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Autumn Examinations, 2008
Exam Code(s) 1BC1, 1BC2, 1BC3, 1BC4, 1BC5, 1CL
Exam(s) Bachelor of Commerce Bachelor of Commerce International (French) Bachelor of Commerce International (German) Bachelor of Commerce International (Spanish) Bachelor of Commerce International (Italian) Bachelor of Corporate Law Module Code(s) MS
Module(s) Management Information Systems
Paper No. 1 Repeat Paper Special Paper
External Examiner(s) Professor Hans van der Heijden Internal Examiner(s) Professor J. F. Collins Dr. B. Donnellan, Mr. S. Hill, Dr. M. A. Lang, Mr. M. Hughes
Instructions: Candidates are required to answer a total of^ FOUR^ questions,
consisting of ONE QUESTION from EACH SECTION
Answers for EACH SECTION are to be written in a SEPARATE ANSWER BOOK
Duration 3 Hours No. of Answer books 4
Requirements : Handout MCQ Statistical Tables Graph Paper Other Material No. of Pages Department(s) Accountancy and Finance
SECTION A
Answers for EACH SECTION are to be written in a SEPARATE ANSWER BOOK. Please write the name of the section on the answer book cover.
Answer either Question 1 or Question 2
Question 1
a. Outline your understanding of the significant differences between information technology (IT) and information systems (IS). Use examples to illustrate your answer.
10 marks
b. “The flat-world platform is the product of a convergence of the personal computer with fiber-optic cable with the rise of work flow software.”
Thomas L. Friedman
Outline the drivers of and discuss the significance of the “Flat World Thesis” as argued my Friedman.
15 marks
Question 2
a. “ Technology and competition, simultaneously and universally, have driven us to an economy with unprecedented clockspeeds. The first consequence of the phenomenon is the marginalisation of the concept of sustainable advantage .”
Charles Fine Clockspeed
Discuss this statement, in particular identify and explain the drivers of ‘the marginalisation of sustainable advantage’ as identified by Fine and discuss what actions corporations can take to mitigate offset or neutralise, those drivers. 15 marks
b. Michael Porter proposed that an organisation can be viewed as a value chain. Illustrate this Value Chain Model and discuss its significance for corporate strategic planning. 10 marks
continued…
SECTION C
Answers for EACH SECTION are to be written in a SEPARATE ANSWER BOOK. Please write the name of the section on the answer book cover.
Answer either Question 5 or Question 6
Question 5
The UK Information Protection Commissioner has warned of the dangers of “sleepwalking into a surveillance society”. In the modern world, organisations must balance employees’ rights to privacy with the ethical and legal considerations of monitoring their computer usage behaviour. Similarly, governments must achieve a balance between, on the one hand, protecting national security and the “greater good” of society, and on the other, infringing the civil liberties of their citizens.
Discuss the main issues as regards information systems privacy and ethics in modern society.
25 Marks
Question 6
a. Information Systems Development (ISD) is a complex and inherently risky activity.
Discuss the main challenges of ISD in the modern context, and outline some of the methods and approaches that can be used to manage and control ISD projects. 20 Marks
b. In the design of relational databases (e.g. Microsoft Access), describe using examples what is meant by the concepts of “primary key” and “foreign key”. 5 marks
continued…
SECTION D
Answers for EACH SECTION are to be written in a SEPARATE ANSWER BOOK. Please write the name of the section on the answer book cover.
Answer either Question 7 or Question 8
Question 7
a. “ Moving up through the organizational pyramid users move from requiring transactional information to analytical information”
Discuss this statement, using diagrams where appropriate, to describe the enterprise view of Information and Information Technology. 16 Marks
b. Outline, using examples, three quantitative models used by Decision Support Systems. 9 Marks
Question 8
a. Briefly outline and describe the five basis components of a supply chain 10 Marks
b. “Information Technologies primary role in Supply Chain Management is creating the integrations or tight processes and information linkages between functions within a firm”
Discuss this statement, using diagrams where appropriate. Your answer should include an overview of the integrated supply chain, visibility, consumer behaviour, competition and speed. 15 Marks
