ITSM TEST 1 ANSWERS

Test 1

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ANSWERS

1)

Flowchart	Data Flow Diagram (DFD)
Flow chart presents steps to complete a process.	Data Flow Diagram presents the flow of data.
Flow chart does not have any input from or output to an external source.	DFD describes the path of data from an external source to internal source or vice versa.
The timing and sequence of the process is aptly shown by a flowchart.	Whether processing of data is taking place in a particular order or several processes are taking place simultaneously is described by a DFD.
Flow chart shows how to make a system function.	DFD defines the functionality of a system.
Flow chart is used in designing a process.	DFD is used to describe the path of data that will complete the process.
Types of Flow charts – System, Data, Document and Program.	Types of DFD – Physical data flow and Logical data flow.

2)  REFER PRACTICE MANUAL QUESTION NO 9

3)

(a) Six Sigma – Six Sigma employs quality management and statistical analysis of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified value targets, for example: reduce process cycle time, reduce pollution, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, and increase profits. It follows a life-cycle having phases:

Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control (or DMAIC) which are described as follows.

(i) Define: Customers are identified and their requirements are gathered. Measurements that are critical to customer satisfaction [Critical to Quality, (CTQ)] are identified for further project improvement.

(ii) Measure: Process output measures that are attributes of CTQs are determined and variables that affect these output measures are identified. Data on current process are gathered and current baseline performance for process output measures are established. Variances of output measures are graphed and process sigma are calculated.

(iii) Analyze: Using statistical methods and graphical displays, possible causes of process output variations are identified. These possible causes are analyzed statistically to determine root cause of variation.

(iv) Improve: Solution alternatives are generated to fix the root cause. The most appropriate solution is identified using solution prioritization matrix and validated using pilot testing. Cost and benefit analysis is performed to validate the financial benefit of the solution. Implementation plan is drafted and executed.

(v) Control: Process is standardized and documented. Before and after analysis is performed on the new process to validate expected results, monitoring system is implemented to ensure process is performing as designed. Project is evaluated and lessons learned are shared with others.

(b) BPM Life Cycle (BPM-L) - Business Process Management-Life cycle establishes a sustainable process management capability that empowers organizations to embrace and manage process changes successfully. Because it incorporates both human resources and technology—culture, roles and responsibilities, as well as data content, applications and infrastructure—the approach enables fully informed decision-making right across an organization. Phases are Analysis, Design, Implementation, Run & Monitor and Optimize.

(i) Analysis phase: This involves analysis of the current environment and current processes, identification of needs and definition of requirements.

(ii) Design phase: This involves evaluation of potential solutions to meet the identified needs, business process designing and business process modeling.

(iii) Implementation phase: This involves project preparation, blue printing, realization, final preparation, go live and support.

(iv) Run and Monitor phase: This involves business process execution or deployment and business process monitoring.

(v) Optimize: Iterate for continuous improvement.

(c) Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management mechanism designed to improve a product or process by engaging every stakeholder and all members of an organization as well as the customers and aims at improving the quality of the products produced and the process utilized. TQM ultimately aims at complete customer satisfaction through ongoing improvements.

(d) Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of processes to achieve dramatic improvement, in critical, contemporary measures of performance such as cost, quality, service and speed. BPR aims at major transformation of the business processes to achieve dramatic improvement. The success factors of BPR are: Organization wide commitment, BPR Team composition, Business need analysis, Adequate IT infrastructure, effective change management, and ongoing continuous improvement.

4) Relationship: It is defined as an association between two or more entities.

Types of Relationships in E-R Model are as follows:

One-to-One relationship (1:1) - A One-to-One relationship is shown on the diagram by a line connecting the two entities.

Example: A Teacher may be in-charge of a class. Each class must be in-charge of by one teacher.

One-to-Many relationships (1:N) – A One-to-Many relationship is shown on the diagram by a line connecting the two entities with a “crow's foot” symbol denoting the 'many' end of the relationship.

Example: A student may borrow some books from the library. A book in the library may be borrowed by at most a student.

Many-to-One relationships (M:1) – It is the reverse of One-to-Many relationship.

Example: As in two or more parent records to a single child record.

Many-to-Many relationships (M:N) - A Many-to-Many relationship is shown on the diagram by a line connecting the two entities with 'crow's foot' symbols at both ends.

Example: A student enrolls in atleast one course. A course is enrolled by at least one student.

5) Organizational Business Process : These are the high-level processes that are typically specified in textual form by their inputs, their outputs, their expected results and their dependencies on other

organizational business processes.

Operational Business Process: These are the basis for developing implemented business processes that contain information on the execution of the process activities and the technical and organizational environment in which they will be executed.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ANSWERS

1)  a) Ethnic mix reflects the changes in the ethnic make-up of a population and has implications both for a company's potential customers and for the workforce. Issues that should be addressed include:

ü  What do changes in the ethnic mix of the population imply for product and service design and delivery?

ü  Will new products and services be demanded or can existing ones be modified?

ü  Managers prepared to manage a more culturally diverse workforce?

ü  How can the company position itself to take advantage of increased workforce heterogeneity?

b) Cartelization: - A small number of manufactures/sellers of a product may join together to form cartel to decide their market prices, shares and profits. Policy is a plan or course of actions designs to influence and determine decision action and other matters, Policy explain and describe standards that users should normally follow.

c) Kieretsus: - It is a Japanese word, it is formed to enhance the abilities of individual member business to competing their respective fields. The primary aim is to maximize profits and to minimize cost, e.g. Airtel and Nokia are not related yet they are Kieretsus.

d) Conglomerate: - Conglomerate is a combination of 2 or more corporations engaged in entirely different business, usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries.

2) a)  “Strategy” is a guiding force or driving force of vision, mission and objective of company. Now strategy is an answer for hostile and dynamic business environment.

“Strategy” is a long range blue point of an organization’s desire, image, direction and destination. A Company must know what it does, how it does and for whom it does.

“Strategy” is a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan designed to assure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved.

b) The term strategic management refers to the managerial process of

Ø  Forming a strategic vision,

Ø  Setting objectives,

Ø  Crafting a strategy,

Ø  Implementing and executing the strategy, and

Ø  Initiating whatever corrective adjustments in the vision, objectives, strategy, and execution are deemed appropriate.

According to Peter Drucker “Strategic management is not a box of tricks or a bundle of techniques. It is analytical thinking and commitment of resources to action.”

c) A Strategic vision is a road map of a company’s future providing specifics about technology and customer focus, the geographic and product markets to be pursued, the capabilities it plans to develop, and the kind of company that management is trying to create.

d) Business policy, as defined by Christensen and others, is "the study of the functions and responsibilities of senior management, the crucial problems that affect success in the total enterprise, and the decisions that determine the direction of the organization and shape its future.

3) a) Incorrect: The term PESTLE Analysis is used to describe a framework for analysis of macro environmental factors. It involves identification of political, economic, sociocultural, technological, legal and environmental influences on an organization and providing a way of scanning the environmental influences that have affected or are likely to affect an organization or its policy. The advantage of this tool is that it encourages management into proactive and structured thinking in its decision making.

b) Correct: It is said that change is inevitable, especially in the context of business environment. Changes in the business environment from time to time throw up new issues before businesses. A right perspective of such new issues is to view them both as challenges and opportunities - challenge because appropriate action is called for and, opportunity because it opens up new potentials for the future plans that would lead to prosperous business.

c) Incorrect: Strategy is not a substitute for sound, alert and responsible management.

Strategy can never be perfect, flawless and optimal. Strategies are goal-directed decision and actions in which capabilities and resources are matched with the opportunities and threats in the environment. A good management at the top can steer the organizations by adjusting its path on the basis of the changes in the environment.

d) Incorrect: No, Strategic management is not a bundle of tricks and magic. It is much more serious affair. It involves systematic and analytical thinking and action. Although, the success or failure of a strategy is dependent on several extraneous factors, it cannot be stated that a strategy is a trick or magic. Formation of strategy requires careful planning and requires strong conceptual, analytical, and visionary skills.

4) Objectives are organizations performance targets – the results and outcomes it wants to achieve. They function as yardstick for tracking an organizations performance and progress.

Today, organizations are capable of achieving multiple objectives and they focus on different objectives rather than a single objective. In general, we may identify a set of business objectives being pursued by the business. These may relate to profitability, productive efficiency, growth, technological dynamism, stability, self-reliance, survival, competitive strength, customer service, financial solvency, product quality, diversification, employee satisfaction and welfare, and so on. Organizations need to balance these objectives in an appropriate manner.

5) A business organization and its many environments have innumerous interrelationship that at times it becomes difficult to determine exactly where the organization ends and where its environment begins. It is also difficult to determine exactly what the business organization should do in response to a particular situation in the environment. Strategically, the business organizations should make efforts to exploit the opportunities and avoid the threats.

In this context following are the possible strategic responses of an organization to its business environment:

(i) Least resistance: Some organizations just manage to survive by way of coping with their changing external environments. They are simple goal-maintaining units. They are very passive in their behavior and are solely guided by the signals of the external environment. They are not ambitious but are content with taking simple paths of least resistance in their goal-seeking and resource transforming behavior.

(ii) Proceed with caution: At the next level, are the organisations that take an intelligent interest to adapt with the changing external environment. They seek to monitor the changes in that environment, analyse their impact on their own goals and activities and translate their assessment in terms of specific strategies for survival, stability and strength. This is a sophisticated strategy than to wait for changes to occur and then take corrective-adaptive action.

(iii) Dynamic response: At a still higher sophisticated level, are those organisations that regard the external environmental forces as partially manageable and controllable by their actions. Their feedback systems are highly dynamic and powerful. They not merely recognise and ward off threats; they convert threats into opportunities. They are highly conscious and confident of their own strengths and the weaknesses of their external environmental ‘adversaries’. They generate a contingent set of alternative courses of action to be picked up in tune with the changing environment.

6) An organization is divided into several functions and departments that work together to bring a particular product or service to the market. There are three main levels of management: corporate, business, and functional.

The corporate level of management consists of the chief executive officer (CEO), other senior executives, the board of directors, and corporate staff. The role of corporate-level managers is to oversee the development of strategies for the whole organization. This role includes defining the mission and goals of the organization, determining what businesses it should be in, allocating resources among the different businesses, formulating and implementing strategies that span individual businesses, and providing leadership for the organization.

Business-level general managers are concerned with strategies that are specific to a particular business. The strategic role of these managers is to translate the general statements of direction and intent that come from the corporate level into concrete strategies for individual businesses.

Functional-level managers are responsible for the specific business functions or operations (human resources, purchasing, product development, customer service, and so on) that constitute a company or one of its divisions. Thus, a functional manager's sphere of responsibility is generally confined to one organizational activity.

7) The primary task of the strategic manager is conceptualizing, designing and executing company strategies.

For this purpose, his tasks will include:

ü  Defining the mission and goals of the organization.

ü  Determining what businesses it should be in.

ü  Allocating resources among the different businesses.

ü  Formulating and implementing strategies that span individual businesses.

ü  Providing leadership for the organization.

8) Organizational environment consists of both external and internal factors. Environment must be scanned so as to determine development and forecasts of factors that will influence organizational success. The factors that need to be considered are explained below:

Events: Events are important and specific happenings in the internal or external organizational environment which can be observed and tracked.

Trends: Trends are grouping of similar or related events that tend to move in a given direction, increasing or decreasing in strength of frequency of observation.

Issues are the current concerns that arise in response to events and trends. Identifying an emerging issue is more difficult.

Expectations are the demands made by interested groups in the light of their concern for issues.