Deck 1: An Overview of Business Intelligence, Analytics, and Decision Support

Question 1

In the Gorry and Scott-Morton framework of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured decisions, computerized decision support can bring benefits to unstructured decisions.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

The complexity of today's business environment creates many new challenges for organizations, such as global competition, but creates few new opportunities in return.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Due to the fact that business environments are now more complex than ever, trial-and-error is an effective means of arriving at acceptable solutions.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In today's business environment, creativity, intuition, and interpersonal skills are effective substitutes for analytical decision making.

Question 5

The use of statistics in baseball by the Oakland Athletics, as described in the Moneyball case study, is an example of the effectiveness of prescriptive analytics.

Question 6

The term decision support system is a very specific term that implies the same tool, system, and development approach to most developers.

Question 7

Group collaboration software has proved generally ineffective at improving decision-making.

Question 8

The overwhelming majority of competitive actions taken by businesses today feature computerized information system support.

Question 9

Pushing programming out to distributed data is achieved solely by using the Hadoop Distributed File System or HDFS.

Question 10

In addition to deploying business intelligence (BI) systems, companies may also perform other actions to counter business pressures, such as improving customer service and entering business alliances.

Question 11

One of the four components of BI systems, business performance management, is a collection of source data in the data warehouse.

Question 12

Due to the fact that organizations seek to store greater amounts of data than ever before, the cost per byte of computer-based data storage devices is rapidly rising.

Question 13

PCs and, increasingly, mobile devices are the most common means of providing managers with information to directly support decision making, instead of using IT staff intermediaries.

Question 14

Volume, velocity, and variety of data characterize the Big Data paradigm.

Question 15

Actionable intelligence is the primary goal of modern-day Business Intelligence (BI) systems vs. historical reporting that characterized Management Information Systems (MIS).

Question 16

Computerized information systems help decision makers overcome human cognitive limitations in assembling and processing varied information. However, this is of little use in most analytical applications.

Question 17

Computerized support is only used for organizational decisions that are responses to external pressures, not for taking advantage of opportunities.

Question 18

In a four-step process for decision making, managers construct a model of the problem before they evaluate potential solutions.

Question 19

The use of dashboards and data visualizations is seldom effective in finding efficiencies in organizations, as demonstrated by the Seattle Children's Hospital Case Study.

Question 20

The access to data and ability to manipulate data (frequently including real-time data) are key elements of business intelligence (BI) systems.

Question 21

For the majority of organizations, evaluating the credit rating of a potential business partner is a(n)

A) strategic decision.
B) structured decision.
C) unstructured decision.
D) managerial control decision.

Question 22

Which of the following statements about Big Data is true?

A) Data chunks are stored in different locations on one computer.
B) Hadoop is a type of processor used to process Big Data applications.
C) MapReduce is a storage filing system.
D) Pure Big Data systems do not involve fault tolerance.

Question 23

In answering the question "Which customers are likely to be using fake credit cards?", you are most likely to use which of the following analytic applications?

A) channel optimization
B) customer segmentation
C) fraud detection
D) customer profitability

Question 24

Which of the following statements about cognitive limits of organizational decision makers is true?

A) Only top managers make decisions where cognitive limits are strained.
B) The most talented and effective managers do not have cognitive limitations.
C) All organizational decision-making requires data beyond human cognitive limits.
D) Cognitive limits affect both the recall and use of data by decision makers.

Question 25

For the majority of organizations, a daily accounts receivable transaction is a(n)

A) strategic decision.
B) structured decision.
C) unstructured decision.
D) managerial control decision.

Question 26

All of the following may be viewed as decision support systems EXCEPT

A) an expert system to diagnose a medical condition.
B) a knowledge management system to guide decision makers.
C) a system that helps to manage the organization's supply chain management.
D) a retail sales system that processes customer sales transactions.

Question 27

Which of the following is NOT an example that falls within the four major categories of business environment factors for today's organizations?

A) globalization
B) increased pool of customers
C) fewer government regulations
D) increased competition

Question 28

In the Magpie Sensing case study, the automated collection of temperature and humidity data on shipped goods helped with various types of analytics. Which of the following is an example of prescriptive analytics?

A) real time reports of the shipment's temperature
B) warning of an open shipment seal
C) location of the shipment
D) optimal temperature setting

Question 29

In the Magpie Sensing case study, the automated collection of temperature and humidity data on shipped goods helped with various types of analytics. Which of the following is an example of predictive analytics?

A) real time reports of the shipment's temperature
B) warning of an open shipment seal
C) location of the shipment
D) optimal temperature setting

Question 30

Which of the following activities permeates nearly all managerial activity?

A) planning
B) controlling
C) directing
D) decision-making

Question 31

Business environments and government requirements are becoming more complex. All of the following actions to manage this complexity would be appropriate EXCEPT

A) hiring more sophisticated and computer-savvy managers.
B) deploying more sophisticated tools and technique.
C) seeking new ways to avoid government compliance.
D) avoiding expensive trial and error to find out what works.

Question 32

Business intelligence (BI) can be characterized as a transformation of

A) data to information to decisions to actions.
B) Big Data to data to information to decisions.
C) actions to decisions to feedback to information.
D) data to processing to information to actions.

Question 33

In answering the question "Which customers are most likely to click on my online ads and purchase my goods?", you are most likely to use which of the following analytic applications?

A) customer profitability
B) propensity to buy
C) customer attrition
D) channel optimization

Question 34

Prescriptive BI capabilities are viewed as more powerful than predictive ones for all the following reasons EXCEPT

A) prescriptive BI gives actual guidance as to actions.
B) understanding the likelihood of certain events often leaves unclear remedies.
C) only prescriptive BI capabilities have monetary value to top-level managers.
D) prescriptive models generally build on (with some overlap) predictive ones.

Question 35

How are descriptive analytics methods different from the other two types?

A) They answer "what-if?" queries, not "how many?" queries.
B) They answer "what-is?" queries, not "what will be?" queries.
C) They answer "what to do?" queries, not "what-if?" queries.
D) They answer "what will be?" queries, not "what to do?" queries.

Question 36

When Sabre developed their Enterprise Data Warehouse, they chose to use near-real-time updating of their database. The main reason they did so was

A) to provide a 360 degree view of the organization.
B) to aggregate performance metrics in an understandable way.
C) to be able to assess internal operations.
D) to provide up-to-date executive insights.

Question 37

Big Data often involves a form of distributed storage and processing using Hadoop and MapReduce. One reason for this is

A) centralized storage creates too many vulnerabilities.
B) the "Big" in Big Data necessitates over 10,000 processing nodes.
C) the processing power needed for the centralized model would overload a single computer.
D) Big Data systems have to match the geographical spread of social media.

Question 38

Why are analytical decision making skills now viewed as more important than interpersonal skills for an organization's managers?

A) because interpersonal skills are never important in organizations
B) because personable and friendly managers are always the least effective
C) because analytical-oriented managers produce better results over time
D) because analytical-oriented managers tend to be flashier and less methodical

Question 39

Organizations counter the pressures they experience in their business environments in multiple ways. Which of the following is NOT an effective way to counter these pressures?

A) reactive actions
B) anticipative actions
C) adaptive actions
D) retroactive actions

Question 40

The deployment of large data warehouses with terabytes or even petabytes of data been crucial to the growth of decision support. All the following explain why EXCEPT

A) data warehouses have enabled the affordable collection of data for analytics.
B) data warehouses have enabled the collection of decision makers in one place.
C) data warehouses have assisted the collection of data for data mining.
D) data warehouses have assisted the collection of data from multiple sources.

Question 41

The filing system developed by Google to handle Big Data storage challenges is known as the ________ Distributed File System.

Question 42

________ is an umbrella term that combines architectures, tools, databases, analytical tools, applications, and methodologies.

Question 43

________ analytics help managers make decisions to achieve the best performance in the future.

Question 44

________ technology enables managers to access and analyze information anytime and from anyplace.

Question 45

A(n) ________ problem such as new technology development is one that has very few structured elements.

Question 46

________ cycle times are now extremely compressed, faster, and more informed across industries.

Question 47

The programming algorithm developed by Google to handle Big Data computational challenges is known as ________.

Question 48

Organizations using BI systems are typically seeking to ________ the gap between the organization's current and desired performance.

Question 49

An older and more diverse workforce falls under the ________ category of business environment factors.

Question 50

________ analytics help managers understand probable future outcomes.

Question 51

Mintzberg defines the ________ as a managerial role that involves searching the environment for new opportunities.

Question 52

________ analytics help managers understand current events in the organization including causes, trends, and patterns.

Question 53

The fraud ________ analytic application helps determine fraudulent events and take action.

Question 54

A(n) ________ problem such as setting budgets for products is one that has some structured elements and some unstructured elements also.

Question 55

The desire by a customer to customize a product falls under the ________ category of business environment factors.

Question 56

The Google search engine is an example of Big Data in that it has to search and index billions of ________ in fractions of a second for each search.

Question 57

A(n) ________ is a major component of a Business Intelligence (BI) system that holds source data.

Question 58

Group communication and ________ involves decision makers who are likely to be in different locations.

Question 59

A(n) ________ is a major component of a Business Intelligence (BI) system that is usually browser based and often presents a portal or dashboard.

Question 60

Sabre used executive ________ to present performance metrics in a concise way to its executives.

Question 61

Describe the types of computer support that can be used for structured, semistructured, and unstructured decisions.

Question 62

List four of Mintzberg's Decisional roles of managers.

Question 63

Managers usually make decisions by following a four-step process. What are the steps?

Question 64

List three developments that have contributed to facilitating growth of decision support and analytics.

Question 65

Describe and define Big Data. Why is a search engine a Big Data application?

Question 66

What are the four major components of a Business Intelligence (BI) system?

Question 67

How does Amazon.com use predictive analytics to respond to product searches by the customer?

Question 68

List and describe three levels or categories of analytics that are most often viewed as sequential and independent, but also occasionally seen as overlapping.

Question 69

The environment in which organizations operate today is becoming more and more complex.
Business environment factors can be divided into four major categories. What are these categories?

Question 70

What storage system and processing algorithm were developed by Google for Big Data?