Review | Practice Questions with
Rationales | 100% Correct
Ace your John Molson School of Business final with this comprehensive
Concordia COMM 226 (Business Technology Management) Final
Exam Review Guide, featuring targeted practice questions and Detailed
Rationales.
Description Overview
Stop stressing over complex MIS concepts and database models. This ultimate exam
preparation package is specifically designed for Concordia University students taking
COMM 226. Whether you are trying to master tricky multi-select questions or prepare
for long-answer scenarios, this resource breaks down difficult course material into clear,
easy-to-understand explanations.
What is Included
• Complete Questions: High-yield practice multiple-choice, multi-select, and
short-answer questions mirroring the actual final format.
• Detailed Rationales: Clear, step-by-step explanations for why an answer is
correct and why other options are wrong, helping you learn the core logic rather
than just memorizing.
• Chapter-by-Chapter Coverage: Essential concepts spanning from Chapter 1 to
Chapter 12.
Core Topics Covered
• Information Systems & MIS Foundations: Moore’s Law, components of IS,
and the importance of data quality.
• Strategy & Processes: Porter’s Five Forces, competitive advantage, value
chains, and BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation).
• Hardware, Software & Networks: CPU functions, volatile vs. non-volatile
memory, client-server concepts, and VPNs/security.
, • Data & Enterprise Systems: Relational databases, ERDs (Entity-Relationship
Diagrams), SQL basics, and ERP implementation challenges.
• Business Intelligence & Security: BI tools, decision-making processes,
information security threats, and ethics.
Why You Need This
• Save Time: Cut down your study hours by focusing directly on tested exam
themes.
• Boost Your Grade: Learn how to avoid common exam traps and master
application-based questions.
• Exam-Condition Ready: Ideal for testing your readiness under simulated time
constraints before exam day.
•
1. What are project management scheduling tools and what do they do?
Answer: PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) and Gantt charts are
primary project management scheduling tools. Their core purpose is to show the overall
project time estimate, visually map out tasks, and identify the critical path.
• Detailed Rationale: Project management relies heavily on scheduling tools to translate a
project plan into a time-bound execution roadmap.
o Gantt Charts: Provide a visual timeline using horizontal bars to represent the
start dates, durations, and end dates of individual tasks, making it easy to track
progress and resource allocation.
o PERT Charts: Use a network diagram format of interconnected nodes to
illustrate task dependencies and variations in project timelines (optimistic,
pessimistic, and most likely durations).
o The Critical Path: Both tools help identify the critical path—the longest
sequence of dependent tasks that dictates the absolute minimum time required to
complete the project. Any delay in a critical path task directly delays the entire
project.
2. What are CASE tools (Computer-Aided Software Engineering)?
Answer: CASE tools are specialized software applications that automate many of the
repetitive, manual tasks required throughout the systems development life cycle (SDLC).
They significantly increase development productivity, improve code and design quality,
standardize documentation practices, and reduce long-term system maintenance costs.
• Detailed Rationale: Systems engineering can be highly complex and error-prone when
managed manually. CASE tools are categorized into "Upper CASE" (which support early
, stages like requirements gathering, analysis, and structural diagram design) and "Lower
CASE" (which support back-end stages like automated code generation, testing, and
debugging). By enforcing standard design methodologies (like UML mapping) and
automating error checking, CASE tools eliminate human programming discrepancies,
generate pristine documentation, and lower total cost of ownership (TCO) by catching
system flaws early before deployment.
3. What is open-source software, and what are its advantages and
disadvantages?
Answer: Open-source software is publicly accessible software whose source code can be
freely viewed, modified, and distributed by anyone. Its development is a collaborative
process relying on a global network of peer developers.
• Advantages: Zero initial licensing costs and the absolute flexibility to customize the
software's source code to match specific business infrastructure needs.
• Disadvantages: No guaranteed, dedicated technical support from an official
software vendor if system critical errors or security vulnerabilities emerge.
• Detailed Rationale: Unlike proprietary software (e.g., Microsoft Windows), open-source
software (e.g., Linux, Apache, WordPress) shifts power to the user community. While it
eliminates vendor lock-in and steep licensing fees, businesses must rely on internal IT
expertise or community forums for troubleshooting. Note: While open-source software is
often free to download, it differs fundamentally from "freeware," which is free
proprietary software that cannot be legally modified or re-distributed by users.
4. What is Moore's Law?
Answer: Moore’s Law is an empirical observation stating that the speed and overall
capability of computers can be expected to double roughly every 18 to 24 months due to the
doubling of the number of transistors packed onto a single microchip. Consequently, as
processing and storage capacity increase, the relative cost of computing power drops
dramatically.
• Detailed Rationale: Coined by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in 1965, this principle
serves as a guiding trajectory for the semiconductor industry. Packing more transistors
into smaller spaces reduces the distance electrical signals travel, accelerating computing
speeds while lowering power demands. This exponential growth model explains why
modern smartphones pack more computational power than room-sized mainframes from
previous decades, turning computing into a highly affordable commodity.