Solving Steve Smiths Information Management Problem - Case Study Example

?Problem I (This is a two-part question)  Part A:  Steve Smith is a restaurant owner who wants to spend his $10,000 to modernize his restaurant by adapting it more closely to the preferences of his repeat customers. Keeping track of his customers’ likes and dislikes. Information such as where they like to sit, what they like to eat, when they normally arrive at the restaurant are all items of interest to him, since he believes that in this way he can better serve his customers. Steve has asked you to develop a system for him that will help make his customers happy while increasing his business.  You have heard what Steve had to say about his customers. There are certainly more preferences that he can keep track of. Develop a problem definition for Steve, as discussed in the Session Five lecture notes and readings (Chapter 3).  Problem definition: Steve wants to keep his customers happy and attract new ones. He thinks he needs a way to track customer behavior and mine the data from his restaurant operation. The method of data collection must not interfere with the normal operations of the restaurant. It should also store the data in a database so that it can be used by whatever means is devised. The data collection is simple and can easily be done by streamlining the ordering system. The main problem is that Steve has actually voiced a need for keeping customers happy and attracting new customers. It is not certain that mere data collection can do this. Part B:  “I think it’s only fair to write up all alternatives you’ve considered”, says Linda Smith (Steve Smith’s wife and Chief Financial Officer of his restaurant). “After all, you’ve been working on this systems thing for a while now and I think my husband would be interested to see what you found out.”  Please explain to Linda Smith why your system proposal will not (should not) contain all the alternatives that your ITEC 630 team has considered with respect to solving Steve Smith’s information management problem. Also include in your response to Linda Smith the types of alternatives that will appear in your final systems proposal to Steve Smith.  Not all the alternatives we brainstormed are feasible and some just would be either over-kill or too expensive, creating a negative return on investment. Some solutions would have a negative impact on customers and others would not include increasing business. So these will not be included. The types of proposals we will include are those that will accomplish both the data collection and increase business, yes stay within the budget. We have four alternative systems we will offer: an electronic ordering system which will collect all the data, a club card that will collect data and offer bonus points, a club card that will store cash, offer bonus points and collect data, and a fourth type will include all of these. All of the card alternatives will attract new business as they can be purchased as gift cards and loaded up front. A. Please label each question as either closed question or open-ended question. Ppt 04 1. How many personal computers do you have in this department? closed 2. How is this task performed? open 3. Why do you perform the task that way? open 4. How many hours of training does a clerk receive? closed 5. How many customers ordered products from the Web site last month? closed 6. What are users saying about the new system? open 7. How are the checks reconciled? closed 8. What added features would you like to have in the new billing system? open 9. Is the calculation procedure described in the manual? closed 10. Is there anything else you can tell me about this topic? open 11. Do you review the reports before they are sent out? closed 12. Are the user manuals produced by this department? closed 13. Describe a feature you would like to see in the new system? open 14. Who handles the invoices? closed 15. How do you resolve accounts payable issues? open B. You are going to interview the local manager of LDI, a national tire retailer, who has asked you to work as a system analyst on a management information system to provide inventory information. Here are five questions you wrote to prepare for the meeting: Ppt 04 1. Describe key decisions you are responsible for.  2. How well do your employees accept changes in the system?  3. Is the current system providing you with enough information to help you make decisions?  4. Do you have any problems with your current system? 5. What kind of output would you like to see? What type of format is preferred? Order your questions in (1) a pyramid structure, (2) a funnel structure, and (3) a diamond-shaped structure  1) Pyramid 3. Is the current system providing you with enough information to help you make decisions?  2. How well do your employees accept changes in the system?  5. What kind of output would you like to see? What type of format is preferred? 4. Do you have any problems with your current system? 1. Describe key decisions you are responsible for.  2) Funnel 1. Describe key decisions you are responsible for.  4. Do you have any problems with your current system? 5. What kind of output would you like to see? What type of format is preferred? 2. How well do your employees accept changes in the system?  3. Is the current system providing you with enough information to help you make decisions?  4) Diamond 2. How well do your employees accept changes in the system?  4. Do you have any problems with your current system? 1. Describe key decisions you are responsible for.  5. What kind of output would you like to see? What type of format is preferred? 3. Is the current system providing you with enough information to help you make decisions?  C. You are a project manager at L & D Inc., specialized in information technology and network engineering. One of your junior systems analyst came to you for some advice regarding a technology to capture user information requirements. He described to you that he had talked with his client several times in the past week to define user information requirements. Each time he thought he had captured user information requirements, they’ve already changed. Finally, he thinks his clients do not even know what they want for their system.  Give your junior systems analyst an advice of a methodology that he could use to capture user information requirements and explain to him how this technology can help him to better define users’ information requirements.  Using JAD (Joint Application Design and combining it with agile development modeling the user requirements can be changes at the end of each test driven development (TDD) segment. In this way, each working section of the program will involve the client and the client will sign off on it or ask for change. When the change is accepted the TDD goes on to the next small segment. Modeling captures the client needs and agile TDD makes changes flexibly as each small segment is tested. This assures that the client needs are correctly captured and the development will be accepted. Problem III  An analyst needs an organized method for collecting facts. Some systems analysts will frequently jump right into interviews. They believe, “Go to the people. That’s where the real facts are!” Wrong! This approach fails to recognize an important fact of life: People must complete their day-to-day jobs. You may be thinking, “But I thought you’ve been seen saying that the system is for people and that direct end user involvement in systems development is essential. Aren’t you contradicting yourself?”  A. Write a paragraph to offer your opinion on the issue described in the above statement.  The issue above considers where to get information. Hard facts do not require the participation of the client users. Electronic or hard copy records of anything related to the problem being resolved by the new system is the first place to go to collect data. This does not require user time and input and it is often more comprehensive and reliable, since series’ of records may be examined together for comparison and contrast. Once all data that can be collected from documents then the managers should be observed. Even the day to day operations can be quietly observed before creating interviews or surveys. By doing the passive type of data collection first, the analyst will have sufficient information to know what questions need to be asked and answered and their relative importance. Lecture Notes Session 2 Requirements Determination: Information Gathering (KEN Chapters 4 & 5) Created by Dr. Aaron Drew B. Given that you can use all seven common fact finding techniques: (1) sampling of existing documentation, forms, and databases, (2) investigation, (3) observation of the work environment, (4) questionnaires, (5) interviews, (6) prototyping, and (7) joint application design. Propose a general step-by-step strategy to discover information system requirements. A sampling of existing documentation, forms and databases will provide a framework of understanding from which to select and proceed to the next step. It will show what is most important and would be looked at next, Observation of the work environment can generate a thorough understanding of how things work or do not work. A more thorough examination of company documents can then be done to fill in the gaps. At this point interviews or questionnaires will be useful, as the other methods have brought considerable information to use for constructing relevant questionnaires or interview questions. Using Agile TDD the client is asked for feedback at each small stage and will be req uired to accept or decline the Once this is done the client can be involved in the beginning of the agile development phase by presenting a model to get feedback. From there the development work can move between joint application design and new prototyping for approval or redesign the work thus far. A small new working model is always more helpful than questions, since the users are assumed to have little development knowledge. Session 2 Requirements Determination: Information Gathering (KEN Chapters 4 & 5) Created by Dr. Aaron Drew Read More