EXAMINATION QUESTION PAPER MAIN 2011/12

Module code: Module title: Module leader:

CC3001 Management Support Systems Dr Kay Dudman

Date: Day / evening: Duration:

January 2012 Day 2 hours

Exam type: Materials supplied: Materials permitted:

Unseen closed examination with seen case study Question paper, answer booklet, case study None

Warning:

Candidates are warned that possession of unauthorised materials in an examination is a serious assessment offence.

Instructions to candidates:

Candidates should answer any THREE questions. All questions carry equal marks.

DO NOT TURN PAGE OVER UNTIL INSTRUCTED

London Metropolitan University 2012

Question 1. (a) Explain what is meant by a SWOT analysis, and how this may be used in formulating business strategy. Give a SWOT analysis for the Marian Haste case study. (16 marks) (b) Explain what is meant by a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix, and how this may be used in formulating business strategy. Explain each section of the matrix, and how it can be used. (17 marks) Total for question 1: 33 marks

Question 2. Databases, management information systems, expert systems and knowledge-based systems all support management decision-making. However, different types of decision require different types of support. (a) Consider the types of decision that are made at the strategic level in an organisation (i) Describe the characteristics of decisions made at the strategic level (6 marks)

(ii) Identify the type of management support systems that would be appropriate at the strategic level, with specific reference to Marian Haste UK Ltd (5 marks) (b) Consider the types of decision that are made at the tactical level in an organisation (i) Describe the characteristics of decisions made at the tactical level (6 marks)

(ii) Identify the type of management support systems that would be appropriate at the tactical level, with specific reference to Marian Haste UK Ltd (5 marks) (c) Consider the types of decision that are made at the operational level in an organisation (i) Describe the characteristics of decisions made at the operational level (6 marks)

(ii) Identify the characteristics of management support systems that would be appropriate at the operational level, with specific reference to Marian Haste UK Ltd (5 marks) Total for question 2: 33 marks Question 3. (a) Describe what is meant by each of the following terms, and how they may be used in the context of business and organisational strategy. Give an example of each relating to the Marian Haste case study. (i) Vision (ii) Mission statement (iii) Key Performance Indicators (KPI) (5 marks) (5 marks) (5 marks)

(b) Identify one full SMART objective relevant to Marian Haste UK Ltd, and explain how the MIDAS system would assist in meeting this objective. (6 marks) (c) In order to make effective business decisions, data needs to be gathered and processed before being presented to managers. Explain how data may be processed before being passed to managers. How might data be transformed to assist Cynthia Mullion, the HR Manager at Marian Haste UK Ltd, in considering the training needs of sales consultants? (12 marks) Total for question 3: 33 marks

Question 4. Expert systems support the management decision-making activity by allowing users access to expert advice. Knowledge must be collected and stored in a suitable format for use in an expert system. Systems analysis techniques are used in the development of management information systems, but these must be enhanced and extended to deal with the specialist requirements of an expert system. (a) Explain what is mean by knowledge elicitation, and how it differs from knowledge acquisition. (3 marks) (b) Explain the role of a knowledge engineer in the construction of an expert system. (5 marks) (c) How would a knowledge engineer gather expertise from Andrew Thomas, the Sales & Marketing Manager at Marian Haste? Explain the following techniques that might be used in this context. (i) (ii) triads repertory grids (5 marks) (5 marks)

(d) Explain each of the following in the context of knowledge representation: (i) (ii) (iii) association lists production rules breadth-first search versus depth-first search in a tree structure (5 marks) (5 marks) (5 marks)

Total for question 4: 33 marks

Question 5. Databases, management information systems, expert systems and knowledge-based systems all support management decision-making. (a) Compare and contrast what is meant by each of the following terms: (i) (ii) (iii) data information knowledge (4 marks) (4 marks) (4 marks)

(b) How does a data warehouse differ from a data mart and a database? Under which classification would you place the data used by MIDAS? Explain why. (12 marks) (c) (i) What is meant by the term augmented reality? (3 marks)

(ii) Give two examples to explain how augmented reality could be used to support management decision making in Marian Haste UK Ltd. (6 marks) Total for question 5: 33 marks END OF EXAMINATION PAPER