Ch 2: Understanding and Modeling Organizational Systems

Question 1

What are the three groups of organizational fundamentals that carry implications for the deveopment of information systems?

Answer 1

1. The concept of organizations as systems
2. The various levels of management
3. Overall organizational culture

-Ch 2, pp. 43

Question 2

What is meant by saying the organizational subsystems are interrelated and interdependent?

Answer 2

When any element of a system is changed or eliminated, the rest of the system’s elements and subsystems are also significantly affected.

-Ch 2, pp. 20

Question 3

Define the term organizational boundary.

Answer 3

All systems are contained by boundaries separating them from their environment. Organizational boundaries exist on a continuum ranging from permeable to impermeable.

-Ch 2, pp. 21

Question 4

What are the two main purposes of feedback in organizations?

Answer 4

1. Control
2. Planning

Ch 2, pp. 20

Question 5

Define openness in an organizational environment.

Answer 5

Openness refers to the free flow of information within the organization.

-Ch 2, pp. 21

Question 6

Define closedness in an organizational environment.

Answer 6

Closedness refers to the policies, procedures, and culture that restricted the free flow of information within the organization.

-Ch 2, pp. 21

Question 7

What is the difference between a traditional organization and a virtual one?

Answer 7

Traditional organization are brick and mortar whereas virtual ones use technology to bring people with specific skills togther electronically to work on projects that are not physically located in the same place.

-Ch 2, pp. 22

Question 8

What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of a vitual organization?

Answer 8

Question 9

Give an an example of how systems analysts could work with users as a virtual team.

Answer 9

An analyst can still complete the full SDLC in a vitual organization, but the tools and methods employed to gather feedback from users should be in line with how users already operate. For example, platforms such as MS OneNote and blogs to facilitate conversation; video tutorials on YouTube for training new systems; and, as always, examing the back and front ends of the system through an HCI-paradigm are examples.

Question 10

What are enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems?

Answer 10

Information system software that is integrated organization-wide (enterprise-wide) and helps companies in the coordination of critical organizational processes between functional areas. Software packages are purchased from companies such as SAP or Oracle and customized for a specific organization’s needs.

-Ch 2, pp. 23, 503

Question 11

What is the main difference between doing business process analysis for ERP and other types of systems?

Answer 11

An ERP brings with it a set of business processes native to the software itself that usually require an organization to adapt new business procedures and policy. Wheras a networked information system allows the analyst to shape and refine the system to meet the needs of the employees. In other words, an analysts looks for how the organization must change it’s practices to conform to the ERP instead of looking at how to tailor the system to conform to the human information requirement.

-Ch 2, pp. 24

Question 12

What problems do analysts often encounter when they try to implement an ERP package?

Answer 12

1. User acceptance
2. Integration with legacy systems
3. Integration with the supply chain
4. Upgrading functionality and complexity of ERP modules
5. Reorganizing work life of users and decision makers
6. Expanding reach across several organizations
7. Strategic repositioning of the company adopting ERP

-Ch 2, pp. 24

Question 13

What are the two symbols on a use case diagram, and what do they represent?

Answer 13

1. Stick Figure (aka. actor): Something that exist outside of and interacts with the system. Can be a human, another system, device, or web connection.
2. Oval (aka. event): An actor action that begins a related series of interaction in the system that map out the overall use case.

-Ch 2, pp. 32

Question 14

What is a use case scenario?

Answer 14

Provides developers with a view of what the user wants. Always describes three things: an actor that initiates an event, the event that triggers a use case, and the use case that performs the action triggered by the event.

-Ch 2, pp. 32

Question 15

What are the three main parts of a use case scenario?

Answer 15

1. An actor that initiates an event
2. The event that triggers a use case
3. The use case that performs the action triggered by the event

-Ch 2, pp. 32

Question 16

What are the four steps in creating use case descriptions?

Answer 16

1. Use agile stories, problem definition objectives, user requirements, or a feature list as a starting point.
2. Ask about the tasks that must be done to accomplish the transaction. Ask if the use case reads any data or updates any tables.
3. Find out if there are any iterative or looping actions.
4. The use case ends when the customer goal is complete.

-Ch 2, pp. 38

Question 17

What are the five altitude metaphors for describing use case on different levels? What do they represent?

Answer 17

1. WHITE (Clouds): Enterprise level
2. KITE: Business unit or department level. Summary of goals.
3. BLUE (Sea): User goals, 2-20 minute task that everyone can do
4. INDIGO (Fish): Functional level, more detail
5. BLACK (Clam): Subfunctional level, most detailed

-Ch 2, pp. 34-35

Question 18

What does a process represent on a context-level data flow diagram?

Answer 18

The activities that transforms or change data in an information system. They can be either manual or automated. Signified by a rounded rectangle in a data flow diagram.

-Ch 2, pp. 506

Question 19

What is an entity on a data flow diagram?

Answer 19

A person, group, department, or system that either receives or originates information or data. One of the primary symbols in a data flow diagram.

-Ch 2, pp. 503

Question 20

What is meant by the term entity-relationship diagram?

Answer 20

A graphic representation of the type of interactions between entities within a system.

-Ch 2, pp. 503

Question 21

What symbols are used to draw E-R diagrams?

Answer 21

There are many different conventions for drawing E-R diagrams. The text teaches the crow’s foot method. All methods share the characteristic of a symbol that represents an entity and a line representing the type of relationship between entitites.

-Ch 2, pp. 27, 28

Question 22

List the types of E-R diagrams.

Answer 22

1. Crow’s Foot
2. Arrow
3. Bachman Notation

-Ch 2, pp. 26

Question 23

How do an entity, an associative entity, and an attrributive entity differ?

Answer 23

Question 24

List the three broad, horizontal levels of management in an organization.

Answer 24

1. Operations
2. Middle Management
3. Strategic Management

-Ch 2, pp. 19

Question 25

How can understanding organizational subcultures help in the design of information systems?

Answer 25

Understanding subcultures helps an analyst design effective systems with the power to overcome change resistance.

Subcultures coexist within “official” organizational cultures. They are powerful determinants of information requirements, availability, and use. They can exert a powerful influence on members behavior, including sanctions for or agains the use of information systems.

-Ch 2, pp. 43