DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND REQUIREMENTS

PART A: DESCRIBE THE BUSINESS CASE FOR CAR SHARING IN FUTUREVILLE 

 

This assignment requires you to write a report dealing with the issues listed and described below. Schedules and cost estimates are not required for the very good reason that they involve an imprecise process that is part of project management rather than an analysis and design activity.

Part A should be set up as a report, with an introduction and appropriate headings reflecting the topics and tasks below.

Before you proceed, read (if you have not already done so):

 

 “Activities of Core Process 1: Identify the Problem and Obtain Approval” on pp. 262–271 of the textbook.

 “Stakeholders” on pp. 46–48 of the textbook.

Also, download the files on the Car Sharing case study from the Important Resources block on the right of the course home page, and read through them.

Carefully review the definition of all terms and concepts in the detailed instructions below!

 

Your report should be set up as follows:

 

I. The Business Environment

This section of the report should provide sufficient background information to allow someone not familiar with the business situation to understand the justification for this project.

Start by addressing the following tasks:

 

1. Identify the business need for the Car Sharing IS project.

2. Consider the needed interfaces to other systems.

3. Analyze the system stakeholders, and briefly describe their “stakes.”

Stakeholders include the project sponsor and internal and external users. The textbook provides an example for the RMO case. See p. 49 of the textbook, and especially Figure 2-7.

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II. The System Vision

The system vision clearly describes how the information systems development project and new system will contribute to the strategic direction of the Car Sharing organization and pilot project (see Figure 9-5 on p. 264 of the textbook). Specifically your report should address the following issues:

 

1. What are the system objectives for the Car Sharing IS?

2. What business benefits are to be obtained from the Car Sharing IS?

3. What system capabilities are required?

 

III. Risks and Feasibility

This section of your report identifies risks and confirms the feasibility of the information systems development project. Project feasibility analysis verifies whether a project may be started and successfully completed. Your report should address the feasibility issues listed below. Start by clearly describing what issues are addressed by each feasibility category (see the relevant definitions in the textbook), and discuss the feasibility of the project with respect to each category.

 

1. Determine organizational and cultural feasibility. This evaluates organizational and cultural issues to identify potential risks for the new system. See pp. 269– 270 of the textbook for examples of potential issues.

Note: the textbook does not provide an exhaustive list of possibilities! Note: ‘organization’ in this context refers to the Car Sharing community—all stakeholders, but particularly members and prospective members.

2. Assess technological feasibility. See p. 270 of the textbook.

3. Assess resource feasibility. See p. 270 of the textbook.

4. Assess schedule feasibility. See  pp. 270–271 of the textbook.

 

Part A is worth 55 marks. Marking criteria are

 completeness and correctness of the information presented (50 marks)  organization of the report – structure, headings, etc. (2.5 marks)  presentation – look, readability, etc. (2.5 marks)

The organization and presentation of information are part of the interpersonal and communication skills required of systems analysts.

 

PART B: USE THE EVENT DECOMPOSITION TECHNIQUE TO IDENTIFY USE CASES FOR THE CAR SHARING IS 

 Before you proceed, you should review “Use Cases and Event Decomposition” on pp. 70–76 of the textbook.

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Virtually all approaches to systems development begin the modeling process with the concept of the use case. The textbook recommends several techniques for identifying use cases.

For this assignment, you are required to use the event decomposition technique to identify use cases. Develop a table for all events relating to

 membership – from recruitment to termination.

 accounts and billing.

 reservations.

 inventory – vehicles and locations.

 vehicle usage (completed trips).

The table should include three columns:

 Event Name

 Event Type (external, temporal, state)

 Use Case Name

When creating the table, keep related events (e.g., all events pertaining to membership activities) together.

Part B is worth 25 marks. Marking criteria are

 completeness and correctness (22 marks)

 presentation– look, readability, etc. (3 marks)

 

PART C: ESSAY QUESTION 

How do the report and table created in Part A and Part B of this assignment help in the system development process of an information system for car sharing in Futureville? What problems can occur if these documents are not created or are inaccurate?

Answer the questions above, using overall 200–300 words. Being able to answer questions precisely is part of the interpersonal and communication skills required of systems analysts; therefore, meeting the word limit is important.

Answers consisting of more than 300 words will be marked with 0 points, and answers of less than 200 words will receive reduced marks proportionate to the length of the answer.

Make sure that your answer is written in your own words rather than being copied either from the textbook or from another source! Cite the sources you use in your answer, and provide references. There should be at least two references in your answer, and at least one of them should not be the textbook. If you are not sure how to list and cite sources, please read “How to Cite Correctly” in the Important Resources block on the right side of the course home page.

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Part C is worth 10 marks. Marking criteria are

 completeness and correctness (9 marks)

 presentation – readability, use of references, etc. (1 mark)