Information Systems
Information Systems (IS) is concerned with the information that computer systems can provide to aid a company, non-profit or governmental organization in defining and achieving its goals. It is also concerned with the processes that an enterprise can implement and improve using information technology. IS professionals must understand both technical and organizational factors , 5 and must be able to help an organization determine how information and technology-enabled business processes can provide a foundation for superior organizational performance. They serve as a bridge between the technical and management communities within an organization. What information does the enterprise need? How is that information generated? Is it delivered to the people who need it? Is it presented to them in ways that permit them to use it readily? 10 Is the organization structured to be able to use technology effectively? Are the business processes of the organization well designed? Do they use the opportunities created by information technology fully? Does the organization use the communication and collaboration capabilities of information technologies appropriately? Is the organization capable of adapting quickly enough to changing external circumstances? These are the important issues that businesses rely on IS people to 15 address. A majority of IS programs are located in business schools; however, they may have different names such as management information systems, computer information systems, or business information systems. All IS degrees combine business and computing topics, but the emphasis between technical and organizational issues varies among programs. For example, 20 programs differ substantially in the amount of programming required. Traditionally, many graduates of IS programs have functioned in roles that are similar to the roles for which IT programs explicitly prepare their students. Information systems graduates continue to fill these roles, but the new programs in information technology offer an alternative path to these positions. INFORMATION Systems. Disponível em: . Acesso em: 03 jan. 2011. 

DIRECTIONS: Choose the CORRECT alternative to
answer questions 16 to 25.
Questions 16 to 20: Choose the CORRECT alternative to
answer questions 16 to 20, according to TEXT 01.

Model copes with chaos to deliver relief Computer program helps responders transport supplies in tough conditions
By Rachel Ehrenberg Science News, Web edition: Monday, February 21st, 2011
WASHINGTON — Getting blood or other perishable supplies to an area that’s been struck by an earthquake or hurricane isn’t as simple as asking what brown can do for you. But a new model quickly determines the best routes and means for delivering humanitarian aid, even in situations where bridges are out or airport tarmacs are clogged with planes.
The research, presented February 18 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, could help get supplies to areas which have experienced natural disasters or help prepare for efficient distribution of vaccines when the flu hits.
Efficient supply chains have long been a goal of manufacturers, but transport in fragile networks — where supply, demand and delivery routes may be in extremely rapid flux — requires a different approach, said Anna Nagurney of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who presented the new work. Rather than considering the shortest path from one place to another to maximize profit, her system aims for the cleanest path at minimum cost, while capturing factors such as the perishability of the product and the uncertainty of supply routes. ‘You don’t know where demand is, so it’s tricky,’ said Nagurney. ‘It’s a multicriteria decision-making problem.’
By calculating the total cost associated with each link in a network, accounting for congestion and incorporating penalties for time and products that are lost, the computer model calculates the best supply chain in situations where standard routes may be disrupted.
‘Mathematical tools are essential to develop formal means to predict, and to respond to, such critical perturbations,’ said Iain Couzin of Princeton University, who uses similar computational tools to study collective animal behavior. ‘This is particularly important where response must be rapid and effective, such as during disaster scenarios … or during epidemics or breaches of national security.
’ The work can be applied to immediate, pressing situations, such as getting blood, food or medication to a disaster site, or to longer-term problems such as determining the best locations for manufacturing flu vaccines. . Retrieved April 7th, 2011.

'CityVille' now bigger on Facebook than 'FarmVille'
(Mashable) -- Facebook game developer Zynga has proved once
again that it knows exactly what it needs to do to keep millions of
Facebook users happy and occupied.
In less than a month, its latest game "CityVille"___ ______
(become) the most popular application on Facebook, surpassing
Zynga's previous hit "FarmVille" in all areas.
According to AppData, "CityVille" now has 16.8 million daily
active users, compared to "FarmVille's" 16.4 million. Looking at
monthly active users, "CityVille" is also ahead with 61.7 million
users, while "FarmVille" trails behind with 56.8 million users.
Zynga's "FrontierVille" and "Texas HoldEm Poker" also round out
the top five: put those four apps together (we'll disregard the fact
that many of those users overlap for a second) and you have a
very impressive number: 184 million active users across four
games.
The only non-Zynga app in the top five list is "Phrases," _____ at
one point threatened to take the top place, but is now
overshadowed by both "CityVille" and "FarmVille."
"CityVille's" future success wasn't hard to predict after an
amazingly good start at the beginning of December, but it's still
impressive to see Zynga amassing tens of millions of users in a
matter of days, proving that all that venture capital that went into
the company isn't there by accident.
Fonte :cnn.com