MIS VERSION A

FINAL EXAM
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Name:
Section:

CASE STUDY 1 (20 MARKS)

An employee who needs permission to access an electronic workspace, database, or other information systems resource
typically fills in a request form and obtains approval from the responsible manager. The manager then routes the request to
one of the system’s administrators.
Highly trusted and well-trained systems administrators spend a significant amount of time doing nothing more technical than
adding or removing names from access control lists. In large organizations, it’s not unusual for systems administrators to
have never met any of the people involved in a specific request.
The administrators may not even work in the same office. Hackers have learned to take advantage of this approach to access
authorization. They begin by probing an organization. The hacker doesn’t expect to compromise the system during this
initial probe. He or she just starts by making a few phone calls to learn who is responsible for granting access and how to
apply. A little more probing helps the hacker learn who’s who within the organization’s structure. Some organizations even
post this information online in the form of employee directories. With this information in hand, the hacker knows whom to
talk to, what to ask for, and what names to use to sound convincing.
The hacker is now ready to try to impersonate an employee and trick a systems administrator into revealing a password and
unwittingly granting unauthorized access. Organizations determine who needs access to which applications. They also need
a system through which they can authenticate the identity of an individual making a request. Finally, they need to manage
this process both effectively and inexpensively.

a. Describe the business problems that this case study presents.

CASE STUDY 2 (20 MARKS)

Nowadays new car buyers can configure the car of their dreams on Microsoft’s MSN Autos Web site, as well as those of
Ford, GM, and other auto giants. Many independent online car purchase and research companies offer similar services. Car
buying information provided by manufacturers, brokerage sites, car dealers, financial institutions, and consumer advocate
Web sites has exploded in the past few years.
Yet in the age of the Internet, the auto industry remains a steadfast holdout to innovations that might threaten the well-
established and well-connected supply chain, the car dealership. American new car buyers simply cannot skip the
middleperson and purchase an automobile directly from the manufacturer. That’s not just a business decision by the
manufacturers; that’s the law.
Even so, many car buyers use the Internet as a place to research their purchases. Instead of selling new cars directly, Web
sites such as Autobytel.com of Irvine, California, just put consumers in touch with a local dealer where they test-drive a
vehicle and negotiate a price. Autobytel.com has been referring buyers to new and used car dealers since 1995. It also offers
online financing and insurance.
Online car-buying sites on the Web make consumers less dependent on what cars a dealer has on the lot. At online sites,
buyers can customize a car—or van, truck, or sport utility vehicle—by selecting trim, paint, color, and other options before
purchase. They can also use Web sites such as CarBuyingTips.com to help prepare for the final negotiating process.

a..What are the business models discussed in the case study above.
b. Why do we see a growth in e-commerce websites? Identify some limitations of these websites/e-commerce.
c. What features of the Web and the Internet are used to make these e-commerce websites? What is one way these car
dealers can market their products through e-commerce?

CASE STUDY 3 (20 MARKS)

The 139,000-student Montgomery County public school system in Rockville, Maryland, is at the forefront of the push for
data-driven DSS in schools. Forty employees at the school district’s Office of Shared Accountability generate reports on
how many students take algebra in middle school or read below grade level. The district’s Edline and M-Stat systems alert
principals to individuals with patterns of failing so they can receive extra resources, such as after-school tutoring, study
sessions, and special meetings with parents.
Earlier this decade, Montgomery County school superintendent Jerry Weast predicted that the increasing stratification
between students in what he called the “green zone” (white and wealthy students) and students in the “red zone” (poor and
minority students) would weigh down the school district as a whole. Having exhausted other options, administrators initiated
MIS VERSION A

a plan to create a data collection system for test scores, grades, and other data useful for identifying students with problems
and speeding up interventions to improve their learning and educational performance.
The device calculates the accuracy with which the student reads each passage and, over time, provides information about
what sorts of problems the student consistently encounters. Also, when students begin to deviate from their normal academic
patterns, like getting a rash of poor grades, the system sends alerts to parents and school administrators. In many cases, this
quicker response is enough to help the student reverse course before failing. Principals access and analyze student
performance data to help make instructional decisions over the course of the year, as opposed to only when annual
standardized test data arrives. This way, teachers can meet the needs of students who require additional instruction or other
types of intervention before they fall behind.

a. How do business intelligence systems provide a solution to the problem in the case study? What are the inputs and outputs
of these systems? What type of decisions do they solve? What types of decisions can they solve?
b. Explain the decision making process that the developers of this business intelligence system would go through?
c. What certain business intelligence elements would be used to implement this system in the education sector?