INF5016/DATZ5061

Prelim exam questions, Last updates 2017.12.08

To prepare for the (mid-term) exam, you must know, understand, and be able to explain the following concepts:
(Questions written in grey color won’t appear in the mid-term/exam)

1. The basic concepts

a) Data, information, knowledge (what it is, what is the difference between the concepts, what are the
implications for supporting/processing each of those by IS)
b) Transaction, its physical, financial, and informational flows (explaining why the informational dimension is
underutilized, how it can be used to boost the product’s value)
c) Business process
d) Electronic commerce; electronic market
e) Intermediary, intermediation, disentermediation
f) Network effects
g) Switching costs

Papazoglou, M. P., and M. Ribbers. 2006. E-Business: Organizational and Technical Foundations. John Wiley & Sons\
Chapter 1: “The World of e-Business”

2. Transaction processing, organizational and economic factors:

a) Transaction Cost Theory (be able to provide examples, explanation)
b) Agency Cost Theory (be able to provide examples, explanation)
c) Economies of scale – examples, issues, opportunities
d) Doing business at the bottom of the pyramid
e) The “IS pyramid” – the different IS for organizational management

Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2010). Management information systems: managing the digital firm.
Chapter 3: Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/prahalad-base-bottom-pyramid-profit-poor
https://hbr.org/2014/10/profits-at-the-bottom-of-the-pyramid

3. Transaction processing and Inter-organizational systems:

a) EDI & XML, “programmed” and “non-programmed” decisions and/or “structured” and “unstructured” data?
(this is the same as for Q3b above).
b) The three levels of interoperabilty (with examples, explanations): technical, semantic, and process.
c) The bottleneck effect (examples from the IT/e-commerce domain).

McKeown, P. (2009). Information Technology and the Networked Economy. Chapter 4: “Business to Business
transactions”. Chapter 5: "Handling the present: Transaction Processing Systems"
Simon, H.A., 1977, The New Science of Management Decision (3rd revised edition; first edition 1960) Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ. P.46 for the definition of programmed decision.
See a digest here: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.93.9796&rep=rep1&type=pdf

4. Electronic markets:
a) The three primary risks for business, the effect of the Internet on the three primary risks of business. Examples
from the IT domain
b) Three of the six benefits realized by intermediaries (breaking bulk, efficient search, creating assortment,
logistics, negotiating prices/aggregating demand). Examples from the e-commerce domain.
c) Business cases when intermediation is and is not required (justifications/need for intermediation ir
desintermediation).
d) Eight unique feature of the Internet as commercial media. Examples from the e-commerce domain.

McKeown, P. (2009). Information Technology and the Networked Economy. Chapter 7: "e-commerce strategies"
Westland, J. C., & Clark, T. H. K. (1999). Global electronic commerce theory and case studies. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT
Press. Chapter 2: "Information technology in the post-industrial revolution"

5. Business processes:
a) What are Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) (or routines)?
b) Business processes – what are those, how they are related to “programmed” and “non-programmed” decisions
and/or “structured” and “unstructured” data?
c) What are the different degrees of “IT-induced business transformation”? (i.e., the Venkatreman’s 5-stage
model).
d) What are the typical barriers to introduction of IS/IT into compnaies? (Besides the lecture materials, this
question relates to ERP home works and to the visit to Hotel Janne).

6. Digital & Social media :

a) Why there is abundance of data, but scarce information in the companies?
b) What is understood by “user-centric control” and what are the drivers/trends in info-society related to mass-
digitization of resources?
c) The meaning of the “informational dimension” of a transaction. (the same as in Q2 above).
d) The benefits/possibilities associated with the “separation of content from media” (e.g., development of new
business models; the “perfect choice” effect of the Internet on the three primary risks of business, etc.).

7. Network effects:
a) The meaning of the concepts: “network effect”, “bandwagon effect”, “switching costs”, “angry orphans”,
“economies of scale”. Examples from IT/e-commerce domain.
b) Why the concept of network effects is important in the contect of Electronic Commerce? How this importances
is seen from the point of view of 1) a consumer/buyer and 2) service provider/seller.
c) What is the difference between one-sided and two-sided markets? Examples from the IT/e-commerce domain.