Final BEC 4 to 6

Alexandre Lussier, Ricardo C

Chapter 3 to 6

Chapter 3 Broadway Entertainment Company, Inc. Case Questions 1.What qualities led to BEC’s success so far? – Alexandre – Alexandre Lussier BEC success was due to its ability to grow and expand into an international company. BEC has kept up with all the new technologies and trends which enable them to offer the best services possible. BEC success is also due to the large amount of products offered. BEC’s management system was well kept by competent and dedicated leaders. BEC used a modern architecture for operational information system to keep track of their inventory, customer, benefits and etc. 2. Is the IS organization at BEC poised to undertake significant systems development in the near future? – future? – Alexandre Alexandre Lussier Yes, Karen Gardner assigned to head development team has been committed to keeping her IS staff current in skills they need to maintain and change the system. She has increased the training budget and incentives for employees to continue their education to understand the system clearly. Consultants, familiar with BEC, are used to supplement the IS staff. Many skills but Karen (IS manager) thinks that excellent project managers is the most important skill. A systems analyst at BEC needs resource management skills. These skills are needed to effectively obtain and use a variety of resources that BEC has available, including system documentation, information technology, money, and most importantly, people. A systems analyst must have project management skills to make sure that the project is completed on time and within the budget and to keep track of the project’s progress. A systems analyst must have risk management skills to anticipate what could go wrong and how to minimize those risks.

4. What specific communication skills do systems analysts at BEC need? – – Alexandre Lussier

Systems analysts need to provide feedback to the employees. Systems analysts must be able to communicate clearly and effectively with users, other IS professionals, and management to establish and maintain a good working relationship throughout the project. These communication skills include written, oral, visual, and listening. 5. What specific areas of organizational knowledge do systems analysts at BEC need beyond the information provided in this case? - Ricardo Karen Gardner believes that the systems analysts need to fully understand the business and information systems function among BEC management. This will allow the analysts to think outside the box, and have a clearer understanding of the systems that they are developing. It is important for a systems analyst to completely grasp the idea behind the business to develop not only functional systems, but adaptable systems that will grow with the company. 6. Why did BEC decide to originally use an outside contractor, Fitzgerald McNally, to develop its first computer applications? - Ricardo They hired an outside contractor initially since they did not know how to manage a group of IS professionals, how to select quality staff, or what to expect from such employees. Furthermore, they knew that computer software was complicated and that building systems for such a rapidly growing company would be very difficult. They also did so because they knew that constructing information systems required discipline, thus they decided to outsource this work to an

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information consulting firm, which were specialized in this area and had the resources and expertise to accomplish the job. 7. What has BEC done to facilitate the global utilization of its application systems? Ricardo BEC has done numerous things such as developing a turnkey package of software and hardware which is installed in each store worldwide; their systems are multi-lingual, i.e., English, Spanish and French; they have divided their staff into various functional area groups to handle their international and domestic needs; their systems work on a decentralized database; there is a similar structured database in each store. 8.Do corporate and in-store systems seem to be tightly or loosely related at BEC? Why do you think this is so? - Ricardo They seem to be tightly related since their systems transfer data between the corporate and instore systems. Each store is installed with POS terminals that process rental and sales transaction applications. The corporate systems are installed on a network of servers at a corporate data centre, these systems handle tasks such as member tracking and the processing of the data transferred from its stores. 9. What challenges and limitations will affect what and how systems are developed in the future at BEC? - Ricardo BEC faces many challenges and limitations, but if they are to compete against the global market and survive and grow as a international company they must stay proactive and competitive. As they have already done, they must stay up to date with the latest technology trends and focus on innovating new ideas that will give them a competitive edge against their competitors. For example, in order to compete with companies such as Netflix, they have implemented a webbased video rental service. They must continue tackling the challenges faced by its competitors, or they will face a downfall like Blockbuster who did not stay competitive. However, not only do they need to staying ahead with technology, but they must also continue adapting and improving its information systems to accommodate their future demands.

Reading: Chapter 4 Broadway Entertainment Co., Inc. Case Questions 1.The System Service Request (SSR) submitted by Carrie Douglass (BEC Figure 3-2) has not been reviewed by Professor Tann. If you were Professor Tann, would you ask for any changes to the request as submitted? If so, what changes, and if no changes, why? Remember, an SSR is a call for a preliminary study, not a thorough problem statement. – Alexandre Lussier I would not ask for any changes, because the SSR describes the problem that Carrie would like to solve and describes the system that she envisions that will solve the problem. The service request is very clear and concise about what is expected from the student project team’s analysis of the proposed system. Other information the students need to start on the project can be discovered from an initial meeting with Carrie. 2.If you were a student in Professor Tann’s class, would you want to work on th is project? Why or why not?- Alexandre Lussier I would want to work on this project because it would be a good opportunity to develop my systems analysis and design skills. A student working on this team would be able to experience the initiating, planning, executing, and closing down of a project. It appears that the team will have considerable choice in how to conduct the project. The project has low risk and deals with a hot area for information systems. On the other hand, this project

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will likely not lead to a permanent job after graduation and the client is rather inexperienced 3.If you were a member of BEC’s steering committee, what action would you recommend for this project request? Justify your answer. – Alexandre Lussier If I were a member of BEC’s steering committee, I would recommend that this SSR be approved, because this project will help support BEC’s Blueprint for the Decade. The proposed information system will help serve customers and will be an innovative use of technology as outlined in BEC’s mission statement and objectives. Conducting the project at one store is also low risk. One concern is the potential security risks. 4.Should Carrie have contacted Karen Gardner? Should Carrie have accepted only Steve Tettau’s suggestions, or should she have talked to others at this point? Justify you answer. – Alexandre Lussier Carrie could of contacted Karen Gardner to slip her idea. Explaining what she wants, tell her it’s just an idea. End telling her she will come back to her later with a well developed plan, explain everything clearly. Carrie shouldn’t of just accepted Steve’s suggestions, because working on many different things at the same time can help her improve her skills at managing her time. She will learn two things at the same time. She could of tried to talk with people in her store to see how they feel about this idea. 5. One of the ideas presented in this chapter is to relate system requests with the competitive strategy of the organization. What is BEC's competitive strategy (address at least the items in Table 4-3), and how would you position Carrie's project request with respect to this competitive strategy? –Ricardo BEC's competitive strategy is to be a global provider of home entertainment products and services by providing the highest-quality customer service and the broadest range of products and services, at the lowest possible price. Likewise, Carrie has proposed a new system that will increase the market share and profitability, value diversity, better align the IS development with corporate objectives and be a innovative use of technology. Therefore, Carrie's project request to develop a new system is closely linked to the overall strategy of the company her requested system will surely help the company attain its goals and achieve its competitive strategy. 6. If you were a systems analyst in the BEC corporate IS department and you had received a call from Carrie Douglass about her project idea, what would you recommend to Carrie? What do you think Carrie would need to prepare or do, in addition to what she has already prepared, to submit a request to the System Priority Board? –Ricardo I would recommend her to try and obtain a third-party to re-evaluate the ratings and explanations of her system alignment document in order to obtain a more objective view. In addition, she should try to provide the project size and duration and risks of constructing such project to better help the board evaluate the project during their selection process. 7. Do you question any of the ratings and explanations in BEC Figure 4-3 (Think like a member of the System Priority Board who might see this table)? Explain. Based on your reading of the introduction to the BEC case in Chapter 3, do you suggest adding into this table any other high-level summary information about the proposed system? Consider what other information could further relate the proposed system to corporate and IS strategy or help to motivate the potential worth of the proposed system (Review ideas presented in this chapter about how projects are selected to generate possible responses to this question). –Ricardo The only problem that could raise doubt in the System Priority Board is the fact that the ratings and explanations are highly subjective; they are based on Carrie's point of view. It would be more effective if she managed to get a third-party to review her request and ratings in order to provide the board with an accurate objective request that would better represent the objectives and

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effectiveness of the proposed system. She should add information that reflect the broader needs of the organization in order to attract the attention of top management, in other words try to resemble slightly top-down source. However, she should also try to implement information that would allow functional manager and business units relate with the system. By doing so, she would be able to attract not only top management but also bottom-up initiatives. 8. If you were an account representative with a small consulting firm that had received a request for proposal from Carrie Douglass to conduct the project she outlines, what would your response be? Is the System Service Request and project alignment document sufficient as a request for proposal? If so, why? If not, what is missing? –Ricardo I would enthusiastically accept her request given as she has provided a sufficient amount of information. Her systems service request does an excellent job at describing the current problem , giving us a reason to understand the need for the new system, as well as providing us the goals of the system. Not only is the systems service request well made, but the project alignment document gives us the overall objectives and effectiveness of the proposed system. Seeing as both document provide sufficient information, I do not see a reason to decline her request.

Reading: Chapter 5 Broadway Entertainment Co., Inc. Case Questions 1.Carrie agreed to send a note to employees announcing the project if the team would draft the note. Prepare this note for Carrie’s review. Give some thought to what employees need to know so that they are not surprised about the project, they are cooperative, and they are ready to give the team members information needed for the project. – Alexandre Lussier Dear BEC Employees: The purpose of this letter is to announce the start of a project I have initiated to develop a prototype for a Web-based customer relationship management computer system. This project will be conducted by four students from St. Claire Community College: Tracey Wesley, John Whitman, Missi Davies, and Aaron Sharp. The proposed system will allow customers to: (1) submit comments about movies, music, and games they have bought or rented; (2) request new products for sale and rent; (3) check on due dates for their outstanding rentals; (4) extend rentals; (5) review the inventory of items carried in the store; (6) parents can view a list of items purchased and rented by their children; (7) and BEC store employees can post their favorite picks. The motivation for this system is to meet the needs of the customers by providing them with information services, which are not provided today. I expect that this system will benefit the customers by making BEC aware of their likes and dislikes and offer products to satisfy their preferences. This will increase customer satisfaction and revenue. I would like to thank you in advance for you cooperation with the St. Claire students. They will need your help. Some or all employees will be interviewed and you will get a chance to try out the system as it is developed.

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2.When the student team met with Carrie, she said that she would “generate new ideas every few days” for the project. Suggest some project management procedures that the Stillwater team could use to deal with this prediction from Carrie. – Alexandre Lussier The students should take in consideration that they may have to add new things or change their plans, which could take more time. They should calculate and give themselves some slack time during their design to be able to adjust without compromising there end prototype. 3.The Stillwater students stated that a detailed requirement statement should be included in the BPP. With information you have so far from the BEC cases in previous chapters, you really cannot prepare this statement than was given in the SSR. What activities should the students do to prepare this statement is done before the analysis phase, but will revised based upon the results of analysis. – Alexandre Lussier They should write down the main ideas for the prototype based on what was given to them by Carrie. They should explain each thing on a high level without going into the detail because it may change or they may still not know. They should try to explain how the system will connect with the already existing system that BEC has. They should also identify which they believe will be harder and what will need more information to be gathered about to created a well rounded prototype. 4.The list of items the student team identified should go into a BPP included a marco-level model of the system. From your experience with systems analysis and design techniques so far in the course you are taking and from what you have seen in prior courses and work experience, what type of models might be suitable? If possible, draw a high-level model of the proposed Web-based customer relationship system, including how this system interacts with Entertainment Tracker and other existing BEC corporate information systems. – Alexandre Lussier

5.In this case, the StillWater team members were struggling with assigning tasks to individuals, Another approach would be to define team roles and then assign tasks to roles and peoples roles. List and define the roles you believe should exist on the Stillwater student Team for the proposed project. – Alexandre Lussier

Communication person – when uncertain about something this person is in charge of finding the answer from Carrie and communicating with her if there is any problems.

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Creation person – in charge of creating and designing the prototype based on what is given to him by the other group members. Information person – will gather what is important for the design and what can be put aside. Needs to understand clearly what Carrie wants. Time person – In charge on making sure everything is going to plan and that the schedule is followed, if not, he/she needs to tell the others what to start doing and what to work on. Each may a specific role to play in creating the prototype but each of the members are participate in the creation and help other even if it’s not in there role description. They will be responsible for there part and for the whole project at the same time. 6. There are nine bulleted items that the Stillwater students have identified as elements of the BPP for their project. Did they miss anything? If so, give a brief explanation of each missing element. –Ricardo The students included all the required elements needed in a baseline project plan (BPP). They have properly identified the various aspects such as the system description, conducting a feasibility assessment and assessing the management issues. However, perhaps they should reevaluate their current system description and try to enrich it. 7. One of the BPP items the Stillwater team members listed is the set of tangible and intangible benefits and costs of the system. Prepare this list as you think it should be presented as part of the BPP. How do you propose collecting the information to quantify each potential tangible benefit? –Ricardo

8. What do you consider to be the risks of the project as your currently understand it? Is this a low-, medium-, or high-risk project? Justify your answer. How would you propose dealing with the risks? –Ricardo Given that resources and experience are limited, I would consider this a medium-risk project. Potential risks vary from: security risks, development bugs, budget problems, project time delays, project size, etc. Once the team encounters a problem, they will be unable to quickly fix it and move on since, as mentioned, they lack resource and do not have many alternatives. To deal with the risks I would propose identifying and planning for them. Have backups plans and do anything possible to reduce any delays. 9. Develop a tentative schedule for this project. As stated in this case, make the schedule detailed for the next phase, analysis, and more macro for all subsequent phases. Assume that you have one academic year in which to complete the project and that the project must result in a working system. –Ricardo Date Deliverable Format

10. What additional activities should the Stillwater members conduct in order to prepare the details of the BPP? Describe each activity. –Ricardo They should also conduct an broad alternative planning document in order to better prepare them for any potential risks. Please see number 8.

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Chapter 3 to 6

Reading: Chapter 6 Broadway Entertainment Co., Inc. Case Questions 1.From what you know so far about the customer relationship management system project at BEC, whom do you consider to be the stakeholders in this system? Are these stakeholders involved in the early stages of requirements determination, as outlined in this case? How would you suggest involving each stakeholder in the project in order to gain the greatest insights during requirements determination and to achieve success for the project? – Alexandre Lussier The stakeholders in this project are Carrie Douglass, the members of the project team, other BEC store employees, and the customers who will use the system. BEC information systems staff and corporate managers will eventually be stakeholders once the prototype system is presented to the corporation. Carrie Douglass is the business manager who proposes and sets the direction for systems development. Carrie, her employees, and BEC customers are end users who will provide the project team with their knowledge, expertise, and opinions about the system requirements. The project team will act as the systems analysts and programmers for this project. In order to involve all of these stakeholders in the project, the project team should interview all of them (a subset of employees and customers will suffice) during the requirements determination process and keep them involved throughout the project by including them (at least Carrie and select employees) in meetings and walkthroughs, where the team reports on the progress of the project. Carrie should receive regular status reports. Customers could be involved in focus groups. An employee could be added to the project team. 2.Develop a detailed project schedule for the analysis phase. This schedule should follow from answers to questions in BEC cases from prior chapters and from any clas project guidelines given to you by your instructor. – Alexandre Lussier Needs to be answered. 3.Your answer to Question 2 likely included review points with Carrie and other stakeholders. These review points are part of the project’s overall communication plan. Explain the overall communication activities you would suggest for this project. How should team members communicate questions, findings, and results to one another? How should the team communicate with stakeholders? – Alexandre Lussier The communication activities will include the project team asking Carrie Douglass questions and Carrie responding to those questions. This can be done through telephone calls and e-mail. The results and findings should be communicated to Carrie in the form of written reports presented at periodic meetings held by the project team. The reports include approximately bi-weekly status reports and more significant reports after each project phase. The team members should communicate with each other at team meetings. E-mail can be used in between team meetings. A CASE tool repository or pr oject dictionary can retain all m eaningful documentation 4.Evaluate the overall plan for the three requirements determination activities the Stillwater students have planned. Would you suggest different steps to gather system requirements? Why or Why not ? – Alexandre Lussier I would not suggest any other different steps to gather information since each of the three requirements listed take in consideration each part of the business from the employee to the customer. Each part on the business is seen to get an understanding from all the sides.

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5. Independent of your answer to Case Question 4, prepare detailed interview plans for the two interview sessions the Stillwater students have outlined. Use Figure 6-2 as a template for documenting an interview plan. How does Carrie's list of three goals for her BEC store affect your interview plans? Prepare a draft of the flyer discussed in the case for inviting customers to be interviewed. How would you propose finding non-BEC store customers to beinterviewed? –Ricardo Her goals affect the interview plans since they determine what kind of questions to ask and what overall format they should follow. BEC Employee Group Interview Outline Interviewee: Walter Yunz Interviewer: Aaron Sharp Location/Medium: Local employee office Appointment Date: April 6th, 2013 Start Time: 1:00PM End Time: 1:40 PM Objectives: Obtain current system Reminders: Has 4 years experience in a local experience, feedback, suggestions, and input. BEC store. Agenda: Approximate Time: Introduction 1 minute Background on Project 2 minutes Overview of Interview 2 minutes Topics to Be Covered Permission to Record Discuss reactions and ideas based on 10 minutes their interactions with customers Discuss the possible relationships 10 minutes between the different systems Discuss potential hazards 5 minutes Summary of Major Points 5 minutes Questions from Interviewee 1 minute Closing Individual Customer Interview Outline Interviewee: John Doe Location/Medium: Local BEC employee room

Objectives: Obtain current system experience, feedback, suggestions, and input. Agenda: Introduction Background on Project Overview of Interview Topics to Be Covered Permission to Record Discuss customer usage with BEC system Questions regarding customer suggestions Summary of Major Points Questions from Interviewee Closing

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Interviewer: Aaron Sharp Appointment Date: April 6th, 2013 Start Time: 3:00PM End Time: 3:30PM Reminders: Has been a loyal BEC customer for over 2 years. Approximate Time: 1 minute 2 minutes 2 minutes

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Invitation Flyer Draft Dear valued BEC Customers: The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we will be developing a new web based system in order to facilitate your future interactions with our company. We would like to invite you to participate in an interview where your input will directly help our development process. This is the perfect time for you to give us your feedback and suggestions. We would like to thank you in advance for you cooperation. We highly value your input and we will work hard to provide you with a better service. Sincerely, The BEC team 6. How would you propose involving BEC store customers (actual and potential) in requirements determination, possibly in ways other than are planned by the Stillwater students? Do they need to be involved? If not, why not? If so, prepare a plan for interviews, focus groups or JAD sessions, observations, or whatever means you suggest using to elicit their requirements for the system. –Ricardo I would propose involving them by creating a questionnaire that I would then hand out to a representative, although diversified, group of actual and potential customers. Perhaps Carrie could offer incentive to customers who complete the questionnaires to improve the participation rate. It is important for customers to be involved, given that they will in due course be the main users of the system and will determine if it is a success or not.

Questionnaire for BEC Customers 1. Would you use a Web site to access information about your account at BEC? Circle One:

Yes

No

2. Would you use a Web site to renew your outstanding rentals for a small fee payable when you return the item? Circle One:

Yes

No

3. Which of the following kinds of information would you like to see on a Web site? Check all that apply:    

Available products for purchase Available products for rent Comments from other customers about movies, music, and video games Other, please specify _____________________________________

7. How would you propose involving BEC store employees in requirements determination, possibly in ways other than are planned by the Stillwater students? Do they need to be involved? If not, why not? If so, prepare a plan for interviews, focus groups or JAD sessions, observation, or whatever means you suggest using to elicit their requirements for the system. –Ricardo

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It is also important to include BEC store employees in the process since they are the ones who are most closely familiar with the needs, habits and requests of the customers. In addition, by allowing them to participate it would increase morale and they might be more supportive of it after its implementation. Furthermore, the employees could be included in step-by-step demonstrations on system deliverables and could also be involved in early tests/use of the system prototype.

Questionnaire for BEC Employees What are some questions that your customers often ask? Do they often ask question in person of via phone conversations? Do the questions involve the following?: 

Inquiries on specific items available for rental ?



Extending a rental?



When an item is due?

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The opinions of others on specific items?



What family members have purchased?

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Questions regarding pricing?

Reading: Chapter 8 Broadway Entertainment Co., Inc. Case Questions 1.Review the DFDs you developed for the BEC case at the end of Chapter 7 (or diagrams given to you by your instructor.) Study the data flows and data stores on these diagrams and decide if you agree with the team’s conclusion that there are only the six entity types listed in the case and in BEC Figure 8-1. If you disagree, define additional entity types, explain why they are necessary, and modify BEC Fi gure 8-1. The six entity types in BEC Figure 1 are the only ones needed to represent the MyBroadway system. However, depending on what data about Customers and Employees are required, entities for these objects may also be required.

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2.Again, review the DFDs you developed for the MyBroadway system (or those given to you by your instructor). Use these DFDs to identify the attributes of each of the six entities listed in this case plus any additional entities identified in your answer to Question 1. Write an unambiguous definition for each attribute. Then, redraw BEC, Figure 81 by placing the six (and additional) entities in this case on the diagram along with their associated attributes.

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3. Using your answer to Case Question 2, designate which attribute or attributes form the identifier for each entity type. Explain why you chose each identifier. Suggestion ID and Pick ID are the identifiers of the entities Suggestion and Pick, respectively, because it would be much simpler to use a number than a long string of text, even though the comments themselves will most likely be unique. Product ID is the identifier of the entity Product because it is possible that more than one product could have the same title. Request ID is the identifier of the entity Request because a customer could make more than one request for a product on a certain day. Sale ID and Rental ID are the identifiers of the entities Sale and Rental, respectively, because a customer could buy or rent more than one product on a certain day.

4. Using your answer to Case Question 3, draw the relationships between entity types needed by the system. Remember, a relationship is needed only if the system wants data about associated entity instances. Give a meaningful name to each relationship. Specify cardinalities for each relationship and explain how you decided on each minimum and maximum cardinality on each end of each relationship. State any assumptions you made if the BEC cases you have read so far and the answers to questions in these cases do not provide the evidence to justify the cardinalities you choose. The relationships between Product and Comment, Pick, Request, Rental, and Sale are all one-tomany relationships. A Product may have zero or many Comments, Picks, Rentals, and Sales associated with it. Comments, Picks, Requests, Rentals, and Sales must have one and only one Product associated with them. Requests may not have a Product associated with them (until the product goes into inventory).

5. Now that you have developed in your answer to Case Question 4 a complete E-R diagram for the MyBroadway database, what are the consequences of not having customer or employee entity types on this diagram? Assuming only the attributes you show on the E-R diagram, would any attribute be moved from the entity it is currently associated with to a customer or employee entity type if such entity types were on the diagram? Why or why not? The consequence of not including the customer and employee entity types on this diagram is that names (and possibly other attributes) appear as an attribute on several of the other entities. I would move the Member Name attribute from the Sale, Rental, Comment, and Request entities to the Customer entity and the Employee Name attribute from the Pick entity to the Employee entity if the Customer and Employee entities existed on this diagram. This would eliminate the duplication of data.

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6. Write project dictionary entries (using standards given to you by your instructor) for all the entities, attributes, and relationships shown in the E-R diagram in your answer to Case Question 4. How detailed are these entries at this point? What other details still must be filled in? Are any of the entities on the E-R diagram in your answer to Question 4 weak entities? Why? In particular, is the REQUEST entity type a weak entity. If so, why? If not, why not? Entity: Short name, name, plural, volume (initial, maximum, average, growth rate), data warehouse type, list of attributes, description Attributes: Primar y UID, optional?, percentage used (initial, average), domain, type, maxim um length, average length, decimal places, units, derivation, on condition, null value, default, sequence in sort, sort order Relationships: From entity name, from relationship name, from optionality and degree, to entity name, to relationship name, to optionality and degree, description

7. What date-related attributes did you identify in each of the entity types in your answer to Case Question 4? Why are each of these needed? Can you make some general observations about why date attributes must be kept in a database based on your analysis of this database? The Sale, Rental, Comment, Pick, and Request entities all have date/time-related entities. The date/time attributes are needed because the same customer could comment on, rent, buy, or request, the same product (on the same day), and an employee could enter a pick of the same product more than once (on the same day). Also, to archive old, obsolete data, or to see temporal trends, dates are needed.

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Final BEC 4 to 6

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