AP/ADMS 2511 - Management Information Systems – Practice Midterm

Covering Sessions 1 to 5

Do the questions on your own, before looking at the answer guide.

Question 1 (5 marks)

1) A listing of all courses required in your major would be considered _____, whereas
the name of this course, ADMS 2511- Management Information Systems, would be
considered _____.

a) information, data
b) knowledge, information
c) information, knowledge
d) data, information
e) data, knowledge

2) Alignment between IT and business is difficult because ________.

a) the objectives of business managers and IT managers are so comprehensive.

b) the business and IT departments know little of the other group’s expertise.
c) managers communicate well but find it hard to implement projects that are discussed.
d) All of the above are reasons alignment is difficult.

3) The computing skills necessary to be a hacker are decreasing for which of the
following reasons?

a) More information systems and computer science departments are teaching courses on
hacking so that their graduates can recognize attacks on information assets.
b) Computer attack programs, called scripts, are available for download from the Internet.
c) International organized crime is training hackers.
d) Cybercrime is much more lucrative than regular white-collar crime.
e) Almost anyone can buy or access a computer today.

4) It is difficult to manage data. For example, it is common for customers to move and for
companies to go out of business. This is an example of ___________.

a) Data degradation
b) Data rot
c) Data security
d) Scattered data
e) Data explosion

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5) The concept of ____________ refers to computing products working together.

a) Open-source software
b) Software-as-a-Service
c) Object-oriented software
d) Application software packages
e) Open systems

Question 2 (29 marks)

Shopify (shopify.ca) was started by a single entrepreneur in Ottawa. It has created

software that is used to establish digital storefronts. Started in 2005, Shopify now has
over 1,000 employees that provide a means for independent retail stores to have a low-
cost retail presence. Shopify is a company that creates and hosts online stores for its
customers. As of late 2016, Shopify had over 275,000 clients in more than 90 countries
around the world.
Shopify charges a monthly fee that starts as low as $29 plus 2.9% for what they
call a basic “starter” storefront. Companies can then move to $79 plus 2.7% per month
for up to 100 products posted on the site or $299 per month plus 2.4% for unlimited
service.
An example of a potential Shopify client is Friggle Furniture (FF), a store in
Toronto that sells futons (couches that convert into beds). FF used the $29 per month
Shopify platform to create its electronic storefront. On the electronic storefront, FF has
posted about 30 examples of its futons. FF also assembles futons based upon parts
purchased from a variety of sources. It sells these futons to other stores in Canada, using
both its web site and a sales force of three people who travel to large retail furniture
stores across the country. All fouton kits that cost over $500 are equipped with RFID
(radio frequency identification) tags.

Required:

A. What is business process management? (1 mark)

B. Why could excellence in existing business processes be important to a

development and hosting company like Shopify that has over 1,000 employees?
(2 marks)

C. Provide three (3) examples of IT (information technology) infrastructure

components that could be present at the above companies. For each component,
provide an example that could pertain to either Shopify or Friggle Furniture. (6
marks) Use the following table to record your answer.

Provide three examples of IT infrastructure For each component, provide an example that
components could pertain to either Shopify or Friggle

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 Furniture

D. For each of the three different types of cloud computing, provide an example of
how Shopify and FF could use the cloud. (6 marks) Use the following table to
record your answer. Note that each example must be different.

Examples of how Shopify could use the Examples of how FF could use the cloud
cloud for: for:
IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service)
1. 1.
PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service)
2. 2.
SaaS (Software-as-a=Service)
3. 3.

E. For each of the following concepts, define the concept and provide an example of
each for a store like Friggle Furniture (FF). (6 marks) Use the following table to
record your answer.

Define the following concept Provide an example for FF

Data

Information

Knowledge

F. Provide an example of each of the following terms that could be relevant to

Shopify. (3 marks)

F.1 Communications control

F.2 Strong password
F.3 Control environment

G. For each of the following terms, describe it, and explain how it pertains to
Shopify or its employees. (8 marks) Use the following table to record your
answer.

Describe the following terms Explain how it pertains to Shopify or

its employees
Cache memory
RAID (redundant arrays of independent
disks)

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 Virtual memory
Open-source software
Question 3 (25 marks)

The Presto card is a fare payment card used by GO Transit (Government of Ontario
Transit) for buses and trains. It is also used by two transit systems in the greater Toronto
area. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) and Ottawa Transit, are implementing the
card on their transit systems.
An external provider, Accenture, is the developer of the payment card system.
The internal information technology department of GO Transit is responsible for
overseeing the work done by Accenture. Accenture is also operating the payment card
system on behalf of the transit providers. The initial cost of the development and
implementation of the payment card for GO Transit and the other two providers was
about $250 million. However, after adding various enhancements, including the
requirements for Toronto and Ottawa, as well as the provision to load money onto the
card in different ways (such as via debit card and credit card), estimated total costs
increased to over $700 million.
For GO Transit, the Presto card system has replaced a system of monthly passes
and ten-trip passes plus individual fares. Instead of these three methods, customers can
either now pay cash, or use their Presto card. Presto card use has a sliding scale based
upon volume of rides, that implements discounts for frequent riders.

Required:
A. Provide three reasons IT (Information Technology) governance is important for
managing big projects like the Presto payment card implementation.
(3 marks)

B. Is the Presto Card system an SIS (strategic information system) for GO Transit?
Provide two reasons to justify your response. (2 marks)

C. Provide three examples of consultative functions that the information systems

department of GO Transit could provide to the company’s employees.
(3 marks)

D. Consider that you might purchase a Presto Payment Card and add money to the
Payment Card using your credit card. Explain the following terms and provide an
example of the type of data about you that might be stored on the customer
relational database table: (6 marks)

Explain the following term Provide an example of the type of data about
you that might be stored
Primary key
Secondary key
Entity

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E. Provide three advantages to Accenture of organizing Presto card data using a
relational database management system rather than using traditional sequential
files. (3 marks)

F. Describe four examples of difficulties that Accenture could experience in

managing the customer data associated with the Presto card? (4 marks)

G. The four general categories of ethical issues are listed below. For each, provide an
example of a representative issue or detailed question that could relate to
Accenture employees. (4 marks)

Privacy issues
Accuracy issues
Property issues
Accessibility issues