978-0134474021 Chapter 20 Solutions Manual Part 1

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CHAPTER 20

INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT; SYSTEMS ANALYSIS

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

20.1 The approach to long-range AIS planning described in this chapter is important for large

organizations with extensive investments in computer facilities. Should small organizations

with far fewer information systems employees attempt to implement planning programs?

Why or why not? Be prepared to defend your position to the class.

Yes, companies with few IS employees should attempt to implement planning programs. This is

A smaller company will typically have fewer funds than a large company will. Therefore,

inadequate planning can be more disastrous and financially draining for small companies.

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20.2 You are a consultant advising a firm on the design and implementation of a new system.

Management has decided to let several employees go after the system is implemented. Some

have many years of company service.

Tell employees what is going to happen to them as soon as possible.

Encourage part-time work or job-sharing.

How would you advise management to communicate this decision to the affected employees?

To the entire staff?

The communication should be direct, so that the employees are the first to find out and are not

subject to the whims of rumors and uncertainty.

While these actions may be costly, they will provide benefits (cooperation, improved morale in the

remaining employees, etc.) that will likely exceed the costs.

20.3 While reviewing a list of benefits from a computer vendor’s proposal, you note an item that

reads, “Improvements in management decision making—$50,000 per year.” How would you

interpret this item? What influence should it have on the economic feasibility and the

computer acquisition decision?

The item cannot be properly interpreted without further information from the computer vendor,

such as what decisions, made by which managers, are they referring to? How will the decisions be

Usually, a computer system will help management make better decisions. However, these decisions

do not always result in a direct cost savings. The economic feasibility study should only include

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Ch 20: Introduction To Systems Development; Systems Analysis

20.4 For each of the following, discuss which data-gathering method(s) are most appropriate and

why:

a. Examining the adequacy of internal controls in the purchase requisition procedure

-Observation of procedures, interviews with employees, and documentation reviews (of

b. Identifying the controller’s information needs – An in-depth interview with the controller is

one way to determine her information needs. However, managers often don’t know what

information they need; they say they need the information they are now getting and little else.

Reviewing the reports that the controller currently receives is also a good way to identify her

needs.

c. Determining how cash disbursement procedures are actually performed – If the cash

procedures are documented, a review of that documentation will help understand how it is

d. Surveying employees about the move to a total quality management program – By using

a questionnaire, the opinions of many different employees can be gathered. Questionnaires

Questionnaires produce a “breadth” but not a “depth” of information. To go beyond the

e. Investigating an increase in uncollectible accounts – Interviews with employees and

examination of documents will provide good initial sources of information to investigate the

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20.5 The following problem situations occurred in a manufacturing firm. What questions should

you ask to understand the problem?

Customer complaints about product quality have increased.

What is it, specifically, that customers are complaining about?

Does the company have a total quality management (TQM) program? Should they?

Accounting sees an increase in the number and dollar value of bad debt write-offs

Has the company recently changed its credit policy? If so, why?

Operating margins have declined each of the past four years due to higher-than-expected

production costs from idle time, overtime, and reworking products

Does the production scheduling system perform satisfactorily? If not, why not?

Are there delays in receiving materials? If so, why? What are the current policies for handling

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20.6 Give some examples of systems analysis decisions that involve a trade-off between each of the

following pairs of objectives:

There are many examples of the tradeoffs between information system objectives. One example is

provided here for each pair of objectives.

a. economy and usefulness – the decision of how much information to give a credit manager to

b. economy and reliability – the decision of whether to implement a new internal control

g. economy and flexibility – the decision to replace older, less flexible storage mediums with

newer, more flexible, and often more costly storage mediums.

20.7 For years, Jerry Jingle’s dairy production facilities led the state in sales volume but recent

declines worry him. Customers are satisfied with his products but are troubled by the dairy’s

late deliveries and incomplete orders. Production employees (not the cows) are concerned

about bottlenecks in milk pasteurization and homogenization due to poor job scheduling,

mix-ups in customers’ orders, and improperly labeled products. How should Jerry address

the problems? What data-gathering techniques would be helpful at this early stage?

Jerry could install an information system that coordinates job scheduling, tracks customer orders,

and controls product labeling. The system can also help reduce bottlenecks in the milk

pasteurization and homogenization process by controlling production schedules.

It appears that Jerry has conducted an initial investigation and determined that actual problems

exist. Jerry now needs to conduct a more in-depth investigation to verify the nature of the problem

and to identify customer and the user needs.

The person conducting the investigation should interview the employees who process, bottle,

Customers should also be interviewed to find out their needs, since meeting customer’s needs is

Jerry and supervisory personnel should be interviewed to get their insights about the problems

Interviewing from the bottom up can result in better problem identification and solutions than from

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20.8 A manufacturing firm needed a specialized software program to identify and monitor cost

overruns. After an extensive analysis, the company purchased prepackaged software and

assigned three programmers to modify it to meet its individual circumstances and processes.

After six months of work, during final testing, the company told them to stop all work until

further notice. While reading the software vendor’s sales agreement, the manufacturing

manager found a clause stating that the software could not be changed without the prior

written consent of the vendor. The firm had to pay the software vendor an additional fee so it

could use the modified software in its manufacturing process. Which aspect(s) of feasibility

did the manufacturing firm failed to consider prior to purchasing the software.

Of the five aspects of feasibility, the manufacturing firm failed to consider legal feasibility. Legal

20.9 Ajax Manufacturing installed a new bar code based inventory tracking system in its

warehouse. To close the books each month on a timely basis, the six people who work in the

warehouse must scan each item in a 36-hour period while still performing their normal duties.

During certain months, when inventory expands to meet seasonal demands, the scan takes as

many as 30 hours to complete. In addition, the scanners do not accurately record some

inventory items that require low operating temperatures. A recent audit brought to

management’s attention that the inventory records are not always accurate. Which aspect(s)

of feasibility did Ajax fail to consider prior to installing the inventory tracking system.

Ajax Manufacturing failed to consider operational and technical feasibility when implementing

their inventory tracking system.

Operational feasibility considers whether the organization’s personnel can and/or will use the

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SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO THE PROBLEMS

20.1 How do you get a grizzled veteran police officer who is used to filling out paper forms to use a

computer to process his arrests and casework—especially when he has little or no experience

using a computer? That was the problem facing the Chicago Police Department when it

decided to implement a relational database system. The system is capable of churning through

massive amounts of data to give officers the information they need to fight crime more

effectively.

Initially, the department rolled out the case component of the CLEAR (Citizen Law

Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) system that provided criminal history and arrest

records. The officers hated it, complaining that the system was not user-friendly, that

approval from supervisors was complex and involved multiple screens, and that they did not

feel properly trained on the system. After listening to the officers’ complaints for a year, the

department clearly had to do something. (Adapted from Todd Datz, “No Small Change,” CIO

(February 15, 2004): 66–72)

a. Identify as many system analysis and design problems as you can.

Apparently, the detectives were not asked what they wanted and/or needed in the new

system. If they were asked for input, it was not adequately communicated to system

b. What could the department have done differently to prevent the officers’ complaints?

If the department had involved the police officers early in the planning, analysis, and

design process, they could have:

oHelped systems analysts identify what they wanted in the new system, helped design

The Chicago Police Department recognized the problems with new systems and took steps to

improve system performance and user acceptance. They:

Increased the competence of their information systems group. They were a good team,

Increased training for all IS professionals, from entry-level developers to senior

Used police officers to train users in the field, which made a huge difference to the cop

on the street. One officer commented, “There is a certain degree of comfort with other

police officers.”

c. What principles of system analysis and design were violated in this case?

Limited or no user input

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20.2 Mary Smith is the bookkeeper for Dave’s Distributing Company, a distributor of soft drinks

and juices. Because the company is rather small, Mary performs all daily accounting tasks

herself. Dave, the owner of the company, supervises the warehouse/delivery and front office

staff, but he also spends much of his time jogging and skiing.

For several years, profits were good, and sales grew faster than industry averages. Although

the accounting system was working well, bottlers were pressuring Dave to computerize. With

a little guidance from a CPA friend and with no mention to Mary, Dave bought a new

computer system and some accounting software. Only one day was required to set up the

hardware, install the software, and convert the files. The morning the vendor installed the

computer system, Mary’s job performance changed dramatically. Although the software

company provided two full days of training, Mary resisted learning the new system. As a

result, Dave decided she should run both the manual and computer systems for a month to

verify the new system’s accuracy.

Mary continually complained that she lacked the time and expertise to update both systems

by herself. She also complained that she did not understand how to use the new computer

system. To keep accounts up to date, Dave spent two to three hours a day running the new

system himself. Dave found that much of the time spent running the system was devoted to

identifying discrepancies between the computer and manual results. When the error was

located, it was usually in the manual system. This significantly increased Dave’s confidence in

the new system.

At the end of the month, Dave was ready to scrap the manual system, but Mary said she was

not ready. Dave went back to skiing and jogging, and Mary went on with the manual system.

When the computer system fell behind, Dave again spent time catching it up. He also worked

with Mary to try to help her understand how to operate the computer system.

Months later, Dave was very frustrated because he was still keeping the computer system up

to date and training Mary. He commented, “I’m sure Mary knows how to use the system, but

she doesn’t seem to want to. I can do all the accounting work on the computer in two or three

hours a day, but she can’t even do it in her normal eight-hour workday. What should I do?”

This is an actual case with the facts presented as accurately as possible. The objective is to

familiarize students with the behavioral issues surrounding a systems change. It is less important to

determine the “right answer” (there may not be one) that it is to discuss the issues.

a. What do you believe is the real cause of Mary’s resistance to computers?

Employee reaction to the installation of a new information system is often diverse and

unpredictable. In many cases, employees must make significant behavioral adjustments to

Is Mary’s adverse behavior due to a perceived need to protect her ego? Is she afraid she

Since Mary was excluded from the decision to automate the office, does she feel

Is she fearful because computers sometimes cause people to overcommunicate? (i.e., with

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Is she worried that the computer will impose its own structure on the organization? The

b. What events may have contributed to the new system’s failure?

The company did not involve Mary in the systems change. They did not ask for her ideas,

The company did not explain why the system was being implemented, what the company

The changes to Mary’s job and responsibilities were not explained.

c. In retrospect, how should Dave have handled the accounting system computerization?

Mary should have been informed of the change that was going to take place, the purpose

The company should have allowed Mary to make suggestions concerning the system,

Mary should be reassured that she has control over the system and not the other way

Education prior to systems implementation could perhaps have helped Mary adapt to the

d. At what point in the decision-making process should Mary have been informed? Should

she have had some say in whether the computer was purchased? If so, what should have

been the nature of her input? If Mary had not agreed with Dave’s decision to acquire

the computer, what should Dave have done?

Mary should have at least been informed as soon as the decision was made to purchase the

Because Mary was only a bookkeeper and did not fully understand the necessity of the

system, she should not have been allowed to make the final decision on acquiring the

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e. A hard decision must be made regarding Mary. Significant efforts have been made to

train her, but they have been unsuccessful. What would you recommend at this point?

Should she be fired? Threatened with the loss of her job? Moved somewhere else in the

business? Given additional training?

There are advantages and disadvantages to each of the following four options. Students

1. Firing can have the following advantages:

Firing can have the following disadvantages:

The company sends messages to other employees and perhaps the community in

2. Transferring employees can have the following advantages:

The company is less likely to communicate that it does not care for its employees.

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3. Persuasion can have the following advantages:

A valuable employee may be retained and her time freed up to perform tasks that are

more important.

It may only serve to increase even further the frustration level that already exists.

Mary was eventually fired and another bookkeeper hired. With the new system, there was not

enough work to keep the new employee busy full time. Consequently, the employee took over

Mary was interviewed several years later. She was employed at another firm and worked

20.3 Wright Company’s information system was developed in stages over the past five years. During the

design process, department heads specified the information and reports they needed. By the time

development began, new department heads were in place, and they requested additional reports.

Reports were discontinued only when requested by a department head. Few reports were discontinued,

and a large number are generated each period.

Management, concerned about the number of reports produced, asked internal auditing to evaluate

system effectiveness. They determined that more information was generated than could be used

effectively and noted the following reactions:

Many departments did not act on reports during peak activity periods. They let them accumulate

a. Explain whether each reaction is a functional or dysfunctional behavioral response.

1. Avoiding or delaying activity on reports during peak activity periods is dysfunctional if

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2. Having so many reports that no action or the wrong action is taken means that the

3. It is dysfunctional when a department head does not refer to report data until a fellow

4. The department head’s actions are both functional and dysfunctional. Developing

b. Recommend procedures to eliminate dysfunctional behavior and prevent its recurrence.

The dysfunctional behavior at Wright Company was a direct result of management’s failure to

recognize that information systems are dynamic. Once a system is designed and

A committee composed of systems staff and users should be established to monitor the

system and to educate users as to information needs and the use of information. The

Users who participate in developing the system know more about the technical aspects of the

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