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Management Information Systems: Solving Business Problems with Information Technology, 3/e
Gerald V. Post, University of the Pacific
David L. Anderson, DePaul U/McGowan Center

Models and Decision Support

Chapter 8 Multiple Choice



1

Information Systems provide support for tactical decisions through:
A)Forecasts, optimization, and in-depth analysis.
B)Data, forecasts, and presentation tools.
C)Data, modeling, and presentation tools.
D)Optimization, in-depth analysis, and data.
2

Building a model of a problem is:
A)An important step in the analysis of the problem.
B)Impossible without the appropriate software.
C)Appropriate only for operational decisions.
D)Appropriate only for tactical decisions.
3

One of the uses of models is to enable managers to:
A)Predict how changes might affect the business.
B)Estimate parameters of future data.
C)Understand the real world.
D)Apply statistics to their problems.
4

Weather forecasts are often incorrect because:
A)The model is wrong.
B)The number of variables is too great.
C)Chaos theory is the better approach.
D)The information is outdated.
5

12 The first step in simulation is to identify:
A)The desired solution.
B)The problem.
C)The control and output variables.
D)The maximum levels for each variable.
6

Pivot tools make it easy for managers to examine:
A)Raw data.
B)Cube data.
C)Spreadsheet data.
D)Accumulated data.
7

A key concept in marketing today is the use of:
A)Outside researchers.
B)Product attributes.
C)Target marketing.
D)Filtered reporting.
8

Through the 1970s, computers were largely used:
A)By every manager.
B)To allow managers to quickly examine the data from many different perspectives.
C)To generate data that could be evaluated instantly and in detail.
D)To assist with transaction processing.
9

Information systems typically provide three kinds of support for tactical decisions. Which of the following is NOT provided by information systems?
A)Data for the models.
B)Support for building, evaluating and analyzing models.
C)The guaranteed ability to make good decisions.
D)The means to display the results in a variety of formats-especially graphs.
10

When the marketing researchers Barabba and Zaltman analyzed decision-making at General Motors, they found that, in general, people are:
A)Apt to discard data that does not fit their prior beliefs.
B)Likely to favor the historical perspective rather than recent events.
C)Likely to discard rules of thumb in favor of statistical analysis.
D)Seldom likely to make decisions based on wishful thinking.
11

A model is:
A)A concrete representation of an imagined system.
B)A simplified, abstract representation of some real-world system.
C)Analysis of a subject.
D)An optimization tool.
12

What is illusory correlation?
A)The ease with which specific instances can be recalled affects judgments of frequency.
B)The belief that two variables are related when they are not.
C)Difficulty in being consistent for similar decisions.
D)Social pressures cause people to alter their decisions and decision-making processes.
13

What are scale effects?
A)People have unrealistic expectations when they see incomplete or inaccurate data.
B)Tendency to attribute success to one's skill and failure to chance.
C)The scale on which responses are recorded can affect responses.
D)Preference for an outcome affects the assessment.
14

Consider this example: An operations engineer models a machine as a mathematical formula that converts raw materials and labor into products. This is an example of what kind of model:
A)Process model
B)Physical model.
C)Rule of thumb
D)Transaction processing
15

In business, an important reason for building models is to help us make the best possible choice. This concept can also be called:
A)Prediction
B)Parameters:
C)Descriptive models.
D)Optimization.
16

Regression and moving averages are two common methods used in the:
A)Physical model
B)Prediction model
C)Optimization model
D)Descriptive model
17

What consists of a variety of tools and techniques to automatically retrieve and search data for information?
A)Data warehouse
B)Data processing
C)Data storage
D)Data mining
18

Most OLAP models rely on what to provide consistent data and fast access.
A)A data warehouse
B)Data processing
C)Data storage
D)Data mining
19

What kind of tools allows the user to examine cube data from any perspective?
A)Spin
B)Pivot
C)Plug
D)Thrust
20

What does EIS stand for?
A)Electronic information system
B)Electronic information source
C)Executive information source
D)Executive information system
21

A portal that displays key data and graphs on one page is called a:
A)Descriptive model
B)Digital dashboard
C)Physical model
D)Drilling down
22

Which is NOT an advantage of an EIS system?
A)The CEO must be onsite at the warehouse to collect data.
B)Instead of waiting for a report, top executives can retrieve the data as soon as it is available.
C)It's easier to examine data from different departments to produce a better view of the big picture.
D)The executive's use of the data is nonintrusive.
23

Overall, most top execs find it easier to ask lower level managers:
A)For basic reports and information.
B)To oversee day-to-day details.
C)To oversee day-to-day details and EIS usage.
D)To oversee EIS usage.
24

Sales forecasting, management of the sales staff, advertising and promotion are common duties of the:
A)Finance department
B)Human resources management department
C)Accounting department
D)Marketing department
25

What kind of model would the marketing department at a car company use to measure the importance of several qualities-style, performance, handling and ride, for instance-to the customer?
A)Physical model
B)Attribute model
C)Descriptive model
D)Super model
26

What marketing concept focuses on finding consumers who are specifically interested in your products?
A)Target marketing
B)Descriptive models
C)Laser marketing
D)Scanner data
27

Providing new training, monitoring employee progress, and maintaining an inventory of employee skills are typical duties of the:
A)Finance department
B)Human resources management department
C)Accounting department
D)Marketing department
28

Present value analysis is based on:
A)Stagnant values
B)Changing values due to interest payments.
C)A strict 7 percent inflation rate
D)A strict 8 percent inflation rate
29

Evaluating strategic alternatives in terms of funding operations and tax policies are typical duties of the:
A)Finance department
B)Human resources management department
C)Accounting department
D)Marketing department
30

On a spreadsheet, the amount of bonds will depend on the retained earnings, but the retained earnings depend on the interest cost of the bonds. This is called a:
A)Circular reference
B)Insular reference.
C)Linear reference
D)Triangular reference
31

Feedback systems that diverge are:
A)Stable
B)Unstable.
C)Not credible
D)Hastily conceived
32

What are the two basic ways of to create and store underlying maps?
A)As pictures or as text
B)As sound or as digitized map data
C)As pictures or as digitized map data
D)As digitized map data or as pictures
33

If you are selling a high-price item such as a Cadillac, what would be the best use of a GIS?
A)To locate areas with lots of roads
B)To locate areas with lots of hills
C)To locate areas with newer roads
D)To locate areas with high-income residents
34

These days, what is the easiest way to plot locations of delivery vehicles, police cars or trains?
A)Global positioning system
B)Cellphones
C)Pagers
D)Internet
35

What is not an advantage of the GIS system?
A)Maps rarely go out-of-date.
B)They are generally easy to understand
C)They are persuasive
D)They can be used for simulations to examine alternatives.
36

For a manager, making snap decisions based on gut instinct:
A)Is usually quite lucrative
B)Is about as reliable as rigorous statistical analysis
C)Rarely leads to effective solutions
D)Never works
37

Which is not a main component of a decision support system (DSS)?
A)Data collection
B)Analysis of models
C)Global positioning
D)Presentation
38

If you do not have a structural model, you can use what kind of techniques to collect data over time?
A)Global positioning
B)EIS
C)Marketing
D)Time-series techniques




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