INFORMATION SYSTEMS 1 SEMESTER 1 2019

Group Project

Due Date : 26th April 2019

Instructions:

You are required to select a case study from Appendix A. Should your team wish to expand the
case study by including additional business processes, please include these new requirements in
your system vision document. Investigate ways in which an IT solution could improve the
business function. You would need to follow the first three core processes required in the
iterative Agile Development process as stated in your prescribed textbook.

It is important that you scale your ideas to fit your allocated time. A small-scale project (for
example, a work order and repair history system for a small automotive repair shop) could be
quite exhaustive in its detail. On the other hand, a very large-scale project (such as a customer
relationship management system for a major retailer) would be expected to include only a small
subset of the final system’s proposed functionality.

You will be required to consult with your lecturer on a regular basis.

Establishment of the project team:

Each group will consist of six students. You will be allowed to choose your own group. Each
group must elect a project leader and secretary. Give your group a name and a mission statement.
All meetings with your group members and your lecturer must be documented (Minutes of
meetings).

While this project promotes group work, it is the responsibility of each individual learner to
ensure that he/she understands the curriculum for this subject and the requirements of this
project.

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Requirements:

Your group will be required to compile the following documents as part of your project
submission.

1. System Vision Document outlining the problem description, the system capabilities, and the
business benefits
2. A project analysis document that will include the following:
Project overview
List of user requirements
Problems with the existing system
Work Breakdown structure
Workflow diagram
Simple activity Diagram
Use cases
Domain class
Activity diagram for use case

Deliverables and Due Dates:

Deliverable Due Date – Mark
Week of
System Vision Document – Uploaded in 1 March 20
Blackboard
User requirements and Work Breakdown 15 March Feedback from lecturer - No marks
structure
Simple Activity Diagram 22 March Feedback from lecturer - No marks
Use cases 29 March Feedback from lecturer - No marks
Domain Class 18 April Feedback from lecturer - No marks
Project Analysis Document 26 April 50

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 ASSESSMENT RUBRICS FOR PROJECT DELIVERABLES

SYSTEM VISION DOCUMENT

0 1 3 5
Problem Description not Brief overview of Problem definition Clearly worded
Description clear the system without is incomplete. description of the
highlighting the problem and proposed
problem solution.
System Not included or Includes a few Includes most but Clearly defined list of
Capabilities incomplete capabilities not all of the all system capabilities
capabilities.

Business Not included or Includes general Includes some Clearly defined list of
Benefits incomplete business benefits – business benefits – relevant business
not specific to the not well described benefits
selected business.
Presentation Inconsistent layout Font & layout is Consistent font & Consistent font &
of document (font etc). consistent. layout. Contains layout. Neatly bound.
Document is Some key info is relevant info. but Clearly presented.
incomplete -info. is missing. Not neatly not logically Easy to read. Logical
missing bound. presented. Cover flow of info. Cover
with Group details with Group details

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 PROJECT DOCUMENT
0 1 3 5
Overview Not included Brief overview of the Brief overview of the Clear description of
business business and system the business and the
system
User Not included Includes general user Includes most of the Clearly defined user
Requirements requirements – not user requirements requirements within
specific to the system briefly defined the scope of the
system
Problems with Not included List of generic Problems with the Detailed description
existing system problems – not existing system are of the problems with
specific to the listed but not clearly the existing system
existing system. defined
Work Not included Detailed list of some Detailed list of all Detailed list of all
Breakdown tasks but no tasks. tasks.
structure (WBS) predecessor, resource Predecessor, Predecessor,
etc. WBS is Resource etc. missing Resources, Duration
incomplete or has or incorrect included and
errors relevant to the phase
Workflow Not included Incomplete workflow Shows most of the Clearly shows all the
diagram interactions between interactions between
the user and the the user and the
system. system
Simple Activity Not included One activity diagram Shows main flow of Shows main flow of
Diagram that contains errors. activity without the activity without the
Incomplete diagram exception conditions exception
for only a few use conditions. Must
case scenarios match the flow of
activities for each
use case scenario.
Diagrams are
complete
Use Cases Not included Use case for the Use case for the Use of correct
entire system-no entire system and notation – stick
subsystems. Incorrect subsystems. Correct figure(actor) & oval
notations used. notations used (process), dotted
lines (relationship
between use cases).
Clearly shows the
actors, process and
relationship
Domain Class Not included Basic diagram, Detailed diagram Clearly defined
missing keys / with keys and detailed diagram
relationships relationships – some showing correct

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 incorrect or missing keys and
relationships
Activity diagram Not included One activity diagram Shows main flow of Shows main flow of
for use case that contains errors. activity without the activity without the
Incomplete diagram exception conditions exception
for only a few use conditions. Must
case scenarios match the flow of
activities for each
use case scenario.
Diagrams are
complete
Presentation of Inconsistent layout Font & layout is Consistent font & Consistent font &
document (font etc). consistent. layout. Contains layout. Neatly
Document is Some key info is relevant info. but not bound. Clearly
incomplete -info. is missing. Not neatly logically presented. presented. Easy to
missing bound. Cover with Group read. Logical flow
details of info. Cover with
Group details

Additional Nothing additional List of additional General description Detailed use of

tools/processes to of the tools/processes process /tool in
gather more info. not related directly to relation to the
the project project.

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APPENDIX A
Case Study 1

Amanda Lamy, president and majority stockholder of Mountain Vista Motorcycles (MVM), is
an avid motorcycle enthusiast and businesswoman. MVM is headquartered in Denver and has
locations throughout the western United States and Canada. Since the late-1990s, the market for
motorcycles has grown tremendously. Amanda expects that the market will continue to be strong
throughout the 2010s, although she is concerned about the “graying” of a significant portion of
MVM’s customer base.
The demographics of the motorcycle market are an interesting study in contrasts. At present, the
majority of customers are over 50 years of age, male professionals or businesspeople, and partly
or fully retired. They have substantial disposable income, lots of free time, and tend to
own multiple expensive motorcycles from such manufacturers as Harley-Davidson, Honda,
Ducati, and Moto Guzi.
Older customers are generally comfortable with Internet and Web technology but are not
significant users of social media technology. Although many own smartphones, they
tend to use them primarily for voice, e-mail, and texting.
Male customers under 30 years of age tend to buy sport and dirt bikes, typically from such
manufacturers as Suzuki and Kawasaki. They buy less expensive bikes than older customers and
are more likely to buy parts and supplies from MVM to service their own bikes. Female
customers under 30 years of age tend to buy motor scooters and smaller “commuter”
motorcycles. Customers in the 30–50 age range include men and women who buy bikes
of many types from many manufacturers. Comfort with and use of Internet technology, social
media, and portable computing devices such as smartphones and iPads is very high with
customers under 50 years of age, especially with customers under age 30.
Amanda is convinced that the key to long-term success in the motorcycle market is to build an
active community of motorcycle enthusiasts at each MVM location that includes a broad
spectrum of customers. In essence, each location needs to be seen as a hub of local motorcycle
related activity and information in physical and virtual terms. On the physical side, MVM has
added activity and event-oriented pages to its Web sites, sponsored rallies
and clubs, added meeting rooms and small coffee shops in some locations, and colocated with
bars and restaurants that feature motorcycle-related themes and entertainment.
These efforts have yielded good results with older customers but less so with younger customers.
Amanda is concerned about the lack of participation by younger customers and is sure that
MVM’s lack of presence in social media and virtual relationships is a significant
factor. She and her senior staff, most of whom are older, are unsure how to attract younger
customers. They have little knowledge of and no experience creating modern technology-based
virtual communities.
MVM’s chief information officer is starting to develop a project plan for a virtual community
oriented toward younger customers. If the plan were for developing a traditional
information system, she would use such standard approaches as interviewing internal users and
managers and having her development staff write specifications, generate storyboards and screen
layouts, and develop prototypes.
But few of the intended virtual community users are MVM employees, and none of her staff
members fully comprehends how to successfully use social media and other techniques for

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building virtual societies. Traditional methods of defining and refining requirements seem
inadequate to the task.

Case Study 2

Waiters on Call is a restaurant meal-delivery service started in 2008 by Sue and Tom Bickford.
The Bickfords worked for restaurants while in college and always dreamed of opening their own
restaurant. Unfortunately, the initial investment was always out of reach. The Bickfords noticed
that many restaurants offer takeout food and that some restaurants—primarily pizzerias—offer
home-delivery service. However, many people they met seemed to want home delivery with a
wider food selection. Sue and Tom conceived Waiters on Call as the best of both worlds: a
restaurant service without the high initial investment. They contracted with a variety of well-
known restaurants in town to accept orders from customers and to deliver the complete meals.
After preparing the meal to order, the restaurant charges Waiters on Call a wholesale price, and
the customer pays retail plus a service charge and tip. Waiters on Call started modestly, with
only two restaurants and one delivery driver working the dinner shift. Business rapidly
expanded, and the Bickfords realized they needed a custom computer system to support their
operations.
They hired a consultant, Sam Wells, to help them define what sort of system they needed. “What
sort of events happen when you are running your business that make you want to reach for a
computer?” asked Sam. “Tell me about what usually goes on.” “Well,” answered Sue, “when a
customer calls in wanting to order, I need to record it and get the information to the right
restaurant. I need to know which driver to ask to pick up the order, so I need drivers to call in
and tell me when they are free. Perhaps this could be included as a smartphone or iPad app.
Sometimes, customers call back wanting to change their orders, so I need to get my hands on the
original order and notify the restaurant to make the change.”
“Okay, how do you handle the money?” queried Sam. Tom jumped in. “The drivers get a copy
of the bill directly from the restaurant when they pick up the meal. The bill should agree with our
calculations. The drivers collect that amount plus a service charge. When drivers report in at
closing, we add up the money they have and compare it with the records we have. After all
drivers report in, we need to create a deposit slip for the bank for the day’s total
receipts. At the end of each week, we calculate what we owe each restaurant at the agreed-to
wholesale price and send each a statement and check.”

“What other information do you need to get from the system?” continued Sam.
“It would be great to have some information at the end of each week about orders by restaurant
and orders by area of town—things like that,” Sue said. “That would help us decide about
advertising and contracts with restaurants. Then, we need monthly statements for our
accountant.” Sam made some notes and sketched some diagrams as Sue and Tom talked. Then,
after spending some time thinking about it, he summarized the situation for Waiters on Call. “It
sounds to me like you need a system to use whenever these events occur:
■ A customer calls in to place an order, so you need to Record an order.
■ A driver is finished with a delivery, so you need to Record delivery completion.
■ A customer calls back to change an order, so you need to Update an order.
■ A driver reports for work, so you need to Sign in the driver.
■ A driver submits the day’s receipts, so you need to Reconcile driver receipts.

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“Then, you need the system to produce information at specific points in time—for example,
when it is time to:
■ Produce an end-of-day deposit slip.
■ Produce end-of-week restaurant payments.
■ Produce weekly sales reports.
■ Produce monthly financial reports.
“Am I on the right track?”
Sue and Tom quickly agreed that Sam was talking about the system in a way they could
understand. They were confident that they had found the right consultant for the job.

Case Study 3

MoveYourBooksNow.com is a book exchange that does business entirely on the Internet. The
company acts as a clearinghouse for buyers and sellers of used books. To offer books for sale, a
person must register with MoveYourBooksNow.com. The person must provide a current
physical address and telephone number as well as a current e-mail address. The system maintains
an open account for this person. Access to the system as a seller is through a secure,
authenticated portal.
A seller can list books on the system through a special Internet form. Information required
includes all the pertinent information about the book, its category, its general condition, and the
asking price. A seller may list as many books as desired. The system maintains an index of all
books in the system so buyers can use the search engine to search for books. The search engine
allows searches by title, author, category, and keyword. People who want to buy books come to
the site and search for the books they want. When they decide to buy, they must open an account
with a credit card to pay for the books. The system maintains all this information on secure
servers.
When a request to purchase is made and the payment is sent, MoveYourBooksNow.com sends
an e-mail notice to the seller of the book. It also marks the book as sold. The system maintains
an open order until it receives notice that the book has been shipped. After the seller receives
notice that a listed book has been sold, the seller must notify the buyer via e-mail within 48
hours. Shipment of the order must be made within 24 hours of the seller sending the notification
e-mail. The seller sends a notification to the buyer and MoveYourBooksNow.com when the
shipment is made.
After receiving notice of shipment, MoveYourBooksNow.com maintains the order in shipped
status. At the end of each month, a check is mailed to each seller for the book orders that have
been in shipped status for 30 days. The 30-day waiting period allows the buyer to notify
MoveYourBooksNow.com if the shipment doesn’t arrive for some reason or if the book isn’t in
the same condition as advertised. If they want, buyers can enter a service code for the
seller. The service code is an indication of how well the seller is servicing book purchases. Some
sellers are very active and use MoveYourBooksNow.com as a major outlet for selling books.
Thus, a service code is an important indicator to potential buyers.

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Case Study 4
Coastline Systems Consulting is a small solutions provider company located in Destin, Florida.
The staff of seven IT technicians, designers, systems analysts, and programmers provides a
range of networking, computer hardware, and software solutions to area businesses. Coastline
works with clients to analyze their business needs. They then provide a packaged solution that
often combines custom-built hardware, purchased software, and custom programming. In
addition to the seven technicians, Coastline has one receptionist/bookkeeper.
As a small organization, Coastline is an informal, "shirt-sleeve" environment. Everyone is on a
first-name basis, even with Peter Charles, the president.
The IT technicians are drowning in a sea or work and work for clients is not being done in an
optimum manner. Clients call and e-mail both to the general office and to individual consultants
whenever they have any kind of hardware or software problem. Consultants manage the requests
that come directly to them. Kathy Grey, the receptionist/bookkeeper, passes on requests that
come through the general office. If the problem is complex it may require multiple trips, and the
technician has to keep track of what he or she has done to try to fix the problem. Sometimes a
second technician has to be dispatched, necessitating communication concerning the previous
work.
The president, Peter Charles, wants to develop a system that is both more responsive to clients
and helpful to technicians. He would like to see a system that allows clients to directly enter their
service requests. The system would track the status of each request along with the hours spent
for billing purposes. Mr. Charles also wants the system to be able to generate statistics and
reports so he can pursue continuous improvement in this area.

Case Study 5
GB Manufacturing is a producer of electronic components and testing equipment. The company
is located in multiple plants in the New York City area. The corporation has over 10,000 full-
time employees.
Approximately 200 employees are employed with the company's Maintenance department,
which is responsible for the maintenance of building and grounds. Maintenance has assigned a
group of employees to provide maintenance for each building or plant. The employees assigned
to each building or plant collectively possess the skills needed to provide proper upkeep. Such
employees include carpenters, electricians, painters, welders, plumbers, and the like. The
Maintenance department also has a group of employees with special skills to assist with special
projects that may arise.
In August of 2003 Bill Venkman and his management staff completed a one-week retreat aimed
at assessing the maintenance operations. Several initiatives resulted from this retreat. It was
determined that the most important initiatives were those that primarily dealt with the equipment
depot operation.
The equipment depot's function is to provide the equipment needed by maintenance employees
to perform their job duties. Employees are provided with a toolbox containing commonly used,
and relatively inexpensive tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, tape measures, and so on. Other
tools and pieces of equipment that are needed to complete a job must be checked out through the

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equipment depot. When the job is completed, the employee must return the checked-out
equipment.
Often pieces of equipment become lost, stolen, or damaged and are therefore never checked back
in and made available for others. The dollar amount of lost and stolen equipment has reached an
alarming total. It has been estimated that more than R50,000 worth of tools are lost or stolen
each year. Bill Venkman has decided that something must be done to get the losses under
control. Thus, he is giving top priority to the development of a new automated equipment check-
out system that that will track the check-in and check out of equipment.
The Materials Warehouse is responsible for obtaining and storing supplies that are needed to
complete jobs. For example, the Materials Warehouse makes sure to maintain a supply of
screws, nails, plywood, drywall, and other materials. The Materials Warehouse operates in two
locations. The main Materials Warehouse is a large building located approximately a mile away
from the main campus. For convenience, a smaller Materials Warehouse is located on near the
central office and stores a small amount of the most commonly used materials. When workers
need materials for a job assignment they are supposed to check both warehouses to see if the
goods are available. Unfortunately, the employees are often impatient and will simply check the
availability of materials at the smaller, more conveniently located warehouse. If the goods are
not available, they routinely choose to simply move on to the next job assignment — rather than
checking with the main warehouse. While the main warehouse will provide for the delivery of
materials, employees prefer not to have wait for their delivery. To complicate things further,
even though the materials may be available at the larger warehouse, employees frequently
request that the smaller warehouse order needed materials that are not in stock there. The net
result is excessive inventory and inventory carrying costs!
While management is not sure of the total dollar amount that can be attributed to carrying
excessive inventory, they are in agreement that it is likely very substantial. Therefore, a new and
improved warehousing system is another top priority for the Maintenance Department.

Case Study 6

Five years ago, cardiologists Timothy Jones and Dolores Garcia decided to combine their
individual practices in Brea, California, to form New Century Health Clinic. They wanted to
concentrate on preventive medicine by helping patients maintain health and fitness and by
providing traditional medical care. Dr. Jones recently asked you to work with him as an IT
consultant. He wants you to help New Century develop an information system that will support
the clinic’s operations and future growth. At your initial meeting, he provided you
with some background information and asked for your suggestions about how to begin.

At your desk, you begin to review New Century’s situation. The clinic is located near a new
shopping mall in a busy section of the city. New Century’s staff includes four doctors, three
registered nurses, four physical therapists, and six office staff workers. The clinic currently
has a patient base of 3,500 patients from 275 different employers, many of which provide
insurance coverage for employee wellness and health maintenance. Currently, New Century
accepts 34 different insurance policies.

Anita Davenport, who has been with New Century since its inception, is the office manager.

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She supervises the staff, including Fred Brown, Susan Gifford, Tom Capaletti, Lisa Sung, and
Carla Herrera. Fred Brown handles office payroll, tax reporting, and profit distribution among
the associates. Susan Gifford is responsible for the maintenance of patient records. Tom
Capaletti handles most of the paperwork concerning insurance reporting and accounting. Lisa
Sung has the primary responsibility for the appointment book, and her duties include making
reminder calls to patients and preparing daily appointment lists. Carla Herrera is concerned
primarily with ordering and organizing office and clinic supplies.

Each of the six office staff people has one or more primary responsibilities; however, all
members of the staff help out whenever necessary with patient records, insurance processing,
and appointment processing. In addition to their regular responsibilities, all six office workers
are involved in the preparation of patient statements at the end of each month.

Case Study 7
The purpose of the State Patrol ticket-processing system is to record moving violations, keep
records of the fines paid by drivers when they plead guilty or are found guilty of moving
violations, and notify the court that a warrant for arrest should be issued when such fines are not
paid in a timely manner.

When an officer gives a ticket to a driver, a copy of the ticket is turned in and entered into the
system. A new ticket record is created, and relationships to the correct driver, officer, and court
are established in the database. If the driver pleads guilty, he or she mails in the fine in a pre-
printed envelope with the ticket number on it. In some cases, the driver claims innocence and
wants a court date. When the envelope is returned without a check and the trial request box has
an “X” in it, the system does the following: notes the plea on the ticket record; looks up driver,
ticket, and officer information; and sends a ticket details report to the appropriate court. A trial
date questionnaire form is also produced at the same time and is mailed to the driver. The
instructions on the questionnaire tell the driver to fill in convenient dates and mail the
questionnaire directly to the court. Upon receiving this information, the court schedules a trial
date and notifies the driver of the date and time.
When the trial is completed, the court sends the verdict to the ticketing system. The verdict and
trial date are recorded for the ticket. If the verdict is innocent, the system that produces driving
record reports for insurance companies will ignore the ticket. If the verdict is guilty, the court
gives the driver another envelope with the ticket number on it for mailing in the fine.
If the driver fails to pay the fine within the required period, the ticket-processing system
produces a warrant request notice and sends it to the court. This happens if the driver does not
return the original envelope within two weeks or does not return the court-supplied envelope
within two weeks of the trial date. What happens then is in the hands of the court. Sometimes,
the court requests that the driver’s license be suspended, and the system that processes drivers’
licenses handles the suspension.

Case Study 8

Natural Best Health Food Stores Natural Best Health Food Stores is a chain of health food stores
serving Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas. Garrett Davis opened his first Natural Best Health Food
Store in 1975 and has since opened fifteen stores in three states. Initially, he sold only herbal

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supplements, gourmet coffees and teas, and household products. In 1990, he expanded his
product line to include personal care, pet care, and grocery items.

In the past several months, many of Mr. Davis’s customers have requested the ability to purchase
prepackaged meals, such as chicken, turkey, fish, and vegetarian, and have these prepackaged
meals automatically delivered to their homes weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Mr. Davis feels that
this option is viable because Natural Best has an automatic delivery system in place for its
existing product lines. With the current system, a customer can subscribe to the Natural Best
Delivery Service (NBDS) and have personal care, pet care, gourmet products, and grocery items
delivered on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. The entire subscription process takes
approximately five minutes. The salesclerk obtains the customer’s name, mailing address, credit
card number, desired delivery items and quantity, delivery frequency, and phone number. After
the customer’s subscription has been processed, delivery usually begins within a week. As
customer orders are placed, inventory is automatically updated. The NBDS system is a
client/server system. Each store is equipped with a client computer that accesses a centralized
database housed on a central server. The server tracks inventory, customer activity, delivery
schedules, and individual store sales. Each week the NBDS generates sales summary reports,
low-in-stock reports, and delivery schedule reports for each store. The information contained on
each of these individual reports is then consolidated into master sales summary, low-in-stock,
and forecasting reports. Information contained on these reports facilitates restocking, product
delivery, and forecasting decisions. Mr. Davis has an Excel worksheet that he uses to consolidate
sales information from each store. He then uses this worksheet to make forecasting decisions for
each store.

Case Study 9

As college students in the 1970s, Bob and Thelma Mellankamp often dreamed of starting their
own business. While on their way to an economics class, Bob and Thelma drove by Myrtle’s
Family Restaurant and noticed a “for sale” sign in the window.

Bob and Thelma quickly made arrangements to purchase the business, and Hoosier Burger
Restaurant was born. The restaurant is moderately sized, consisting of a kitchen, dining room,
counter, storage area, and office. Currently, all paperwork is done by hand. Thelma and Bob
have discussed the benefits of purchasing a computer system; however, Bob wants to investigate
alternatives and hire a consultant to help them. Perishable food items, such as beef patties, buns,
and vegetables are delivered daily to the restaurant. Other items, such as napkins, straws, and
cups, are ordered and delivered as needed. Bob Mellankamp receives deliveries at the
restaurant’s back door and then updates a stock log form. The stock log form helps Bob track
inventory items. The stock log form is updated when deliveries are received and also nightly
after daily sales have been tallied.
Customers place their orders at the counter and are called when their orders are ready. The orders
are written on an order ticket, totalled on the cash register, and then passed to the kitchen where
the orders are prepared. The cash register is not capable of capturing point-of-sale information.
Once an order is prepared and delivered, the order ticket is placed in the order ticket box. Bob
reviews these order tickets nightly and makes adjustments to inventory.

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Because the inventory control and customer ordering systems are paper based, errors occur
frequently. These errors often affect delivery orders received from suppliers as well as customer
orders. Bob has often wanted to have electronic access to forecasting information, inventory
usage, and basic sales information. This access is impossible because of the paper-based system.

When a customer calls and places a delivery order, a Hoosier Burger employee records the order
on a multiform order ticket. The employee captures such details as customer name, business or
home address, phone number, order placement time, items ordered, and amount of sale. The
multiform document is sent to the kitchen where it is separated when the order is ready for
delivery. Two copies accompany the order; a third copy is placed in a reconciliation box. When
the order is prepared, the delivery person delivers the order to the customer, removes one order
ticket from the food bag, collects payment for the order, and returns to Hoosier Burger. Upon
arriving at Hoosier Burger, the delivery person gives the order ticket and the payment to Bob.
Each evening Bob reconciles the order tickets stored in the reconciliation box with the delivery
payments and matching order tickets returned by the delivery person. At the close of business
each evening, Bob uses the data from the order tickets to update the goods sold and inventory
files.

Although Hoosier Burger is well recognized for its fast foods, especially the Hoosier Burger
Special, plate lunches are also offered. These include such main menu items as barbecue ribs,
grilled steak, meat loaf, and grilled chicken breast. The customer can choose from a variety of
side items, including roasted garlic mashed potatoes, twice-baked potatoes, coleslaw, corn, baked
beans, and Caesar salad. Many downtown businesses often call and place orders for Hoosier
Mighty Meals. These are combination meals consisting of a selection of main
menu items and three side orders. The customer can request Hoosier Mighty Meals to feed 5, 10,
15, or 20 individuals. As a convenience to its business customers, Bob and Thelma allow
business customers to charge their order. Once each month, a bill is generated and sent to those
business customers who have charged their orders. Bob and Thelma have found that many of
their business customers are repeat customers and often place orders for the same Hoosier
Mighty Meals. Bob asks you if it is possible to track a customer’s order history, and you indicate
that it is indeed possible.

Case Study 10

Alex Schuster began Pine Valley Furniture (PVF) as a hobby. Initially, Alex would build custom
furniture in his garage for friends and family. As word spread about his quality craftsmanship, he
began taking orders. The hobby has since evolved into a medium-sized business, employing
more than fifty workers. Over the years, increased demand has forced Alex to relocate several
times, increase his sales force, expand his product line, and renovate Pine Valley Furniture’s
information systems. As the company began to grow, Alex organized the company into
functional areas—manufacturing, sales, orders, accounting, and purchasing. Originally, manual
information systems were used; however, as the business began to expand rapidly, a
minicomputer was installed to automate applications. In the beginning, a process-oriented
approach was utilized. Each separate application had its own data files. The applications
automated the manual systems on which they were modelled. In an effort to improve its
information systems, PVF recently renovated its information systems, resulting in a company-

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wide database and applications that work with this database. Pine Valley Furniture’s computer-
based applications are primarily in the accounting and financial areas. All applications have been
built in-house, and when necessary, new information systems staff is hired to support Pine
Valley Furniture’s expanding information systems.

As a Pine Valley Furniture intern, you have gained valuable insights into the systems
development process. There is a need for a WebStore and a Customer Tracking System. You and
your team will be working on the Customer Tracking System. You recall that Pine Valley
Furniture distributes its products to retail stores, sells directly to customers, and is in the process
of developing its WebStore, which will support online sales in the areas of corporate furniture
buying, home-office furniture purchasing, and student furniture purchasing.

You also know that the Customer Tracking System’s primary objective is to track and
forecast customer buying patterns. Information collected during the requirements determination
activity suggests that the Customer Tracking System should collect customer purchasing activity
data. Customers will be tracked based on a variety of factors, including customer type,
geographic location, type of sale, and promotional item purchases. The Customer Tracking
System’s primary objective is to track and forecast customer buying patterns. Additionally, in
order to track a customer’s buying habits, an order history must be established, satisfaction levels
assessed, and a variety of demographic data collected. The demographic data will categorize the
customer according to type, geographic location, and type of purchase.
Customer Tracking System information will enable Pine Valley Furniture to better forecast its
product. The Customer Tracking System should support trend analysis, facilitate sales
information reporting, enable managers to generate ad hoc queries, and interface with the
WebStore.

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