1.

How can a continuous planning process help businesses respond to external threats and
opportunities?
It allows them to continuously monitor and analyze business processes which
allow them to analyze data from the operational level of the organization which
helps them to respond to threats and opportunities.
2. Describe the differences between entities, tables, rows and attributes in a database.
Entity is something you collect data about.
Tables are collections of related records in a database.
Records are rows on a table.
Attributes are columns on a table.
3. What is the importance of master data management?
Creating a single version of the truth.
4. What are the advantages of a DBMS?
Program-data independence, Minimal data redundancy, Improved data
consistency, Improved data sharing, Increased productivity of application
development, Enforcement of standards, Increased security, Improved data
quality, Reduced program maintenance.
5. Explain the differences between OLAP and OLTP?
OLAP refers to the process of quickly conducting complex, multidimensional
analyses of data stored in a database that is optimized for retrieval, typically using
graphical software tools.
OLTP refers to immediate automated responses to the requests of users.

6. Describe how OLAP enables a user to conduct multidimensional queries?

It arranges the data into OLAP Cubes which are data structures allowing for
multiple dimensions to be added to a traditional 2D table, and it is analyzed on
subsets of the dimensions by a process called Slicing and Dicing.
7. What is the meaning of support and confidence in the context of data mining?
Support ex: the combination of coffee and sugar occurs in 20% of all transactions
analyzed.
Confidence ex: 80% of all transactions that contain coffee also contain sugar.
8. Explain the difference between clustering and classification
Clustering is the process of grouping related records together on the basis of
having similar values for attributes.
Classification is used when the groups are known beforehand, and records are
segmented into these classes.
9. What is the relationship between measures and dimensions?
Measures are the values or numbers the user wants to analyze and can be
analyzed using Dimensions.
10. Describe and give examples of two types of Web mining.
Web Content Mining refers to extracting textual information from Web
documents.
Web Usage Mining used by organizations to determine patterns in customers
usage data.
11. What is a Web sites stickiness, and why is it important?

 Stickiness is the ability to attract and keep visitors. Ultimately helps an

organization optimize the structure of the website.
12. Explain the purpose of a model within a DSS.
Models are used in DSS to manipulate data.
13. Explain the differences between explicit and tacit knowledge.
Explicit knowledge reflects much of what is typically stored in a DBMS.
Tacit knowledge reflects an organizations best practices.
14. Describe four types of intelligent agents. How can they be used to benefit organizations?
User Agents Agents that automatically perform a task for a user, such as
automatically sending a report at the first of the month, assembling customized
news, or filling out a web form with routine information.
Buyer Agents Agents that search to find the best price for a particular product
you wish to purchase.
Monitoring and Sensing Agents Agents that keep track of key information,
such as inventory levels or competitors prices, notifying the user when conditions
change.
Data Mining Agents Agents that continuously analyze large data warehouses to
detect changes deemed important by a user, sending a notification when such
changes occur.
15. What is a knowledge management system, and what types of technologies make up a
comprehensive system?

 A collection of technology-based tools that include communication technologies as

well as information storage and retrieval systems. Some technologies included in
comprehensive systems include: e-mail, groupware, instant messaging.
16. How can visual analytics be used to gain business intelligence and improve decision
making?
It combines the strengths of both the human and the machine. With the humans
ability to make sense of noisy data, unexpected patterns or relationships in the data
can be discovered and the results of complex queries can be quickly interpreted.
17. What is the purpose of using layers in GIS applications?
Each layer resembles a transparency containing different information about an area;
ex: one layer contains all roads but another contains ZIP code boundaries and another
contains floodplains.