Requirements Analysis for South2Help Organization - Coursework Example

Abstract

The study highlights the importance of integrating technology within business environment to control the processes. The South2Help (S2H) organization is a non-profit organization set to provide to education and training programs to young disabled people. The organization faces some challenges after shifting of the head office to Dover as most of the employees fail to relocate to the new area. The head office has the task of employing new employees who will support in the running of different departments. Another issue is that the organization requires the integration of management information system that will help in managing the data in the different departments and make an evaluation based on performance. The paper introduces the benefits arising from using such a technology in an S2H organization. The problem that hinders the implementation of technology is because the head office does not set the budget for such improvement. Different areas require study from the perspective of head office and staffs in the South West Area. Use of Rich picture has helped to discuss the areas giving the pictorial representation of the areas and the challenges the area are facing in their operation. Also, use case diagram is incorporated to help outline the major actors and key processes in different environments. The analysis of use case diagram shows different organization entities support the current KIPs projects’ system. The paper also highlights the best recommendation that fit S2H organization giving an outline of how changes will be effective. The paper concludes by describing the benefits the organization will achieve once the new technology is ready for use.

Introduction

Management information system (MIS) is a concept that involves intelligent devices and computers ability to process information in an organization that is later used to support and manage managerial decisions (Laudon & Laudon, p.4). Within the MIS there exist other systems that are crucial to any organization such as decision support system, transaction processing system, executive information system, or expert system. Integration of MIS has helped most of the managers within the organization to manage, organize, and evaluate existing departments efficiently. The organizations can, therefore, evaluate strengths and weaknesses and able to plan how to improve operations and operations. Implementing the changes the organizations gain competitive advantage and able to serve the customers to their satisfaction. South2Help (S2H) organization has been facing issues with management due to lack of proper means of data management. Integration of management information system will be the only solution the Chief Executive can implement for easier project management and control of other processes. The existence of Information Technology has been the solution to many evolving and developing the organization, and therefore MIS will change the face of the S2H organization through better management, control, evaluation thereby facilitating faster decision making (Willcocks, p.11). Integration of a new MIS in an organization much analysis and development work where different modeling tools helps to evaluate the key processes and the users of system.

Rich Picture of S2H environment from the perspective of Head Office

Analysis of S2H environment from the perspective of Head Office

The Head Office forms an integral part of formulating coordination in the S2H environment. Chief Executive supervises the operations of the Head Office where different departments form the actors of this environment. These branches of the head office include finance department, contracts department, projects department, marketing, administrative services, human resources, and ICT department. Each department has a departmental head that ensures the operations of the department runs smoothly and effectively (Bell & Morse, p.35). The success of each department impacts on the overall management of the head office thus the reason why they form the actors of the environment in the discussion. SRH head office acts as a unifying body for the two offices in South East and South West through the departmental organizations which projects are run smoothly through proper record keeping. The two areas create many problems to the head office as each has its way of recording data. The west area seems to have a good management with the integration of KIPs projects’ system that helps in data collection and organization. The easier method implemented in the storage of data can help the head office to attract more funds for running of the processes.

Since the opening of a head office in Dover, there have been some quite challenges that have affected the overall performance of the S2H organization. Before the shifting to Dover, the head office was operating as three distinct offices in three cities. That is two smaller offices in Canterbury and Tonbridge where Administrators used to perform their tasks and another bigger office in Brighton which hosted the IT department. The key issues arise after shifting the head office to Dover where most of the employees who have worked for a long time at S2H are unwilling to relocate (Walker et al., p.350). An area like finance department loses three of its finance assistants. The IT department ends up losing the IT Manager including three of the senior developers. Also, project department loses two of their project administrators while the contract department loses four of their senior contract assistants. The issue affects the Head office in conducting proper project management as for the operation to run smoothly there is need to employ new employees especially in ICT department where there is need to replace the three senior developers. The head office faces the challenge of integrating an Information Technology System that would make the work easier in different departments. S2H deals with projects in training activities and education where most of the funding comes from external funders and government agencies. Such organization is very strict is analyzing how their investment was used thus the need for a better system that can compute the required information faster and effective.

There exists a culture in the organization that affects the operation of the Head office. The S2H organization comprises of two areas which seem to operate differently in managing the projects as Senior Management Team (STM) does not provide proper guidance to be followed. For example, the South West Area has been collaborating with the Projects Department in formulating spreadsheets that collects data required for analysis purposes. The organization of the data in proper format has earned the management of the area credits from the Executive Officer. On the other hand, the South East Area does not consider any formatting of the data during submission which creates another problem for the projects department where in return affects the output of the head office. The culture existing shows a high division of organization concerning goals and objectives set.

The current IT department fails to deliver to the expectation of the head office especially with the integration of off-the-shelf system in the finance department does not serve the needs of the staffs thus hard to work properly (Galliers & Leidner, p.25). Also, the KIP projects system cannot be relied on as it does not provide the accurate data for computation analysis. Some of the results required by SMT and funders for evaluation will be hard to generate with the current system. The main issues facing the head office from the ICT department is the strategy on how to replace the three senior developers. Developers help in transforming most of IT related problems to real-life solutions, and if the organization had its developers, there could be no outsourcing of third-party systems. Therefore, the ICT department requires allocation of a higher budget to cater for higher salaries of staffs. The issue with payment of such higher salaries is another problem the head office is experiencing. The rate at which technology is advancing is providing more reliable, fast, user-friendly, cost-effective, and manageable systems that ensure confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data through the work of developers. Data of any organization is most crucial, and therefore the head office should take part in investing in the technology for the better transformation of the business.

Rich Picture of South West Area environment from perspective of South West Area staff

Analysis of South West Area environment from perspective of South West Area staff

South West Area is an environment characterized by successful work due to their organization and output of work. The staffs within this field conduct much work to ensure they achieve the set target and able to manage their projects well (Bell & Morse, p.338). The staff, therefore, forms the actors of this environment who have to work together in the eight projects in the education and training field. The Area Controller takes the overall running of the area through the help of other administrator teams. Use of KIP projects system started functioning in this environment where information collected is recorded in Excel spreadsheets. One of the actors with a lot of job in the field in the project administrator who have to ensure the project heads provides data on a weekly basis. For example, Sue Short who is the project administrator in the area has to request data from project heads such as Suki Hothi. Upon receiving the data, the administrator is required to update the master spreadsheet before forwarding to the Information Quality Officer in the project department within the head. If there are any errors, the administrator will be required to indicate where it is a problem that arises due to some lazy project head who does not note the importance of integrating the system. The reason for using the system was to be able to manage the project more easily and serve the client accordingly.

The key issue facing this area is a problem with data entry as some of the project lead fails to cooperate with the set regulations of updating data. For example, Ronnie Raymond who is the project lead managing Brighton Disability Swim project has to be reminded every time to submit data by the project admin. The project lead does not even support the idea of integrating the MIS system, and much of the work submitted contains errors which creates problem to project admin while trying to compute the data. If such errors occur within the area, the output affects the work of the Information Quality Officer in processing the monthly monitoring reports and summary reports required by the SMT and the funders for decision making.

The environment faces different cultures in the process of operation. One of the contributing departments to the area is the contract department which used to operate under the project manager who was highly skilled but could not share the knowledge to other staffs (Galliers & Leidner, p.30). Another culture occurs where most of the staffs in the area are people-centered as they do not realize the importance of using technology. A good example is Ronnie Raymond who does not favor the current system used and is ignorant towards the motion of integrating new MIS within the organization. Such divisions make it hard to implement changes and decisions that can improve the overall performance of different departments within the organization.

The current IT provision has made a greater impact in managing the information as compared to the area like the South East where data recording involves manual method. The introduction of KIP projects has helped the project administrator to collect the required data correctly where in return influences the performance of the Information Quality Officer. However, the current system does not solve all the problems within the area, and thus there is need to introduce management information system that will be generating the reports automatically and help in managing of projects. The MIS will help the area to develop new projects as the expected deliverables will be made easier through the use of the system. South West Area is an environment that seems have good organization of processes despite the resistance from some of the employees and integrating such systems will help in achieving the much of the project objectives. Technology plays a vital role in daily operations of the organizations thus the impact of assimilating new technology should start from the lowest level to ensure the head office sets aside the required budget.

Use Case Diagram for KPI Projects’ System

Analysis of use case diagram

The use case diagram helps to evaluate the main processes that occur within KIP projects’ system. The main actors coordinate with the system in achieving the processes (Dennis et al., p.22). One of the primary actors involved is the Area Controller who creates the master spreadsheet that will be used to record data about projects completed and running including the details of the clients. Another primary actor is the project admin who records data to the system on a weekly basis based on the data provided by the project head. The project admin ensures that every project heads sends updates weekly by requesting for updates at the end of every week. After updating the data to the master spreadsheet, the admin sends the data to inform of the spreadsheet to the Information Quality Officer in the project department at the head office. The information quality officer becomes the next actor in the system as upon receiving the data, produces monthly monitoring and summary reports that correspond with Key Performance Indicators (KIPs). The data recorded helps the senior management team and the external funders in evaluating the progress of the organizations and able to formulate decisions that control operations of the organization. The last actor to the system is the project head who has the role of sending updates about the project progress to the project administrator. However, within the primary scenarios, there exist other secondary scenarios that influence the performance of the system. Within the Area controller one of the primary actors there is head of projects as a secondary actor who provides the KPIs list required. Also within the project heads, there are the funders who require reports to evaluate the performance of the projects.

The use case modeling process provides the general overview of the processes undertaken in the current environment. KIPs projects’ system is a system that involves different departments working together as different operations need assistance (Buede & Miller, p.42). Therefore developing a use case requires evaluating the whole environment regarding functional requirements to identify the key actors and processes. The use case documentation and processing has helped to identify the goal of relationship that exists between the system and the actors. The multi-level capability of the use case model, through the ability to use or extend the relationship that helps to evaluate the areas that require detailed analysis and investigation (Carayannis, p.90). For example, there exists an include relationship where the sent spreadsheets by the project admin are used by the information quality officer to produce monthly reports. The use case diagram tells the performance of every staff by how they interact with the system and this can help in redistributing tasks to ensure one staff is not overworked. Also through the use case problems affecting the system will be easier to recognize and provide the best remedies. Each department will be able to run processes smoothly without internal interference arising from the system. The technical team can use the use case diagram is developing other functionality to the system that will help to simply any arising task that is not managed by the system. The finance department can also utilize the use case in identifying the areas with much computation and one that requires extra allocation of funds.

Different assumptions occur while formulating a use case diagram where one has to consider different groups of people that will interact with the system. The analysis team is the first to be considered by evaluating how communication can improve by the use case among the team members. Another assumption is whether the use case is providing a common agreement to analysis team on the issue with system requirements. It is a better assumption to consider if the use case offers the analysis team a platform for process expectations, process alternatives, outstanding issues, and undefined terms (Fielt, p.85). A well-formatted use case is the one that can address necessities which are outside the scope of the project and also outline the ways on how the manual processes can convert to automated processes. From the perspective of the development team, the assumptions will include whether the use case is helping in understanding various business processes. Also, the question in mind is whether one can manage to recognize contexts and patterns within the functional requirements. Systems also require testing team and assumptions arises on how Use Case can help to identify the gaps between the system delivered and the requirements. Therefore every actor and their roles to the KIPs projects’ system require being identified from all departments to help in identifying the key processes in the use case model.

Recommendation

The head office has the role of managing the different departments which include the finance, contracts, projects, marketing, human resources, administrative services, and the ICT department. Due to such different departments, the head office requires a chief executive who will manage to formulate decisions required by all departments. Managing the organization will require a better equipped Information Technology department that can produce a system that relies on expert knowledge to make decisions as advancement in technology has provided different suitable functionality. The S2H requires employing three new senior developers, but the management fears the high budget required by the department. The most organization currently has moved to digital processing, and it is a challenge to the organization to invest in the ICT field for better transformation (Galliers & Leidner, p.44). Such investment will help the organization to attract more investors and thus manage to run more projects easily and faster. It is a call for every staff to embrace the new technology for easier tasks completion as it is evident some of the employees reject the use of technology. The departmental heads should work together to evaluate the measures implemented by the best performing department in attaining the success. Such process will help the departments to self-evaluate and implement new changes which will be effective.

The senior management team should provide general guidelines that will be followed by each department with the aim of achieving the set goals and objectives. The organization should also abolish the use of off-the-shelf systems as they never satisfy the needs of staff members using the system. The finance department deals with most crucial information, and therefore the system used should be reliable in ensuring security, integrity, and availability of data (Buede & Miller, p.30). From evaluating the study, the solution to challenges the organization is facing will be through the integration of the management information system.

Conclusion

The management information system is a technology that has been built to liberate most of the business organization in their day to day activities. However, most of the organizations fear to invest in such technology as they have no relevant information of the importance provided by such a system. The S2H organization is an example of such organization that fails to implement budgeting to cater for technology improvement. It is evident there are quite of challenges with the management of data which is an issue that can affect the investor's ability to invest in such organization. The South West Area shows that the organization requires the improvement of technology due to the ability to create KIPs projects’ system that helps to compute different within different parts. However, there is the resistance of technology by some of the staffs as they fail to understand the importance of such technology. The IT director, head of contracts, and head of projects have realized the issues that are affecting the organization, and they propose the need to develop the management information system. The system will help the organization in performing self-evaluation, give the organization competitive power, and generate reports automatically. The organization can also manage to make decisions based on the performance of the employees and then formulate plans that will increase the productivity. Therefore, such technology provides many benefits to the organization as most of the departments are organized together as their information exists from one central location. Such technology requires much investment, and it is a challenge to any organization to embrace the technology for better transformation.

Reference List

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Galliers, R.D. and Leidner, D.E. eds., 2014. Strategic information management: challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Routledge.

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Buede, D.M. and Miller, W.D., 2016. The engineering design of systems: models and methods. John Wiley & Sons.

Carayannis, E.G., Sindakis, S. and Walter, C., 2015. Business model innovation as lever of organizational sustainability. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 40(1), pp.85-104.

Fielt, E., 2013. Conceptualising business models: Definitions, frameworks and classifications. Journal of Business Models, 1(1), p.85.