978-0134474021 Chapter 21 Solutions Manual Part 2

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b. Susan Shelton did not agree with Mark’s weightings and suggested the following

changes:

Flexibility 60

Reputation and reliability 50

Quality of support utilities 10

Graphics capability 10

When the changes are made, which vendor should Mark recommend?

Based on Susan’s changes, Mark should now select project #3. Project #1 scored 6285 points,

project #2 scored 6330 points, and project #3 scored 6610 points.

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c. Mark’s manager suggested the following changes to Susan’s weightings:

Reputation and reliability 90

Will the manager’s changes affect the decision about which system to buy?

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d. What can you conclude about point scoring from the changes made by Susan and

Mark’s manager? Develop your own weighting scale to evaluate the software packages.

What other selection criteria would you use? Be prepared to discuss your results with

the class.

e. What are the weaknesses of the point-scoring method?

Care must be taken when to avoid placing too much emphasis on a point-scoring outcome.

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21.5 Nielsen Marketing Research (NMR), with operations in 29 countries, produces and

disseminates marketing information. Nielsen has been the primary supplier of decision

support information for more than 70 years. NMR’s most recognizable product is the Nielsen

television ratings. Nielsen is one of the largest users of computer capacity in the UnitedStates.

Its information system consistently ranks above average in efficiency for its industry. NMR

hired IBM to evaluate outsourcing its information processing. NMR wanted to know whether

outsourcing would allow it to concentrate on giving its customers value-added services and

insights, increase its flexibility, promote rapid growth, and provide it with more real-time

information.

What are the benefits and risks of outsourcing for NMR?

THE BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING:

IT is changing so rapidly that companies spend a lot of their information system money on

It is difficult to find well-trained people to maintain and develop these complex information

When a company improves its information system or introduces new technology, the

Outsourcing may make it easier for Nielsen to concentrate on the things it does best (its “core

Outsourcers offer special expertise for anything from assisting with development and design

Outsourcing can help solve cost pressures and economic difficulties that force companies to

Companies can benefit from the economies of scale the outsourcers achieve from

Outsourcing development projects can help a company benefit from the skills of trained

When companies downsize they can be left with an information system that is too large for

Outsourcing can help decrease the fixed costs associated with seasonal businesses that require

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AMONG THE RISKS OF OUTSOURCING ARE THE FOLLOWING:

A major risk is entering an inflexible agreement that does not provide the company an “out”

Another risk is losing too much control over your information system by outsourcing. NMR

It is possible to lose a fundamental understanding of information system needs and how the

Once a company decides to outsource, the company is usually locked into outsourcing. If

NMR may not realize all of the projected outsourcing benefits. Critics contend that in many

NMR may not receive the quality of service they desire. Some companies complain that

Do the benefits outweigh the risks? Explain your answer.

Without knowing the results of the evaluation that NMR commissioned, there is no “right” answer

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21.6 A large organization had 18 months to replace its old customer information system with a new

one that could differentiate among customer levels and provide appropriate products and

services on demand. The new system, which cost $1 million and was installed by the IS staff

on time, did not work properly. Complex transactions were error-prone, some transactions

were canceled and others were put on hold, and the system could not differentiate among

customers. The system was finally shut down, and transactions were processed manually. New

IS management was hired to build a new system and mend the strained relationship between

operations and IS.

So what went wrong? IS couldn’t—or wouldn’t—say no to all the requests for systems

enhancements. Eager to please top management, IS management ignored the facts and

assured them they could build a scalable system that was on time and on budget. Another big

mistake was a strict project schedule with little flexibility to deal with problems and

unforeseen challenges. Developers never spoke up about any glitches they encountered along

the way. More than a dozen people (including the CIO) lost their jobs because of their roles in

this disaster.

a. What could IS management have done differently to make this project successful?

Negotiated more time to complete the project.

b. What in-house development issues are demonstrated in this case?

Custom software development is difficult, time consuming, and error prone.

c. How could the in-house issues have been addressed to prevent the system’s failure?

It should have been made clear to management that in-house development is difficult,

time consuming, and error prone. This could have been facilitated by citing examples of

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21.7 Meredith Corporation publishes books and magazines, owns and operates television stations,

and has a real estate marketing and franchising service. Meredith has 11 different systems

that do not communicate with each other. Management wants an executive information

system that provides them with the correct and timely information they need to make good

business decisions. Meredith has decided to use prototyping to develop the system.

a. Identify three questions you would ask Meredith personnel to determine systems

requirements. What information are you attempting to elicit from each question?

What is Meredith’s background and what are its goals and objectives? It is difficult to

What is the nature of the problem and what are its causes? Oftentimes company

What is the timetable for the project? How soon is the system needed? If the company

What processes are involved? Identifying the business processes will allow the consultant

What does Meredith expect from their new executive information system? What

What input data does Meredith need to capture and process in order to produce the

b. Explain how prototyping works. What would the system developer do during the

iterative process step? Why would you want the fewest iterations possible?

1. At Meredith, the prototype process would begin by interviewing personnel in order to

2. After identifying system requirements, an initial prototype would be developed that meets

3. The users experiment with the prototype and determine what is good and what is bad

4. When the prototype is completed, it is either made operational or used as the

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c. Would you want the prototype to be operational or nonoperational? Why? If it were an

operational prototype, what would have to happen? If it were a nonoperational

prototype, how would the prototype be used?

The answer to these questions will vary depending on the student’s view of the situation.

Some of the points the student should bring up are:

Operational Prototype. Because Meredith needs the system so quickly, an operational

Nonoperational Prototype. In many instances, it is not practical to modify the prototype to

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