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Management Information Systems Question Paper

Management Information Systems

Course:Management Information Systems

Exam Year:2004

KENYA ACCOUNTANTS AND SECRETARIES NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS BOARD
CPA PART II
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
1 December 2004. Time Allowed: 3 hours.
Answer any FIVE questions. ALL questions carry equal marks.

QUESTION ONE

(a) Certain employees will always be placed in positions of trust, for example senior systems analysts,
database administrators and information systems security managers. Such employees can,
therefore, compromise the security of information systems if they so wish.
Required:
(i) Explain three control measures that an organisation should institute over these employees and
guarantee the security of the information systems. (6 marks)

(ii) Every individual in an organisation has some opportunity to commit computer fraud. The potential
for which they can do so depends on a number of factors. Examine three of these factors.
(6 marks)

(b) Ethical principles can help in evaluating the potential harms or risks in the use of information
communication technology.
Required:
Explain ant two principles of technology ethics. (4 marks)

(c) Explain the advantages to an organisation in having users involved in developing an information
systems application (4 marks)
(Total: 20 marks)

QUESTION TWO
(a) Some of the major challenges facing the convergence of networks in businesses is performance,
that is, the network can at times be painfully too slow and result in high inter connectivity costs.
Required:
(i) Explain the meaning of the terms “bandwidth” and “ inter connectivity costs”.
(4 marks)

(ii) Examine four factors that can determine the extent to which network performance
degrades or slows down. (8 marks)

((iii) Explain two strategies that business organisations can adopt to keep network costs low.
(4 marks)

(b) Identify any four common reasons for losing data in computer-based systems.
(4 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION THREE
(a) Quality assurance and testing are important in developing and delivering information systems.
Required:
Briefly describe four characteristics of quality assurance you would expect to find in a software product.
(8 marks)

(b) It is always recommended that any new system should have a graphical user interface (GUI) to make
it easier to use than current character-based systems.
Required:
Briefly describe what is meant by a graphical user interface (GUI). (2 marks)
Discuss two limitations associated with the implementation and use of GUI. (6 marks)

(c) Identify four major factors that influence the structure of an information system (4 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION FOUR
(a) Transaction processing systems capture and process data resulting from the occurrence of business
transactions, to update organisational databases in order to produce a variety of information
products.
Required:
Explain the five stages of a transaction processing cycle. (10 marks)

(b) A data dictionary is a repository of information about data.
Explain the characteristics of a data dictionary. (4 marks)

(c) The concept of an intelligent workstation is a combination of a personal computer and access to
a local or wide area network. The hardware, software and communication are integrated into one
facility.
Required:
Define and differentiate functional integration and physical integration in a workstation environment.
(6 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION FIVE
(a) The company you work for intends to computerized its payroll application.
Explain the functional capabilities that the system should have for it to serve the intended purpose.
(8 marks)

(b) Outline four features of a word processing software package. (4 marks)

(c) Explain the importance of documenting and agreeing on the information systems
requirements. (6 marks)

(d) Name the basic requirements for internet connectivity. (2 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION SIX
(a) Wanjeshi Sacco Ltd. is intending to introduce a corporate database to support a variety of its
information needs.
List two organisational, technical and human factors to be considered in the process of establishing
the corporate database environment. (6 marks)
Propose two database models that can act as design alternative options. (2 marks)
Explain four database areas in which the company would be justified in restricting employee
s (8 marks)

(b) Explain four network management functions. (4 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION SEVEN
(a) Give four reasons that may make an organisation abandon an information systems project.
(8 marks)

(b) List four problems that are faced when using standard files for data processing systems.
(4 marks)

(c) Name four modern computer-based information systems’ structures that support the sharing of
data or information and other resources. (4 marks)

(d) Differentiate between deterministic and random systems giving examples in each case.
(4 marks)
(Total 20 marks)

QUESTION EIGHT
(a) The owner of a chain of auto-accessory shops in five different towns inputs sales figures into a
computer model that displays the selling trends of each store. She uses her own observation form
visits to the shops and information gained from the model to make ordering decisions for each
store.
Required:
Are the ordering decisions she makes structured, semi-structured or unstructured? Briefly explain
the reasons for your choice and outline what product related variables are involved in the ordering
decisions. (10 marks)

(b) Certain financial problems such as simplified bread-even analysis models for predicting profits can
be computerized.
P = (Sp – VC) U – F c
Where:
P = Profits
Sp
= Selling price per unit
Vc
= Variable cost per unit
U = Number of units of sales
Fc
= Fixed cost
Required:
Using the above model, describe any three decisions that management can make from the break-even
analysis model. (6 marks)
Why do organisations automate reasoning or decision-making tasks which human beings are naturally
better able to perform than computers? (4 marks)
(Total: 20 marks)

Management Information Systems Question Paper

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