BUS362
Examination – January Semester 2013
IT-Enabled Business Transformation
Thursday, 16 May 2013
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
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Time allowed: 2 hours
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INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS:
1. This examination contains FOUR (4) questions and comprises THREE (3)
printed pages (including cover page).
2. You must answer ALL questions.
3. All answers must be written in the answer book.
At the end of the examination
Please ensure that you have written your examination number on each answer book
used.
Failure to do so will mean that your work cannot be identified.
If you have used more than one answer book, please tie them together with the string
provided.
THE UNIVERSITY RESERVES THE RIGHT NOT TO MARK YOUR
SCRIPT IF YOU FAIL TO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
BUS362 Copyright © 2013 SIM University
Examination – January Semester 2013
Page 1 of 3
You must answer ALL the questions. (Total 100 marks)
Question 1
(a)
Describe the Method for Redesigning Business Process, and apply the Method
for Redesigning Business Process to the company where you are working or a
company you are familiar with. Explain how you would implement each step of
the Method for Redesigning Business Process.
(15 marks)
(b)
Describe Business Process Reengineering (BPR). Using an example, analyse
how IT can be applied in Business Process Reengineering (BPR).
(10 marks)
Question 2
(a)
You are the IT manager of a major logistic firm that has operations around the
world. One day, the Regional Director who oversees the firm’s business in
South East Asia asked you to explain the concept of backsourcing to him.
Explain backsourcing and state the circumstances or conditions where
backsourcing will be beneficial for the firm.
(5 marks)
(b)
Currently, the firm has most of their IT needs satisfied in-house. The only
exception is the operation of data centres. Data centres are located in less
expensive locations in the region; i.e. one in Penang, Malaysia and another in
Manila, The Philippines. The firm has set up subsidiary companies in these two
locations to run the data centres.
Evaluate what type of outsourcing is adopted by the firm and provide reasons to
support your answer.
(10 marks)
(c)
In an effort to streamline work in the firm, the Regional Director is reviewing
the tasks and responsibilities across all the functional departments in the firm.
He has asked you to illustrate five tasks and responsibilities that an Information
System Department is suppose to perform. He understands there are more than
five tasks and responsibilities for an Information System Department, but he is
only interested in five tasks and responsibilities for a start.
Choose five (5) tasks and responsibilities for an Information System
Department and discuss each of them.
(10 marks)
BUS362 Copyright © 2013 SIM University
Examination – January Semester 2013
Page 2 of 3
Question 3
(a)
Define ‘Stockholder Theory’, ‘Stakeholder Theory’ and ‘Social Contract
Theory’.
(6 marks)
(b)
Analyse how ‘Stockholder Theory’, ‘Stakeholder Theory’ and ‘Social Contract
Theory’ are used in the company you are currently working in or a company
that you are familiar with. Give examples to support your answer.
(9 marks)
(c)
You head a team of IT professionals who operate the data centre of a bank. The
data centre houses servers that serves all the ATM transactions of the bank and
also hosts all clients banking account data. One evening, after office hours, as
you do your daily routine of walking around the data centre before heading
home, you heard some shout of excitement coming from one of the rooms. As
you enter the room, you found two of your staffs playing Internet online games
with company computers that are connected to the network of the data centre.
Analyse the above situation using ‘Stakeholder Theory’. Identify the
stakeholders that may be implicated by the above situation and discuss the
ethical issues at stake.
(10 marks)
Question 4
(a)
(i)
Discuss what ‘explicit knowledge’ and ‘tacit knowledge’ are.
(ii)
Describe an example of ‘explicit knowledge’ and an example of ‘tacit
knowledge’ from either your company or a company that you are
familiar with.
(6 marks)
(b)
Discuss the seven (7) phases of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
(7 marks)
(c)
Define the four (4) modes of knowledge conversion. For each mode, provide a
relevant illustrative example taken from any of the Systems Development Life
Cycle (SDLC) phases.
(12 marks)
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BUS362 Copyright © 2013 SIM University
Examination – January Semester 2013
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