BUS 365 Week 10 Quiz – Strayer

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Quiz 9 Chapter 12

IT Strategic Planning

Multiple Choice

1. Making IT investments on the basis of an immediate need or threat are sometimes necessary. What can managers expect from making investments in this way?a) These are proactive approaches that will maximize ROI. b) These just-in-time approaches to investments minimize long-term costs.c) These are reactive approaches that can result in incompatible, redundant, or failed systems. d) These quick responses provide the best defenses.

2. The alignment of IT with the business strategy is dynamic and a(n) __________. a) ongoing processb) annual eventc) challenge for operations managersd) decreasing in importance

3. Cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS) are forms of __________. a) in-house developmentb) offshoringc) outsourcingd) sourcing

4. Why did British-Swedish company AstraZeneca undergo a major restructure from a traditional model to a loosely-coupled business model?a) Management forecasted a significant loss in its sales revenues.b) Management wanted to implement the latest IT and social networks.c) Competition in the pharmaceutical industry was decreasing.d) All of the above

5. Optimally, the __________ guides investment decisions and decisions on how ISs will be developed, acquired, and/or implemented.a) network infrastructureb) SWOTc) level of IT expertised) IT strategy

6. Typically, ITs that provide competitive advantages, or that contain proprietary or confidential data are developed and maintained by __________.a) consulting companiesb) the in-house IT functionc) a single vendord) multiple vendors

7. According to a survey of business leaders by Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, 87 percent believe that IT is critical to their companies' strategic success. In addition, the survey reported that __________. a) most business leaders work with IT to achieve successb) most IT staff are very involved in the process of developing business strategyc) only about one-third of business executives responsible for strategy work closely with the IT departmentd) IT projects are rarely abandoned

8. Which is not one of the reasons why an IT project is discontinued or abandoned?a) The project was under-budgetb) The business strategy changedc) Technology changedd) The project sponsors did not work well together

9. An organization’s __________ define(s) why it exists.a) strategyb) objectivesc) targetsd) mission statement

10. __________ are the desired levels of performance.a) Strategyb) Objectivesc) Targetsd) Visions

11. An organization’s __________ are action-oriented statements (e.g., achieve a ROI of at least 10 percent in 2014) that define the continuous improvement activities that must be done to be successful.a) strategiesb) objectivesc) targetsd) mission statements

12. IT governance is concerned with insuring that organizational investments in IT __________. a) support operationsb) provide sustainable competitive advantagec) deliver full valued) are audited quarterly

13. It is the duty of the __________ to insure that information systems, technology, and other critical activities are effectively governed.a) IT functionb) Board of Directors (BOD)c) end usersd) HR function

14. IT governance covers each of the following areas except: a) inventory management

b) resource managementc) risk managementd) strategy support

15. Characteristics of resources that can help firms create a competitive advantage are all of the following except:a) appropriabilityb) governancec) rarityd) value

16. Why is it insufficient to develop a long-term IT strategy and not reexamine the strategy on a regular basis? a) Systems need to be maintainedb) To keep the CIO part of the executive teamc) Organizational goals change over timed) To automate business processes

17. The __________ is a group of managers and staff representing various organizational units that is set up to establish IT priorities and to ensure that the IS department is meeting the needs of the enterprise.a) corporate steering committeeb) board of directorsc) executive suited) audit team

18. Based on case studies, the types of work that are not readily offshored include the following:a) Work that has been routinizedb) Business activities that rely on an common combination of specific application-domain knowledgec) Situations that would expose the client company to too much data security or privacy risksd) All of the above

19. For best results, an organization’s strategic IT plan is based on __________.a) IT governanceb) cloud computingc) the latest mobile technologiesd) the strategic business plan

20. All of the following are tools or methodologies that managers use for IT strategic planning except: a) business service management b) business systems planning modelc) balanced scorecardd) dashboards

21. Business service management is an approach for linking __________ or metrics of IT to business goals to determine the impact on the business.a) key performance indicators (KPIs)b) critical success factors (CSFs) c) scorecards

d) financials

22. What do managers use KPIs for? a) To measure real-time performanceb) To predict future resultsc) To measure results of past activityd) All of the above

23. __________ are the most essential things that must go right, or be closely tracked, to ensure the organization's survival and success.a) Key performance indicators (KPIs)b) Critical success factors (CSFs) c) Scorecardsd) Financials

24. Which is not one of the characteristics of critical success factors (CSFs)? a) Organizations in the same industry have the same CSFs. b) The CSF approach was developed to help identify the information needs of managers.c) The fundamental assumption is that in every organization there are three to six key factors that, if done well, will result in the organization's success.d) The failure of these factors will result in some degree of failure at the organization.

25. __________ is used in planning situations that involve much uncertainty, like that of IT in general and e-commerce in particular.a) Key performance indicators (KPIs)b) Scenario planningc) Critical success factors (CSFs)d) Balanced scorecard

26. Resource allocation is a contentious process in most organizations because opportunities and requests for spending far exceed the available funds. This can lead to __________ among organizational units, which makes it __________ to objectively identify the best investments.a) highly political competition; difficultb) highly political competition; easierc) cooperation; simpled) cooperation; difficult

27. The __________ of organizations are the things they do best and that represent their competitive strengths.a) competitive advantagesb) customer-facing activitiesc) core competenciesd) back office functions

28. IT is difficult to manage for organizations __________. .a) of all typesb) in retailc) in manufacturingd) in finance

29. Outsourcing can be done __________. a) domestically or offshoreb) via cloud computing or SaaSc) via business processingd) a and b

30. Cloud computing is for outsourcing of __________. a) routine tasksb) routine tasks and the delivery of real business servicesc) proprietary systemsd) nonproprietary applications

31. __________ is the process of hiring another company to handle business activities for you.a) Cloud computingb) Business processing outsourcing (BPO)c) SaaSd) IT outsourcing

32. __________ includes many functions that are considered non-core to the primary business strategy, such as financial and administration processes, human resource functions, call center and customer service activities, and accounting.a) Cloud computingb) Business processing outsourcing (BPO)c) SaaSd) IT outsourcing

33. Outsourcing deals are typically __________. a) multi-year contractsb) short-term service level agreementsc) temporary arrangementsd) one-year projects

34. Lessons that eBay and Genpact learned from the BPO implementation include each of the following except: a) Manage change by securing the commitment of senior leadersb) Set realistic expectations and manage them activelyc) Focus on minimizing costsd) Anticipate risks and formulate a plan for mitigating them

35. Which is not one of the lessons that eBay learned from its BPO implementation? a) Challenges can be avoided by partnering with a global leader in business process and technology management.b) Build a project-management infrastructurec) Create a governance mechanismd) Properly define how success will be measured

36. Since the late 1980s, many organizations have outsourced __________. a) supply chain functionsb) the majority of their IT functionsc) only incidental parts of their IT functiond) marketing functions

37. The trend in outsourcing has been toward the __________. a) single vendorb) use of short term contractsc) mega-deald) multi-vendor approach

38. The major reasons why organizations are increasingly outsourcing include each of the following except: a) to focus on core competencyb) it’s a faster way to gain or enhance IT capabilitiesc) to support supply chain transactionsd) cloud computing and SaaS have proven to be effective IT strategies

39. Which of the following statements about outsourcing is false?a) Increasingly, organizations are leveraging existing global cloud infrastructures from companies such as Amazon and Google.

b) Established companies are less willing to outsource company-critical functions in an effort to reduce costs.c) New start-up companies typically outsource and rely on SaaS to avoid upfront IT costs.d) Outsourcing companies have started to offer interesting new business models and services around cloud computing.

40. Which is not one of the risks associated with outsourcing?a) flexibilityb) shirkingc) poachingd) opportunistic repricing

True/False

41. Making IT investments on the basis of an immediate need or threat is not a smart strategy because it can result in incompatible, redundant, or failed systems.

42. The two basic types of IT strategies are offshoring often with help from a consulting firm and/or vendor; and outsourcing to a third-party that resides either in the same country or is offshore.

43. For more productive service level agreements, companies may hire an outsource relationship management company to monitor and manage the outsourcing relationships.

44. To reduce costs, biopharmaceutical AstraZeneca shifted from a vertically integrated company to a loosely-coupled organizational model connected by outsourced arrangements and relationships.

45. AstraZeneca was able to quickly set up outsourcing relationships despite complex regulatory hurdles.

46. AstraZeneca had signed a seven-year global outsourcing agreement with IBM. Under the deal, IBM provides a single global technical infrastructure for AstraZeneca covering 60 countries.

47. IT strategic plans should be made within the context of the business strategy that it needs to support, which is how most IT planning is done.

48. According to a survey of business leaders by Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, 87 percent believe that IT is critical to their companies' strategic success, but few business leaders work with IT to achieve that success.

49. Both IT and organizational strategies are static and can be harmed when people resist change because IS success depends on the skills and cooperation of people.

50. Business strategy sets the overall direction for the business; while the IT strategy defines what information, ISs, and architecture are needed to support the business and how infrastructure and services are to be delivered.

51. Ultimately, it is the CIO’s duty to insure that IT and other critical activities are effectively governed.

52. IT plays a pivotal role in improving corporate governance practices because most critical business processes are automated; and managers rely on information provided by these processes for their decision making.

53. A prerequisite for effective IT–business alignment for the CIO to understand the latest technologies and for the CEO and business planners to understand competitors.

54. The IT planning process results in a formal IT strategy or a re-assessment each year or each quarter of the existing portfolio of IT resources.

55. The long-range IT plan, sometimes referred to as the strategic IT plan, is based on the strategic outsourcing plan.

56. In reality, because of the rapid pace of change in IT and the environment, short-term IT tactical plans may include major items not anticipated in the longer term IT plans.

57. An advantage of business service management software tools is that they provide real-time dashboard views for tracking KPIs at the executive, functional, and operations levels.

58. IT is an enabler of core competencies or competitive strengths; and it is complex, expensive, and constantly changing.

59. Since the late 1980s, many organizations have outsourced the majority of their IT functions, rather than just incidental parts to cut costs or manage the complexity of IT.

60. Risks associated with outsourcing are minimal because of service level agreements.

Short Answer

61. Cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS) have expanded __________ options.

62. __________ is how an organization intends to accomplish its vision. It’s the overall game plan.

63. IT __________ is concerned with insuring that organizational investments in IT deliver full value.

64. IT governance, like security, is an __________ and cannot be achieved by a mandate or set of rules.

65.The CIO must understand and buy into the corporate _________ so that IS planning does not occur in isolation.

66. __________ refers to the degree to which another resource can be used instead of the original resource to achieve the same value,

67. Business service management is an approach for linking __________ of IT to business goals to determine the impact on the business.

68. __________ of software development has become a common practice due to global markets, lower costs, and increased access to skilled labor.

69. The risk of __________ occurs when a vendor deliberately underperforms while claiming full payment.

70. The risk of __________ occurs when a client enters into a long-term contract with a vendor, but the vendor changes financial terms at some point or over-charges for unanticipated enhancements.

Essay

71. What are the four main points of IT strategic plans?

72. What are three issues driving the need for IT governance?

73. List four types of individuals concerned about IT governance.

74. Identify and briefly describe three important skill sets of CIOs.

75. What are the major reasons why organizations are increasingly outsourcing?