Chapter 4 Identifying and Selecting Systems Development Projects

Multiple Choice Questions

Answer: a 2.

Which of the following is one of the three primary activities associated with identifying and selecting IS development projects? a. b. c. d. preliminary investigation of the system problem or opportunity identification of potential development projects requirements determination generating alternative initial designs Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 93

Answer: b 3.

A department head deciding which project requests to submit is an example of: a. b. c. d. a preliminary investigation of the system problem or opportunity identifying potential development projects requirements determination generating alternative initial designs Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 94

Answer: b 4.

Research has found that projects identified by top management more often: a. b. c. d. have a narrow, tactical focus reflect diversity and have a cross-functional focus have a strategic, organizational focus will integrate easily with existing hardware and systems Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 94

Answer: c

5.

Research has found that projects identified by individual departments or business units most often: a. b. c. d. have a narrow, tactical focus reflect diversity and have a cross-functional focus have a strategic, organizational focus will integrate easily with existing hardware and systems Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 94

Answer: a 6.

Potential development projects can be identified by: a. b. c. d. a steering committee top management a senior IS manager all of the above Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 94

Answer: d 7.

Which of the following possible project sources most often reflects the broader needs of the organization? a. b. c. d. user department development group IS manager top management Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 95

Answer: d 8.

Which of the following characteristics is associated with the steering committee selection method? a. b. c. d. greater strategic focus greater organizational change fewer users, management layers, and business functions less concern on cost-benefit analysis Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 95

Answer: b 9.

Which of the following is a way projects can be identified? a. b. c. d. bottom-up source upper-echelon source top-down source both a and c Difficulty: Easy Reference: p. 95

Answer: d

10.

The extent to which the project is viewed as improving profits, customer service, etc., and the duration of these benefits best defines which of the following evaluation criteria? a. b. c. d. potential benefits resource availability technical difficulty or risks strategic alignment Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 96

Answer: a 11.

The extent to which the project is viewed as helping the organization achieve its strategic objectives and long-term goals describes: a. b. c. d. potential benefits resource availability technical difficulty or risks strategic alignment Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 96

Answer: d 12.

Analyzing an organizations activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs incurred best describes: a. b. c. d. affinity clustering business process reengineering value chain analysis technical difficulty or risks Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 96

Answer: c 13.

If the project team and organizational officials reassess the project after each subsequent SDLC phase to determine if the business conditions have changed or if a more detailed understanding of a systems costs, benefits, and risks suggest that the project is not as worthy as previously thought, they are: a. b. c. d. adhering to the incremental commitment principle overly cautious using a CASE methodology adhering to a bottom-up commitment principle Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 99

Answer: a 14.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding a planning-based approach? a. An emphasis is placed on identifying the procedure that is required to solve a particular problem as it exists today. b. The difficulty with this approach is that the required organizational procedures are likely to change over time as the environment changes. c. A major advantage of this approach is that an organizations informational needs are less likely to change (or will change more slowly) than its business processes. d. One of the benefits of this plan is that an organization does not need to analyze its information needs and plan its projects carefully. Answer: c Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 100

15.

Which of the following is a need for improved information systems project identification and selection? a. The costs of information systems are steadily decreasing. b. Many systems can handle applications that cross organization boundaries. c. Data redundancy is often out of control, and users may have little confidence in the quality of the data. d. Systems maintenance costs are well under control. Answer: c Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 100

16.

Gaining a clear idea of where an organization is, its vision of where it wants to be in the future, and a plan of how to make the transition to its desired state is: a. b. c. d. the third activity in the analysis phase a prerequisite to making effective project selection decisions the first step in a bottom-up approach not necessary if one is using a CASE product Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 101

Answer: b 17.

An ongoing process that defines the mission, objectives, and strategies of an organization refers to: a. b. c. d. corporate strategic planning analysis goal setting information systems planning Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 101

Answer: a 18.

A statement that makes it clear what business a company is in is called a: a. b. c. d. business statement corporate policy statement goal statement mission statement Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 101

Answer: d 19.

We are in the business of designing, fabricating, and selling to retail stores high-quality wood furniture is what kind of statement? a. b. c. d. business statement mission statement goal statement corporate policy Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 101

Answer: b

20.

A series of statements that express an organizations qualitative and quantitative goals for reaching a desired future position best defines: a. b. c. d. objective statements information systems plan competitive strategy business policy Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 102

Answer: a 21.

Once a company has defined its mission and objectives: a. b. c. d. goals can be established an information architecture can be developed project analysis can begin a competitive strategy can be formulated Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 102

Answer: d 22.

The method by which an organization attempts to achieve its mission and objectives best defines: a. b. c. d. critical success factors competitive strategy business policy information systems plan Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 102

Answer: b 23.

Which of the following is a strategy for a low-cost producer? a. b. c. d. competing in an industry on the basis of product quality capitalizing on a key product criteria requested by the market competing in an industry on the basis of product or service cost to the consumer competing in an industry on the basis of product quantity Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

Answer: c 24.

Which of the following describes the product differentiation strategy? a. b. c. d. competing in an industry on the basis of product quality competing in an industry on the basis of product quantity competing in an industry on the basis of product or service cost to the consumer capitalizing on a key product criteria requested by the market Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

Answer: d 25.

Which of the following is a competitive strategy? a. b. c. d. low-cost producer product differentiation product focus all of the above Difficulty: Easy Reference: p. 103

Answer: d

26.

If Kia Motors is attempting to achieve its mission and objectives by providing a low-priced line of cars, this is referred to as its: a. b. c. d. competitive strategy business policy information systems plan objective statement Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 102

Answer: a 27.

The second planning process that can play a significant role in the quality of project identification and selection decisions is called: a. b. c. d. strategic alignment cost/benefit analysis information systems planning incremental commitment Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

Answer: c 28.

Which of the following is a true statement regarding ISP? a. During ISP, the current and future information needs of an organization are modeled. b. Strategies and project plans to migrate the current information systems and technologies to their desired future state are developed. c. ISP is a top-down process that takes into account the outside forces (industry, economic, relative size, geographic region, etc.) d. all of the above Answer: d Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

29.

An orderly means of assessing the information needs of an organization and defining the systems, databases, and technologies that will best satisfy those needs best defines: a. b. c. d. information systems planning mission statement objective statement competitive strategy Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

Answer: a 30.

Which of the following is the first ISP step? a. b. c. d. Develop target blueprints Assess current IS-related assets Define a series of scheduled projects Assign resources Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 103

Answer: b

31.

A generic information systems planning methodology that attempts to gain a broad understanding of the information system needs of the entire organization defines: a. b. c. d. bottom-up planning top-down planning democratic planning foundation planning Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: b 32.

This approach begins by conducting an extensive analysis of the organizations mission, objectives, and strategy and determining the information requirements needed to meet each objective: a. b. c. d. foundation planning democratic planning top-down planning bottom-up planning Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: c 33.

This approach requires the identification of business problems and opportunities used to define projects: a. b. c. d. foundation planning democratic planning top-down planning bottom-up planning Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: d 34.

A generic information systems planning methodology that identifies and defines IS development projects based on solving operational business problems or taking advantage of some business opportunities defines: a. b. c. d. democratic planning bottom-up planning top-down planning foundation planning Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: b 35.

Which of the following is an advantage to the top-down planning approach over other planning approaches? a. b. c. d. broader perspective improved integration better understanding all of the above Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: d

36.

Which of the following best describes the top-down planning approach advantage, improved integration? a. If not viewed from the top, totally new management information systems may be implemented rather than planning how to evolve existing systems. b. If not viewed from the top, planners may lack sufficient management acceptance of the role of information systems in helping them achieve business objectives. c. If not viewed from the top, planners may lack the understanding necessary to implement information systems across the entire business rather than simply to individual operating units. d. If not viewed from the top, information systems may be implemented without first understanding the business from general managements viewpoint. Answer: a Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 105

37.

Which of the following best describes the top-down planning approach advantage, better understanding? a. If not viewed from the top, totally new management information systems may be implemented rather than planning how to evolve existing systems. b. If not viewed from the top, planners may lack sufficient management acceptance of the role of information systems in helping them achieve business objectives. c. If not viewed from the top, planners may lack the understanding necessary to implement information systems across the entire business rather than simply to individual operating units. d. If not viewed from the top, information systems may be implemented without first understanding the business from general managements viewpoint. Answer: c Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 105

38.

An advantage of the bottom-up planning approach is: a. b. c. d. identifying pressing organizational problems broader perspective improved integration better understanding Difficulty: Med Reference: p. 105

Answer: a 39.

Which of the following is an advantage of the bottom-up planning approach? a. By using the bottom-up approach, a broader perspective can be achieved. b. IS plans can be created faster and are less costly to develop than using the top-down approach. c. By using the bottom-up approach, planners may gain the understanding necessary to implement information systems across the entire business. d. By using the bottom-up approach, planners will have sufficient management acceptance of the role of information systems in helping them achieve business objectives. Answer: b Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 105

40.

The matrix that identifies the relationships between organizational entities and each business function is: a. b. c. d. unit-to-function location-to-unit function-to-process entity-to-process Difficulty: Hard Reference: p. 107

Answer: a

List Type Questions

List at least 5 different possible decision outcomes of project development. Answer: PPT slide Difficulty: Med

3.

List 6 different reasons fro permanent improvement of Information Systems planning. Answer: PPT slide Difficulty: Med