MIS Practice Test Chapter 7

Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the set of business processes for attracting, selling, managing, and supporting customers. CRM focuses on building and maintaining strong relationships with customers by understanding their needs, preferences, and behaviors. It involves various cross-functional processes that span across different departments within an organization, such as marketing, sales, and customer service. CRM helps businesses effectively manage customer interactions, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive sales and revenue growth.

The term "island of automation" refers to the structure that occurs when functional applications operate independently and in isolation from each other. This means that each application performs its own specific tasks without interacting or sharing information with other applications. This concept highlights the lack of integration and communication between different functional processes, resulting in isolated islands of automation.

The correct answer is "Functional processes". This is because the question is asking for a term that describes processes that involve activities within a single department or business function, such as accounts payable or inventory management. "Functional processes" accurately describes this type of process, as it refers to processes that are specific to a particular function or department within an organization.

An XML schema is a document that defines the structure, data types, and constraints of other XML documents. It serves as metadata for XML documents, providing a blueprint for how the data should be organized and what elements and attributes are allowed. By using an XML schema, developers can ensure that XML documents conform to a specific structure and validate them against the defined rules. This helps in maintaining data integrity and interoperability between different systems that exchange XML data.

Web Services Description Language (WSDL) is a language that services can use to describe what they do and how other computer programs can access their features. It provides a standardized way for services to communicate with each other in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). WSDL is defined by the Object Management Group (OMG) and is widely used in web services development. It allows developers to define the interface of a service, including the operations it supports, the input and output parameters, and the communication protocols. Other programs can then use this description to understand how to interact with the service.

Cross-functional processes involve activities that span across multiple business departments. Unlike functional processes, which are limited to a single department, cross-functional processes require collaboration and coordination among different departments to achieve a specific goal or outcome. The swim-lane layout is a visual representation often used to illustrate cross-functional processes, showing the different departments or individuals involved and their respective responsibilities. Therefore, the correct answer is cross-functional processes.

The given answer, "Swim-lane layout," is the correct answer because it accurately describes the type of business process diagram where each role is shown in its own horizontal rectangle, similar to swim lanes in a swimming pool. This layout helps to visually represent the different roles and responsibilities within a process, making it easier to understand and analyze.

The correct answer is "XML Document" because an XML document is a file that contains XML tags and data. XML (eXtensible Markup Language) is a markup language that is used to store and transport data. An XML document follows a specific structure defined by XML Schema, which describes the elements, attributes, and data types that are allowed in the document. Therefore, an XML document is the most appropriate answer in this context.

In markup languages such as HTML and XML, tags are used to define a data element for display or other purposes. Tags are enclosed in angle brackets and typically come in pairs, with an opening tag and a closing tag. The opening tag indicates the beginning of an element, while the closing tag indicates the end of the element. Tags play a crucial role in structuring and organizing the content within a markup language document.

A service is a repeatable task that a business needs to perform. This could refer to any type of service that a business offers, such as customer support, maintenance, or delivery. These tasks are essential for the functioning of the business and are often performed on a regular basis.

The fire-and-forget pattern is a business process pattern where an activity sends a message or request and does not check on the outcome. It simply sends the message and moves on without waiting for a response or confirmation. This pattern is commonly used in situations where the sender does not require or need to know the result of the message or request.

The correct answer is encapsulation. Encapsulation refers to the practice of hiding the internal details and implementation of a system or component and providing a well-defined interface for interacting with it. In the context of the given question, encapsulation involves isolating all the logic for a business process within a specific service. This ensures that the logic is hidden from service users and can be modified without affecting the data exchanged with the service.

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is the correct answer because it aligns with the philosophy mentioned in the question. SOA is a design approach that promotes the use of standardized methods for declaring and accessing services provided by computing systems. It focuses on creating loosely coupled, reusable, and interoperable services that can be easily requested and used by other applications. Object Management Group (OMG) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) are related concepts and technologies that support the implementation of SOA, but they are not the philosophy itself.

An as-is-model refers to a business process model that documents the current business process. It is used to analyze and understand the existing processes within an organization. This model helps identify areas for improvement and serves as a baseline for comparing future changes. The other options mentioned, such as functional processes and interorganizational processes, do not specifically indicate the documentation of the current business process, making them incorrect answers.

Business process modeling notation (BPMN) is a standard set of terms and graphical notations used to document business processes. It was created by the Object Management Group (OMG). BPMN provides a common language for business analysts, process modelers, and stakeholders to communicate and understand complex business processes. It allows for the visual representation of various elements such as tasks, gateways, events, and flows, making it easier to analyze, optimize, and automate business processes. BPMN is widely used in the field of business process management (BPM) to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

The correct answer is Object Management Group (OMG). OMG is a software industry standards organization that has sponsored the creation of many technology standards including the BPMN. They are known for their contributions to the development of various standards in the software industry, including those related to service-oriented architecture (SOA) and Web Services Description Language (WSDL).

SOAP stands for Simple Object Access Protocol, which is a protocol used for exchanging messages encoded in XML. It is a lightweight protocol that allows applications to communicate with each other over a network. SOAP provides a standardized format for structuring data and allows for the exchange of information between different systems and platforms. It is commonly used in web services to enable communication between client and server applications.

XML, which stands for eXtensible Markup Language, is a document standard that allows for the separation of document content, structure, and presentation. It is a flexible and customizable language that is widely used for storing and transporting data. XML documents are written in a specific syntax that defines the tags and elements used to organize and describe the data. XML Schema is a way to define the structure and constraints of an XML document, providing a set of rules for validating and interpreting the data. Therefore, the correct answer is XML.