Jordan Specht

4/8/15
Intro to MIS
TASK HW1
So what? Questions, Chapter 1
1. Tuition: $1,100, Books: $300, Transportation: $250 for the
quarter, Supplies: $20, Food & Entertainment: $700. Sum of all
those is $2370. Divided by 10 credit hours = $237. Multiply that
by 50 (number of hours the class meets) = 11,850, and divide
that by 20 (number of times the class meets) = $592.5 per class.
2. I believe this class is very important, but I do not believe it is the
most important class. In my case, I am an accounting major and I
believe it is more important to know the fundamentals and
applications of accounting before using information system. Yes,
knowing about information systems is great, but if you dont
know the reason youre using them in the first place then that
makes your knowledge redundant. So after accounting, I would
peg this class as most important because we are becoming more
and more dependent on technology as a society as time
progresses.
3. I believe it is essential in todays business environment to be
concerned with information systems technology, because they
can speed up efficiency and production. For example, barcodes.
If information systems didnt exist and we had to change a price
on a specific object, we would manually have to put new
barcodes on each individual item. With information systems we
can easily look up the items number and simply change the
price through a computer, saving many hours of labor, and
dramatically increasing efficiency.
4. First of all, my answer should not be any different than my
answer to question three. Just looking at the numbers alone, I
can tell that one man manually keeping track of all that money

on a piece of paper for instance, will be highly inefficient, timeconsuming, and unsafe for security purposes. Information
systems can organize and keep all of that information safe and
easily accessed by business employees.
5. Abstract reasoning is the ability to make and manipulate
models (Using MIS, Page 8). Systems thinking is the ability to
model the components of the system to connect the inputs and
outputs among those components into a sensible whole that
reflects the structure and dynamics of the phenomenon observed
(Using MIS, Page 8). Collaboration is the activity of two or
more people working together to achieve a common goal, result,
or work product (Using MIS, Page 8). Experimentation is
making a reasoned analysis of an opportunity, envisioning
potential solutions, evaluating those possibilities, and developing
the most promising ones, consistent with the resources you have
(Using MIS, Page 8-9). I do believe that if I managed the credit
department for a parts distributor I would have to learn these
skills. If there is a manager that doesnt think critically and work
well with other employees, then why are they the manager? I
believe a manager of anything should be a bold, risk-taker, and
have a very good understanding of their job and have very good
teamwork and people skills.
6. My answer isnt any different than question 5. I believe in any
business environment those skills are necessary. You need to
know what is happening in your business at all times and what to
do in specific circumstances. Experimentation, such as testing a
new product in your market is important. Collaboration, such as
teaming up and compromising on new ideas or plans is very
important. Systems thinking and abstract reasoning are equally
important as well.
7. Yes I would care because if there is a specific problem, you can
locate the cause of a problem easier than you could without the

five-components. For example, if data is not in the right format or

is incorrect you can better locate the issue within one of the
components. (Using MIS, Page 15).
8. The only businesses I can even begin to think of that arent
dependent on information systems are ones that are
disconnected from the rest of the world and are very rural. For
example, maybe an Amish business that sells furniture would
have no technology other than simple tools and equipment such
as hammers, nails, wood, etc., dont seem like they would
depend much on information systems. To my understanding
some Amish dont use the Internet or computers like the rest of
the world does, so that business would only care about building
their products and getting money for them.
9. To make this class more worth my number, I need to think out of
the box! I shouldnt only depend on my textbook and teacher for
information regarding this class. I should look in other places to
help myself better understand this subject (Google, libraries,
people, etc.) and evolve my mind in a way that I can
comprehend what we are learning so I can later apply it in my
business career.