Case study: Willowbrook School
Part -1:
1. As a group, prepare an organizational chart of Willowbrook School's paid staff. If you have Microsoft Office 2007, on the Ribbon Insert tab Illustrations group, click SmartArt. In the Choose a SmartArt Graphic gallery, click Hierarchy, click an organization chart layout, and click OK. If you have an older version of Microsoft Office, you can click the Insert Diagram or Organization Chart button on the Drawing toolbar then click the Organization Chart button. Save your document in proper format and attach the finished organizational chart to the assignment.
2. On a separate page, list at least three business processes that Willowbrook School performs, and identify the person responsible for the task. Each answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
3. How might Willowbrook use a transaction processing system, a user productivity system, and a business support system? Give an example for each system, and describe how it would benefit the school. Each answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
4. List the pros and cons of the school's reliance on volunteers to complete tasks from simple office tasks to financial oversight responsibilities as they relate to the use of an information system at Willowbrook School. Each answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
5. Draft a mission statement for Willowbrook School, based on information provided in the first two chapters. The answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
6. Does a strong business case exist in the case of Willowbrook School? Discuss why or why not? The answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
7. Do you think this is a feasible project? Justify your answer, and address each type of feasibility, noting any unusual challenges that Willowbrook School might present when evaluating feasibility. The answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
8. What information will you need to have to begin the preliminary investigation? Which techniques will you use to gather this information? The answer should be in paragraph form and should be double spaced, and in APA format. Save your document in MS Word format and attach it to this assignment.
Part -2:
Assignments
1. List the system requirements for the new fee billing system. Give at least one example of how to achieve more effective outputs, inputs, processes, performance, and controls.
2. Are there scalability issues that you should consider? If so, what are they?
3. Draw an FDD that shows the main operations described in the fact statement.
4. Parental input was gathered by speaking to three parents that Susan Brown suggested. Do you think this was a wise strategy for information gathering? Why or why not? What other information gathering technique would you consider for gathering information from parents, and why?
Part -3:
Assignments
1. Prepare a context diagram and diagram 0 DFD for the new system.
2. Prepare a list of data stores and data flows needed for the system. Under each data store, list the data elements you would include in the data stores, based on the fact-finding information presented in Chapter 5.
3. Create a decision table that describes how the Willowbrook School determines which discounts, if any, are to be applied to the fixed fees for a child.
Part-4:
You scheduled a presentation to Willowbrook School in one week, and you must submit a system requirements document during the presentation. Prepare both the written documentation and the presentation. (Note: To give a successful presentation, you will need to learn the skills described in Part 1 of the Systems Analyst's Toolkit.) Your oral and written presentation must include the following tasks:
1. Provide an overview of the proposed system, including costs and benefits, with an explanation of the various cost-and-benefit types and categories.
2. Develop an economic feasibility analysis, using payback analysis, ROI, and present value (assume a discount rate of 8 percent).
3. Provide a brief explanation of the various alternatives that should be investigated if development continues, including in-house development and any other possible strategies.
4. Suggest a coding scheme for use in the after-care hours report, that would identify which time block(s) are being billed for on any particular day. You will need to refer back to Chapter 4 to review the time blocks available in after care.
Part -5:
1. Determine the data required for a new student. Design an input source document that will be used to capture the data and a data entry screen to input the information. This input source document will be used as the registration form for students accepted to Willowbrook, and should contain information for both the academic program and after-care programs.
2. What data validation checks would you suggest for the new student form designed in Assignment 1?
3. Monthly updates require inputting information about additional after-care hours used and payments received. Would you combine these in one data entry screen, or create separate screens for this? Explain your decision.
4. Design the monthly billing statement for a family using a printer spacing chart or graph paper. Include a mock-up report and a report analysis form for each report.
Part -6:
1. Using the Functional Decomposition Diagrams and Data Flow Diagrams you developed for chapters four and five as source documents, create an ERD that includes cardinality notation.
2. Design tables in 3NF.
3. If you identified any new entities during normalization, create a final entity-relationship diagram for the system.
4. Use sample data to populate the fields for at least three records in each table.
Part -7:
Assignments
1. Should the Willowbrook School system be based on file-server or client/server architecture? Prepare a checklist that includes the main topics and issues that should be considered when making this decision.
2. Speak to the cost-benefit issues of file server and client/server designs. How much of an impact do you think they would have on a system of this size?
3. What are your recommendations for backup and disaster recovery for the new system? Provide Willowbrook with two scenarios for backup and disaster recovery, and present the strengths and weaknesses of both. Which is your preferred scenario?
4. Prepare an outline for a system design specification and describe the contents of each section.
Part -8
Assignments
1. Design the testing required for the billing system. You should consider program, integration, and system testing in your test plan.
2. Identify the people who need training on the new system. For each group, describe the type of training you would recommend and list the topics you would cover.
3. In an earlier chapter, a preference was expressed for a transition to the new system utilizing a direct cutover method, timed around the move from one academic year to the next. All fixed fee billing for an academic year is completed in April, and commences in July for the following academic year. Drop-In After-Care billing continues for the month of May, and a final bill is issued during the second week of June, the week after classes end. Do you think this is feasible? Would you recommend another method for transition?
4. Develop a data conversion plan that specifies which data items must be entered, the order in which the data should be entered, and which data items are the most time critical.
Part -9:
Assignments
1. Prepare a procedure that Willowbrook can follow to request maintenance support. You should create a form or forms that will provide you with the information needed to provide support services in as timely and efficient a manner as possible.
2. The staff at Willowbrook is full of ideas about how to expand and enhance the system. You would like to help Willowbrook prioritize some of the ideas they have for updating, expanding, and enhancing the system. Discuss some of the other ways the IS could be used to reduce the administrative load on teachers and administrators. Given the reliance of the school on volunteers to accomplish certain administrative tasks, your answer should discuss any security implications that expansion and enhancement would have.
3. Write a brief report explaining the different types of maintenance activities, how they affect the system and what the cost patterns are for the different maintenance types. Given the anticipated five year useful life of the system, can you suggest any priorities for spending maintenance dollars in each of those five years?
4. Some of the parents have asked about investigating the possibility of making certain information available over the Internet. Currently the school provides phone directories listing all families to all families with registered children. There has been a question as to whether or not this could be made available online in a secure fashion. Some parents would like the option of receiving their bills electronically. Others have asked about setting up an online registration system.
Quite a few parents have asked about having a school calendar online. A vocal minority are against any material being made available online, due to concerns about privacy, the security of family information made available or submitted online, and the safety of their children. Write a brief report for the school administration discussing the pros and cons of providing any or all of this information over the Internet.