Teaching Notes for Video Segments
Teaching Notes for Video Segments
Introduction
Five video segments are available for use with this textbook. Four of the segments are based on the Broadway Entertainment Company; the fifth video segment is a case study of the object-oriented approach used for a permit granting system. These video segments are provided to Modern Systems Analysis and Design adopters. These video segments are referenced in selected chapters of this instructor’s manual; these references are intended to serve as guides, indicating which video segments are appropriate for certain chapters.
Each video segment provides a realistic and practical example of situations a systems analyst might confront. Four of the video segments were written and produced by EDS Corporation, with guidance from the textbook authors. The authors are indebted to Chris Ryan, Stu Bailey, and Terry Zeuchow of EDS and Bob Tucker of Antaries Alliance (a CASE tool firm partially owned by EDS) for their leadership in writing and producing these video segments, and to Vern Olson of EDS for championing this project to senior management within EDS. CBER Video at the University of Dayton produced the object-oriented case study video segment. The video segments are consistent with the textbook (so your students can easily follow the video segments as an integral part of the course), and they represent issues and ideas encountered by one of the leading systems development and management consulting firms in the world.
The following paragraphs overview each video segment and suggest discussion questions to use with each video segment. You should distribute several of the discussion questions to your students before they view the video segment. This encourages the students to think about the video segment as they view it, rather than using the viewing of the video segment simply as a break in the class. Also, you may elect to use several of the discussion questions as written assignments.
You do not need to use all of the video segments, and you do not need to use them in any particular sequence. The video segments are designed so that each is independent of the other five. Each video segment ends with a brief summary by one of the textbook authors, and one of the video segments has an introduction by two of the textbook authors; students are given some guidance to the main points of each video segment through these elements of the video segments. However, at no point does one video segment refer to another video segment nor do the authors refer to specific textbook chapters. Thus, you have considerable freedom to use the video segments as you wish, and you may find that you can show a video segment with a chapter with which we did not expect that video segment to fit.
Video 1: “Making the Business Case” (Length--12:19)
This video segment is beneficial when shown in conjunction with chapter 5 and 6. This video segment highlights two of the most common issues facing a systems analyst: identifying the true business problem and linking the systems solution to the problem and to the needs of the business. The situation depicted in the video segment involves two principle roles: (1) Alice Carlson, a marketing manager with an interest in store operations, and (2) Max Davis, a continuous improvement specialist in the systems engineering group at BEC (Max is really a systems analyst with a special focus).
This video segment illustrates important points about the orientation of systems work and about some traps into which systems analysts and user managers can fall, including:
§ Common requirements collection techniques, such as observation and interviewing, are not foolproof, since they can capture perspectives, not reality. The results of these techniques still must be scrutinized for logical consistency, accuracy, and completeness. Sound, logical thinking is an essential requirement for a systems analyst and may be the real value-added benefit a systems analyst provides to the organization.
§ Technical solutions, when reached too quickly, may not deal with the most important business issues. This video segment shows how Max works to deals with business issues first, and how he bases the business case for a new system not on the “neat” features of the system but on the business reason why a system with specific features is needed.
§ Systems analysts have a unique position within organizations, enabling them to have a tremendous impact on business operations. Further, systems analysts use analytical tools and study the organization in such detail that they also possess unique and valuable insights about how to improve the organization. Few business functional areas provide the opportunities the systems field does for a person to develop such insights about operations, how the organization works, and how the organization might be improved.
Following are some questions you can use to stimulate discussion about this video segment.
§ What does the Deming quote shown at the beginning of the video segment and the other references about continuous improvement have to do with the issues encountered in this video segment?
§ How might Max have used the business model graphic shown early in the video segment to help identify the real problem and to develop the business case for the proposed system?
§ Why did Alice Carlson come to the conclusion that an information kiosk would be the solution to the problem she observed in BEC? Try to get into the mind of a typical business manager; suggest why Alice might have wanted to jump to this conclusion? As a systems analyst, what do you have to do in your interactions with user managers to overcome these tendencies?
§ If you were Alice Carlson, what else could you have done to investigate the initial observations about customers not being able to find the videos they want?
§ Why was Max Davis skeptical of Alice’s proposed solution? Was he skeptical? What special training or experience might Max have had that made him respond to Alice’s suggestions as he did? How was he able to respond this way and at the same time not insult Alice?
§ What is “a business case” as illustrated in this video segment? How does this relate to the notion of a business case developed in chapter 6?
§ What was the agenda for the marketing information systems steering committee meeting shown in the video segment? Given that we might not have seen the whole meeting, what agenda items do you think were not shown or should have been included in the meeting?
§ Why does the kiosk appear near the end of the video segment given that it was not part of the systems solution? What does this appearance of the kiosk say about the mix of systems development projects often found in an organization?
§ What other key points would you add to the summary of the lessons of this video segment given by Professor Hoffer at the end of the segment?
Video 2: “Joint Application Design” (Length--18:17)
This video segment (which can be used with chapters 1 and 7) highlights the reasons for, benefits of, and conduct of an increasingly popular requirements determination and validation technique--Joint Application Design (JAD). This video segment does not raise issues about this technique, rather it illustrates the motivation for JAD and how a JAD session is planned and conducted. The situation depicted in the video segment involves five principle roles: (1) Alice Carlson, a marketing manager, who does the narration in the video segment and who was the initiator of the information kiosk into BEC, (2) Andy Collins, a central district manager responsible for 27 BEC retail outlets and the initiator of the project to enhance the kiosks, (3) Nancy Chen, VP of US operations and the sponsor of the JAD, (4) Jorge Lopez, a systems analyst, and (5) Frank Napier, a systems analyst.
The video segment illustrates many important points about a JAD including the steps required to conduct a JAD, with emphasis on the planning and preparation steps. The overall JAD process as described in the video segment is:
§ Approach someone to be an executive sponsor to champion the JAD
§ Conduct a definition meeting in which the following are agreed upon: goals for the JAD, an agenda for the one or several sessions, a time line for when to hold the sessions, a scope for the project and range of users and other stakeholders affected, a list of attendees/invitees, and a definition document which outlines all of these elements
§ Preparation by the session leader/facilitator who schedules the sessions and conducts an orientation session with relevant system analysts to learn more about the business area to be addressed in the JAD
§ Kickoff session conducted by the executive sponsor (at the beginning of the first JAD session) to motivate the attendees
§ The JAD sessions themselves
§ Finalization, during which the scribe and facilitator complete a design document, or blueprint for the development team, which summarizes the findings of the JAD (attendees then sign-off on this document)
Following are some questions you can use to stimulate discussion about this video segment:
§ In what ways did the JAD in the video segment seem to be conducted differently than the way a JAD is described in the text?
§ Summarize the reasons for and benefits of a JAD raised in the video segment. What additions would you make that were not mentioned in the video segment?
§ Why does the video segment stress the need for significant preparation for a JAD?
§ Why is an executive sponsor necessary for a JAD? What is this person’s role before, during, and after a JAD?
§ If you were Andy Collins, how would you have picked the facilitator for the JAD illustrated in the video segment? What role does the systems development group potentially play in training and providing facilitators? Where might you go to find a facilitator if you were Andy?
§ What role might prototyping play in a JAD? Under what conditions might it be possible for a prototyping team to be of value during a JAD?
§ Why was it Andy Collins, not one of the systems analysts, who was getting Nancy Chen to sign-off on the development project which was the result of the JAD?
§ What other key points would you add to the summary of this video segment’s lessons given by Professor Hoffer at the end of the video segment?
Video 3: “Managing Expectations” (Length--12:14)
This video segment (which can be used with chapters 2, 7, and 17) highlights the importance of a customer focus in developing information systems. This video segment illustrates some of the problems that arise for a systems analyst when requirements are not thoroughly investigated. This video segment also shows how difficult it is for users and analysts to develop a shared understanding of requirements. The situation involved in this video segment includes four roles: two systems analysts (Doug and Lee) and two unnamed user managers. The video segment shows two versions of what might happen during a JAD session, one session in which the analysts are not very aggressive in probing for requirements and one in which the analysts dig more deeply into the minds and wishes of the users.
An analyst has to do more than just listen to users during requirements collection sessions, such as in a JAD. Analysts must probe, question, and pose what if situations. The analyst must elicit requirements, even those not obvious to users. Analysts have to find ways to avoid saying “we didn’t know you wanted us to build the system to do...”
Following are some questions you can use to stimulate discussion about this video segment.
§ The textbook discusses the potential costs during implementation and maintenance if accurate requirements are not captured. Based on this video segment, what are the possible consequences of not getting requirements right by the time analysts present a logical system design to users?
§ What can an analyst (and the systems development methodology) do to develop a shared understanding of system requirements with users?
§ How can a systems analyst get users to speak the unspoken or assumed system requirements?
§ Why is it likely that users and analysts have different expectations for a system?
§ What can an analyst do if different users have different expectations for a system?
§ What other key points would you add to the summary of the video segment’s lessons given by Professor Hoffer at the end of the video segment?
Video 4: “Application Engineering” (Length--10:34)
This video segment can be used with chapters 1, 3, 7, and 19. It introduces the notion that systems development can be viewed as an engineering-like discipline. Systems development is discussed in the video segment as a continuous improvement process in which not only the business is continuously improved but also the methods and practices of systems development are refined. The video segment emphasizes that the purpose of application development is to improve the business and its processes via the design and improvement of information systems. These information systems add value to the organization. There are three principle roles in this video segment: Karen, who is a BEC manager with operations responsibilities, and two systems analysts--Max Davis and Jordan Pippen--who have recently won the approval of a steering committee for funding a new information systems project.
The video segment is driven by Karen’s questions as she tries to better understand why Max and Jordan were successful in gaining the approval for the project. The video segment discusses how Max and Jordan picked a systems development method based on criteria developed from experience that taught BEC when to apply different development methods. Max and Jordan explain how they work with proven, yet evolving, methods which when followed carefully have a high likelihood of success. There are strong implications that systems development follows the same type of repeatable, well planned, tested, and coordinated methods as are found in classical engineering and R&D fields.