True/False

1. Business processes exemplify the interconnected nature of business function areas.

2. Predetermined goals, usually driven by customer needs, are attributes of the functional
perspective of a business.

3. The process perspective can introduce less bureaucracy and better efficiency than the
functional perspective does.

4. Because ERP systems adopt best practices in their design, organisations seldom need to
configure their ERP systems or acquire additional software to support their needs.

5. A well-designed ERP system should be able to drive all business processes of an organisation.

6. TQM is more suitable for drastic business changes.

7. BPR is a top-down approach to process improvement, but it is less risky.

8. A criticism of BPR is that it is frequently seen as a way of legitimising downsizing.

9. Because BPR gives employees a greater sense of involvement and control over the process
and it increases the diversity of a job and make the job more interesting, employees will not
reject BPR as a method of business change.

10. Organisations are always able to reap the full benefits of a new technology if that technology
is implemented properly.
Multiple choice

11. Strategy can be seen to operate at:

a. the internal level.

b. the competitive level.
c. the business portfolio level.
d. all of above.

12. An example of a strategic level decision would be:

a. Determining the quantity of raw materials to purchase.

b. Appointing a new line manager responsible for running the delivery department.
c. Reconfiguring the production line design to eliminate wasted time due to bottlenecks.
d. Deciding whether or not to acquire the remaining shares of a partially owned
subsidiary.

13. There are two perspectives of organisational design:

a. Logical and physical.

b. Internal and external.
c. Functional and business process.
d. Scientific and practical.

14. The logical consequence of Taylor's scientific management approach was that organisations:

a. Developed rigid hierarchies that sought to tightly control lower levels of the
organisation.
b. Developed highly interactive and flexible structures that could easily adapt to changing
environments.
c. Had employees who questioned procedures and sought to continually redefine their
role.
d. Streamlined the information flows across the organisation.

15. Scientific management is concerned with:

a. Streamlined work flows across the organisation.

b. Hierarchical control of the organisation through three levels of management.
c. Clearly defining individual employee's responsibilities and tasks.
d. Dividing the business structure into the optimal number of functional divisions.
16. An emphasis on business processes is different to a functional perspective of the organisation
because a business process emphasis:

a. Offers highly defined tasks and responsibilities

b. Gives employees the freedom to do what they want in order to please the customer
c. Acknowledges cross-functional communication and action is essential to the
customer's needs
d. Views the customer needs as secondary to those of the functional divisions

17. Which of the following is NOT true?

a. The functional perspective focuses on what should be done while the process
perspective focuses on how tasks are done.
b. The functional perspective is horizontally oriented whereas the process perspective is
vertically oriented.
c. The functional perspective is task driven while the process perspective is customer
driven.
d. The functional perspective emphasises on specialists whereas the process perspective
emphasise on generalists.

18. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

a. A business process is based on a horizontal perspective of the organisation.

b. A business process consists of a series of discrete activities.
c. A business process is customer driven.
d. A business process is designed to achieve a predetermined organisational goal.

19. Which of the following is NOT a benefit of adopting a business process perspective within
the organisation?

a. Better customer service and customer relations.

b. Greater efficiency and effectiveness in using resources.
c. Tighter organisational control.
d. Less non-value-adding activities.
20. Although ERP systems are built around the idea of best practice, some organisations will
choose not to adopt the ERP best practice, seeking instead to modify the design of the system.
The mostly likely reason for doing so is:

a. Modifying the ERP system will lower the cost of implementation because redundant
features are removed.
b. The 'fit' between the system and the business processes needs to exist. It is easier to
change the system than to change the organisational design.
c. The ERP system is unable to drive some of the organisation's unique business
processes that provide distinct competitive advantage to the organisation.
d. Adopting an ERP system off the shelf erodes competitive advantage because everyone
else has the same software at their disposal.

21. Which of the following is NOT a result of moving to a business process-based environment?

a. The way that the organisation is managed is changed.

b. Functional barriers are broken down.
c. The layer of middle management is thickened.
d. Employee resistance.

22. An organisation is undergoing a major change to the way it does business, redesigning
business processes and the use of IT within the processes. One of the suggested change
approaches was TQM. In this case

a. TQM would be ideal because it allows for all employees to offer suggestions and be
involved in the changing of the organisation
b. TQM would be ideal because its incremental approach to organisational change means
that the change process would be well managed.
c. TQM would not be ideal because its incremental approach would mean that change
would take a large amount of time
d. TQM would not be ideal because its incremental approach is suited to gradual change
rather than large scale change

23. A process that has been reengineered will have less of a role for specialists because:

a. Specialists are made redundant through the cost-cutting emphasis of BPR.

b. Decisions that require specialists are removed from a process.
c. Generalists are trained and act as specialists through the assistance of decision aids.
d. Jobs are combined and key workers are given decision making responsibility.
24. Which of the following statements is NOT true about a reengineered process?

a. Jobs change and people are empowered.

b. Work units change from a functional to a process perspective.
c. Controls are increased to ensure smooth functioning.
d. Workers' jobs are combined and workers are given decision rights.

25. Benefits of a reengineered process from a customer's perspective include:

a. better information availability.

b. a more convenient way of participating in a process.
c. a specific reference point.
d. all of above.

26. Organisations will benefit most from the application of IT when:

a. They use the most advanced and latest IT.

b. All business processes are computerised.
c. IT costs are brought to the minimum.
d. The use of IT is driven by business needs and opportunities.

27. Evaluated receipts settlement involves:

a. The purchaser paying for goods without receiving an invoice

b. The supplier issuing an invoice before goods have been delivered
c. Speeding up the accounts receivable process for a vendor
d. The electronic sending and payment of invoices

28. An organisation is looking for a way to improve their accounts payable process. Someone
suggested that they continue to send out paper invoices but allow customers to pay through their
bank website and phone banking. This is an example of:

a. Electronic bill presentment

b. Electronic bill presentment and payment
c. Electronic bill payment
d. None of above
29. Which of the following statements regarding BPR is not true?

a. BPR means downsizing.

b. Ethical issues are involved in BPR.
c. Social issues are involved in BPR.
d. All of the above

30. The central tenet of BPR is to:

a. Look for ways technology can potentially be applied to solve a business problem
b. Look for ways technology can potentially be applied to create a unique strategic
position for an organisation
c. Look for ways technology can potentially be applied to help organisation grasp
emergent opportunities
d. All of the above.

31. From 2003 to 2008, the percentage of Australian businesses that have web presence:

a. Has remained unchanged

b. Has increased to more than 80%
c. Has decreased slightly
d. None of the above.

32. Which of the following statements is not true regarding Australian businesses?

a. More than 90% of businesses are using the internet.

b. More than 80% of websites have some form of customer contact facility
c. More than 70% of businesses have incorporated internet into business processes
d. None of the above.

33. Which of the following is not a factor that is attributed to the uptake of IT by many
organisations?

a. Government support
b. Customer pressure
c. Ability to access technological support
d. Better socioeconomic environment
34. An aggregator:

a. operates by sourcing data from various sources and compiling or aggregating it in a

way that adds value for the end customer.
b. sells information products.
c. buys information products.
d. all of the above.

35. The information business:

a. cannot operate without modern information and communication technologies.

b. cannot operate on a manual basis.
c. is not popular because it adds middleman costs to final prices.
d. none of the above.