BTS330: Business Requirements Analysis using OO

Discussion: Introduction to Business and the systems that support it

Agenda

What is a Business?– Areas within a business– Organizational roles within a business

What is a System?– Information systems– Flow of information

Projects to implement Business Systems– Initiation and strategic planning– Project success

Business archaic : purposeful activity : BUSYNESS usually commercial or mercantile activity engaged in as a means of

livelihood : TRADE BUSINESS may be an inclusive term but specifically designates the

activities of those engaged in the purchase or sale of commodities or in related financial transactions. COMMERCE and TRADE imply the exchange and transportation of commodities. INDUSTRY applies to the producing of commodities, especially by manufacturing or processing, usually on a large scale*

*Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

 

Gandelf: A Manufacturing Business From our class discussion—what does the owner

of Gandelf need to worry about?:– Materials management

• Toxic materials

– Contact list (of potential customers)– Customer Information management– Rules for exporting to the U.S.– Inventory Management

• Minimum order quantities• Breakage

– Storage of product and materials

Cont’d

– Kiln• Fuel• Safety issues• By-laws for kiln usage

– Research and development of new products– Tax collection and payment—gst and pst– Product displays– Health and safety issues

• Toxicity of materials• Usage of kiln

Cont’d

– Payroll, HR• Freelance workers

– Competition• Their products

• Their prices

Business Areas

The organizational areas needed to support a business.

These can to equate to departments.

•Take orders via phone, fax, email.•Orders are from U.S. and Canada•Payment by credit card only.•Customers are companies, not individuals•Report on orders for a given time frame ($ ordered, qty ordered, products ordered—most/least popular)

SalesSales People

Packaging & ShippingShippers

•Orders picked, packaged with packing slip, labeled with shipping address•Shipping outsourced—use only UPS/Fedex (US)•Shipping reports generated for a given timeframe

ProductPromotion

Promotion Staff

•For new products: photograph, add product to database, create pricing•Create quarterly product catalogue•Maintain a list of potential customers•Maintain actual customers with customer preferences.•Manage ads—mailings, emails, web???•Track competition

Materials Purchasing

Purchasers

•Manage Materials List•Order Materials—create a PO (may be from a purchase requisition)•Receive materials—receive against the PO.•Generate quarterly reports—materials purchased and received, materials list.

ProductionPotters

•Scheduled by production manager•Create regular products•Create and test new products and materials•Use materials but don’t track them

•Updates production daily—what is in progress and what is completed. For completions, inventory of finished product is updated.•Needs to be aware of daily orders•Creates purchase requisition for materials on an as needed basis.•Reports on and disposes of unused materials.

Production Manager

Planning

Sales People

Potters

•Meet each quarter to discuss: what products should be continued/discontinued; what products should be added; what the competition is doing; product pricing.•Create a product list for next quarter•Create a preliminary materials list for next quarter (based on products)

Promotion Staff

Production Manager

GANDELF POTTERY&

CERAMICS

What are the Business Areas within Gandelf? Materials Purchasing Production Product Promotion Sales Packaging and Shipping Planning

Note: Gandelf’s owner will outsource HR and Payroll so we won’t bring those into this case study.

What are the Business Areas within Gandelf? Other suggestions:

– Quality Control– Accounting

Organizational Roles to Support the Business:

An organizational structure made up of executives, middle management, supervisory management and operational staff.

Operational Staff

The individuals involved in the day to day processing of transactions I.e. Bank Tellers; Mutual Fund Sales People; Sales Associate

Management

Executives (Top Management)– Those that make strategic and day to day

decisions Middle Management

– Those that make tactical and day to day decisions

Lower Management• Supervisory personnel who make day to day

decisions

Stakeholders

“A person, group, or organization that is actively involved in a project, affected by its outcome, or can influence its outcome” – text p. 469

The personnel in the organizational roles for each business area are the individuals who provide the information needed to understand what is required for development of automated computer systems.

Who are Gandelf’s Stakeholders?

Customers (wholesalers) Owner Investors Employees

– Purchasers– Production Manager– Production Staff

Who are Gandelf’s stakeholders?

Employees (continued)– Potters– Promotion Staff– Sales Staff– Shippers– Receivers– Inventory Staff

Who are Gandelf’s stakeholders?

Accountant Researcher Small Business Lawyer Financial Advisor Physical Security Company IT Security ISP

Who are Gandelf’s stakeholders?

Bank Materials Suppliers Competition Government

Who are Gandelf’s stakeholders?

End Customer Advertising Company Real Estate Company Other Small Manufacturing Companies that

are interested in purchasing software

Agenda

What is a Business?– Areas within a business– Organizational roles within a business

What is a System?– Information systems– Flow of information

Projects to implement Business Systems– Initiation and strategic planning– Project success

What is a system?

A combination of hardware and developed software that create the software solution that meets the needs of a business.

Information Systems

Collection of interrelated components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information needed to complete business functions

Types of Information Systems

IS Planning

Level

Type of planning Typical IS applications

Organizational Unit Responsible for Developing

Strategic Strategies in support of organizational long-term objectives

Market and sales analysis, Product planning, Performance evaluation

Senior Management/ Executives

Tactical Policies in support of short-term goals and resource allocation

Budget analysis, Salary forecasting, Inventory scheduling, Customer service

Middle Management

Operational Day-to-day staff activities and production support

Payroll, Invoicing, Purchasing, Accounting

Lower Management; Operational

Flow of Information

Horizontally - information flows across departments

Vertically - information needs of clerical staff, middle management, and senior executives

What are the functions of the Business at Gandelf that could use the support of a computer? Some ideas from our discussion:

– Customer and potential customer management– Supplier management– Inventory management– Materials management (including toxicity)– Competition management– Shipping– Tax collection/payment– Ordering/Sales

Agenda

What is a Business?– Areas within a business– Organizational roles within a business

What is a System?– Information systems– Flow of information

Projects to implement Business Systems– Initiation and strategic planning– Project success

Project Initiation: How are Projects Chosen?

Long-term information systems strategic plan (top-down)

Department managers or process managers (bottom-up)

Response to outside forces– Legislative changes– Market forces– Competition

Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning involves determining long-term objectives by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of an organization, studying opportunities and threats in the business environment, predicting future trends, and projecting the need for new products and services.

Examples: – Wal-Mart’s competitors

– Air line industry

What are the Strategic issues at Gandelf? Retail Store in the factory Sell on the Web?

What defines project success?

On time Within budget Expected results achieved

Why is a strong requirements document needed for Gandelf?

Only 16.2% of all IT projects succeed! – Fully functional, on time, within budget

Some studies show this as low as 10%.

More sobering statistics

52.7% are “challenged” --less than fully functional, over budget, late

The remaining 31.1% get cancelled before they are fully implemented

More sobering statistics

Estimated cost of challenged and cancelled projects in 1 year?

–$140 billion

More sobering statistics

The average project:– exceeds planned budget by 90%

– exceeds schedule by 120%

Why do projects fail?

Objectives not fully specified (51%) Poor planning/estimating (48%) New technology (45%) Poor or no project management discipline

(42%) Inadequate skills (42%)

and so on…

Examples of Recent System Failures Ontario’s Welfare computer system: tried to

give a 3% increase in welfare benefits RBC: system down for a week CIBC President’s Choice Financial