Information Systems — Multiple Choice Practice

INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Multiple Choice Practice Questions
10 Chapters · 20 Questions Each · 200 Total Questions

✓ Correct answers highlighted in green

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Information Systems — Multiple Choice Practice

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Information Systems in Global Business Today

Chapter 2: Global E-Business and Collaboration
Chapter 3: Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy
Chapter 4: Ethical and Social Issues in Information Systems
Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies
Chapter 6: Foundations of Business Intelligence: Databases and Information Management
Chapter 7: Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology
Chapter 8: Securing Information Systems
Chapter 9: Enterprise Applications
Chapter 10: E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods

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Chapter 1: Information Systems in Global Business Today

1. What are the three basic activities of an information system that produce the information
organizations need?
A) Hardware, software, and networking
B) Data collection, storage, and dissemination
✓ C) Input, processing, and output
D) Senior management, middle management, and operational management

2. How does "data" differ from "information"?

✓ A) Data are streams of raw facts, while information is data shaped into a meaningful form.
B) Data is processed information, while information is the raw input.
C) Data is used by senior management, while information is used by operational management.
D) There is no difference; the terms are used interchangeably.

3. Firms invest heavily in information systems to achieve six strategic business objectives.
Which of the following is NOT one of those six objectives?
A) Operational excellence
✓ B) Elimination of competitors
C) Improved decision making
D) Survival
Note: The six are operational excellence, new products/services/business models, customer/supplier intimacy, improved
decision making, competitive advantage, and survival.

4. The hierarchy of authority in a business—such as senior management, middle management,

and operational management—represents which dimension of information systems?
A) The technology dimension
B) The management dimension
✓ C) The organizational dimension
D) The technical approach

5. A high-end hotel that uses computers to track customer preferences and customize their stay
is primarily trying to achieve which strategic business objective?
✓ A) Customer and supplier intimacy
B) Operational excellence
C) Survival
D) New business models

6. Citibank's introduction of ATMs to keep up with industry-level changes and governmental

regulations requiring record-keeping are examples of which strategic business objective?
A) Competitive advantage
✓ B) Survival
C) Improved decision making
D) Operational excellence

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7. In the business information value chain, the value of an information system is determined in
part by:
A) The cost of the hardware and software.
B) The number of IT employees in the company.
✓ C) The extent to which it leads to better decisions, greater efficiency, and higher profits.
D) The amount of raw data it can store.

8. Assets required to derive value from a primary IT investment—such as an appropriate

business model, efficient business processes, and management training—are known as:
A) Technical assets
✓ B) Complementary assets
C) Tangible assets
D) Networking assets

9. Which of the following best describes the "sociotechnical perspective" on information

systems?
A) The performance of a system is optimized when technology dictates how the organization is run.
B) Organizations must focus entirely on behavioral issues and ignore technical limitations.
✓ C) Optimal organizational performance is achieved by jointly optimizing both social and technical
systems used in production.
D) Information systems are purely technological tools and should be managed exclusively by computer
scientists.

10. Which dimension of information systems encompasses computer hardware, software, data
management technology, and networking/telecommunications?
A) The management dimension
✓ B) The technology dimension
C) The sociotechnical dimension
D) The organizational dimension

11. Which of the following is an example of the "management" dimension of an information

system?
A) Computer hardware and software
B) Hierarchy of authority and unique business processes
✓ C) Setting organizational strategy and acting creatively to create new products and services
D) The Internet and telecommunications infrastructure

12. Scientists and knowledge workers most often work directly with which level of a business
hierarchy?
A) Senior management
✓ B) Middle management
C) Operational management
D) Data workers

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13. Which activity in an information system involves returning output to appropriate members of
the organization to help evaluate or correct the input stage?
A) Processing
B) Distribution
✓ C) Feedback
D) Analysis

14. Apple's iPad, Google's Android OS, and Netflix are cited as examples of using information
systems to achieve which strategic objective?
A) Survival
B) Operational excellence
✓ C) New products, services, and business models
D) Customer intimacy

15. According to the text, what is one major opportunity presented by globalization?
A) The need for middle management is entirely eliminated.
✓ B) The Internet has drastically reduced the costs of operating on a global scale.
C) It allows businesses to run entirely on raw data without processing.
D) It removes the need for complementary assets.

16. Teamwork, collaborative work environments, and incentives for management innovation are
examples of which type of complementary asset?
A) Organizational assets
B) Technical assets
C) Social assets
✓ D) Managerial assets

17. The study of information systems dealing with issues and insights from psychology,
economics, and sociology represents which approach?
A) The technical approach
B) The sociotechnical approach
✓ C) The behavioral approach
D) The operational approach

18. In the business information value chain, what are the initial information processing activities
that transform raw data into a form that adds value?
✓ A) Data collection and storage, transformation into business systems, and dissemination
B) Supply chain management and Enterprise management
C) Hardware, Software, and Telecommunications
D) Planning, Coordinating, and Controlling

19. An information system is fundamentally defined as a set of interrelated components that:

A) Replaces the need for human decision making in a firm.
✓ B) Collect, process, store, and distribute information to support decision making, coordination,
and control.
C) Exclusively utilize computer hardware and software to automate factories.

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D) Primarily focus on monitoring employee internet usage and behavior.

20. What is a primary negative result when managers lack accurate information and must rely
on forecasts, best guesses, or luck?
✓ A) It results in overproduction, underproduction, misallocation of resources, and poor response
times.
B) It forces the business to adopt a new business model immediately.
C) It creates an over-reliance on complementary assets.
D) It automatically shifts the company from a technical approach to a behavioral approach.

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Chapter 2: Global E-Business and Collaboration

1. Which of the following best describes "business processes"?
A) The physical hierarchy of an organization's management
✓ B) Flows of material, information, and knowledge, and sets of activities or steps
C) The specific marketing strategies used to acquire new customers
D) The formal legal guidelines governing employee behavior

2. An information system that performs and records the daily routine transactions necessary to
conduct business is called a:
A) Management Information System (MIS)
B) Decision Support System (DSS)
✓ C) Transaction Processing System (TPS)
D) Executive Support System (ESS)

3. Which of the following is an example of a functional business process specifically found in

the Manufacturing and Production department?
A) Identifying customers
B) Creating financial statements
C) Hiring employees
✓ D) Assembling the product

4. Management Information Systems (MIS) typically serve which level of management by

providing reports on current performance based on TPS data?
A) Operational managers and staff
✓ B) Middle management
C) Senior management
D) External vendors

5. Which type of information system is designed to support nonroutine decision making for
middle management?
A) Transaction Processing System (TPS)
✓ B) Decision Support System (DSS)
C) Enterprise System
D) Supply Chain Management System

6. Executive Support Systems (ESS) are specifically designed to address:

A) Routine operational transactions on the factory floor
B) Predefined, structured goals for middle managers
✓ C) Nonroutine decisions requiring judgment, evaluation, and insight for senior management
D) Standardized payroll and accounting calculations

7. What is the primary function of an Enterprise System?

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A) To strictly manage relationships with external suppliers

B) To provide a public-facing website for online retail
✓ C) To collect data from different firm functions and store it in a single central data repository
D) To manage employee payroll and benefits exclusively

8. Systems that help manage a firm's relationships with its suppliers to share information about
orders, production, and inventory levels are known as:
A) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
✓ B) Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
C) Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
D) Executive Support Systems (ESS)

9. Which enterprise application helps firms identify, attract, and retain the most profitable
customers by coordinating sales, marketing, and customer service processes?
✓ A) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems
B) Supply Chain Management (SCM) Systems
C) Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
D) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

10. Systems designed to support processes for capturing and applying expertise and collecting
internal experience are called:
A) Decision Support Systems (DSS)
B) Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
✓ C) Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)
D) E-government systems

11. Internal company websites that are accessible only by employees are known as:
A) Extranets
✓ B) Intranets
C) Public social networks
D) Cyberlockers

12. The subset of e-business that specifically involves buying and selling goods and services
through the Internet is called:
A) E-government
✓ B) E-commerce
C) Intranet commerce
D) Social business

13. Using internal and external social networking platforms to engage employees, customers,
and suppliers is defined as:
A) IT governance
✓ B) Social business
C) Knowledge management
D) Supply chain management

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14. According to the Time/Space Collaboration Tool Matrix, which is an example of an

asynchronous, remote collaboration tool?
A) Face-to-face decision rooms
B) Video conferencing
✓ C) E-mail and wikis
D) Shared tables and wall displays

15. The senior manager who heads the formal organizational unit and oversees the use of
information technology is typically the:
A) Chief Privacy Officer (CPO)
B) Chief Security Officer (CSO)
✓ C) Chief Information Officer (CIO)
D) Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

16. Which of the following is NOT a primary challenge facing managers in a digital firm
environment?
A) Transforming the organization
B) Achieving new efficiencies
C) Understanding information system requirements
✓ D) Designing purely paper-based workflows

17. Collaboration tools primarily support which key business benefit?

A) Reducing software licensing costs
✓ B) Tightening relationships among employees, suppliers, and customers
C) Replacing the need for middle managers
D) Restricting information flow within the organization

18. Which system is designed specifically for senior management to address nonroutine
decisions using advanced graphics and communications?
A) TPS
B) MIS
C) DSS
✓ D) ESS

19. Which of the following collaboration challenges involves managing differences in

geography, time, and culture?
A) Managing shared workspaces
✓ B) Coordinating across boundaries
C) Keeping collaboration tools updated
D) Training IT professionals

20. What function does a "business process" primarily help an organization accomplish?
A) Track employee attendance
✓ B) Define and streamline the way work is organized, coordinated, and focused
C) Create marketing slogans
D) Set pricing for products

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Chapter 3: Information Systems, Organizations, and

Strategy
1. Porter's competitive forces model identifies which two additional forces besides existing
competition and customers?
A) Suppliers and technology
✓ B) New market entrants and substitute products
C) Government regulations and demographics
D) Shareholders and employees

2. Which competitive strategy aims to produce products and services at the lowest price point?
A) Product differentiation
✓ B) Low-cost leadership
C) Focus on market niche
D) Strengthen customer intimacy

3. Walmart's use of information systems to optimize supply chain management and keep prices
low is an example of which strategy?
A) Product differentiation
B) Strengthen customer and supplier intimacy
✓ C) Low-cost leadership
D) Focus on market niche

4. Apple, Google, and Nike offering new capabilities that change the customer experience is an
example of:
A) Low-cost leadership
✓ B) Product differentiation
C) Value web creation
D) Network economics

5. What is the strategy called when a firm uses information systems to develop strong ties and
loyalty, increasing switching costs (e.g., Netflix, Amazon)?
✓ A) Strengthen customer and supplier intimacy
B) Professional bureaucracy
C) Focus on market niche
D) Low-cost leadership

6. In the Value Chain Model, which of the following is considered a "Primary Activity"?
A) Human resources
B) Procurement
✓ C) Outbound logistics
D) Technology development

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7. How does a "Value Web" differ from a traditional value chain?

A) It is a linear operation connecting suppliers to a single manufacturer.
✓ B) It is a collection of independent firms using highly synchronized IT to coordinate value chains
collectively.
C) It is an internal corporate network used strictly for employee communication.
D) It only focuses on outbound logistics and sales.

8. When the output of some business units is used as inputs for others, or when organizations
pool markets and expertise, information systems are promoting:
A) Agency costs
✓ B) Synergies
C) Traditional economics
D) Disruptive technologies

9. An activity for which a firm is a world-class leader, relying on knowledge and experience
shared across business units, is known as a:
✓ A) Core competency
B) Transaction cost
C) Primary activity
D) Strategic transition

10. Unlike traditional economics, what does Network Economics suggest?

A) Adding more participants significantly increases the marginal cost of production.
✓ B) The marginal cost of adding a new participant is almost zero, and the value of the community
grows with its size.
C) Firms should vertically integrate to reduce network dependencies.
D) The value of software decreases as its installed customer base grows.

11. A firm that uses networks to ally with other companies to create and distribute products
without traditional organizational boundaries is utilizing a:
A) Machine bureaucracy strategy
B) Professional bureaucracy strategy
✓ C) Virtual company strategy
D) Fast follower approach

12. In a business ecosystem, firms that dominate the ecosystem and create the central
platforms used by other firms are referred to as:
A) Niche firms
B) Fast followers
✓ C) Keystone firms
D) Primary entrants

13. Which of the following best defines "disruptive technologies"?

✓ A) Technologies that bring about sweeping change to businesses, industries, and markets.
B) Technologies that strictly support existing business routines without altering them.
C) IT systems used exclusively for standardizing human resource management.

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D) Technologies that inevitably fail due to high market entry barriers.

14. What is the nature of the relationship between organizations and their environments?
A) Organizations dictate all changes in the environment.
✓ B) Environments shape what organizations can do, but organizations can also influence their
environments in a reciprocal relationship.
C) Organizations generally change much faster than their surrounding environments.
D) Organizations only interact with their environment during the initial startup phase.

15. Which Porter force deals with the ability of customers to easily switch to a competitor's
products?
A) Threat of new entrants
✓ B) Bargaining power of customers
C) Threat of substitute products
D) Rivalry among existing competitors

16. Which Porter force describes how powerful suppliers can raise prices or reduce quality?
✓ A) Bargaining power of suppliers
B) Threat of new entrants
C) Substitute products
D) Internal rivalry

17. Which structural feature of organizations includes rules, regulations, and standard operating
procedures?
✓ A) Formal routines
B) Organizational politics
C) Organizational culture
D) Environmental shaping

18. What is meant by "organizational resistance" to information systems?

A) Employees who refuse to use computers
✓ B) The tendency of organizations to maintain existing structures and oppose changes that
threaten them
C) Software bugs that prevent system adoption
D) Government regulations on data use

19. Which information system strategy focuses on serving a narrow target market better than
competitors?
A) Low-cost leadership
B) Product differentiation
✓ C) Focus on market niche
D) Strengthen supplier intimacy

20. What does the concept of "switching costs" refer to in competitive strategy?
A) The cost of changing software vendors

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✓ B) The expenses and difficulties customers face when switching to a competitor

C) The cost of training new employees on a system
D) Fees charged when transferring data between networks

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Chapter 4: Ethical and Social Issues in Information

Systems
1. What is the estimated annual cost of pirated content to the U.S. economy?
A) $10 billion
B) $25 billion
✓ C) $58 billion
D) $100 billion

2. Which of the following is NOT one of the five moral dimensions of the information age?
A) Information rights and obligations
B) System quality
✓ C) Economic profitability
D) Accountability and control

3. What does the NORA technology primarily do?

A) Protects copyrights on the Internet
✓ B) Combines data from multiple sources to find obscure hidden connections
C) Blocks unauthorized content on streaming platforms
D) Encrypts e-mails for privacy

4. What is the definition of "profiling" in the context of information systems?

A) Installing spyware on a user's computer
✓ B) Combining data from multiple sources to create dossiers of detailed information on individuals
C) Slower web access enforced by ISPs
D) Tracking individual cell phones

5. Which ethical principle argues that if an action is not right for everyone to take, it is not right
for anyone?
A) Descartes' Rule of Change
B) Risk Aversion Principle
C) Utilitarian Principle
✓ D) Immanuel Kant's Categorical Imperative

6. If you assume that all tangible and intangible objects are owned by someone unless
specifically declared otherwise, which rule are you applying?
✓ A) Ethical "No Free Lunch" Rule
B) Golden Rule
C) Descartes' Rule of Change
D) Utilitarian Principle

7. Which of the following best describes a "cookie"?

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A) A tiny graphic embedded in an e-mail

B) A software bug that causes system failure
✓ C) A tiny text file transmitted by a web server and stored on the user's hard drive
D) A malicious program that transmits user keystrokes

8. Under FTC's Fair Information Practice (FIP) principles, what is the core principle of
"Notice/awareness"?
A) Consumers must be able to contest the accuracy of personal data
✓ B) Web sites must disclose practices before collecting data
C) Consumers must be able to choose how information is used
D) Data collectors must secure personal data

9. Which intellectual property protection is an exclusive monopoly granted to the creator of an

invention for 20 years?
A) Trade secret
✓ B) Patent
C) Copyright
D) Trademark

10. What makes digital media specifically challenging to protect compared to physical books?
A) It requires expensive storage
✓ B) Ease of replication and transmission over networks
C) It is less popular than physical media
D) It can only be read on specific devices

11. According to the text, what is the most common source of business system failure?
A) Hardware failures
B) Software bugs
✓ C) Poor input data quality
D) Hacking attacks

12. What health condition is identified as having computer keyboards as its largest source?
A) Computer vision syndrome (CVS)
B) Technostress
✓ C) Repetitive stress injury (RSI)
D) Insomnia

13. The unethical (but not necessarily illegal) use of computers is defined as:
A) Computer crime
✓ B) Computer abuse
C) Digital divide
D) Due process

14. The term "digital divide" refers to:

A) The gap between hardware and software engineers

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B) The legal boundary between public and private data

✓ C) Certain ethnic and income groups being less likely to have computers or Internet access
D) The separation between different network protocols

15. What is "technostress"?

A) Hardware failure due to overheating
✓ B) Aggravation, impatience, and fatigue related to screen use
C) The economic pressure on Internet Service Providers
D) A type of spyware tracking your data

16. Which ethical principle states that you should take the action that achieves the higher or
greater value?
✓ A) Utilitarian Principle
B) Descartes' Rule of Change
C) Risk Aversion Principle
D) Golden Rule

17. What law makes it illegal to circumvent technology-based protections of copyrighted

materials?
A) Privacy Act of 1974
✓ B) Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)
C) Do-Not-Track Online Act of 2011
D) Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act

18. What are "web beacons" (or web bugs)?

A) Programs that secretly record keystrokes
B) Search engine algorithms that block piracy
✓ C) Tiny graphics embedded in e-mails and Web pages to monitor who is reading them
D) Tools used to encrypt e-mail communications

19. In an ethical analysis, "Accountability" refers to:

A) Accepting the potential costs for decisions
B) Laws being well-known and understood
C) Permitting individuals to recover damages done to them
✓ D) Mechanisms for identifying responsible parties

20. What is a "trade secret"?

A) A statutory grant protecting intellectual property for life plus 70 years
✓ B) An intellectual work or product belonging to a business and not in the public domain
C) A monopoly granted for 20 years on an invention
D) A privacy statement used by e-commerce websites

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Chapter 5: IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

1. How is IT infrastructure best defined?
✓ A) A set of physical devices and software required to operate an enterprise
B) Only the software applications used by the accounting department
C) The marketing strategies used to sell IT services
D) The physical buildings where employees work

2. Which era of IT infrastructure evolution is characterized by desktop clients networked to

servers?
A) General-purpose mainframe era
B) Personal computer era
✓ C) Client/server era
D) Cloud and mobile computing era

3. What does Moore's Law state regarding microprocessor performance?

A) The cost of data storage doubles every year
✓ B) Computing power doubles every 18 months
C) The value of a network grows exponentially
D) Transistors will eventually become obsolete

4. According to the Law of Mass Digital Storage, what happens to the amount of data being
stored each year?
✓ A) It doubles
B) It triples
C) It remains constant
D) It halves

5. Which law states that the value or power of a network grows exponentially as a function of
the number of network members?
A) Moore's Law
B) Law of Mass Digital Storage
✓ C) Metcalfe's Law
D) Newton's Law

6. What is the primary function of nanotechnology in computing?

A) Increasing the physical size of servers
✓ B) Shrinking the size of transistors to the size of a virus
C) Eliminating the need for operating systems
D) Expanding the bandwidth of fiber optic cables

7. Which of the following is NOT one of the seven main components of an IT infrastructure?
A) Computer hardware platforms

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B) Operating system platforms

✓ C) Human resources management
D) Networking/telecommunications platforms

8. In the client-level operating system market, which OS runs on approximately 90% of

machines?
A) Linux
B) Unix
C) Mac OS X
✓ D) Microsoft Windows

9. What is a "Legacy System"?

A) A brand new, cloud-based ERP system
✓ B) Older transaction processing systems created for mainframes that are too costly to replace
C) A temporary network set up for remote workers
D) A modern mobile application

10. What does the acronym BYOD stand for in the context of current hardware trends?
A) Build Your Own Database
✓ B) Bring Your Own Device
C) Buy Your Own Desktop
D) Broaden Your Organizational Data

11. Which computing trend uses the principles of quantum physics to represent and operate on
data?
A) Cloud computing
B) Grid computing
✓ C) Quantum computing
D) Green computing

12. What technology allows a single physical resource to act as multiple resources, such as
running multiple OS instances?
✓ A) Virtualization
B) Consumerization
C) Nanotechnology
D) Multitiering

13. Which of the following is a model of cloud computing services?

A) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
B) Platform as a Service (PaaS)
C) Software as a Service (SaaS)
✓ D) All of the above

14. What is the primary goal of Green Computing (Green IT)?

A) Using color-coded wires in data centers

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✓ B) Reducing power consumption and implementing eco-friendly practices for hardware

C) Developing agricultural software
D) Moving all physical servers to the cloud

15. Which of the following is a key characteristic of open-source software?

A) It is highly expensive and proprietary
✓ B) It is produced by a community of programmers and is free and modifiable by users
C) It cannot be used for enterprise operations
D) It is only compatible with Apple products

16. What advantage does XML have over HTML?

A) XML is only used for formatting text colors
✓ B) XML tagging allows computers to process data automatically, making it more powerful and
flexible
C) XML cannot exchange information over the web
D) XML is an operating system, whereas HTML is a web browser

17. In software development, what does SOA stand for?

✓ A) Service-Oriented Architecture
B) System-Operated Application
C) Server-Oriented Access
D) Standard Operating Agreement

18. What is a "Mashup" in the context of software platforms?

A) A computer virus that destroys data
B) A hardware malfunction
✓ C) A combination of two or more online applications
D) A physical blending of server components

19. When calculating the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), hardware and software generally
account for about what percentage of the costs?
✓ A) 20%
B) 50%
C) 80%
D) 100%

20. Which of the following is an internal factor used in the Competitive Forces Model for IT
Infrastructure investment?
A) Competitor firms' IT infrastructure investments
B) Competitor firms' IT services
✓ C) Your firm's business strategy
D) External market demand for services

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Chapter 6: Foundations of Business Intelligence:

Databases and Information Management
1. Which of the following represents the correct data hierarchy from smallest to largest?
✓ A) Bit, byte, field, record, file, database
B) Byte, bit, record, field, file, database
C) Bit, byte, record, field, database, file
D) Field, record, bit, byte, file, database

2. What issue arises when the same piece of data is duplicated in multiple files across different
departments?
A) Data inconsistency
✓ B) Data redundancy
C) Program-data dependence
D) Lack of flexibility

3. Which term describes the situation where a change in software requires a corresponding
change to the data accessed by that program?
A) Data isolation
B) Data redundancy
✓ C) Program-data dependence
D) Data dependence anomaly

4. In a relational database, what is the field used to uniquely identify each record?
A) Foreign key
✓ B) Primary key
C) Attribute
D) Tuple

5. Which operation in a relational DBMS combines different tables to provide the user with more
information?
A) SELECT
B) PROJECT
✓ C) JOIN
D) APPEND

6. What does the PROJECT operation do in a relational DBMS?

A) Creates a subset of all records that meet stated criteria
B) Combines relational tables together
✓ C) Creates a subset of columns in a table, displaying only specified information
D) Links a primary key to a foreign key

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7. Which of the following is an automated or manual file used to store definitions of data
elements and their characteristics?
A) Data manipulation language
✓ B) Data dictionary
C) Structured Query Language (SQL)
D) Data definition capability

8. What is the process of streamlining complex groupings of data to minimize redundant data
elements and many-to-many relationships?
✓ A) Normalization
B) Data cleansing
C) Referential integrity
D) Data modeling

9. Which tool is used by database designers to document the data model and illustrate
relationships between entities?
A) Data flow diagram
✓ B) Entity-relationship diagram
C) Flowchart
D) Relational schema

10. What type of database is designed specifically to handle large volumes of unstructured and
structured data like Web content and social media?
A) Relational database
B) In-memory database
✓ C) Non-relational database (NoSQL)
D) Analytical database

11. What is the primary purpose of a Data Warehouse?

A) To manage day-to-day transactions in real time
✓ B) To store current and historical data consolidated from operational systems for analysis
C) To focus exclusively on a single subject or line of business
D) To process big data across inexpensive computers

12. A summarized or focused portion of a data warehouse created for a specific population of
users is called a:
A) Data mine
B) Hadoop cluster
✓ C) Data mart
D) Relational subset

13. Which technology enables distributed parallel processing of massive amounts of big data
across inexpensive computers?
✓ A) Hadoop
B) MapReduce
C) In-memory computing

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D) SQL

14. How does in-memory computing significantly reduce data processing delays?
A) By distributing processing across many servers
✓ B) By using the computer's main memory (RAM) for data storage instead of disk storage
C) By eliminating the need for database administration
D) By automatically normalizing the data

15. If a business needs to view data from multiple dimensions simultaneously, which tool
should they use?
A) Text mining
B) Relational joining
✓ C) Online analytical processing (OLAP)
D) Hadoop

16. Which business intelligence tool is used to find hidden patterns and relationships in
datasets to predict future behavior?
A) Online analytical processing (OLAP)
✓ B) Data mining
C) Hadoop
D) Data warehousing

17. Software that extracts key elements from large unstructured data sets like e-mails and call
center transcripts relies on:
✓ A) Text mining
B) Sequence discovery
C) Web structure mining
D) Clustering

18. What establishes the firm's rules, procedures, and roles for sharing, managing, and
standardizing data?
A) Data quality audit
B) Data administration
C) Database administration
✓ D) Information policy

19. Which process involves dealing with policies and government regulations for managing the
availability, usability, integrity, and security of data?
A) Data cleansing
✓ B) Data governance
C) Information policy
D) Database administration

20. What is the main function of data cleansing software?

A) To back up databases daily to prevent data loss

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B) To normalize complex data groupings automatically

✓ C) To detect and correct data that is incorrect, incomplete, improperly formatted, or redundant
D) To perform a structured survey of data accuracy

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Chapter 7: Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless

Technology
1. What are the three major networking and communication trends mentioned in the chapter?
✓ A) Convergence, Broadband, and Broadband wireless
B) Cloud computing, Mobile search, and Social networking
C) Packet switching, TCP/IP, and Client/server computing
D) RFID, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth

2. Which device translates digital signals from a computer into analog form for transmission
over telephone or cable networks?
A) Router
B) Switch
✓ C) Modem
D) Hub

3. In a simple computer network, which component manages the functions of switches and
routers through a central program?
A) Network Interface Card (NIC)
✓ B) Software-defined networking (SDN)
C) Network Operating System (NOS)
D) Client computer

4. Which computing model has largely replaced centralized mainframe computing and is the
basis for the Internet?
A) Peer-to-peer computing
B) Mainframe-terminal computing
✓ C) Client/server computing
D) Edge computing

5. What is the primary purpose of "packet switching" in digital networks?

A) To establish a dedicated point-to-point circuit for every communication
✓ B) To slice digital messages into parcels and send them along different paths to increase
efficiency
C) To convert analog signals into digital data
D) To assign a unique IP address to every device on a network

6. The TCP/IP reference model consists of which four layers?

A) Physical, Data Link, Network, Session
✓ B) Application, Transport, Internet, Network interface
C) Presentation, Session, Transport, Network
D) User, Application, Connection, Physical

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7. What is the standard set of rules that governs the transmission of information between two
points in a network?
A) Bandwidth
B) Throughput
✓ C) Protocol
D) Topology

8. Which type of network is typically used to link workgroups or departments within a single
building?
A) Wide area network (WAN)
B) Metropolitan area network (MAN)
✓ C) Local area network (LAN)
D) Campus area network (CAN)

9. What is the hierarchical system that converts IP addresses into readable domain names?
A) Internet Service Provider (ISP)
✓ B) Domain Name System (DNS)
C) Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
D) Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

10. Which new addressing scheme was developed to provide more than a quadrillion new IP
addresses?
A) IPv4
B) IPv5
✓ C) IPv6
D) Internet2

11. What technology allows a secure, encrypted, private network to run over the public Internet?
A) Voice over IP (VoIP)
✓ B) Virtual Private Network (VPN)
C) Unified Communications
D) File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

12. Which standard is used for transferring Web pages over the Internet?
A) HTML
B) URL
✓ C) HTTP
D) SMTP

13. What is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a Web site from search
engines?
A) Social search
B) Semantic search
✓ C) Search engine optimization (SEO)
D) Page ranking

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14. Web 2.0 is best described by which of the following features?

A) Static content and read-only pages
✓ B) Interactivity, social participation, and user-generated content
C) The use of intelligent agents to search for shopping data
D) High-speed 100 Gbps testing networks

15. What is the goal of Web 3.0, often referred to as the "Semantic Web"?
A) To increase the number of social networking sites
✓ B) To add a layer of meaning to the Web to make it more intuitive for computers and humans
C) To replace all wired networks with wireless Wi-Fi
D) To eliminate the need for search engine optimization

16. Which wireless standard is used for Personal Area Networks (PANs) and links up to 8
devices in a 10-meter area?
A) Wi-Fi (802.11)
B) WiMax (802.16)
✓ C) Bluetooth (802.15)
D) CDMA

17. What is the name for one or more access points in a public place that provide wireless
Internet coverage?
A) Nodes
✓ B) Hotspots
C) Trunks
D) Hubs

18. Which technology uses tiny tags with embedded microchips to track goods in a supply
chain or for automated toll collection?
A) Wi-Fi
✓ B) RFID
C) WSNs
D) Bluetooth

19. What are Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) primarily used for?
A) High-speed video streaming
✓ B) Monitoring environmental changes, traffic, or building security over large spaces
C) Replacing corporate intranets
D) Hosting personal blogs and wikis

20. Which term refers to the range of frequencies that can be accommodated on a particular
telecommunications channel?
A) Hertz
B) Bits per second
✓ C) Bandwidth
D) Broadband

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Chapter 8: Securing Information Systems

1. Which term refers to the policies, procedures, and technical measures used to prevent
unauthorized access or damage to information systems?
A) Controls
✓ B) Security
C) Risk Assessment
D) Cybersecurity Strategy

2. Methods and organizational procedures that ensure the safety of assets and the reliability of
accounting records are known as:
A) Security
B) Protocols
✓ C) Controls
D) Software Metrics

3. Which of the following is a reason why information systems are inherently vulnerable?
✓ A) Accessibility of networks
B) Too many physical security guards
C) Use of encrypted VOIP
D) High software quality metrics

4. "War driving" is a technique used by eavesdroppers to:

A) Crash corporate servers via DoS
B) Steal hardware from office buildings
✓ C) Detect SSID and gain access to wireless networks
D) Spread viruses via email attachments

5. Which type of malware is an independent program that copies itself from one computer to
another over a network?
A) Virus
B) Trojan Horse
✓ C) Worm
D) Spyware

6. What is a "Trojan Horse" in the context of computer security?

A) A program that records every keystroke
✓ B) Software that appears benign but does something unexpected
C) A hardware failure in corporate systems
D) A method of encrypting public keys

7. Which attack involves hackers submitting data to web forms to exploit unprotected software
and send rogue queries to a database?

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A) DDoS
B) Phishing
✓ C) SQL injection
D) Pharming

8. Small programs that install themselves surreptitiously to monitor user web surfing and serve
advertising are called:
A) Key loggers
B) Ransomware
✓ C) Spyware
D) Botnets

9. A "Botnet" is best described as:

A) A group of hackers working together
✓ B) A network of 'zombie' PCs infiltrated by bot malware
C) A specialized firewall for mobile devices
D) A system for managing digital certificates

10. What is "Phishing"?

A) Driving by buildings to detect Wi-Fi signals
✓ B) Setting up fake websites or emails to ask for confidential data
C) Redirecting a user to a bogus web page even if they type the correct address
D) Monitoring information traveling over a network

11. Which practice involves tricking employees into revealing passwords by pretending to be a
legitimate member of the company?
✓ A) Social engineering
B) Spoofing
C) Sniffing
D) Cybervandalism

12. "Pharming" differs from phishing because it:

A) Only targets mobile users
✓ B) Redirects users to a bogus page even when the correct URL is typed
C) Uses 'evil twins' in wireless networks
D) Is a form of internal threat from employees

13. Which act requires financial institutions to ensure the security and confidentiality of
customer data?
A) HIPAA
B) Sarbanes-Oxley Act
✓ C) Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
D) Electronic Evidence Act

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14. What determines the level of risk to a firm if a specific activity or process is not properly
controlled?
✓ A) Risk assessment
B) Information systems audit
C) Security policy
D) Business impact analysis

15. A policy that defines acceptable uses of a firm's information resources and computing
equipment is a(n):
A) Authorization policy
✓ B) Acceptable use policy (AUP)
C) Identity management policy
D) Security profile

16. Which plan focuses on restoring business operations after a disaster?

A) Disaster recovery planning
✓ B) Business continuity planning
C) Risk management planning
D) Technical recovery planning

17. A combination of hardware and software that prevents unauthorized users from accessing
private networks is a:
✓ A) Firewall
B) Honeypot
C) Router
D) Digital certificate

18. In Public Key Encryption, which key is used by the sender to encrypt a message?
A) The sender's private key
✓ B) The recipient's public key
C) A single shared symmetric key
D) The sender's digital signature

19. Which technology uses a trusted third party to validate a user's identity for online
transactions?
A) Unified Threat Management (UTM)
✓ B) Digital certificate
C) Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
D) Intrusion detection system

20. Systems that contain redundant hardware, software, and power to provide continuous,
uninterrupted service are called:
✓ A) Fault-tolerant computer systems
B) Deep packet inspection systems
C) Managed security service providers
D) Cloud security platforms

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Chapter 9: Enterprise Applications

Enterprise Systems (ERP)
1. What is the primary purpose of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system?
A) To create separate databases for every department.
✓ B) To provide a suite of integrated software modules and a common central database for the entire
firm.
C) To replace all human workers with automated software.
D) To focus exclusively on social media marketing.

2. Which of the following is NOT a major business functional area supported by enterprise
software?
A) Finance and accounting.
B) Human resources.
C) Manufacturing and production.
✓ D) Graphic design and video editing.

3. When a firm implements an enterprise system, it must often:

A) Rewrite the entire software from scratch.
✓ B) Change its business processes to match the software's predefined best practices.
C) Avoid using configuration tables.
D) Keep its legacy systems running permanently.

4. What is a key business value of enterprise systems?

A) Increasing the number of manual data entry steps.
✓ B) Providing firm-wide information to support better decision-making.
C) Reducing the speed of response to customer requests.
D) Ensuring data is kept in separate, isolated 'silos'.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

5. The 'upstream' portion of the supply chain includes:
✓ A) The firm's suppliers and the processes for managing relationships with them.
B) The organizations responsible for delivering products to customers.
C) Only the internal manufacturing processes of the company.
D) The final retail consumers.

6. Which term describes the distortion of information about product demand as it passes from
one entity to the next across the supply chain?
A) The domino effect.
✓ B) The bullwhip effect.
C) Just-in-time logistics.
D) The demand-pull effect.

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7. A 'just-in-time' strategy means that:

A) Finished goods are stored in warehouses for months.
✓ B) Components arrive exactly when they are needed for production.
C) Companies keep massive amounts of 'safety stock' for every item.
D) Orders are filled only once a year.

8. Which system type helps a firm model its existing supply chain and enable demand
planning?
A) Supply chain execution systems.
✓ B) Supply chain planning systems.
C) Customer relationship management systems.
D) Social CRM systems.

9. In a 'pull-based' supply chain model:

A) Production is based on best guesses of demand.
✓ B) Production is triggered by actual customer orders.
C) Products are built to stock and pushed to retailers.
D) Schedules are made months in advance without customer input.

10. What percentage of a company's operating expenses can be wasted due to supply chain
inefficiencies?
A) Up to 5 percent.
B) Up to 10 percent.
✓ C) Up to 25 percent.
D) Exactly 50 percent.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

11. CRM systems are designed to:
✓ A) Capture and integrate customer data from all over the organization.
B) Manage only the company's internal payroll.
C) Replace the need for a sales department.
D) Track the movement of raw materials from suppliers.

12. Which CRM module helps manage lead generation, pricing, and assessing partner
performance?
A) Employee Relationship Management (ERM).
✓ B) Partner Relationship Management (PRM).
C) Sales Force Automation (SFA).
D) Analytical CRM.

13. 'Operational CRM' typically includes tools for:

A) Data mining and calculating customer lifetime value.
✓ B) Sales force automation and customer service support.

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C) Managing the company's hardware infrastructure.

D) Designing the company's logo.

14. What is the main focus of 'Analytical CRM'?

A) Facing the customer directly in call centers.
✓ B) Analyzing customer data to identify profitable customers and churn rates.
C) Managing the physical retail store layout.
D) Automating the shipping of products.

15. 'Churn rate' is an indicator of:

A) How many new employees the company hires.
✓ B) The number of customers who stop using or purchasing a company's products.
C) The speed of the company's internet connection.
D) The total number of products manufactured in a year.

16. Which metric represents the relationship between the revenue produced by a specific
customer and the cost of acquiring/servicing that customer?
A) Bullwhip ratio.
✓ B) Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV).
C) Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
D) Churn percentage.

Challenges and Next-Generation Trends

17. What was the average cost of an ERP project in 2014?
A) $100,000.
B) $500,000.
✓ C) $2.8 million.
D) $10 million.

18. 'Social CRM' allows a company to:

A) Replace its CRM with a Facebook page.
✓ B) Monitor social media activity and manage social-based campaigns.
C) Hire employees through Instagram only.
D) Avoid using data analytics.

19. A major challenge in implementing enterprise applications is:

A) They are too cheap and lack features.
✓ B) High switching costs and dependence on software vendors.
C) They do not require any changes to business processes.
D) They only work for small businesses.

20. Next-generation enterprise applications are becoming more:

A) Rigid and difficult to integrate.
✓ B) Flexible, Web-enabled, and integrated with other systems.

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C) Dependent on paper-based reporting.

D) Exclusive to desktop computers with no mobile functionality.

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Chapter 10: E-Commerce: Digital Markets, Digital Goods

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the eight unique features of e-commerce?
A) Ubiquity
B) Global reach
✓ C) Tangibility
D) Information density

2. The ability of e-commerce technology to be available everywhere (at work, home, and
anytime) is referred to as:
A) Universal standards
✓ B) Ubiquity
C) Richness
D) Interactivity

3. What is a primary consequence of "Information density" in digital markets?

A) Higher market entry costs
B) A decrease in personalization
✓ C) Greater price transparency and cost transparency
D) An increase in transaction costs

4. The removal of intermediary layers in a distribution channel is known as:

✓ A) Disintermediation
B) Price discrimination
C) Market segmentation
D) Continuous replenishment

5. Which of the following best describes the cost structure of "digital goods"?
A) Delivery costs over the Internet are very high.
✓ B) The cost of producing the first unit is almost the entire cost of the product.
C) Marketing costs are significantly lower than traditional goods.
D) Pricing is highly fixed and rarely varies.

6. eBay is a prime example of which type of e-commerce business model?

A) Business-to-consumer (B2C)
B) Business-to-business (B2B)
✓ C) Consumer-to-consumer (C2C)
D) Mobile commerce (m-commerce)

7. Which e-commerce revenue model offers basic services for free while charging a premium for
advanced features?
A) Subscription model
B) Transaction fee model

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C) Affiliate model
✓ D) Free/Freemium model

8. The practice of tracking online behavior across thousands of websites to display relevant
advertisements is known as:
A) Long tail marketing
✓ B) Behavioral targeting
C) Crowdsourcing
D) Geoadvertising

9. The concept that large numbers of people can make better decisions than a single individual
is called:
A) Network effects
B) Social sign-on
✓ C) Crowdsourcing
D) Prediction markets

10. In B2B transactions, the computer-to-computer exchange of standard transactions such as

invoices and purchase orders is called:
A) Behavioral targeting
B) Private industrial networks
✓ C) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
D) Net marketplaces

11. A large firm using a secure extranet to link to its suppliers, distributors, and other key
business partners is operating a:
A) Public exchange
✓ B) Private industrial network (private exchange)
C) C2C marketplace
D) Geosocial network

12. Independently owned third-party Net marketplaces that connect thousands of suppliers and
buyers for spot purchasing are known as:
A) Portals
B) Private industrial networks
✓ C) Exchanges
D) E-tailers

13. According to the document, which of the following is the fastest-growing form of e-
commerce?
A) C2C e-commerce
B) B2B e-commerce
✓ C) M-commerce (Mobile commerce)
D) Social e-commerce

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14. A smartphone app that helps you locate where your friends are currently hanging out
utilizes which type of location-based service?
A) Geoinformation service
B) Geoadvertising service
✓ C) Geosocial service
D) Geomarketing service

15. If a mobile app tells you the real estate price of a house you are walking past, it is providing
a:
A) Geosocial service
✓ B) Geoinformation service
C) Geoadvertising service
D) Social sign-on service

16. When mapping out an e-commerce presence, the four main areas a firm must consider are:
A) Hardware, Software, Personnel, Budget
✓ B) Web sites, E-mail, Social media, Offline media
C) Internet, Intranet, Extranet, Mobile
D) Suppliers, Distributors, Retailers, Customers

17. In which phase should a business focus on search engine optimization (SEO) and
developing keywords?
A) Phase 1: Planning
B) Phase 2: Web site development
✓ C) Phase 3: Web Implementation
D) Phase 4: Social media plan

18. Because e-commerce relies on 'Universal standards,' it directly results in:

✓ A) Disparate computer systems easily communicating with one another
B) Higher market entry costs for merchants
C) Higher consumer search costs
D) Decreased price transparency

19. Which unique feature of e-commerce transforms the traditional 'one-to-many' broadcast
model into a 'many-to-many' model that promotes user content generation?
A) Richness
B) Global reach
C) Interactivity
✓ D) Social technology

20. What is a "Net marketplace" (e-hub)?

✓ A) A single market for many buyers and sellers, often industry-owned or owned by an
intermediary.
B) A private extranet owned strictly by the buyer.
C) A physical marketplace where electronic goods are sold.
D) A peer-to-peer betting market on specific outcomes.

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