MIS 180 Barra In Person Exam Study Guide 2024

What is data? Provide and example

Data: Points of information

Ex: text, numbers, photos

What is information? Provide an example

Data converted into meaningful and useful context

What is business intelligence? Provide an example

information collected from multiple sources such as suppliers, customers, and competitors that analyzes patters, trends and relationships for strategic decision making

What is a fact? What qualities does it have?

a statement that can be proven

What is the difference between a useful fact and misleading fact?

Useful: Verifiable, relevant, credible

Misleading: Partial, redundant, requires extensive verifying

What is triangulation?

Gathering information

What is corroboration?

evidence that confirms or supports a statement

What does "information literacy" mean?

The ability to find, evaluate, and use information effectively to achieve goals

What is a relative address/reference in excel?

A cell reference that adjusts when copied or used with AutoFill

- "Drag down"

What is an absolute address/reference in excel?

A cell reference that DOES NOT adjust when used with autofill

- "$"

What is the proper format for a calculation if you want to add, subtract, divide, or multiply 2 numbers by referencing their cell reference?

= Cell A +,-,/,* Cell B

What is the proper format/syntax for the IF function?

=IF(logical test, value if true, value if false)

Which function would you use to sum a columns or row of 50 numbers? Given a range, what is the proper format? Be able to apply this to avg, max, and min

=SUM(G1:G50)

What is the difference between a system and a process?

They effectively mean the same thing.

A structured collection of processes that work together to produce an outcome

What are the 6 parts of any system?

1. Inputs

2. processes (that transform inputs)

3. Outputs

4. Controls

5. Feedback

6. Adjustment

How do supersystems, systems, subsystems, and processes relate to each other?

Supersystem --> The greater system

System --> the general system

Subsystem --> systems within the system

What is interdependence? Provide an example

Parts that depend on each other

Ex: The food web

What is synergy? Provide an example

how different parts of an information system or business functions work together to create greater efficiency

What is entropy/obsolesce? Provide an example

All systems fall apart over time if they don't adapt

Ex: Campfire, solid wood turns into ash, smoke, gasses

What is optimization/sup-optimization? Provide an example

Subsystems often must optimize to enable the system to operate at maximum efficentcy

What is an open system?

The transformation process set but inputs and outputs can vary

- designed to adapt and evolve

Ex: Algorithms

What is a closed system?

A system where neither matter nor energy can enter or leave

Ex: TV Remote

What are the functional parts of an enterprise and what do they do?

Hint: know "Internal View of an Enterprise" Slide

Sales - selling goods or services

Accounting - Records monetary transactions

Finance - tracks strategic financial issues

HR - Maintains policies for effective management

Marketing - supports sales by planning, pricing, and promoting goods and services

Operations Mgmt. - Manage the process of converting resources into goods and services

What are stakeholders? Who are they for most enterprises?

Hint: Know "External View of Enterprises"

Those who benefit in someway from the operation of the company, which may not include owning stock

Ex: customers and suppliers

Stakeholder vs shareholder

- a stakeholder is customer of a business

- a shareholder owns part of a company through stock ownership

What are parts of a business information system and how do they work together? Provide examples

Data - audio, video, text, numbers

Hardware - clients, servers, robots

Software - operating systems, applications

Media - WiFi, cell networks, satellites

Procedures - Hiring, manufacturing, evaluating

People - Executives, HR, customers

What are the 3 main problems when evaluating information? Provide an example

1. Information overload - we can access so much information

2. More variability in info quality - quality of information has become questionable

3. Information evaluation is hard - we tend to jump to conclusions

What is Pro Concentration?

Information used to be of higher quality, with the abundance of information, the quality has diminsihed

What is Pro Distribution?

Professional committees ensured their information was accurate, now anyone can post anything

What does it mean when we are described as "cognitive misers"? What does it mean as a way of describing how humans make decisions about information?

We tend to solve problems in the easiest or simplest way possible. Can lead to negligence or skipping of crucial information

Bias vs Perspective? How does this affect your judgement

Bias: Prejudice in favor of one thing; unfair

Perspective: A particular attitude to one thing; not fair or unfair

How do humans deal with information overload?

Filtering (using heuristics) and withdrawal (disconnection)

How would you evaluate information in terms of its "usefulness" and "believability"?

Accurate, complete, consistent, timely, relevant, meaningful, accessable

What is disinformation? Provide examples

The intentional creation and transmission of known false information

Ex: NYT and "12 Russian Agents Indicted in Mueller Investigation"

Who are the biggest players in the Search Engine Market?

Google - Web browsing

Amazon - Products

Etsy - Arts and crafts

Indeed - Jobs

Yelp - Businesses/Restaurants

YouTube - video

Zillow - Real Estate

What is the state of the internet?

The internet is evolving with AI, 5G, cloud, IoT, and cybersecurity challenges.

How does a search engine work with:

Spider/bot

Database

User

Spider - computer application whose purpose is to find and index content on the web - pull relevant results to what you are looking for

Database - contains links and some summary content

User - people and programs who are trying to find a page/information

How does a search engine populate its database?

A spider/bot gathers information and gathers it for the user

When a user conducts a search, what are they actually doing?

Users are using a database, not the web directly

Why is the job of a search engine difficult?

We rely on natural language while the computer relies on indexed language. It must bridge the gap

What is a general search engine?

Contains a broad range of information

What is a vertical search engine?

A focused search engine

Ex: Amazon is a search engine for products

What does "vertical" mean in business?

Focused

What is a URL?

A link to a web page

Stands for Uniform Resource Locator

What is the surface web?

Sites and pages that the search engines know about and index for users to find

What is the deep web?

Sites and pages behind firewalls that cannot be indexed by engines

Casual user often does not even know these sites exist

What is the dark web?

Pages that are encrypted and aren't visible to anyone without special access

Know the functions and defintions of computer hardware

CPU/Processor, clock speed/GHz, RAM (Primary storage), Hard Drive (Secondary Storage), ROM (read only memory) (stores BIOS and basic information), Input/Output devices

When should you spend the money on more expensive computer equipment?

When the task you are doing is worth this investment!

Bit

Short for binary digit

smallest element of data

0 = off, 1 = on

Byte

Group of 8 bits

represents 1 character or number

What is an Operating System?

Works between hardware and apps

What is an application?

An "app", a program that does something the user wants to do

Why do humans create applications?

Does something the user wantes

What are the most common types of programming languages?

Java, Pyth, C#, and Visual Basic

What is source code?

Code written by the programmer

What is object code?

Code that the computer can understand

What does open source refer to?

Original source code that is free to the public

Why would a company use open source over proprietary applications?

Customizable, purchase what you want, specific tailoring

Why would a company use proprietary applications over open source?

Prebuilt, less skill required, less time to research, simpler installation

What is a General Purpose Application?

An application that can be used for a range of purposes

What is a Functional Application for a business?

A software program designed to support a specific business function

Ex: Accounting software

What are the 3 ways businesses aquire software?

Build, Buy, Rent

Why would a business choose a certain way to acquire a software?

Build - custom to needs

Buy - convenient

Rent - Pay as you go, non permanent

What is a business strategy?

The overall vision and goals for the enterprise's future

- planning, large scale, "what" and "why"

What is a business tactic?

A set of specific actions that execute the enterprise's strategy

- doing, smaller scale, "how", shorter time frame

What are the performance metrics?

Critical Success Factors (CSF), Key Performance Indicators (KPI), Benchmarking, Return on Invsetment (ROI)

What does CSF measure?

The steps companies take to acheive their goals and objectives to implement their strategies

What does KPI measure?

(Key Performance Indicator) Quantifiable metrics that are used to evaluate progress towards a CSF goal

What does Benchmarking measure?

Quantifiable metrics a company uses to evaluate how well their doing in comparison to a baseline

What does ROI measure?

A specific financial KPI

What is the value chain and why is it useful?

Looks at all of the inputs and what the enterprise does to add value to the output and how to produce cheaper helps grow

What does SWOT stand for and how is it used?

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

Used to identify features of the overall business that need management attention

What is a customer facing process?

A process that results in a product or service that is received by an external customer

What is a business facing process?

Invisible to the external customer but essential to the effective management of the business

What are the Functional Business Areas?

• Marketing – Promotes products/services and attracts customers.

• Finance – Manages money, budgets, and financial planning.

• Operations – Oversees production and ensures efficiency.

• Human Resources (HR) – Handles hiring, training, and employee management.

• IT (Information Technology) – Manages technology, data, and security.

• Sales – Sells products/services and builds customer relationships.

• Customer Service – Supports customers before and after purchases.

What is structured data?

Facts, questionnaire/survey, data points

Easier for businesses to process because it requires less filtering

What is unstructured data?

Emails, voice messages, texts, video/photo, "stuff"

Harder for businesses to process due to ambiguity

What do people mean by "Big Data"?

The name given to the incredibly huge collection of data captured from the world

"the internet of things"

What are th5 "V"'s?

Velocity - the speed at which data is gathered and stored

Variety - the kinds of new data

Volume - the quantity of data being gathered and stored

Veracity - the quality of the data

Value - what you can do with the data

Why should businesses use database management systems to store data instead of 1 big Excel sheet? List 3 reasons

Database systems are DESIGNED to store data and make it accessible, a big spreadsheet can lead to redundancies

1. Data is centrally accessible

2. Data quality and access is managed by professionals

3. Everyone can access the data they need

What are the qualities of high quality data?

Accurate

Complete

Consistent

Timely

Accessible

What do the qualities of poor data management mean? What do they mean?

• Data Redundancy 📂📂 – You have multiple copies of the same worksheet in different folders.

• Data Inconsistency ❌ – One notebook says the test is on Friday, another says it’s on Monday.

• Data Isolation 🔒 – Your homework is locked in different lockers, making it hard to find.

• Data Insecurity 🚪 – lots of access points which makes entry and corruption easier

What is the name of the activity or technique that clients and IT do together to create an understanding of the data requirements for the database?

Data modeling

What is the difference between a database and a database management system?

Database: refers to a set of files of stored data; static

Database management system: includes the database AND the applications that let people use the database

What are the parts of a database management system?

Media - wired and wireless connections among devices

Procedures - policies developed by the people who use data that is embedded in software, human policies and practice

Networks - connect databases with applications and devices

Why are these advantages of having a database management system: data are located centrally, data quality is controlled, data is accessible, data are easier to maintain

Centrally: 1 point of access

Quality Controlled: reliable information

Accessible: easy to access

Maintenance: no convolutions and easier to manage

In a relational data base, what do these terms mean: Data value, field, record, file/table, database, SQL

Data value: an actual piece of information

Field: the smallest meaningful type of data

File/Table: collection of related records

Rocord: A row in a table containing related data

Database: Collection of files/tables

SQL: the standard language for accessing and manipulating databases

What does it mean to populate a database?

Adding data to a database with values

What is a primary key in a relational database? How is it used?

A key identifier used to access a specific piece of data.

Specifies fields you want to report on

Ex: "Alex Biebel, 888-888-8888"

What is a foreign key? How is it used?

A primary key of 1 table that appears as a field in another table

Connects 2 or more tables

What does a basic, correctly formed SQL query look like?

Select

From

Where

Order by

How do primary and foreign keys work together to link data from different tables?

links columns and rows to reference other tables in order to extract informaiton

What is a structured decision?

A decision that is routine and repetitive

Ex: A --> B --> C

What is a semi structured decision?

A decision for which some parts are known and unknown

Ex: What price should we give our new product?

What is an unstructured decision?

A decision that is novel and lacks an agreed upon, well understood procedure

- we don't know what we don't know

What is a decision?

a choice made from available alternatives

What is a problem?

a matter regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with

outcome: a process that leads to a different situation

- urgent

What is an opportunity?

a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something different

outcome: a realization of a possible action

- not very urgent

What is a paradox?

A self-contradictory statement that when explained MAY PROVE to be true

Outcome: a change in how you see reality which leads to a different or opposite action

Ex: "If you use fewer words, you sound more intelligent"