Deck 3: Decision Support Systems Concepts, Methodologies, and Technologies:

Question 1

A difficult user interface is one of the major reasons why managers do not use computers and quantitative analyses as much as they could,given the availability of these technologies.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Business analytics (BA)implies the use of models and data to improve an organization's performance or competitive posture

Answer 2

True

Question 3

User interface of a DSS includes not only the hardware and software but also factors that deal with ease of use,accessibility,and human-machine interactions.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

If the main user of a DSS is replaced by another,less knowledgeable user (in terms of the decision-making problem and environment),the DSS will generally be less effective.

Question 5

An effective database and its management can support many managerial activities; however,the real power of a DSS occurs when data are integrated with its models.

Question 6

All DSSs have common components that enable them to provide the same capabilities and support to users.

Question 7

Knowledge Management Systems (KMS)that are developed around communities that practice collaborative work are a type of document-driven DSS.

Question 8

The most common end-user tool for DSS development is Microsoft Access,which includes statistical packages,a linear programming package,and financial and management science models.

Question 9

A key component of DSS is the ability to visualize the results.For example,it is important for executives to visualize the results of modifying assumptions.

Question 10

Planned models are used mainly by middle management to assist in allocating and controlling the organization's resources.

Question 11

A DSS database can include multimedia objects,e.g.,pictures,maps,and sounds.

Question 12

A key issue in data management is that of data quality.Poor quality data,which leads to poor quality information leads directly to waste.

Question 13

To create or load a DSS database or a data warehouse,it is often necessary to capture data from several sources,which is a simple (trivial)process.

Question 14

Business intelligence (BI)is typically built to support the solution of a certain problem or to evaluate an opportunity.

Question 15

A DSS can be custom-made by assembling the system from a variety of tools including databases,Web servers and clients,and analytical engines,often from several vendors.

Question 16

Decision makers at the Avantas Company selected Planners Lab for data analysis because Planners Lab offered an easy-to-use alternative to Excel to create "what-if" scenarios.

Question 17

Data integration issues generally become critical when implementing an enterprise information system like a supply management system.

Question 18

3Because DSS deal with semistructured or unstructured problems,it is often necessary to customize models,using programming tools and languages.

Question 19

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)is becoming more important in DSS due to the growth of mobile commerce applications,on handheld devices,e.g.,PDAs and cell phones.

Question 20

Database directory is a catalog of all the models and other software in the model base.

Question 21

A(n)________ contains routine and special statistical,financial,forecasting,management science,and other quantitative models that provide the analysis capabilities in a DSS.

A) model base
B) application base
C) analytical base
D) query base

Question 22

________ systems have models embedded in them,but they are still not well understood in practice.

A) Web analytics
B) Data mining and OLAP
C) XML
D) Data dictionary

Question 23

The ________ is especially appropriate for supporting the intelligence phase of the decision-making process by helping to scan data and identify problem areas or opportunities.

A) intelligence facility
B) query facility
C) data directory
D) knowledge facility

Question 24

________ control and coordinate the use of software to support group work.

A) Expert tool users
B) Facilitators
C) Analyst
D) Managers

Question 25

A DSS is an approach for supporting decision making.It uses an interactive,flexible,adap computer-based information system (CBIS)developed to support the solution to a specific,________ management problem.

A) easy
B) problematic
C) nonstructured
D) hard

Question 26

Optimization,simulation,statistics systems,and ES currently run in ________.These developments simplify access to data,models,and knowledge,and simplify their integration.

A) ASPs
B) user interfaces
C) Java
D) )NET

Question 27

All of the following are characteristics of Planners Lab except:

A) Planners Lab makes it possible for the decision makers to play with assumptions to reflect alternative views of the future.
B) It lets decision makers describe their plans in their own words and with their own assumptions.
C) It facilitates a conversation with the decision maker in the process of describing business assumptions.
D) All assumptions are described in English equations only.

Question 28

Which of the following is used mainly by middle management to assist in allocating and controlling the organization's resources?

A) Tactical model
B) Planned model
C) Managerial model
D) Middle-management model

Question 29

The de facto DSS hardware standard is a(n)________ through which the DBMS provides data.

A) Web server
B) data center
C) mainframe
D) local area network

Question 30

________ is a robust DSS modeling language.

A) Ruby on Rails
B) Planners Lab
C) Sybase
D) OLAP

Question 31

The operation of capturing data from several sources and loading it to a data warehouse is called:

A) extraction.
B) loading.
C) mining.
D) storing.

Question 32

When voice input with accompanying ________ software is used,verbal instructions with accompanied actions and outputs can be invoked.

A) language recognition
B) accent recognition
C) voice recognition
D) speech recognition

Question 33

________ implies the use of models and data to improve an organization's performance or competitive posture.

A) Business applications
B) Business analytics
C) Business intelligence
D) Business rules

Question 34

Which of the following subsystem can support any of the other subsystems or act as an independent component? It also provides intelligence to augment the decision maker's own?

A) Knowledge-base management subsystem
B) Intelligence-base subsystem
C) User interface subsystem
D) Expertise-base subsystem

Question 35

By definition,a DSS must include ________.

A) business intelligence
B) an expert system
C) an animation system
D) a user interface

Question 36

Data directory is a catalog of all the data in the database.It contains ________,and its main function is to answer questions about the availability of data items,their source,and their exact meaning.

A) data foundations
B) data definitions
C) data names
D) data sources

Question 37

A(n)________ is a collection of interrelated data,organized to meet the needs and structure of an organization that can be used by more than one person for more than one application.

A) business intelligence
B) expert system
C) database
D) data repository

Question 38

Most data mining applications include intelligent systems,such as artificial neural networks (ANN)and rule induction methods for expert systems (ES),to search for potentially profi ________ in data.

A) samples
B) patterns
C) sections
D) trends

Question 39

The choice of hardware can be made ________ the design of the MSS software,but it is often determined by what is already available in the organization.

A) before
B) during
C) after
D) all of the above

Question 40

A database is created,accessed,and updated by a(n)________.

A) expert system
B) animation system
C) knowledge system
D) database management system

Question 41

________ is the physical data repository organized to provide enterprise wide,cleaned data in a standardized format.

Question 42

Planners Lab is a DSS ________ language.

Question 43

Users of DSS communicate with and command the DSS through the ________ subsystem.

Question 44

In building and using DSS,it is often necessary to access,manipulate,and query data.The ________ performs these tasks.

Question 45

________ models are used to support the day-to-day working activities of the organization.Typical decisions involve e-commerce transaction acceptance,approval of personal loans by a bank,production scheduling,inventory control,maintenance planning and scheduling,and quality control.

Question 46

As the size of the data to be stored and accessed increases,processing times and storage space also grow,sometimes dramatically.Large databases present major ________ problems.

Question 47

One key issue that DBMS must handle is data security.Data can be ________ so that even in the case of unauthorized access,the viewed data is scrambled and unintelligible.

Question 48

________ are generally utilized to analyze decision-making situations and make a DSS different from most MIS.

Question 49

Selection and ________ are two important functions of a DSS query system.

Question 50

The models in the model base can also be classified by functional areas or by ________.

Question 51

________ deal with specific problems that are usually neither anticipated nor recurring.

Question 52

Advanced DSS are equipped with a component called a(n)________ subsystem.This component can supply the required expertise for solving some aspects of the problem and provide knowledge that can enhance the operation of other DSS components.

Question 53

A database-oriented DSS features strong ________ capabilities.

Question 54

An ________ allows the manager to benefit from the decision support system without actually having to use the keyboard.

Question 55

________ are Web-based business analytics tools to assist in decision making.

Question 56

________ describes the business analytics method of forecasting problems and opportunities rather than simply reporting them as they occur.

Question 57

Distributed DSS runs on various types of networks,including the Internet,intranets,and extranets.Access may be provided for mobile devices,e.g.,notebook PCs and mobile telephones.This ________ has become critical for deploying decision-making capability in the field,especially for salespersons and technicians.

Question 58

________ are preprogrammed software elements that can be used to build computerized models.One example is the random-number generator that can be employed in the construction of a simulation model.

Question 59

Operational models mainly support first-line managers' decision making with a daily to ________ time horizon.

Question 60

A(n)________ subsystem includes a database that contains relevant data for the situation and is managed by software called the database management system.

Question 61

List and describe the four components of the data management subsystem.

Question 62

Describe five of Larry English's Top Ten essential ingredients of data quality management.

Question 63

List the five major components of a DSS.

Question 64

Explain the role,components,and importance of the user interface (dialog)subsystem.

Question 65

List the four main functions of MBMS (model base management system)software

Question 66

Identify the key characteristics and capabilities of a DSS.

Question 67

List the five elements of the model management subsystem.

Question 68

Explain the differences in strategic,tactical,operational,and analytical models.

Question 69

Discuss the advantages of developing a models for a DSS with Planners Lab instead of traditional programming languages or spreadsheets?

Question 70

List the capabilities of institutional DSS and ad hoc DSS.