DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment

January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

BOTSWANA OPEN UNIVERSITY

Diploma in Business Management

Diploma in Human Resource Management

Business Information Systems

BIS 622

SESSIONAL STRUCTURED TIMED ASSIGNMENT

Marks: 100
Time: 3 Hours

Instructions:
a) This assignment covers ALL the units of the course material.
b) The structured assignment consists of FOUR sections: A, B, C and D.
c) Answer questions according to instructions given in each section.
d) This assignment contributes 70% towards final grading for this course.
e) This is an individual assignment. No duplication of work will be tolerated. Any
plagiarism or collusion may result in disciplinary action.

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

SECTION A- MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS [10 MARKS]

Answer ALL questions. Each question carries ONE (1) mark.
Choose the best alternative answer.

1. The _____________ dimension describes how the information is presented to the recipient.
A. Content
B. Time
C. Form
D. Presentation

2. ____________ systems enhance team and workgroup communications and productivity, and
include the applications that are sometimes called office automations systems.
A. Process control
B. Transaction processing
C. Enterprise collaboration
D. Team management

3. When information system applications focus on providing information and support for
effective decision making by managers, they are called _____________.
A. Specialise Control Systems
B. Management Support Systems
C. Process Control Systems
D. Strategic Information Systems

4. ________________ allows large central-site computers to handle the jobs they do best - such
as high-volume transaction processing, communications network security and control, and
maintenance and control of large corporate databases
A. Client/server computing
B. Peer to peer computing

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

C. Web based computing

D. Internet Computing

5. From the list below identify a management support system that is able to link data from
various sources, both internal and external, to provide the amount and kind of information
executives find useful.
A. Executive Support System
B. Management Information System
C. Decision Support System
D. Transaction Processing System

6. In addition to data usage lifecycle characteristics, the following data characteristics are
necessary to determine an effective data profile except ________________.
A. Duplication
B. Security
C. Response time
D. Concurrency

7. The decisions at this level of the company are usually never structured and could be
described as "educated guesses.
Identify the system that supply the necessary tools to this level of management.
A. Executive Support Systems
B. Decision Support Systems
C. Management Support System
D. Expert Systems

8. ______________ are best used for tasks involving; Idea generation and Complex problems.
A. Executive Support Systems

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

B. Decision Support Systems

C. Management Support System
D. Group Decision Support System

9. Managing data means ________________________________:

A. Restricting access to the data to the right personnel
B. Employees should be acknowledge in the data decision-making process
C. The HR manager needs to participate
D. HR and it should both have full access to the system and data

10. Which of the following devices is not found in a telecommunications processor?

A. Modems
B. Local Area Network
C. Multiplexers
D. Internetworked Processors

SECTION B -TRUE / FALSE QUESTIONS [5 MARKS]

Answer ALL questions in this section. Each question carries ONE (1) mark.
State whether each of the following statements is TRUE or FALSE.

A. The three major uses of DBMS software are to create, manage, and use the databases of an
organisation.
B. Managers require information for decision-making.
C. Functional business systems support operations or management processes that provide a firm
with strategic products, services, and capabilities for competitive advantage.

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
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D. Decision-support systems (DSS) are used for complex "what-if" questions that require
internal and external data.
E. An intranet can drastically reduce an organization's supply chain costs and management
through improved coordination between various departments.

SECTION C- SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS [45 MARKS]

Answer ALL questions in this section.

1. Discuss five (5) benefits of database management approach to data management. (10 marks)

2. Explain the five (5) data types. (10 marks)

3. Describe any three (3) challenges faced by organisations using Legacy Systems. (6 marks)

4. Briefly describe any four (4) major types of information systems in a business organisation.
(8 marks)
5. By use of an example and diagrammatic illustration, explain the concept of a “system”.
(4 marks)
6. Explain the operations of the following network topologies:
a) Bus topology. (3 marks)

b) Ring topology. (4 marks)

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

SECTION D – ESSAY TYPE QUESTIONS [40 MARKS]

Answer any two (2) questions in this section.

Question 1
(a). ‘Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are the backbone of e-business’. Discuss this
statement with four merits and six demerits of ERP. (10 marks)

(b). Explain the five (5) basic categories of components of a telecommunication network.
(10 marks)

Question 2
Read the following case study and answer the questions that follow.
Office Products Corporation receives more than 10,000 customer orders in a month, drawing on
a combined inventory of over 1000 office products stocked at the company’s warehouse. About
60 PCs are installed at the Office Products headquarters and connected in a local area network to
several IBM NetFinity servers. Orders are received by phone or mail and entered into the system
by customer representatives at network computers, or they are entered directly by customers who
Have shopped at the electronic commerce website developed by Office Products. Entry of orders
is assisted by formatted screens that help users follow data entry procedures to enter required
information into the system, where it is stored on the magnetic disks of the NetFinity servers. As
the order is entered, a server checks the availability of the parts, allocates the stock and updates
customer and part databases stored on its magnetic databases. It then sends the order pick list to
the warehouse printer, where it is used by warehouse personnel to fill the order. [Courtesy of:
James O’Brien: Introduction to Information Systems, 11th Edition].

(a). With relevant justifications and a diagram, describe the input, processing and output control
activities that occurred at Office Products Corporation. (10 marks)

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DIPLOMA Sessional Structured Timed Assignment
January – June BIS 622 - Business Information Systems

(b). Briefly explain how Office Products Corporation information system supports business
operations. (2 marks)

(c). Describe any four (4) ways companies can use an extranet. (8 marks)

Question 3
Give a detailed assessment of any ten (10) attributes of quality information. (20 marks)

END OF ASSIGNMENT

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