44222: Information Systems Development

1. 44222: Information Systems Development Review & Assignment 1 Requirements Ian Perry Room: C41C Extension: 7287 E-mail: I.P.Perry@hull.ac.uk http://itsy.co.uk/ac/0809/Sem1/44222_ISD/

2. Assessment Method • Two assignments, based upon a common case study scenario: • for Ass 1 (40%) you will work as individuals. • for Ass 2 (60%) you will work in small teams. • You are required to analysethe organisationdescribed by the case study, in order to: • ‘discover’ problems and ‘identify’ information requirements (Ass 1). • then document a prototypefor a computer-based information system,that promises to ‘deliver’ the information requirements and hence ‘solve’ the problems (Ass 2).

3. Assignment Deadlines • Assignment 1 (40% of Module Marks) • Title = Problem Statement • Deadline = Wed, 05 Nov, 2008 • Assignment 2 (60% of Module Marks) • Title = Prototype Documentation • Deadline = Wed, 17 Dec, 2008

4. The HCHE Case Study • High Class Home Electrical (HCHE), the organisation for whom you work, is described by an on-line Case Study, at the following Web-address http://itsy.co.uk/ac/hche/ • A Brief History • Established in the mid 1950's. • Successful electrical wholesale business throughout the 60's and 70's. • Moved to a computer related inventory in mid 80's. • Began experiencing severe business problems in the mid to late 90's. • Called in 'giddens, stanworth + hope' (gs+h), a firm of management consultants, in 2006.

5. HCHE – gs+h & You • gs+h produce an annual review of HCHE, which; • looks back on the previous year, • highlights problems, • suggests possible action to combat problems. • You are Management Trainees who have recently joined HCHE and have been assigned to assist the General Manager. • Help your new manager identify (and combat) the problems highlighted by the latest gs+h review.

6. HCHE – is Complex • The Case Study is intentionally complex, and often seems contradictory. • I hope you have ALL read the Case Study very carefully, in order to to work out what IS, and what IS NOT important. • Make sure that you always remain focused on the task at hand, i.e.: • to aid the management decision-making of the ‘Main Business’ of the HCHE organisation, • by the development of a ‘viable’ Information System, based solely upon data maintained by the Current Operational Systems.

7. HCHE - Example Outputs • The Information System you devise: • MUST make use of data maintained by the Current Operational Systems of the ‘Main Business’ of HCHE. • You haven’t got direct access to these operational systems, but: • you should ‘know’ the structure of the data files that are maintained by the operational systems (by reading the Case Study carefully). • and should have looked at example outputs from some of the operational systems.

8. hierarchy organisation functions procedures controls hardware people technology network job software training applications attitudes decisions What is an Information System?

9. Decision Structure Information Characteristics Strategic Long-Term Ad Hoc Forward Looking Unstructured Unscheduled External Summarised Wide Scope Infrequent Tactical Short-Term Semi-structured Operational Day-to-Day Pre-specified Historical Scheduled Internal Structured Detailed Narrow Focus Frequent A Model of Management

10. Information? Information? Information? Strategic Long-Term Information! Data Data Data Tactical Short-Term Information! Operational Day-to-Day Information! Operational Data Processing Systems Data Information for Decision Making

11. ‘HCHE’ Problems? • Are they; • ‘simply’ because of ‘poor’ Operational Data Processing Systems? • Or, are they; • about ‘poor’ Information provision in support of Management Decision-making? • Or, are they; • a bit of both?

12. A ‘good’ Problem Statement? • Needs to demonstrate; • a clear understanding of the current information system, and its problems. • i.e. provide a good 'picture' of: • the structure of the ‘HCHE’ organisation, the important sub-systems, and the interactions between these sub-systems. • the people, and management decision-making processes within, and between, these sub-systems.

13. Helping ‘HCHE’? • From the 'picture' you build of ‘HCHE’ you should be able to decide if each of the ‘problems’ identified are due to: • poor Operational Systems? • Not much you can do about these ‘problems’. • poor Management Information Systems? • You should be able to ‘solve’ these problems. • or, a bit of both? • You may be able to offer ‘partial’ support/solutions. • You will then be able to document a ‘viable’ solution.

14. The Problem Statement • Purpose • To document problems & information requirements in terms of what they are. • DO NOT describe how these information requirements will be delivered; that is what is expected for Ass 2. • Audience • Managers who work for the ‘Main Business’ of HCHE. • This is DEFINITELY NOT a technical document!

15. Presentation, Structure & Language (20 Marks) • Document should be in a loose report format, e.g.: • Introduction, Body, Conclusion. • and be between 5 and 8 pages (maximum) long. • It should provide a brief description of the organisation, its problems and functional & information requirements in a clear, consistent, complete and yet concise way. • The Managers who work for the ‘Main Business’ of HCHEMUST be able to understand the report since they need to confirm that it accurately defines their problems, and promises viable solutions.

16. Understanding ofProblems (60 Marks) • The Document should provide a clear statement of the problems faced by the management of the ‘main business’ HCHE, i.e.; • translate both the HCHE Case Study and the most recentgs+h review (i.e. the “MIS Review”) into a validset of information requirements. • The Document MUST, therefore; • demonstrate a clearunderstanding of specific problem areas (i.e. those relevant to the managers who are the audience for this report), • AND • and explain therole that management informationcould play in alleviating these problems, i.e.; • match problems to decisions • and hence identify information requirements.

17. Realism (20 Marks) • Your analysis of the problems, and functional & information requirements should demonstrate business realism. • Your document MUST, therefore, be realistic about what the Management of ‘HCHE’; should do, can do, & want to do. • Remember; • Any ‘solutions’ you propose (i.e. in terms of Information Requirements) MUST be ‘viable’ (i.e. the necessary data MUST be stored in the files maintained by the Current Operational Systems). • However; • You can assume that the “slight modification” to the Current Operational Systems (i.e. as suggested by gs+h in their review titled “The Partial Payment ‘Problem’”) will be made by the staff of the IT Department.

18. This Week’s Workshop • This Workshop will be all about how you might Document the ‘Problem’. • If you haven’t, as yet, started to produce your ‘Problem Statement’, then shame on you! • There will be NO Lecture session Next Week, however, there will be; • an Assignment 1 Support Workshop. • The Assignment 1 Deadline is: • Wednesday, the 5thof November. • So, get on with it, and; • Good Luck!