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Chapter 13 – Building Information Systems

Four kinds of structural organizational change that are enabled by information technology: (1) automation, (2) rationalization, (3)
business process redesign, and (4) Paradigm Shifts.
Rationalization of procedures  the streamlining of standard operating procedures, found in Total Quality Management (TQM) and six sigma.
Total Quality Management  to achieve quality an end in itself and the responsibility of all people and functions within an organization.
Six Sigma  a specific measure of quality, representing 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
Business Process Redesign  business process are analyzed, simplified, and redesigned.
Paradigm shift  involves rethinking the nature of the business and the nature of organization.
Business process management (BPM)  provides a variety of tools and methodologies to analyze existing processes, design new processes,
and optimize those processes.
1. Identify processes for change  a firm must understand what business processes need improvement.
2. Analyze existing processes  existing business processes should be modeled and documented, noting inputs, outputs, resources, and
the sequence of activities.
3. Design the new process  mapped and measured in terms of time and cost and try to improve the process by designin a new one.
4. Implement the new process after the new process has been modeled and analyzed, it must be translated into a new set of
procedures and work rules.
5. Continuous measurement  after a process has been implemented and optimized, it needs to be continually measured.
Systems development  a structured king of problem solved with distinct activities.
1. System analysis  the analysis of a problem that a firm tries to solve with an information system. Feasibility study  determine
whether that solution is feasible, or achievable, from a financialm technical, and organizational standpoint.
2. Systems Design  how the system will fulfill this objective, the overall plan or model for that system.
3. Completing the Systems Development Process
a. Programming  system specifications that were prepared during the design stage are translated into software program code
b. Testing  to ascertain whether the system produces the right results
i. Unit testing  testing each program separately in the system
ii. System testing  tests the functioning of the information system as a whole.
iii. Acceptance testing  provides the final certification that the system is ready to be used in a production setting.
iv. Test plan  includes all of the preparations.
c. Conversion  the process of changing from the old system to the new system.
i. Parallel Strategy  both the old system and its potential replacement are run together for a time until everyone is
assured that the new one functions correctly.
ii. Direct cutover strategy  replaces the old system entirely with the new system on an appointed day.
iii. Pilot Study Strategy  introduces the new sustem to only a limited area of the organization
iv. Phase approach strategy  introduces the new system in staged, either by functions or organizational units.
d. Production and Maintenance
i. Production  the system will be reviewd by both users and technical specialists to determine how well it has met
its original objectives and to decide whether any revisions or modifications are in order.
ii. Maintenance  changes in hardware, software, documentation, or procedures to a production system to correct
errors, meet new requirements, or improve processing efficiency.
Structured methodologies  to document, analyze, and design information systems.
Structured  the fact that the techniques are step by step, with each step building on the previous one.
Data flow diagram (DFD)  a logical graphic model of information flow, partitioning a system into modules that show manageable levels of
detail.
Process specifications  describe the transformation occurring within the lowest level of the data flow diagrams.
Structure chart  a top-down chart, showing each level of design, its relationship to other level and its place in the overall design structure.
Object-oriented development  uses the object as the basic unit of systems analysis and design.
Computed-aided software engineering (CASE)  provides software tolls to automate the methodologied to reduce the amount of repetitive
wotk the developer needs to do.
Alternative method for building information systems:
1. System life cycle  a phased approach to building a system, dividing systems development into formal stages.
2. Prototyping  building an experimental system rapidly and inexpensively for end users to evaluate. Protype  a working version of
an information system or part of the system, but it is meant to be only a preliminary model. Iterative  process of systems
development because the steps required to build a system can be repeated over and over again.
a. Steps in prototyping :
i. Identify the user’s basic requirements
ii. Develop an initial prototype
iii. Use the prototype
iv. Revise and enhance the prototype
3. End-user development  allows end users, with little or no formal assistance from technical specialists to create simple information
system and steps required to produce a finished application. Query language  a software tool that provides immediate online answers
to questions that are not predefined.
Rapid application development (RAD)  used to describe the process of creating workable systems in a very short period of time with some
flexibility to adapt as a project evolves.
Joint application design (JAD)  used to accelerate the generation of information requirements and to develop the initial system design.
Agile development  focuses on rapid delivery of working software by breaking a large project into a series of small subprojects.
DevOps  builds on agile development principles as an organizational strategy to create culture and environment.
Component-based development  enables a system to be built by assembling and integrating existing software components.
Responsive web design  enables website to change layout automatically according to the visitor’s screen resolution.
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Chapter 14 – Managing Projects

A systems development project without proper management will suffer these consequences:
 Costs that vastly exceed budgets
 Unexpected time slippage
 Technical performance that id less than expected
 Failure to obtain anticipated benefits
User interface  the part of the system with which end users interact.
Project  a planned series of related activities for achieving a specific business objective.
Project management  the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to achieve specific targets within specified budget and time
constraints.
Scope  defines what work is or not included in a project.
 Time  the amount of time required to complete the project.
 Cost  based on the time to complete a project multiplued by the cost of human resources required to complete the project.
 Quality  an indicator of how well the end result of a project satisfies the objectives specified by management.
 Risk  potential problems that would threaten the success of a project.
Information system plan  supports their overall business plan and in which strategic systems are incorporated into top-level planning.
Tools to identify and evaluate alternative information system projects :
1. Information Requirements and Key Performance Indicators  information systems should focus on providing information that helps
the firm meet these goald implied by key performance indicators.
2. Portfolio Analysis  use to evaluate alternative systems projects.
3. Scoring models  useful for selecting projects where many criteria must be considered.
Information systems cost and benefits :
- Tangible benefits  can be quantified and assigned a monetary value.
- Intangible benefits  cannot be immediately quantified but may lead to quantifiable gains in the long run.
Capital budgeting  one of several techniques used to measure the value of investing in long-term capital investment projects.
The level of project risk is influenced by :
- Project size  the larger the project, the greater the risk.
- Project structure  the requirements are clear and straightforward, so outputs and processes can be easily defined.
- Experience with technology  the project risk rises if the project team and the information system staff lack the required technical
expertise.
Implementation  all organizational activities, such as a new information system
Change agent  the system analyst does not only develops technical solutions but also redefines the configurations, interactions, job activities,
and power relationships of various organizational groups.
User-designer communications gap  users and information systems specialists tend to have different backgrounds, interests, and priorities
that lead to divergent organizational loyalties, approaches to problem solving and vocabularies.
Controlling risk factors :
- Managing technical complexity
o Internal integration tools  projects with challenging and complex technology to master benefit
- Formal planning and control tools
o Formal planning tools and formal control tools  documenting and monitoring project plans, the two most commonly used
methods are Gantt Charts and PERT charts.
o Gantt Charts  lists project activities and their corresponding start and completion dates.
o PERT charts  lists the specific activities that make up a project and the activities that must be completed before a specific
activity can start.
External integration tools  consist of ways to link the work of the implementation team to users at all organizational levels.
Counterimplementation  a deliberate strategy to thwart the implementation of an information system or an innovation in an organization.
Ergonomics  the interaction of people and machines in the work environment.
Organizational impact analysis  explains how a proposed system will affect organizational structure, attitudes, decision making, and
operations.
Sociotechnical design  one way for addressing human and organizational issues is to incorporate sociotechnical design practices into
information system projects
Project portfolio management software  helps organizations manage portfolios of projects and dependencies among them.