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Discussion Questions

21 September, 2015 - 11:32
  1. “I don’t want to learn about technology; I just want to be good at my job.” Comment.
  2. Examine Figure 1.1. Based on your college education to date, with which elements are you most comfortable? With which are you least comfortable? Discuss your answers.
  3. Examine Figure 1.1. Based on any practical experience that you have had, with which elements are you most comfortable? With which are you least comfortable? Discuss your answers.
  4. Why might we have more trouble assessing the success of a federal government entitlement program than we would have judging the success of a business organization?
  5. Why must we have knowledge of a system’s objectives to study that system?
  6. Can one person be a member of all three business process components: information, management, and operations? Discuss your answer.
  7. Where do you see your role(s) as a business professional—in the information, management, or operations processes? Discuss your answer.
  8. Examine Figure 1.5. Discuss the relative importance of horizontal information flows and vertical information flows to the business professional.
  9. “When we computerize an IS, we merely change how the data are processed; we don’t change what tasks are performed.’’ Do you agree? Give examples to support your position.
  10. Assume that a manager can obtain information from the organization’s computer in three ways: by direct inquiry using his laptop connected to the enterprise system, by a daily paper report, and by a monthly report. Using the qualities of information discussed in this chapter (understandability, relevance, timeliness,predictive value/feedback value, neutrality/freedom from bias, comparability, consistency,validity, accuracy and completeness), compare and contrast these three sources of information.
  11. Give several examples not mentioned in the chapter of potential conflicts between pairs of information qualities.
  12. What information quality is most important for decision making—relevance or reliability? Discuss your answer.
  13. Which information qualities are most important to Amazon.com’s ability to fill advance orders for books? Explain your answer.