Chapter 1
1. Why is it important to use systems analysis and design methodologies when building a system? Why not just build the system in whatever way seems to be “quick and easy?” What value is provided by using an “engineering” approach?
8. How might prototyping  be  used  as  part  of the SDLC?
Chapter 2
3. In the section on choosing  off-the-shelf  software, eight criteria are proposed for evaluating alternative packages. Suppose the choice is between alternative  custom  software  developers rather  than  prewritten  packages.  What  criteria would  be  appropriate  to  select  and  compare among  competing  bidders  for  custom  development  of  an  application?  Define  each  of  these criteria.
4. How might the project team recommending an ERP design strategy justify its recommendation as compared with other types of design strategies?
MGMT 340 Week 2 Problems/Exercises
Chapter 3
2. What are some sources of risk in a systems analysis and design project, and how does a project manager cope with risk during the stages of project management?
4. Suppose  that  you  have  been  contracted  by  a jewelry store to manage a project to create a new  inventory  tracking  system.  Describe your  initial  approach  to  the  project.  What should your first activity be? What information would you need? To whom might you need to speak?
Chapter 4
1. The economic analysis carried out during project identification and selection is rather superficial. Why is this? Consequently, what factors do you think tend to be most important for a potential project to survive this first phase of the life cycle?
6. Assuming monetary benefits of an information system  at  $85,000  per  year,  one-time  costs  of $75,000, recurring costs of $35,000 per year, a discount  rate  of  12  percent,  and  a  five-year time horizon, calculate the net present value of these costs and benefits of an information system.  Also  calculate  the  overall  return  on  investment  of  the  project  and  then  present  a break-even analysis. At what point does breakeven occur?
MGMT 340 Week 3 Problems/Exercises
Chapter 5
Question 1 and 3
Chapter 6
Q 8. Consider the DFD in Figure 6-20. (Page 180 of text). List three errors (rule violations) on this DFD. (5 points)
Q 9. Consider the three DFDs in Figure 6-21 (Page 180 of text). List three errors (rule violations) on these DFDs. (5 points)
MGMT 340 Week 4 Problems/Exercises
Chapter 7
5. Consider the E-R diagram in Figure 7-20. Based on this E-R diagram, answer the following questions:
a. How  many  EMPLOYEES  can  work  on  a project?
b. What is the degree of the Used_on relationship?
c. Do any associative entities appear in this diagram? If so, name them.
d. How else could the attribute Skill be modeled?
e. What  attributes  might  be  attached  to  the Works_on relationship?
f. Could  TOOL  be  modeled  as  an  associative entity? Why or why not?
16. The owner of two pizza parlors located in adjacent towns wants to computerize and integrate sales  transactions  and  inventory  management within and between both stores. The point-of-sale component  must  be  easy  to  use  and  flexible enough  to  accommodate  a  variety  of  pricing strategies and coupons. The  inventory management,  which  will  be  linked  to  the  point-of-sale component,  must  also  be  easy  to  use  and  fast. The systems at each store need to be linked so that sales and inventory levels can be determined instantly for each store and for both stores combined. The owner can allocate $40,000 for hardware and $20,000 for software and must have the new system operational in three months. Training must be short and easy. Briefly describe three alternative systems for this situation and explain how each would meet the requirements and constraints.  Are  the requirements  and  constraints realistic? Why or why not?
17. Compare the alternative systems from Problem and Exercise 16 using the weighted approach demonstrated in Figure 7-19. Which system would you recommend? Why? Was the approach taken in this and Problem and Exercise 16 useful even for this relatively small system? Why or why not?
MGMT 340 Week 5 Problems/Exercises
Chapter 8
3. Imagine the worst possible reports from a system.  What  is  wrong  with  them?  List  as  many problems as you can. What are the consequences of such reports? What could go wrong as a result? How  does  the  prototyping  process  help  guard against each problem?
4. Given the guidelines presented in this chapter, identify flaws in the design of the Report of Employees shown below. What assumptions about users and tasks did you make in order to assess this design? Redesign this report to correct these flaws.
MGMT 340 Week 6 Problems/Exercises
Chapter 10
1. Consider the reasons implementations fail. For at least three of these reasons, explain why this happens, if there is one (or more) type of implementation likely to minimize the occurrence, and if there is one (or more) type of installation more likely to induce failure for this reason
2. Two members of your project development team are disagreeing about the relative importance of training and documentation. Sam strongly believes that training is far more important because it will ensure the successful implementation of the information system and that the early usage is a positive experience. Pat encounters that the user documentation is far more important because its impact can help not only the current users, but also future users. Which do you think is right, and why?
5. Due to advances in technology and widespread computer literacy, many organizations use e-learning extensively to train employees. If you were managing a system implementation and had to train on a limited budget, you may find yourself choosing between e-learning or conducting face to face training with a subset of users who would then train their departments (called train the trainers). Which would you choose and why?
6. Is it good or bad for corporations to rely on vendors for computing support? List arguments both for and against reliance on vendors as part of your answer.
MGMT 340 Week 7 Problems/Exercises
Appendix A
1. The use-case diagram shown in Figure A-1 captures the Student billing function but does not contain any  function  for  accepting  tuition  payment  from students. Revise the diagram to capture this functionality.  Also,  express  some  common  behavior among two use cases in the revised diagram by using include relationships.
Appendix B
1. When should you use an Agile method, and when should you use an engineering-based method for developing a system? Support your answer.