system to discriminate between files or
data that are relevant to a user query, and those which are not relevant
Management
What are the 6 components of Information Systems?
Which ones just belong to Information Systems ANS: 1. People 2. Processes 3. Networks 4. Software 5.
Hardware 6. Data
People and processes only belong to information systems
Executive Support Systems (ESS) ANS: a type of management support system that facilitates and
supports senior executive information and decision-making needs. It provides easy access to internal
and external information relevant to organizational goals
What is EIS - "Executive Information Systems?" ANS: a specific class of DSS that support the strategic
decision-making process of top-level executives. These systems incorporate summarized information
from decision support systems and management information systems, along with external factors to
forecast and analyze trends.
What is DSS - "Decision Support Systems?" ANS: focuses on supporting all phases of specific decision-
making processes and procedures for arriving at a solution. They are often developed to handle
unstructured problems at all levels.
What is MIS - "Management Information Systems?" ANS: represent a category of IS that serve lower to
middle managers. They provide performance reports based on the results from transaction processing
systems, such as product cost data, sales data, and expense data.
What is TPS - "Transaction Processing Systems?" ANS: collect, store, update, and retrieve transaction
data within an organization. Common business transactions include: employee payroll, customer sales,
and supplier payments. Developed to: decrease costs, decrease processing time, and increase accuracy.
Achieve these benefits by: automating and recording routine business transactions that are too tedious
and monotonous for front-line employees to process manually in an effective and efficient manner
,What is Information Systmes? ANS: The purpose is to get useful information to the right people within
an organization to support decision making and operations. Effective information systems can help
companies streamline business processes and planning, as well as help with data storage, data
management, and data security.
Identify the 7 major reasons firms invest in information systems ANS: 1. Achieve operational excellence
2. Develop new products and services 3. Attain customer intimacy and service 4. Improve decision
making 5. Promote competitive advantage 6. Ensure long-term survival 7. Develop strong relationships
with suppliers
What is data? An example. ANS: Data - Unorganized data that lacks meaning. Example: The number of
people below the poverty line in the region is 50,000
What is information? An example. ANS: Information - Data that has been organized in a meaningful
manner. Example: The number of people below the poverty line increases between 2010 and 2018
What is knowledge? An example. ANS: Knowledge - The practical application of information. Example:
The number of people below the poverty line has increased due to stagnating wages and cuts to social
programs
What does the functional area Human Resources do? ANS: Recruiting, training, and maintaining
employees and their records
What does the functional area Production, Operations & Quality Control do? ANS: Functions range from
receiving raw material to shipping finished goods or from production itself to equipment maintenance
What does the functional area Sales/Marketing do? ANS: Planning, promoting, and selling of goods and
services to satisfy customer needs and the objectives of the organization
, What does the functional area Accounting & Finance do? ANS: Managing financial assets and
maintaining financial records
Accounts payable, accounts receivable
Budgeting, general ledgers, payroll
Cash flow financial transactions
What are Porter's 5 Forces? ANS: 1. Threat of New Entrants 2. Threat of Substitutes 3. Bargaining Power
of Customers (Buyers) 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers 5. Competitive Rivalry
RAID " Redundant Array of Independent Disks" ANS: storage uses multiple disks in order to provide fault
tolerance, to improve overall performance, and to increase storage capacity in a system
Cloud Computing ANS: is facilitated by many computers meshed or connected together in what is
termed "cloud fabric," which provides common resources to service providers. Benefits include
redundancy, reliability, and scalability. Organizations that provide cloud computing are known as cloud
operators, which employ fabric controllers to administer operations within the fabric of computer
resources
Strategic-Oriented Evaluation ANS: the determination of whether the information system outputs
enable management to make strategic decisions that will help develop and achieve the future mission
and vision of the organization
Function-Oriented Evaluation ANS: examines the performance of data, hardware, software, networks,
and human resources
System-Oriented Evaluation ANS: the ability of an information system to discriminate between files or
data that are relevant to a user query, and those which are not relevant
