Midterm 22

AP/ADMS 2511 Midterm Examination #1 October 7, 2011, Page 1

Student Number: ________________________ Name: ______________________________________

YORK UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF LIBERAL ARTS AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

School of Administrative StudiesAP/ADMS 2511 - Management Information Systems

COMMON MIDTERM TEST – Friday, October 7, 2011, Total time for entire exam: 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

THIS EXAMINATION WILL BE HANDED OUT ONE QUESTION AT A TIME

A YorkCard or acceptable photo identification is required as your identification for this examination. If you do not have appropriate photo identification, you will be required to personally bring these to your course director prior to your grades for this examination being released.

Examination Instructions:You are required to both sign in and sign out with your York Card for this examination.

Multiple choice answers are to be filled in on the scan sheet using PENCIL only. Be sure to place your name and student number on the scan sheet both in block letters and by filling in the scantron boxes.

Please write all of your case answers IN INK in the lined spaces on the examination. DO NOT USE WHITE-OUT. Case answers written in pencil or containing white-out will NOT be accepted for re-appraisal. Print your name and student number on each page where you have written an answer. If you run out of space, use the back of a page.

Check that this package contains 4 questions and has 15 pages.

For Instructor Use Only:Grade Achieved: Question Marks Time Allocation

__________Q1 1 10 25

__________Q2 2 8 20

__________Q3 3 12 30

__________Q4 (MC) 4 30 75

========== =========== Totals 60 150 minutes (2.5 hours)Raw Score Percentage



Question 1 (10 marks – 25 minutes)

In 1986, Honda Canada Manufacturing opened its doors in Alliston, Ontario, fulfilling Honda’s global philosophy to build automobiles locally. In 1998, they built a second facility. And in 2008, their engine plant opened its doors. To date, they have produced more than 5.3 million vehicles including the Honda Civic Coupe, and Sedan and the Acura CSX, MDX and ZDX in Alliston. In fact, over the past four years, Honda Canada sold more Canadian-made vehicles in our country than any other manufacturer.

To date, Honda Canada has invested over $2.6 billion dollars and purchases over $1.1 billion in goods from Canadian suppliers every year. It employs over 4,300 hard-working Canadians from coast to coast.

Required:

A) Identify and describe three business pressures that affect Honda Canada. For each business pressure explain how the company could respond to it using information technology. (6 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 1.5 p. 16

More pressures could be argued (technology pressures, societal, etc.) and more examples could be provided for the examples below.

Identify and describe three business pressures that affect Honda Canada (1 mark per valid business pressure and description)

For each business pressure, explain how the company could respond to it using information technology (1 mark per valid example) Example MUST mention the use of IT

Global economy and strong competitionHighly competitive global marketplace, facilitated by the web-based platform, regional trade agreements and rise of powerful economies such as India and China.

Foreign competitors with lower production and labour costs may be able to undercut Honda`s prices.

To compete, Honda Canada could: -use the internet technology to look for new suppliers. Or -use DBMS to discover areas of the business where they could reduce costs. Or -open a website where customers can order customized cars.

The need for real-time operations.The need for immediate processing of information

Honda Canada could link its assembly facility in Alliston to its dealerships through a WAN, this would provide Honda Canada with real-time data or customers orders and changing customer preferences.



Honda Canada could also provide a new feature on its website where you can track your new car as it moves through the assembly line, to the warehouse, to the final delivery to your dealership.

Powerful customersIncreasing knowledge about product availability and quality has increased customers`sophistication and expectations.

Honda Canada will need to cater to these greater demands to acquire and retain customers. Honda Canada could provide on their website the necessary information to satisfy customers and facilitate the purchasing of a new car.Honda Canada could also implement an CRM system to better understand the needs of customers and develop advertising campaigns better targeted to different types of buyers.

B) Explain why IT planning would be important to Honda Canada. (2 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 1.1

One mark per valid comment.

The following list is not exhaustive of all the possible explanations.

- Honda Canada is such a large organization that without proper planning it would be very difficult to decide what technology is needed in the firm

- Honda Canada could invest in an IT system that is too costly or that does not meet the needs of the company

- IT planning is necessary in order to prioritize the allocation of IS resources efficiently- Without IT planning Honda could lose on new business opportunities or not consider the

challenges that new IT systems can pose to the company- IT planning is crucial when developing new products or services and make sure that

Honda Canada has the IT system necessary to collect and process the data it needs to run the business

- It planning is also crucial when the business is growing and expanding for example through a merger.

- IT is one of the largest capital expenditures for Honda- IT investments need to be aligned with the Honda’s overall strategy- Without proper IT planning the company could invest in IT that is not necessary for the

company



C) Define a wide area network. Provide an example of how it would be used by Honda Canada (2 marks)

Textbook reference: TG4.2

Definition of wide area network (1 mark)p. 442-It is a computer network that covers a large geographic area.-typically connect multiple LANs-have large capacity and typically combine multiple channels

Example of how Honda Canada could use a wide area network (1 mark per valid example)

- Honda Canada could use a wide area network to connect the manufacturing facility with its network of dealers so dealers can submit their orders directly to Honda Canada

- Honda Canada could use a WAN to connect its Alliston assembly plants with other assembly plants located in North America and throughout the world

- Honda Canada could use a WAN to connect its Alliston assembly plants and offices with Honda’s headquarters in Japan.

End of Question 1




A data breach that potentially impacted 280,000 Honda Canada Inc. customers could have been dealt with more effectively by the automaker, according to a pair of security experts.

The automaker posted an alert on its Web site this week revealing a data breach involving the unauthorized access of customer names, addresses, vehicle ID numbers and Honda Financial Services account numbers. The breach has impacted customers of both the Honda and Acura brands.

The information accessed in the breach was related to a 2009 membership program called MyHonda and MyAcura. These customer-facing sites allowed customers to sign up for benefits such as vehicle-specific information, new warranty and maintenance news, and exclusive product information.

While the breach was discovered in February, the company only began sending out notification letters to customers in May 2011. Jerry Chenkin, executive vice-president at Honda Canada, said the company delayed telling customers about the breach because it wanted to determine the scope of the damage first.

(Source: Honda Canada breach highlights lax testing, expert says, By: Rafael Ruffolo On: 27 May 2011 For: ComputerWorld Canada)

Required:

A) Explain what information systems ethical issue is raised in the case. Identify one of the main stakeholders in this ethical issue and indicate how Honda Automotive should have responded to the concerns of this main stakeholder? (4 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 3.1, p.71 Table 3.1 & Session 2 slide (#9) titled “Six Step Approach to solve an ethical dilemma”

Identify and describe the ethical issue raised in the case (2 marks)1 mark for identifying ethical issue, and 1 mark for description of ethical issue.Privacy issue – information about customers and retained by Honda was not adequately secured from unauthorized access

Accessibility issue--Confidential data was accessed by unauthorized parties, and affected customers were not notified in a timely manner

Accessibility issue – Honda did not ensure effective safeguards against unauthorized access to customer



information

Identify one of the main stakeholders and the impact on them of this ethical issue. Also indicate how Honda Automotive should have responded to the concerns of this main stakeholder (2 marks) 1 mark for identifying main stakeholder, and 1 mark for indicating how Honda Automotive should have responded to the concerns.

Customers (personal data was exposed to possible fraudulent use) - Honda should have notified all MyHonda and MyAcura members immediately, indicating need for vigilance regarding potential fraudulent use of their information. - Honda could have also terminated these accounts and issued new account numbers or taken other similar action to minimize potential damage/risk to customers

Dealers (maintain relationships with customers, which would suffer from this event’s impacts)- Honda should have notified dealers and customers immediately (as above)

Data thieves (may gain from fraudulent use of the stolen information)- Honda should take fast action to re-secure customer data, notify customers to reduce

potential fraud, and attempt to trace thieves’ activity

B) Identify and describe two types of controls that Honda could have put in place to prevent the data breach. For each control explain how it could have prevented the data breach at Honda Canada? (4 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 3.3, p. 90-99

Describe type of Control (2 marks)(1 mark for each control and description)Multiple types of controls are possible.

Explain how it could have prevented the data breach in Honda Canada (2 marks) ( 1 mark for each valid explanation)

Access controls – restrict unauthorized individuals from using information resources

Strong Passwords – reduce potential of being “broken” (could list some attributes)

Multi-factor Authentification – more efficiently and effectively identify authorized users

- Implementation and enforcement of strong access controls would prevent unauthorized access (NOTE: same answer for all 3 types of controls described on left)



Communications controls – secure movement of data across networks (e.g. firewalls, intrusion detection systems, encryption – NOTE: any of these could be cited and described as a type of control)

- Firewalls would prevent unauthorized individuals from gaining access to Honda’s network and information resources

- Intrusion detection systems would identify intruders and allow Honda to react immediately to limit access, perhaps trace the intruders

- Encryption of customer data while being transmitted and/or stored would prevent thieves from making use of it

Control Environment – policies and procedures outlining need and responsibility for security of customer data

- Provide employees with appropriate procedures for securing their access codes from unauthorized individuals

End of Question 2


Burnbrae Farms has its origins in a farm outside the village of Lyn, which is near Brockville in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The farm, known as Burnbrae Farms, has been in the Hudson family for over 100 years.

Presently, Burnbrae Farms is a thriving participant in Canadian agribusiness— selling eggs and egg products to many of the major grocery chains, food service operations and large bakery customers throughout Canada and the U.S.A. The farm continues to be privately owned and operated by the Hudson family.

Burnbrae Farms offers a full range of processed egg products, available in varying size formats, to service the individual and specific needs of the customer. With processing plants in Ontario, it is capable of servicing customers from coast to coast with either direct delivery or through its distributor/wholesale partners. (Source: Burnabrae Farms website).



Question 3 Required:

A) Provide three reasons why managing data is difficult for organizations. (3 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 4.,1 Pg.112

Reasons why managing data is difficult (1 mark each)1. Amount of data increases exponentially over time

2. Data is scattered throughout organizations and collected by many individuals using various methods and devices3. Data decays and changes over time

More options: New sources of data, such as blogs, podcasts, video casts and RFID tags are constantly

devoted. Much of this data is unstructured and cannot truly be represented in a computer record

Data comes from many sources, internal, external and from the web Data security, quality and integrity are easily jeopardized

B) Describe (or define) database management systems (DBMS). Provide two examples of data that would be valuable for Burnbrae Farms to keep in its DBMS. For each data example justify why it would need to keep that data (what is the purpose). (5 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 4.1 Pg. 115, also Ch 1.3 Pg.11 (defining data)

Description of database management system (1 mark)A database management system (DBMS) is a set of programs that provides users with tools to add, delete, access, and analyze data stored in one location.

Two examples of data in the DBMS (2 marks) Justify why it would need to keep that data. Provide a full sentence justification. (2 marks)

1. Customer name, address, phones, fax,2. quantity of eggs sold in an order1. Price of eggs2. Type of egg (large, medium, small)

1. The data will be used to manage the relationship with the customers and manage orders and accounts receivables.

3. Supplier name, address, phones, 2. The data will be used to contact suppliers, manage purchase orders, shipping, bills and accounts payables.

http://edugen.wileyplus.com/edugen/courses/crs6082/rainer9780470678886/rainer9780470678886c04/rainer9780470678886/rainer9780470678886c04/rainer9780470678886c04xlinks.xform?id=c04-tdef-0002



C) Define a corporate portal. Provide one example of information that Burnbrae Farms could make available on its corporate portal. (2 marks)

Textbook reference: Ch 5.1, Pg. 147

Corporate portal definition: (1 mark)A corporate portal offers a personalized single point of access through a Web browser to critical business information located inside and outside an organization.

It can offer customers, suppliers and employees self-service opportunities.

Example of information in Burnbrae Farms corporate portal: (1 mark) Information to customers about shipping details Provide suppliers with access to view purchase request or bids Information about products and product specifications Information about the history of the firm Information about where they have their farms Information about employee benefits, payroll, holidays

D) Explain the nature of client/server computing. Describe how Burnbrae Farms could use it. (2 marks)

Textbook reference: TG 4.3, pg. 444

Client/server computing definition: (1 mark)

Form of distributed processing in which some computers (servers) provide computing services(e.g. data, applications, processing) for other computers (typically end‐user PCs) (clients).

Example of how client/server computing could be used in Burnbrae Farms: (1 mark)

The farm can place different PC’s in different departments, such as accounting, marketing, and the warehouse’s office, etc. Also in each department they can place one printer/fax that can serve PC’s (users) via the network. All the units (PC’s, printers/faxes) will be connected to a server that will provide employees with printing services (managing printing/faxing queues), applications, data, or processing.

End of Question 3



Question 4 Multiple Choice (30 marks - 75 minutes)

DO’s for filling in the SCAN sheets

Use HB pencil only.

Make a dark wide horizontal mark to identify your selection.

Erase completely and cleanly, if necessary.

Code your student number accurately.

Complete the name, subject, date and student number information in the top left corner of the form.

DON'Ts for filling in the SCAN sheets

Don't use ink. The machine cannot read ink marks.

Don't fold, twist or bend the form in any way. Disfiguring the form causes problems when the form is fed into the machine.

Don't use whiteout on the form. Whiteout causes forms to stick to each other and to the feeder of the machine.

Don't staple or paper clip the form.

Don't use marks other than a horizontal bar to identify your choice. The machine may not read circles, X's, vertical or diagonal lines.

For each of the following multiple choice questions, choose the best answer and mark your answer beside the corresponding number on the scan sheet. USE PENCIL.

Q1) B (Ch 1, p. ; Section 1.3)Q1) Which of the following items would be considered to be information?A. building numberB. sales invoiceC. invoice numberD. supplier name

Q2) A (Ch2, p. ; 2.2)Q2) Engineers preparing designs for desks and new office furniture into a computer-aided design system would be called:A. Knowledge workersB. Expert workersC. Data workersD. Decision makers

Q3) B (Ch1, p. ; Sec. 1.3)



Q3) An organization’s __________ is a collection of information resources, its users, and the management that oversees them.A. Information technology architectureB. Information technology infrastructureC. Information technologyD. Computer-based information system

Q4) A (Ch1, p. ; Sec. 1.5)Q4) Cybercafes are an example of which type of societal pressure?A. Social responsibilityB. Government regulationsC. EthicsD. Information overload

Q5) C (Ch2, p. ; Sec. 2.2)Q5) BlueBuy.com is a website where large retailers can aggregate their purchases of home electronics and generally get a lower price than the regular retail price from manufacturers. According to Porter's competitive forces model, BlueBuy’s actions will:A. Eliminate the threat of new competitorsB. Increase the bargaining power of suppliersC. Increase the bargaining power of buyersD. Increase the threat of substitutive products

Q6) D (Ch2, p. ; Sec. 2.2)Q6) _________ provide organizations with advantages that enable them to increase their market share and/or profits, to better negotiate with suppliers, or to prevent competitors from entering their markets.A. Management information systemsB. Decision support systemsC. Executive information systemsD. Strategic systems

Q7) B (Ch 2, p. ; Sec. 2.2)Q7) EonSkates is a manufacturer of ice skates. The secret to its success lies in its ability to respond to customers preferences such as colour, type of blade, designs etc. EonSkates most likely follows what type of competitive strategy?:A. Cost leadershipB. Customer-orientation strategyC. InnovationD. Operational effectiveness

Q8) D (Ch 2; p. ; Sec. 2.1)



Q8) Smaller businesses implement IT governance by:A. Hiring an experienced chief information officer along with several network administrators

and business analystsB. Contracting the services of IT consulting firms that have a worldwide presenceC. Adopting all of the IT governance practices that large organizations follow D. Having an aware and knowledgeable owner-manager who actively selects business practices

and software

Q9) C (Ch3; p. ; Sec. 3.3)Q9) The process by which an organization assesses the value of each asset being protected, estimates the probability that each asset will be compromised, and compares the probable costs of the asset’s being compromised with the cost of protecting that asset is called:A. controls evaluationB. risk limitationC. risk analysisD. risk transference

Q10) B (Ch3; p. ; Sec. 3.3) Q10) Which statement best characterizes the practice of information systems (IS) audit?A. IS auditors need to participate fully in development and testing of controlsB. IS auditors need to be independent from the systems and controls that they reviewC. IS auditors should only test the general controlsD. IS auditing should be done only by employees of the organization

Q11) C (Ch3; p. ; Sec. 3.2)Q11) A _______ attack is an attack involving deception to acquire sensitive personal information by masquerading as official-looking e-mails or instant messages.A. Zero-day attackB. Denial of serviceC. PhishingD. Tunnelling

Q12) C (Ch3; p. ; Sec. 3.3)Q12) Which of the following is an example of a logical control?A. Numeric keypad lockB. Security guardC. Strong passwordD. Computer anti-theft cable

Q13) D (Tg3; p. ;Sec. 3.1)



Q13) Which of the following is most helpful in improving security when using social networking?A. Avoid using your last name in any of the postings to your pageB. Regularly changing the email addresses that you use, including the passwordsC. Avoid posting too many pictures about yourself and your activitiesD. Making sure that your personal profile is not publicly available

Q14) B (Ch3; p. ; Sec. 3.2)Q14) Which of the following is the best example of a strong password?A. 09876qwrB. GPM68^tmC. California98D. sjfuvhy765

Q15) A (TG3; p. ; Sec. 3.2)Q15) Internet Explorer, version 7, provides a Delete Browsing History option for one-click cleanup. This feature is particularly important:A. When you use a friend's computer, or computers in public environments such as libraries or

at the universityB. To prevent your friend’s computer from being infected by malware and malicious softwareC. When you use your own computer to surf the Internet from homeD. Before you do any online transaction where you have to enter your personal information

Q16) C (TG3; p. ; Sec. 3.2)Q16) You should install an anti-malware product on your computer and use it, ideally daily. Remember that every time you scan your computer for malware with your anti-malware product, you should:A. Uninstall the old version and reinstall it againB. Delete all the files in “my documents folder”C. Update your malware definitions before you scan. D. Check the Norton Internet Security website

Q17) C (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.4)Q17) A _______ is a small data warehouse containing only a portion of the organization’s dataA. Data dictionaryB. Micro-databaseC. Data mart D. Mini-relational database



Q18) A (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.2)Q18) An entity is a(n):A. Person or event about which information is maintainedB. Unique characteristic or property of an element in a databaseC. Technique to assess database system capacityD. Method to associate data models with their attributes

Q19) C (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.3)Q19) The method for analyzing and reducing a relational database to its most streamlined form for minimum redundancy, maximum data integrity, and best processing performance is called:A. Online analytical processing (OLAP)B. Open systemsC. Normalization D. Entity-relationship modeling

Q20) B (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.6)Q20) An organization’s policies and procedures are examples of an organization’s:A. Tacit knowledgeB. Explicit knowledge C. Explicit capitalD. Tacit assets

Q21) D (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.6)Q21) One of the main challenges to implementing effective knowledge management systems is that: A. Knowledge is incompleteB. Employees tend to provide knowledge that already exits as company policies and proceduresC. Management tends to overlook knowledge provided by employeesD. Employees must be willing to share their personal tacit knowledge

Q22) A (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.1)Q22) An example that illustrates data isolation is:A. Customer information in the sales systems cannot be accessed by other applicationsB. Duplicate payroll information is stored on multiple servers in remote locationsC. Servers are isolated to improve security over confidential data filesD. Data is copied onto multiple media and stored in backup libraries



Q23) D (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.3)Q23) Structured query language (SQL):A. Uses data generated from the accounting systems to create reports using a graphical display

systemB. Is not useful for generalized database applicationsC. Is a system that protects from unauthorized access by asking the user to respond to

successively more difficult password questionsD. Allows users to perform complicated searches through a database using relatively simple

statements.

Q24) C (Ch4; p. ; Sec. 4.3)Q24) A data dictionary is advantageous to an organization using a relational database management system because it:A. Enables internet sites to index data for web searchesB. Uses hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) which is a standardC. Enables applications to be developed quicker with fewer errorsD. Searches the meaning of complex IT terms in a database

Q25) B (Ch5; p. ; Sec. 5.2)Q25) A keyword or term that describes a piece of information is known as a(n):A. BlogB. TagC. WikiD. Ajax

Q26) C (Ch5; p. ; Sec. 5.4)Q26) Telecommuting:A. Is a combination of telephone and television technologyB. Refers to people working via mobile devices while traveling to and from the officeC. Can be done from almost anywhereD. Is beneficial to employees but not to management

Q27) D (TG4; p. ; Sec. 4.1)Q27) A communications processor that connects dissimilar networks by translating from one set of protocols to another is called a(n):A. RouterB. BridgeC. Embedded local area network (LAN)D. Gateway



Q28) C (Tg4; p. ; Sec. 4.4)Q28) If a company wants to set up a web site and post information on the internet, one of the first things the company should do is:A. Encrypt all of its data to prevent unauthorized accessB. Contact its credit card provider for access codesC. Register a domain name for the companyD. Establish the use of a darknet to improve security

Q29) D (Tg4; p. ; Sec. 4.1)Q29) Which provides the fastest network connection?A. MicrowaveB. Twisted pair wireC. Coaxial cableD. Fiber-optic cable

Q30) A (Tg4, p. ; Sec. 4.4)Q30) Canada’s most advanced network that interconnects provincial research networks, universities, research centres, government research laboratories, and schools is known as:A. CAnet4B. Internet 2C. IPv6D. ARPANET

End of exam

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Midterm 22