Reference no: EM132272058

Problem I -

Jim Jones is a bakery owner who wants to spend $50,000 to modernize his store by adapting it more closely to the preferences of his repeat customers, keeping track of their likes and dislikes. Information such as basic ingredients (whole wheat, gluten free, etc.), fillings, toppings, and portion size are all items of interest to him, since he believes that in this way he can better serve his customers. Jim has asked you to develop a system for him that will help make his customers happy while increasing his business.

You have heard what Jim had to say about his customers. There are certainly more preferences that he can keep track of. Develop a problem definition for Jim that includes: Issues, Objectives, Requirements and Constraints.

 Problem II-

George Jones owns a company that sells nonperishable products for those who want choices regarding alternative food products for their diet. George is developing a new system that would require his staff to be retrained.

a) Given the information in the table below, make a PERT diagram for George and specify the critical path separately from the diagram.

Description	Task	Must Follow	Time (weeks)
Interview company management	A	None	6
Interview staff	B	None	3
Design system inputs	C	B	2
Design system outputs	D	A, C	3
Perform structured walkthrough	E	A, D	4
Record staff reactions to walkthrough	F	D	2
Develop system	G	E, F	6
Write training manual	H	B, G	3
Train staff	I	H	2

 b) If George could find a way to save time on the "Perform structured walkthrough" phase, would it help? Why or why not

Problem III

Complete the following Case Study:

"It's really some choice. I mean, no single package seems to have everything we want. Some of them come darn close, though," says Roman, an advertising executive for Empire Magazine with whom you have been working on a systems project. Recently, the two of you have decided that packaged software would probably suit the advertising department's needs and stem its general decline.

"The last guy's demo we saw-you know, the one who worked for Data Coliseum-really had a well-rounded pitch. And I like their brochure. Full-color printing, on card stock. Classic," Roman asserts. "And what about those people from Vesta Systems? They're really fired up. And their package was easy to use with a minimum of ceremony. Besides, they said they would train all 12 of us, on-site, at no charge. But look at their advertising. They just take things off their printers."

Roman fiddles in his chair as he continues his ad hoc review of software and software vendors. "That one package from Mars, Inc., really sold me all on its own, though. I mean, it had a builtin calendar. And I like the way the menus for the screen displays could all be chosen by Roman numerals. It was easy to follow. And the vendor isn't going to be hard to move on price. I think they're already in a price war."

"Do you want to know my favorite, though?" Roman asks archly. "It's the one put out by Jupiter, Unlimited. I mean, it has everything, doesn't it? It costs a little extra coin, but it does what we need it to do, and the documentation is heavenly. They don't do any training, of course. They think they're above it."

You are already plotting that to answer Roman's burning questions by your March 15 deadline, you need to evaluate the software as well as the vendors, systematically, and then render a decision. Evaluate each vendor and package based on what Roman has said so far. (Assume that you can trust his opinions.) What are Roman's apparent biases when evaluating software and vendors? What further information do you need about each company and its software before you can make a selection? Set up a table to evaluate each vendor. Answer each question in a separate paragraph.

 Problem IV-

A manager examined data flow diagrams in a small portion of system development projects and determined that there were nearly 12.5% of them with errors. His boss, the Vice-President for Systems Development wants a better estimate of the percentage so you are tasked to sample the diagrams produced for the past five years and report back.

a) How large a sample would you have to examine to be 99% certain that your estimate would be within 3% of the actual percentage? Explain how you arrived at your answer.

b) Given your answer to part a), how will you arrive at the estimate that you will report back to the vice-president?