IS 421: Systems Analysis

Homework 2

Maple Ridge Engineering


DUE: Monday, April 28, 2014, 11:59 PM

You have been assigned as a systems consultant to the fictional Maple Ridge Engineering (MRE). You will be helping to develop a new system called Global Engineering Management System (GEMS). GEMS will support the management of projects conducted by MRE. Your tasks in Homework 2 are as follows:

Background

  • Read HyperCase® Experience 1 in chapter 1 of Kendall (8th and 9th ed.) for background information on the case
  • Go to http://www.pearsonhighered.com/hypercase/ and select "Hypercase 2.9". Take a look at the "Instructions" and "Hints"
  • Click the "Start" button to enter the reception room of Maple Ridge Engineering (MRE). Note that many of the room's objects are hyperlinks. Explore them. The two most critical are the MRE website and the telephone directory. Look at the MRE website to get an idea of how MRE is organized. Clicking on hyperlinks in the directory will take you to interview transcripts and offices containing links to GEMS project documents.
Questions to Answer
  1. For HyperCase® Experience 2.2 in chapter 2 of Kendall (8th and 9th ed.), answer questions 1 and 2 (reprinted below). Recommended MRE resources: Hill, Evans, Ketcham, and Sherman.
    1. What major organizational change recently took place at MRE?   What department(s) was (or were) involved?  Why was the change made?
    2. What are the goals of the Training and Management Systems Department?
  2. For HyperCase® Experience 4.1 in chapter 4 of Kendall (8th and 9th ed.), answer question 2 (reprinted below). 
    1. List three probing questions that are part of the Daniel Hill interview. In particular, what did you learn by following up on the questions you asked Daniel?
  3. For HyperCase® Experience 5.1 in chapter 5 of Kendall (8th and 9th ed.), answer questions 1-5 (reprinted below). Recommended resources: Blandford, Evans, Hill, Ketcham, Rabin, and Sherman.
    1. Use clues from the case to evaluate the Training Unit's computer experience and its staff's feeling about the Project Status Reporting System (PSRS). What do you think the consensus is in the Training Unit toward a computerized project tracking system?
    2. What reports and statements are generated by the Training Unit during project development(*)? List each with a brief description
    3. According to the interview results, what are the problems [that MRE management has] with the present project tracking system in the Training Unit?
    4. Describe the "project management conflict" at MRE. Who is involved? Why is there a conflict?
    5. How does the Management Systems Unit keep track of project progress? Briefly describe the method or system
    (*) "Project development" refers to the life cycle of a project that MRE is considering or doing for a client, i.e., Initiation, Planning, Execution, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing

  4. View the GEMS use case diagram in Melissa Smith's office. Next, view the GEMS context level data flow diagram in Roger Rabin's office (It is there!). Describe one way the information content on the two types of diagrams is similar, and one way it is different.
  5. View the GEMS entity-relationship diagram in Roger Rabin's office. List ALL the relationships on the diagram where the maximum cardinality is one-to-many.
  6. Complete the following data modeling problem:
    Draw an entity-relationship diagram for the following situation: An airline's flights have passengers. For each seat on a flight, the airline identifies the passenger (if any) who holds the seat reservation. Not every seat will be held by someone. [Make any assumptions necessary to complete a reasonable diagram. List your assumptions.]

Extra credit:

For HyperCase® Experience 4.2 in chapter 4 of Kendall (8th and 9th ed.), answer question 2 (reprinted below). Recommended MRE resource: Evans (Hint: Look at Evans' interview answers, and in his office).

  1. Critique the questionnaire that Snowden Evans circulated.  What can be done to improve its reliability, validity, and response rate? Provide three practical suggestions.

Grading criteria:

  • #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 will be 15% each, and 10% of the grade will be for writing quality -- Organization, grammar, punctuation, English usage, formatting, and spelling. The extra credit will be at most 10%.