Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Principles of MIS

© 2005 by Jerry Post

McGraw-Hill/Irwin

1. Find a local company that has international purchases or sales. Determine how the orders are processed and the payments made.
2. Choose a company and describe three decisions that must be made: one at the operations level, one tactical, one strategic. Be specific.
3. Choose a company and read its two most recent annual reports. Summarize the company’s strategy and goals for the coming year.
4. As an entrepreneur, you decide to open a fast food restaurant. You can purchase a franchise from one of the established corporations (as discussed in the McDonald’s case) or create your own restaurant. Compare the choices by identifying the decisions you will face with each approach. What data will you need to collect?
5. Interview a recent graduate in your major (or a relative or friend). Find out what they do on a daily basis. Ask what his or her managers do. Do managers have operations tasks to perform as well as management duties? For instance, does a manager in an accounting firm work on tax returns?
6. Think of a part-time job you have or have had. How does your manager break down his or her time among categories of communication, traditional management, networking, and human resource management? What issues have you felt your manager has dealt with effectively? On what issues could your manager spend time to improve?
7. Review business magazines, newspapers, and websites. Find two organizations and identify a specific business problem that each one faces. Classify the problem as operations, tactics, or strategies.

Technology Toolbox

8. What was the name of the Martian rover that successfully landed in early 2004?
9. How many cell phones are in use in Peru?
10. What is the tallest mountain in South America?
11. Currently, what are the most common search words on the Internet?
12. List the names of the two senators from your state and when their terms expire.

Teamwork

13. Choose an industry. Have each team member select one company within the industry and find information about the size of that company. Also, find information about the use of information technology within the company. Write a single-page summary for each company. Combine the results into a report, and write a paragraph summarizing the level of competition within the industry.
14. Choose an industry. Have each team member select one company within the industry and find the number of employees at that company for the two most recent years. Compare the total number of employees to see if the total has increased, and to see which firms are growing the fastest. Compare the industry results to those in the rest of the class.
15. Find two companies that have merged within the last two years. Split the team into two groups and have each group track the products and workers from one of the companies. Summarize the changes to the management and production structures.

Rolling Thunder Database

16. Install the Rolling Thunder Bicycles database. Look through the various forms. List each of the main forms and briefly describe the purpose of the form.
17. Using the Rolling Thunder help files or the description available on the Internet site, describe the goals of the firm and outline the basic operations.
18. Using Internet sources, identify the competitors to Rolling Thunder Bicycles.
19. Using Internet, financial, and government sources, estimate the size of the market (total sales and number of bicycles) for quality bicycles.
20. Locate at least five sources for additional information about bicycles and bicycle components on the Internet. List and briefly describe the sites.