Question

Consider the following case study: Clean Planet is a private business based in Victoria specialising in commercial cleaning supplies and business support products for organisational clients. Only a few computerized operations are in the business. In an effort to become more efficient and profitable, the vice president, Julia Thompson, has hired a systems analyst, Robert Hanover. Julia and Robert have made progress in the development of a strategic plan for Clean Planet. Robert is anxious to define the requirements for the new system. He has gathered more information and has created the following organization chart for Clean Planet. Robert: Julia, it’s time to start moving on the system investigation. The mission statement is finalized and strategic planning is well underway. I can see that the directors are beginning to think about how their departments can benefit from better information management. Julia: You’re right! Andrew McClean found out that we lost a big order the other day because the customer was able to get the estimate much more quickly from another company because of their online presence. He’s wondering just how many sales we are losing because of timeliness issues. I had Anna’s group gather numbers for the directors about how many times our profit margin has been reduced because of human error somewhere along the order process. We are profitable but could be more so by reducing error and becoming more competitive with timely information to our potential customers. Robert: Andrew’s area of sales is a logical place to start the investigation. I need to interview sales and customer service representatives to get an idea of the requirements for the new information system. What kind of information will we include? What do we want to get out? What processes need to be managed? What are our business needs? Charles Edwards President Julia Edwards Vice President Andrew McClean Director of Sales Anna McNally Director of Finance Martha Seymour Director of Operations Dennis Martin Shipping/Receiving Manager George Thompson Warehouse Manager Sales Rep (6) Accounting/Billing Clerk (2) Customer Service Rep (3) Julia: This will take some time, and a lot of information needs to be gathered. You should make sure you spend some time with the accounting clerks too because they fill in for customer service representatives. Robert: I’m ready to get started! Answer the following questions: a. Develop a fact-finding plan including interviews, documentation review, observation, questionnaires, sampling, and research. b. Review the organizational model above and list the individuals you would like to interview. Prepare a list of objectives for each of the interviews you will conduct. c. Prepare a list of specific questions for each individual you will interview.

Answer 1

Today the competition of product selling business is over internet. People do prefer to purchase a product online and to get delivered to their door steps. So making an online platform that is capable of competing with rivals is a necessary now. To develop an online webstore for a currently running business needs a lot of information to gather.

a). Fact-finding plan (Information to be gathered):

• What is the product of the company?
• How many type of products are there?
• Does the company operate as a brand or franchaisee?
• Is there any sub category of products?
• How many branches do the company have?
• Who are the target audience?
• Do the company have an existing website? If yes, how is it handled?
• The expenditure and revenue map
• Expenditure expectations for new project
• Do the company have distribution system now?
• How are the payments done now?

b) List of people to interview :

• Andrew McClean
• Anna McNally
• Martha Seymour
• Dennis Martin
• George Thompson
• Sales Rep
• Accounting/Billing
• Clerk
• Customer Service Rep

List of objectives:

• Information about the rivals.
• Current procedures of a sale and delivery.
• Capacity of warehouse and facilities.
• Payment system.
• Target audience.

c). List of people to interview and the questions :

• Andrew McClean - What are the current sale situation and what are the methods using by rivals?
• Anna McNally - How the current expentiture and revenue ratios goes like?
• Martha Seymour - How does a sale start and end now? What are the steps involved?
• Dennis Martin - What are the current shipping and distribution methods used?
• George Thompson - What are the facilities available in the warehouse? Whether is it enough to implement new idea?
• Sales Rep - What are the most asked products by customers?
• Accounting/Billing - How the payments are done now? What are the security measures opted on payments?
• Clerk - How does the documents are managed currently?
• Customer Service Rep - What are the customer feedbacks and what are the most asked question and reported problem by customers?