Required reading
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	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 Ch. 9 Ch. 10, pp. 365-369, 388-391
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Overview

Chapter 9 is a pivotal chapter in this unit. You will recall that problem-solving abilities and critical thinking skills are regarded as an integral part of lifelong learning abilities. Knowledge of a systematic approach to problem solving can be transferred to personal situations and business problems in general, as well as the specific type of problem solving that occurs when information systems are introduced or upgraded.

Review questions

REVIEW QUESTION 6-1	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 pp. 299-301, Questions 1-3.
REVIEW QUESTION 6-2	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 pp. 338-339, Focus on Users question.
REVIEW QUESTION 6-3	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 pp. 354-357, Airport case study, Questions 1 to 3.
REVIEW QUESTION 6-4	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 pp. 393, Discussion questions 1 to 3.
REVIEW QUESTION 6-5	Textbook	Laudon & Laudon 1995 pp. 393-394, Supermarket problem.

Quiz

Mark the correct answer.

QUESTION 1

According to the authors, business problems are divided into what three major factors?
(a) input, processing, and output
(b) hardware, software, and databases
(c) management, marketing, and finance
(d) technology, organization, and people
(e) planning, organizing, and control

QUESTION 2

Detailed fact gathering is a part of:
(a) problem analysis
(b) implementation
(c) solutions design
(d) decision making
(e) problem understanding.

QUESTION 3

The competition among humans for who does what to whom, where, when, and how is called:
(a) politics
(b) planning
(c) management
(d) hiring
(e) sales.

QUESTION 4

The rates of environmental change in such areas as production technologies, sales, and prices are described by the authors as:
(a) growth
(b) turbulence
(c) opportunities
(d) culture
(e) politics.

QUESTION 5

The old system and the new system are run in tandem using which approach?
(a) direct cutover
(b) pilot conversion
(c) phased conversion
(d) parallel conversion
(e) deferred conversion

Put a tick in the appropriate box.	True	False
QUESTION 6
The technology perspective includes a consideration of a firm's hardware, software, telecommunications, and database.
QUESTION 7
A firm's formal rules and procedures, culture, management, production process, and politics are part of the people perspective.
QUESTION 8
The most common hardware problems are capacity, compatibility, and change.
QUESTION 9
The action of competitors is an example of an external constraint.
QUESTION 10
When the old system and the new system are run in tandem, it is called the phased approach.
Write the most appropriate word on the line.
QUESTION 11
The first step in solving a problem is to ___________________.
QUESTION 12
Objectives and feasible solutions are debated during ___________________.
QUESTION 13
Concepts are tested in the actual environment in ___________________.
QUESTION 14
Increases in volume may create a significant problem of ___________________.
QUESTION 15
The old system is replaced entirely with the new system on an appointed day using the ___________________ approach.

Answers to quiz

Question 1.	(d)
Question 2.	(e)
Question 3.	(a)
Question 4.	(b)
Question 5.	(d)
Question 6.	T
Question 7.	F
Question 8.	T
Question 9.	T
Question 10.	F
Question 11.	define the problem
Question 12.	decision making
Question 13.	implementation
Question 14.	capacity
Question 15.	direct cutover

Answer pointers to Review questions

Taken from Simmons (1995).

REVIEW QUESTION 6-1

Problems

• productivity is improved
• end users can perform powerful functions
• manual work can be automated
• changes are easy to make
• complex work, previously impossible, can be performed.

Other applications

• many responses possible
• an example: lawyers accessing needed information from their corporate database.

REVIEW QUESTION 6-2

Can be solved

• resistance to change can be decreased through involvement
• interface can be tailored to meet user's needs
• unintelligible terms or icons can be changed.

Can't be solved

• situations in which there is no agreement among users for a solution
• discrepancies between new equipment in the lab and old equipment on site.

REVIEW QUESTION 6-3

1. Discuss the domino effect of flight delays and the impact of bags being sent to the wrong airport and having to notify passengers and reroute the baggage.

2. Use the three perspectives outlined in the chapter-technology, organization, and people-to analyze and categorize the problems in the Denver International Airport construction project. Describe some of the possible interrelationships. Rank the problems in order from the most significant to the least significant.

   Technology:

   • new technology
   • very high demands placed on the technology.

   Organization:

   • budget overruns
   • expectations may have been too high.

   People:

   • inexperience by designers and users is not stated but implied.

   Interrelationships:

   That the technology had such high demands and expectations may have led to failure. The 1400 bags per minute that the automated handler is supposed to handle may be unrealistic. It also may be that the schedule was too ambitious given the complexity and novelty of the technology.

3. • further testing of the technology
   • investigations into the causes of budget overruns
   • a look at how personnel analyze the feasibility of meeting expectations
   • analyze the schedule.

REVIEW QUESTION 6-4

1. To determine the hardware requirements of an information system application, ask the following questions:
   • What hardware is already available?
   • What processing power is required?
   • Does the application require a special environment such as a telecommunications network?
   • What kind of software best delivers the application solution?

   If microcomputers are already installed, an organization with financial constraints should opt to retain them whenever possible. A microcomputer would also be appropriate for small businesses, which have limited financial resources and can have many useful applications developed on the typical array of microcomputer software business packages, spreadsheet, database, word processing. However, if extremely fast processing, large amounts of memory, or handling a high volume of transactions is required, a minicomputer of mainframe is appropriate.

   Software requirements also shape hardware requirements in the sense that the software required for a particular application may only run on a microcomputer or may require large amounts of RAM and MIPS, which would argue for a mainframe or minicomputer or may only run on a certain brand of computer. Some solutions require word processing, spreadsheets, or graphics; and the best packages in these categories are designed for microcomputers.

   To determine the software requirements of an information system application, ask the following questions:

   • Do files and lists need to be combined and manipulated? How large are these files and lists?
   • Is there much complex logic required to transform input data to output?
   • Does the application require modeling and mathematical formulas among interrelated pieces of data?

   If the answer to question (a) is yes, database software should be considered. If the answer to question (b) is yes, microcomputer database software will probably be inadequate. Custom software written in a high-level programming language may perform better. If the files are small, a simple microcomputer database package might be appropriate. Large databases require mainframe or minicomputer database management systems. If the answer to Question 3 is yes, some type of spreadsheet or modeling software would be necessary.

2. There are five steps necessary to correctly develop an information system to solve a particular problem. Only one is concerned with software development. Much of problem solving with information systems and the work of developing a system solution involves research, fact finding, problem analysis, and visualization of the solution design from a business perspective. Programming typically takes up only 10 percent of the system development effort.

3. Procedures are the business policies and rules governing use of the information system to produce the desired information. Flaws in these policies and rules may prevent users from achieving the desired results from the information system.

REVIEW QUESTION 6-5

Step 1: Problem analysis

The description of Riverview provides sufficient facts for our investigation.

Step 2: Problem understanding

Examining an array of technical, organizational, and people factors, our matrix would look like this:

TECHNOLOGY	ORGANIZATION		PEOPLE
Internal Features:
Hardware	Culture		Ergonomics
Software	Management	X	Training
Telecommunications	Politics		Attitudes
Database	Bureaucracy	X
		X	User Interface
Environmental Change:		X

Riverview's problem is that it is experiencing a high degree of inefficiency at the checkout counter because of poor procedures. These procedures are a function of careless management and also a response to the need for special procedures for checking out fresh produce. Produce is occasionally labelled with numeric codes that could be confused with prices. Riverview's resources for dealing with this problem are limited. It faces stiff competition and has chosen a strategy of making profit off a fairly low volume of sales by keeping operating costs low and specializing in certain products.

Step 3: Decision making

The solution objective would be to cut down long lines created by wasted time at the checkout counter. Some alternative solutions would be:

Alternative 1: Increase the number of checkout counters and attract more cashiers by paying higher wages.

Alternative 2: Implement advanced supermarket information systems, such as bar-code scanning technology and cash registers tied to inventory systems.

Alternative 3: Improve management and procedures so that produce codes are more easily distinguished from prices.

Riverview's solution constraints are limited because resources are scarce. It does not have the high sales volume to warrant investment in expensive bar-code scanning technology at the checkout counter or to hire more checkout counter staff. The market's business is also based on low-volume but focused sales specializing in fresh produce, which is not appropriate for bar-code technology. The solution lies in changing manual procedures rather than additional automation or staffing expenditures.

Step 4: Solution design

There is no need to change existing technology or inputs, processes, and outputs but rather to revise existing procedures. The method of coding and classifying produce needs to be revised so that produce is easily distinguished from prices. One possibility is to have no codes at all, since there are not usually different brands of the same type of produce and most produce items can be easily identified. Alternatively, Riverview could label produce with alphanumeric codes that were not confused with prices (for example, AP42 or LET).

Step 5: Implementation

Management staff, who labelled the produce, and the checkout staff would have to be trained in recognizing the new codes. Produce labels with the old codes would have to be removed.