1. Williwonk's Chocolates of St. Louis makes an assortment of chocolate candy and candy novelties. The company has six in-city stores, five stores in major metropolitan airports, and a small mail-order branch. Williwonk's has a small, computerized information system that tracks inventory in its plant, helps schedule production, and so on, but this system is not tied directly into any of its retail outlets. The mail-order system is handled manually.
Recently, several Williwonk's stores experienced a rash of complaints from mail-order cus-tomers that the candy was spoiled upon arrival, that it did not arrive when promised, or that it never arrived; the company also received several letters complaining that candy in various airports tasted stale. Williwonk's has been selling a new, low-carb, dietetic form of chocolate made with sugar-free artificial sweetener. Sales have been brisk, but there have been problems shipping the wrong type of chocolate to an address for a diabetic person. There were a number of complaints, and Williwonk's sent a number of free boxes of chocolate to ease the situation.
Management would like to sell products using the Web but only has a few web pages with infor¬mation about the company and an order form that can be printed. Web ordering does not exist. One of the senior executives would like to sell customized chocolates with the name of a person on each piece. Although the production area has assured management that this could be easily done, there is no method to order customized chocolates.
Another senior executive has mentioned that Williwonk's has partnered with several European chocolate manufacturers and will be importing chocolate from a variety of countries. At present, this must be done over the phone, by email, or by mail. The executive wants an internal website that will enable employees to order directly from the partner companies. All this has led a number of manag¬ers to request trend analysis. Too much inventory results in stale chocolate, while at other times, there is a shortage of a certain kind of chocolate.
Seasonal and holiday variation trends would help Williwonk's maintain an adequate inventory.
The inventory control manager has insisted that all changes must be implemented before the next holiday season. "The time for this to be complete is an absolute due date," remarked Candy, a senior manager. "Make sure that everything works perfectly before the site goes public," she continues. "I don't want any customers receiving the wrong chocolates!" In addition, the order processing man-
ager has mentioned that the system must be secure.
You have been working for two weeks with Williwonk's on some minor modifications for its inventory information system when you overhear two managers discussing these occurrences. List the possible opportunities or problems among them that might lend themselves to systems
projects.
2. Where is most of the feedback on problems with Williwonk's products coming from in Problem Viz How reliable are the sources? Explain in a paragraph.
3. After getting to know Williwonk's management people better, you have approached them with your ideas on possible systems improvements that could address some of the problems or opportunities given in Problem 1.
a. In two paragraphs, provide your suggestions for systems projects. Make any realistic assumptions necessary.
b. Are there any problems or opportunities discussed in Problem 1 that are not suitable? Explain your response.
4. Create a problem definition for Williwonk's, as described in Problem 1. Estimate the weights of importance. Include at least one requirement and one constraint.
5. Create a list of user requirements for the problem definition created in Problem 4.
6. Delicato, Inc., a manufacturer of precise measuring instruments for scientific purposes, has presented you with a list of attributes that its managers think are probably important in selecting a vendor for computer hardware and software, or a cloud service provider. The criteria are listed here, but not in order of importance:
1. Low price
2. Precisely written software for engineering applications
3. Vendor performs routine maintenance on hardware
4. Training for Delicato employees
a. Critique the list of attributes in a paragraph.
b. Using its initial input, help Delicato, Inc., draw up a more suitable list of criteria for selecting computer hardware and software vendors to purchase from.
c. Using its initial input, help Delicato, Inc., draw up a more suitable list of criteria for selecting cloud vendors who could provide HaaS and SaaS.
d. In a paragraph, state how the list of attributes for selecting a computer hardware vendor to pur¬chase from should differ from the list of attributes for selecting a cloud provider for HaaS.
e. In a paragraph, state how the list of attributes for selecting a computer software vendor to purchase applications from should differ from the list of attributes for selecting a cloud provider for SaaS.
7. SoftWear Silhouettes is a rapidly growing mail-order house specializing in all-cotton clothing. Management would like to expand sales to the Web by creating an ecommerce site. The company has two full-time systems analysts and one programmer. Company offices are located in a small, isolated New England town, and the employees who handle the traditional mail-order business have little computer training.
a. Considering the company's situation, draw up a list of software attributes that SoftWear Silhouettes should emphasize in its choice of software to create a website and integrate the mail-order business with business from the website.
b. Would you recommend COTS software, custom software, or outsourcing to a SaaS provider? State your choice and defend it in a paragraph.
c. List the variables that contributed to your response in part b.
8. The following is 12 years' demand for Viking Village, a game now available for handhelds and smartphones:
|
Year
|
Demand |
|
2001
|
20,123
|
|
2002
|
18,999
|
|
2003
|
20,900
|
|
2004
|
31,200
|
|
2005
|
38,000
|
|
2006
|
41,200
|
|
2007
|
49,700
|