Exam 22: Using Technology to Manage Information

The HR department at Pages and Pages Booksellers wants to reduce the cost of benefits it offers its employees. A department specialist suggested that the company consider ________ its HR system. By sorting and analyzing the demographics and lifestyle characteristics of its employees, Pages and Pages hopes to determine which benefits are most important, and possibly which can be eliminated. Marketers utilize the same technology to keep pace with sales trends.

Virtual networking is a process that allows software-based networked computers to run multiple operating systems and programs.

A firm would consider establishing a virtual private network if it wanted to

Aubrey is a manager who wants to be well informed. Like many managers, however, she is often overwhelmed by information overload. Which of the following would probably be the most useful first step for her to take in order to deal with this problem?

Alex has never worried about computer viruses. However, a friend who works in IT recently told him about a new wave of viruses. Alex is wondering whether he should pay more attention to this threat, and if so, what he can do to protect his computer. Which of the following represents the best advice for him?

One of the most revolutionary effects of computer networks is that they give employees the ability to do much of their work at home.

What is the key difference between an intranet and an extranet? Why might a firm use a virtual private network instead of an extranet?

A(n) ________ is a companywide network that is based on Internet-like technology, but is closed to public access.

Employees of a business ________ when they work at home, using computers linked to their organization's office.

Information technology has changed the staffing and customer relations of businesses.

In order for information to be useful to managers, it must satisfy only two criteria: it must be timely, and it must be easy to manipulate.

Identify and describe the major security issues confronting information managers.

Western University just obtained a link to Internet2. Researchers at Western intend to make very heavy use of their new link for various forms of collaboration, for videoconferencing and for running complex simulations. Unlike the regular Internet, the more bandwidth Western's researchers use on Internet2, the more the university will have to pay.

The key to improving management decision making is to provide the manager with as much information as possible.

________ is information charged with enough intelligence to make it relevant and useful.

The advantages of electronic data interchange are no longer limited to large companies, because even small firms can exchange and process data such as orders, invoices, and payments using

Business intelligence is any variety of software applications that analyze an organization's raw data and take useful insights from it.

Mini-Case Cy Burspace first began working for Epic Electronics in the mid-1970s as a business technology specialist. Today, he is the department head for the company's information systems department. Cy is well known and respected by everyone in the company, and his coworkers recently threw a party to honor his 30th year with Epic. Cy did a lot of reminiscing at the party, telling the newer employees how things were done in the "old days," and comparing them to newer methods. "I'm still amazed at how things have changed. When I first came to Epic, we had a central computer to handle everything. It took up a whole room, but all it really did was generate financial reports for management," said Cy. "Today, employees have their own personal computer, and all are hooked up to a network. All of this connectivity has led to big improvements in our operations. For example, if a production worker wants to find out how many units of a particular component we have in inventory, or wants the name and address of a particular supplier who sells us that component, he or she can get the information in the blink of an eye. In fact, we have even given our suppliers and customers access to our network so that we can share information and provide them with better service. That change has really helped us compete against the bigger firms." "Now," Cy continued, "most of the workers in my department don't even have to be at the office to be connected. We have smartphones and laptops so we can do much of our work from home or while we are on the road." A new employee asked Cy if he was ready to retire. "No way," he said. "I'm in the middle of a major project right now. We're trying to design a single entry point for people to use when logging on to the Epic network. We want to set it up so that the log-on procedure identifies different types of users and automatically gives them access to the types of resources they need. For example, customers who logged on would be allowed to place orders, check on the status of previous orders, and interact with our technical support staff, but would not have access to other, more proprietary parts of our network. We think this approach will be more convenient for everyone. And," he continued, "once I finish that project, the marketing department has asked me to work on developing better ways to store and analyze the vast amounts of data we collect. So my work is cut out for me for quite a while yet." -When Cy first came to work for Epic Electronics, the application of business technology was called

The main reason for setting up an enterprise portal is to ensure that only employees of an organization have access to the information on its intranet.

Data and information are two different names for essentially the same thing.