Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World, Fourth Edition -Solutions 03

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Chapter 3 – The Analyst as a Project Manager Solutions to End-of-Chapter Material Review Questions 1. List and explain the activities of the project planning phase. See page 84 for a brief description of each of the following activities: define the problem, confirm project feasibility, produce the project schedule, staff the project, and launch the project. 2. List the seven reasons why projects fail. Some primary reasons why projects fail, or are only partially successful, include the following:       

Incomplete or changing system requirements Limited user involvement Lack of executive support Lack of technical support Poor project planning Unclear objectives Lack of required resources

3. List the five reasons why projects are successful. The success factors are, in most cases, just the reverse of those for failures. Some reasons for success are the following:     

Clear system requirement definitions Substantial user involvement Support from upper management Thorough and detailed project plans Realistic work schedules and milestones

4. What are three reasons projects are initiated? Projects are initiated to respond to an opportunity, to resolve a problem, or to conform to a directive. 5. Define project management.

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See page 76. Project management is the organizing and directing of other people to achieve a planned result within a predetermined schedule and budget. 6. Explain how information system project management is similar to project management in general. The project planning phase of the SDLC consists, essentially, of project management activities, and project management is a part of each SDLC phase. The entire information system SDLC can be planned and scheduled. 7. Explain how iterative development makes project scheduling more complex. Each iteration includes analysis, design, and implementation activities and overlapping phases. This complication makes resource scheduling more difficult. 8. Describe the types of feasibility used to evaluate a project. Risk management identifies potential trouble spots that could jeopardize the project. Financial feasibility is a measure to determine whether an investment in the development of a new system will result in a positive return on the investment. Organizational and cultural feasibility is an evaluation of the risks associated with inserting new procedures and systems into an existing organization and organizational culture. It attempts to determine whether required changes to the organization and culture can be accommodated. Technological feasibility is an evaluation of the anticipated technical difficulty of the new system and whether there exists sufficient technical expertise available to resolve all technical difficulties. Schedule feasibility is an assessment of whether the proposed schedule for the system development is realistic and can be achieved. Resource feasibility is an assessment of the required resources and skills necessary for a successful project and whether those resources are available or can be made available. 9. What is the purpose of the cost/benefit analysis used to assess economic feasibility? A cost/benefit analysis calculates a single measure that indicates whether an investment in a new system will produce a positive return. It also forces an evaluation of the expected costs and benefits of the new system. 10. Explain the difference between tangible and intangible costs and benefits. Which are ignored in cost/benefit analysis?

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Tangible costs and benefits can be measured or estimated in terms of dollars. Intangible costs and benefits accrue to the organization, but cannot be measured quantitatively or estimated accurately. Intangible costs and benefits are ignored in cost/benefit analysis. 11. Explain the difference between a PERT chart and a Gantt chart. A PERT chart illustrates individual activities and shows graphically the dependency links between the activities. Its strength is in showing the critical path and potential slack time of activities. Its format is a set of linked boxes. A Gantt chart is a bar chart showing individual activities plotted against calendar time. Although dependency can be illustrated, its major strength is in viewing activities, including percent complete, against the calendar. 12. List five or six possible sources of tangible benefits from the installation of a new system. See pages 97. Possible answers include: reduce staff; maintain constant staff with increased volume of work; reduce error rates; reduce other operating costs such as shipping; promote better management of inventory to reduce stock depletion or overstocking; reduce bad accounts losses; increase efficiency with purchases from vendors; and so on. 13. List at least four sources of development costs. See pages 96 and 97. Possible answers include: salaries, equipment, software licenses, consulting fees, training, facilities, travel, and so on. 14. What is meant by the critical path? The critical path is the longest path through the PERT/CPM diagram and contains all the tasks that must be done in the defined sequential order. It is called the critical path because if any task on the critical path is delayed, the entire project will be completed late. 15. What is the purpose of a system context diagram? A system context diagram is used to define the scope of the proposed system by providing a name for the system, identifying the agents that will use the system, and identifying the information that flows into and out of the system.

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16. Describe the eight knowledge areas of project management. The details for this answer are located in Appendix A. Summaries are located on page 80.         

Project Scope Management—Defining and controlling the functions that are to be included in the system as well as the scope of the work to be done by the project team. Project Time Management—Building a detailed schedule of all project tasks and then monitoring the progress of the project against defined milestones. Project Cost Management—Calculation of the initial cost/benefit analysis and later updates and monitoring expenditures as the project progresses. Project Quality Management—Establishing a total plan for ensuring quality, which includes quality control activities for every phase of the project. Project Human Resource Management—Recruiting and hiring project team members; also training, motivation, team building, and related activities to ensure a happy, productive team. Project Communications Management—Identifying all stakeholders and key communications to each; also establishing all communications mechanisms and schedules. Project Risk Management—Identifying and reviewing throughout the project all potential risks for failure and developing plans to reduce these risks. Project Procurement Management—Developing requests for proposals, evaluating bids, writing contracts, and then monitoring vendor performance. Project Integration Management—Integrating all the other knowledge areas into one seamless whole.

17. What activities in the planning phase are specifically focused on project management? The primary focus of all activities in the planning phase is on planning the project, which by definition is project management. The following are the specific activities:     

Define the problem—Identify, define, and scope the project. Produce the project schedule—Identify project tasks, estimate the effort required, and identify the sequence of tasks. Confirm project feasibility—Calculate the cost/benefit, assess project risks, and identify plans to reduce risks. Staff the project— Identify the needed resources and get them assigned to the project. Launch the project—Present the project plan to senior management and obtain final approval.

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Thinking Critically 1.

Write a short paper that discusses how project management techniques can overcome the reasons for project failure listed at the beginning of the chapter. Results will vary widely. Some suggested topics that you might provide include:       

Project management Classic mistakes Risk analysis Technical problems Interpersonal issues and team strength Executive support Project planning and scheduling

Another approach may be to provide specific categories, such as process problems (project processes), product problems (quality control), technical problems (bleedingedge or research projects), or personnel problems (mediocre staff, sabotage, disagreements). 2.

Given the following narrative, make a list of expected business benefits: Especially for You Jewelers is a small jewelry company in a college town. Over the last couple of years, Especially for You has experienced a tremendous increase in its business. However, its financial performance has not kept pace with its growth. The current system, which is partially manual and partially automated, does not track accounts receivables sufficiently, and Especially for You is having difficulty determining why the receivables are so high. In addition, Especially for You runs frequent specials to attract customers. It has no idea whether these specials are profitable or whether the benefit, if there is one, comes from associated sales. Especially for You also wants to increase repeat sales to existing customers, and thus needs to develop a customer database. The jewelry company wants to install a new direct sales and accounting system to help solve these problems.    

Reduce the level of accounts receivables. Determine which type of specials and promotions increased sales. Increase repeat sales to existing customers. Closely track financial performance of the store.

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Given the following narrative, make a list of system capabilities: The new direct sales and accounting system for Especially for You Jewelers is an important element in the future growth and success of the jewelry company. The direct sales portion of the system needs to track every sale and be able to link to the inventory system for cost data to provide a daily profit and loss report. The customer database needs to be able to produce purchase histories to assist management in preparing special mailings and special sales to existing customers. Detailed credit balances and aged accounts for each customer would help solve the problem with the high balance of accounts receivables. Special notice letters and credit history reports would help management reduce accounts receivable.      

4.

Track individual sales. Report on cost data for inventory items. Produce daily profit and loss reports. Track purchase histories of individual customers. Produce special mailings. Maintain accounts aging with reporting.

Develop a project charter for Especially for You Jewelers based on your work from problems 3 and 4. See Figure 3-5 on page 83 for an example of a project charter. Students should create a system scope document similar to Figure 3-8. The business benefits and system capabilities from problems 3 and 4 can also be included. A brief description of the problem should be taken from the case description. In addition, students can add sections on the cost and various clients/users who have an interest in the new system.

5.

Build a PERT/CPM chart based on the following list of tasks and precedences to build and test a screen form for a new system. Identify the critical path. Task ID 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Description Start Meet with user Review existing forms Identify and specify fields Build initial prototype Develop test data (valid data) Develop error test data Test prototype Make final refinements

Duration 0 2 1 3 2 4 2 3 3

Precedence -0 0 1, 2 3 3 5 4, 6 7

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Name

Meet with user 1

2

0

0

Start 0

0

0

0

6.

Review existing forms 2

1

0

1

ID

Duration

Early Start

Late Start

Identify and specify fields 3

3

2

2

Build initial prototype 4

2

5

9

Develop error test data

Develop test data

Make final arrangements

Test prototype

5

4

6

2

5

5

9

9

7

3

8

3

11

11

14

14

Suppose that you work in a dentist’s office, and you were asked to develop a system to keep track of patient appointments. How would you start? What would you do first? What kinds of things would you try to find out first? How does your approach compare with what this chapter has described? Students should relate their answer back to the concepts they learned about the planning phase. Answers should include a discussion of defining and scoping the problem definition. For this type of small system, they may not want to do a complete financial analysis; however, an estimate of the development costs is appropriate. Other feasibility considerations such as organizational and cultural feasibility and schedule feasibility, are reasonable issues to consider.

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Experiential Exercises 1.

Using Microsoft Project, build a project schedule based on the following scenario. Print out both the PERT chart and the Gantt chart. In the table below is a list of tasks for a student to have an international experience by attending a university abroad. You can build schedules for several versions of this set of tasks. For the first version, assume that all predecessor tasks must finish before the succeeding task can begin (the simplest version). For a second version, identify several tasks that can begin a few days before the end of the predecessor task. For a third version, modify the second version so that some tasks can begin a few days after the beginning of a predecessor task. Also, insert a few overview tasks such as Application tasks, Preparation tasks, Travel tasks, and Arrival tasks. Be sure to state your assumptions for each version. Task ID 1. 2. 3. 4. 5 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

2.

Description of Task Obtain forms from international exchange office Fill out and send in foreign university application Receive approval from foreign university Apply for scholarship Receive notice of approval for scholarship Arrange financing Arrange for housing in dormitory Obtain passport and required visa Send in preregistration forms to university Make travel arrangements Determine clothing requirements and go shopping Pack and make final arrangements to leave Travel Move into dormitory Finalize registration for classes and other university paperwork Begin classes

Duration 1 day 3 days 21 days 3 days 30 days 5 days 25 days 35 days 2 days 1 day 10 days 3 days 1 day 1 day 2 days

Precedence none 1 2 2 4 3, 5 6 6 8 7, 9 10 11 12 13 14

1 day

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Build a project plan to show your progress through college. Include the course prerequisite information. If you have access to Microsoft Project or another tool, enter the information in the project management tool. This solution will depend on the particular curriculum required by your university. The answer should be a set of activities represented by the various courses that the student has taken and plans to take. This will be a good example of using a project tool to plan a course of study. It should provide the opportunity for the students to broaden their concept of what a project is. A course of study through college fits the definition of a project that is provided in the chapter.

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Using information from your organizational behavior classes or other sources, write a one-page paper on what kinds of team-building and training activities might be appropriate as the project team is expanded for the analysis phase. This paper will make team members aware of the requirements necessary to build a strong team. Answers will vary widely, so grading should be on the depth of coverage and the strength of the ideas presented, rather than on the specific ideas presented in the paper.

4.

Ask a systems analyst about the SDLC that his or her company uses. If possible ask him or her to show you a copy of the project schedule. To what extent is iterative development used? Answers will vary. Ask the students to talk about how the company ensures adequate project management; how it collects and documents user requirements and system specifications; how it designs and documents; and what kind of programming and testing procedures it follows. Also discuss variations for prototyping, iteration, and the overlap of analysis and design.

5.

Ask a project manager for his or her opinion on each of the eight project management knowledge areas. Answers will vary. Ask the students to talk about how the project manager handles each of the areas—which are most difficult to handle, what are the problems and obstacles for each, and what are the dangers of ignoring each.

6.

Go to the CompTIA (www.compTIA.org) Web site, and find the requirements for the project manager exam (CompTIA Project+). Write a one-page summary of the expertise and knowledge required to pass the exam. The link below brings you to the CompTIA Project Management Blueprint page, which contains the details about the test and its objectives. The PDF file is 16 pages long and covers the following topics: Project Initiation and Scope Definition (20%) Project Planning (30%) Project Execution, Control, and Coordination (43%) Project Closure, Acceptance, and Support (7%) http://www.comptia.org/certification/project/objectives_03.pdf

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Case Studies Case Study: Custom Load Trucking 1.

Do you think the decision by CLT to build its own project managers from the existing employee base is a good one? What advice would you give to CLT to make sure that it has strong project management skills in the company? Students will generally answer that it is a good idea to promote from within. However, they should also back up their answers with valid reasons. Such reasons might include:     

Company loyalty of new project managers. Knowledge of internal procedures. Confidence of fellow employees. Provide career paths for employees. Familiarity with existing tools, languages, and environments.

Advice to the company about strong project management should include the following topics:     2.

Good analysts do not necessarily make good managers. The set of skills for technical work does not necessarily apply to management. Project management training will be required. Personnel management training will be required.

What kind of criteria would you develop for Monica to use to measure whether Stewart (or any other potential project manager) is ready for project management responsibility? Students should base their answers on the points provided in the chapter and in Appendix A. Prior to being promoted to project manager, an analyst should have some experience in each of the six categories identified in Appendix A. The company can identify some measure of relative performance in each category. Obviously, a quantitative measure for management readiness is very difficult, but some measurement of experience, skill, and potential in each area can be qualitatively evaluated.

3.

How would you structure the job for new project managers to ensure, or at least increase, a high level of success?

Answers will vary considerably. In their answers, students should provide a structure or mechanism that will increase the probability of success. 4.

If you were Monica, what kind of advice would you give to Stewart about managing his career and obtaining his immediate goal to become a project manager?

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It appears that Gibbons and the company have been providing meaningful experience to Stockton in preparation for being a project manager. One important point is that project management involves much more than technical skills. A person desiring a project management career should identify those skills needed and seek opportunities to attain those skills through training, observing other good managers, and practice. A good mentor is also invaluable for a person’s career development.

Case Study: Rethinking Rocky Mountain Outfitters Answers will vary. The table below identifies some areas that should be considered. This table should include answers involving risk management. Project Risk

Type of Risk

The budget may be inadequate for this size of project. Risk of cash flow problems as RMO is funding two projects. Funding is coming partially from internal sources. Risk that the market may turn down and cash flow may decrease. Key oversight committee members have been identified. There is still some risk that they do not understand the level of commitment required. Risk whether William McDougal (as project sponsor) is thoroughly committed. Because other users have not been defined yet, there is risk that the correct users will be assigned and that adequate time will be allowed. This is new technology for RMO. Risk of not being able to solve the communication complexities Moving into new markets may cause explosive growth. Risk of system/ organization not being able to handle the volume Because the project is just starting, there is a high risk that

Economic Economic Economic

Probability Steps to Alleviate Risk of Risk Medium Carefully monitor costs and control scope creep. Medium Line up secondary sources of funding. Low Line up secondary sources of funding.

Organizational

Low

Provide careful project reporting and updates. Highlight anticipated problems.

Organizational

Low

Organizational

Medium

Technological

High

Arrange frequent meetings between project manager and Mr. McDougal. Include in project schedule estimates of time requirements for users to provide requirements, reviews, and testing. Identify additional consulting expertise that may be available.

Technological/ Organizational

High

Develop plans for controlling growth or staffing and training for high growth.

Schedule

Medium

Rework schedule, periodically integrating new

Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World Fourth Edition

the schedule is unworkable. RMO has a long-range strategic plan for systems. This could cause risk that too much is needed now, and the current project could easily suffer from scope creep. Because CSS depends on the SCM schedule, there is a risk that delays in SCM will delay CSS.

Schedule

High

Schedule

High

Only two members of the team are currently assigned. Risk of not being able to get other team members on time.

Resource/ Schedule

High

The staff of RMO is somewhat limited in size and experience. Risk of not having the skills necessary for developing this magnitude of a system.

Resource/ Technological

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understanding of needs. Document requirements carefully. Establish a Change Committee that must approve all scope changes. Monitor the SCM project carefully. Identify alternative ways to move ahead with CSS even if SCM gets behind. Begin identifying other potential team members early. Identify outside consultants who could help if necessary. Identify outside consultants who could provide additional expertise.

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Case Study: Focusing on Reliable Pharmaceutical Service Chapter 2 discussed Reliable Pharmaceutical Service’s Web-based application to connect its client nursing homes directly with a new prescription and billing system. You considered both the risks of a sequential, waterfall approach to the SDLC and the risks of an iterative and incremental approach to the SDLC for its development. 1.

Now consider the way the project was probably initiated. To what extent is the project the result of (a) an opportunity, (b) a problem, or (c) a directive? As defined in the strategic plan, the project is a response to a problem, but it also has aspects of pursuing an opportunity. The strategic plan itself can be viewed as an internal directive. Revenues and profitability have been declining and management believes that the declines result from inefficient internal processes and lack of ability to support modern e-business methods. Upgrading IT systems is seen as both a method of addressing the problems and of enabling Reliable to pursue business opportunities in new geographic areas.

2.

Many of the system users (such as employees at health-care facilities) are not Reliable employees. What risks of project failure are associated with the mixed user community? What would you, as a project manager, do to minimize those risks? One of the biggest risks in this project is incorrectly determining user requirements. Outside users do not have the same motivation as inside users do to fully participate in the project. Like internal users, they may not know exactly what they want, but their motivation to resolve that ambiguity is reduced because they don’t necessarily see the ambiguity as their problem. Also, members of the outside user community may not see their problems and needs similarly, thus complicating the task of determining true user needs and defining a system that will satisfy that broad range of needs. Failure to obtain high-quality input that covers the spectrum of outside users will dramatically increase the risk of project and business failure. Obtaining quality input from outside users is probably the most significant “up front” problem associated with the project. To mitigate the risk described above, the project manager must ensure motivated participation by a representative community of current and potential outside users. That community must be identified and brought into the project at its earliest stages. Users who are already motivated to participate (for example, those with a long history of loyalty to Reliable) should be included. But the project manager must also include other users to avoid bias. Financial or other incentives may be required to sufficiently motivate some outside users to participate and provide high-quality input. The project manager must also ensure that analysts make project participation convenient and simple for outside users. This might include many visits to outside user organizations and building prototypes that those users can evaluate on their own premises.

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What are some of the tangible benefits to the project? What are some of the intangible benefits? What are some of the tangible and intangible costs? How would you handle the project’s benefits and costs that will accrue to the health-care facilities—would you include tangible benefits and costs to the nursing homes in the cost/benefit analyses? Why or why not? The tangible benefits are reductions in operational costs, though those reductions are difficult to precisely estimate. The reductions presumably extend across several business functions, including purchasing, order entry, order fulfillment, and billing. Because billing seems to be the function in greatest disarray, benefits will presumably be large in that area. Benefits that lie on the boundary between tangible and intangible include greater market share and expanded geographical reach. If market penetration could be precisely estimate, so could tangible dollar amounts. But the speculative nature of the effect of the new system on marketing opportunities and success makes accurate estimates virtually impossible. Intangible benefits include improved owner and employee morale and easier management of the business. The current system is clearly suboptimal. Management has explicitly recognized that fact, and it is no doubt just as obvious to line employees. The intangible costs of such a working environment include lower productivity, failure of employees and managers to “think outside the box,” and higher turnover. These factors all improve when employees spend less time fighting inefficiencies in current operating methods and worrying about whether their job or employer will exist in six months or a year. The degree of automation envisioned in the new system should improve overall management efficiency. Tight system integration and accessible automated data sources should simplify operational control and planning functions. But the exact form of those simplifications is difficult to describe. Tangible costs of the new system include the costs of analyzing, designing, and building the system, including hiring outside contractors or new employees and assigning existing employees to the effort. Hardware, purchased software, and operating costs must also be considered. Intangible costs include disruptions to current activities that will occur due to development and deployment and possible negative effects on employee morale. Though employees and owners may feel that the new system is a good thing in the long run, short-term stress and other negative consequences will still occur. The system is the center of a major shift in the way Reliable does virtually everything. Such a monumental change in an organization produces wide-ranging negative effects on operations and personnel. The tangible and intangible benefits that will accrue to customer health-care facilities are important. They should be estimated now as part of the overall cost-benefit analysis, and

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those estimates should be solidified in later development phases to provide marketing information. The success of the new system ultimately depends on leveraging its capabilities to improve market share and geographic reach. To do so, Reliable must demonstrate to prospective customers that it can save them time, effort, and money while providing excellent or superior service. If Reliable can’t do that, then some competitor most certainly will! 4.

Overall, do you think the approach taken to the project (sequential waterfall versus iterative and incremental) would make a difference in the tangible and intangible costs and benefits? Discuss. The development approach will affect the timing of benefit realization. That is, benefits won’t accrue to Reliable or its customers until relevant portions of the system are ready for production use. Short-term benefits to Reliable will come primarily from improved operations, which depend largely on the purchasing, order fulfillment, and billing functions. Short-term benefits to customers, and long-term benefits to Reliable in terms of improved market penetration, depend on rolling out portions of the system that affect customers most—primarily order entry and billing. A sequential approach to the system delays all benefits until the entire system is implemented. An iterative or incremental approach provides faster realization of the benefits of subsystems that are implemented early. This is another significant argument for not adopting a sequential waterfall approach. A sequential approach also exacerbates the intangible costs of disruptive organizational change by concentrating them in a relatively short time frame. A non-sequential approach will provide greater opportunity to phase in organizational changes, probably, but not unequivocally, reducing negative effects on employees and operations.

5.

Overall, do you think the approach taken to the project would make a difference in minimizing the risks of project failure? Discuss. This overlaps the answers to this case in the previous chapter. Non-sequential development will primarily increase technical risks—the technical choices made in early iterations run a greater risk of proving suboptimal in later iterations. Sequential development increases overall risk to the business due to not having parts of the system available for use relatively quickly. Given Reliable’s rather perilous and deteriorating business situation, the risks of sequential development are probably much greater than the risks of incremental or iterative development.