[ From: http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/nsutcliffe/483-00Currwork/ ]

 

Topic 1:  Human Resource Management & Leadership

 

1.1

What leadership style is least effective with highly skilled, experienced and motivated employees and why is that style so ineffective?

 

 

1.2

Name and describe two leadership tasks that are aimed at the work that needs to be done.

 

 

1.3

Name three techniques that are used to reduce the turnover of talented employees. Describe briefly each technique.

 

 

1.4

Describe at least two arguments for company sponsored training and two arguments against such training.

 

 

1.5

  What do IT managers need to know about their employees when the aim is employee retention and why is this important?

 

 

1.6

Name two of the six components of the IT-HRM framework that IT managers emphasize during a period of low unemployment and staff shortages.  Give your reasons for choosing each component emphasizing how the component helps the IT manager achieve organizational goals.

 

 

1.7

When the work is highly programmable and the people doing the work are inexperienced and unskilled, what leadership style is considered most appropriate and why?

 

 

1.8

When work is highly programmable and the people doing the work are highly motivated, skilled and experienced, then what leadership style is considered the most appropriate and why?

 

 


Topic 2:  IS/IT History and Governance

On The Dominant Four Eras:

  Organization Models

  Governance Issues

2.1

Identify and describe the dominant technology for three of the eras that occurred after 1950 and identify the years in which that architecture was dominant.  Include in your description if the basis of the technology was hardware or software.

 

 

2.2

Name the dominant technology for three of the eras that occurred after 1950;
describe the organization of the IT/IS personnel during that era and how the dominant hardware technology influenced this organization.

 

 

2.3

Identify and describe three of the major benefits associated with the decentralized era.

 

 

2.4

Discuss at least two similarities and at least two differences in organizing IT resources (people, hardware, and software) in the mainframe era versus the internet era.

 

 

2.5

Identify and describe where most of an organization’s application software was developed, and maintained in the mainframe era and then in the distributed era.

 

 

2.6

Identify two of the most important user interfaces and its associated hardware that are available on the dominant technology in the mainframe era and then in the distributed era. 

 

 

2.7

Describe the major problem that the matrix structural alignment is designed to resolve.

 

 

2.8

Compare and contrast two advantages of the functional structural alignment to two advantages of project alignment for developing systems.

 

 


Topic 3: IS/IT Structures and Functions Performed

3.1

   In the ITSM (IT Service Management) model there are 5 parts. 
Describe 3 parts including an example of what that part contains.

 

 

3.2

Define what an IS/IT policy is.  Briefly describe why IS/IT policies are important.
Give two examples ­of IS/IT generic policies.

 

 

3.3

Define IT architecture and give 2 examples of what it includes. 
 Define IT infrastructure and give an example of what it includes.

 

 

3.4

There are numerous managerial activities in operations. 
Describe two such activities and why such an activity is needed.

 

 

3.5

Under applications there are four major activities. – sourcing, development, implementation and maintenance.  Define two by describing in some detail what is done.

 

 

3.6

Give two reasons why Service Level Agreements are important for managing an IT group.

 

 

3.7

Give two mistakes that many organizations make when first attempting to use Service Level Agreements.

 

 

3.8

Describe two services that the IT group provides the organization.

 

 

 


Topic 4: Enterprise Systems

4.1

    What happens when a process is fragmented between specialists naming two results?

 

 

4.2

 Name and describe two technical attributes of ERPs. 

 

 

4.3

Name and describe two of the three implementation strategies for ERP implementation.

 

 

4.4

Name and describe the major cause for enterprise systems not meeting their goals.

 

 

4.5

Describe the activities of two of the four components of Supply Chain Execution (SCE).

 

 

4.6

Describe the activities for two of the three entities under CRM and e-CRM.

 

 

4.7

Describe two the IS management issues that must be handled when implementing and operating enterprise systems.

 

 

4.8

Describe EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) and why it is important.

 

 

 


Topic 5: IT Operations

 

5.1

    Name and describe three types of servers that most data centers will have.

 

 

5.2

 Define backups and describe what a backup policy covers.

 

 

5.3

Name the four design goals for a LAN and define the goals for a LAN.

 

 

5.4

There are two types of threats that most organizations face.  Name them and tell which is more dangerous and why it is more dangerous.

 

 

5.5

What is the major goal of disaster recovery?  What is management’s  major tool for disaster recovery and why is it so important?

 

 

5.6

What does a disaster recovery plan cover, who prepares it, and what purpose does it serve?

 

 

5.7

Define legacy systems.  Give two reasons why a legacy system is still in use.

 

 

5.8

Compare the differences in the costs for installing an LAN to the costs for installing a WAN

 

 

 


Topic 6: IT Services

 

6.1

   Name and describe three duties of the consolidated service desk. 

 

 

6.2

 Describe two ways that users got help in the mainframe era and two ways they get help in the Internet era. That is, what was the technology in each era.

 

 

6.3

Describe in detail two tactics that IT managers employ to make their CMIC successful.

 

 

6.4

Describe two reasons why standards are so important when managing the help desk function.

 

 

6.5

What are four questions that are asked when considering outsourcing the help desk function?

 

 

6.6

Name the two risks associated with IT training and describe how that risk can be handled.

 

 

6.7

Describe the three user training techniques that can increase user productivity/effectiveness while also lowering the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

 

 

6.8

Describe three user training techniques that can decrease user productivity/effectiveness while also increasing the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

 

 

 


 

Topic 7: IT Risk Management

 

 

7.1

    Name two general categories of risk that apply to IT procurements and give two examples of each category.

 

 

7.2

 What is the primary risk awareness approach used on IT procurements and why is it so important?

 

 

7.3

Describe how the portfolio risk management approach is used in IT.

 

 

7.4

Describe how Chaos Theory is used in risk management.

 

 

7.5

Describe the opportunity lost method and how the opportunity lost method is used for risk measurement.

 

 

7.6

Describe the political risk method and how the political risk method is useful for procuring IT.

 

 

7.7

Describe two examples of organizational risk and two examples of economic risks.  Describe the impact of organizational risks and the impact of economic risks.

 

 

7.8

The Risk Framework mentions four key questions that must always be asked on any risk.  What are they?

 

 

 


Topic 8: Outsourcing Options

 

 

 

8.1

  Name and describe three drivers affecting the growth in outsourcing, clearly stating the connection between the driver and outsourcing growth.

 

 

8.2

There are three types of options available to IT for outsourcing.  Name two of the types and for each type describe a pro and a con.

 

 

8.3

What is the difference between an outsourcing contractor and an outsourcing supplier and under what circumstances is the contract out appropriate under technical considerations.

 

 

8.4

What is the aim of looking at business considerations, and when is it appropriate to eliminate or migrate an IT activity.

 

 

8.5

Looking at the economic considerations when in-house managerial practices are lagging and the economies of scale are sub-critical, what should be done with the IT activity and why.

 

 

8.6

Under what circumstances is transitional outsourcing done.

 

 

8.7

What are three potential rewards from outsourcing and what are three potential risks from outsourcing.

 

 

8.8

Describe two inappropriate candidates for outsourcing. 

 

 

 


Topic 9: Procurement Process / Financial Analysis

 9.1

  Describe the first step in the procurement process and give two reasons why it is important.

 

 

9.2

In the proposal evaluation step, there are several vendor-oriented tasks performed.  Name and describe two of them.

 

 

9.3

Describe the purpose of a vendor demo where the buyer provides prepared scripts? 

 

 

9.4

Name and describe two IT investments where ROI is not appropriate telling why they are.

 

 

9.5

There are number of cost categories considered when doing a financial analysis, name at least two such categories.

 

 

9.6

When should the break-even analysis method be used?

 

 

9.7

When should the Net Present Value method be used?  What is the difference between the Net Present Value method and the Internal Rate of Return?

 

 

9.8

Describe capital budgeting and its objectives and focus.