Cheap Client

When Maria Teresa Bacchus retired earlier this year, she left the family winery to her daughters, Giada and Annalisa. It took them some time to adjust to the rigors of running a business, giving them renewed appreciation for all of the hard work their mother invested into Bacchus Winery, but now the women are ready to begin exploring ways to apply some of the new technology they have been hearing about at winemakers' conventions. They are, however, very concerned about costs, especially given the current recession. They are nervous about committing too much money to anything and want to get the best deal and the best value for the money.
As they began their management of the business, the women decided against making many changes in personnel. Presently they employ Mary Wollstonecraft, the director of finances and payroll; Susan Anthony, director of the marketing department, and her assistant, George Gordon; John Keats, production-line manager, and the twenty employees who report to him; and Ada Byron, who is in charge of distribution.
Bacchus Winery grows its own grapes, apples, cherries, blackberries, and blueberries, as well as keeps some beehives for honey. Bacchus makes and bottles the wine, and then sells it, to both local restaurants and visitors to the winery. Currently, their offerings include a Merlot, a Cabernet, a Chardonnay, a mead, several seasonal fruit wines, and a muscat desert wine. They have been receiving their supplies (bottles, corks, labels, and support ingredients) from a supplier who ships the components every month or so. Giada and Annalisa are responsible for keeping track of their inventories and would like to find a more efficient method of keeping track and ordering supplies, perhaps over the Internet. Susan would like to use the Internet to market the company's products, but really has no idea where to begin. Ada, who is responsible for distribution, would like to give customers the ability to order online, and would like to allow them to track shipments.
After several telephone conversations with the two women - after reassuring them that the meter had not started running yet, as it were - you believe that you can help them to apply technology to many of the needs of their organization.

Phase – 1:

Contact your client in whatever way you think is appropriate given that client's quirks. After setting the stage for your communication, explain how your client might use a transaction processing system, a business support system, and a user productivity system. For each type of system, provide a specific example, and explain how the system might benefit the organization. Also, prepare an organization chart for your client, demonstrating that you understand the Bacchus structure.Remember to stay in role! This is a business communication situation, not an academic one.

Phase – 2:

Giada and Annalisa have decided to evaluate the capabilities of several consulting firms; your firm is one of the leading candidates. You have been asked to provide the senior management at Bacchus with a description of your firm's capabilities.

Assignments
  1. Prepare a document describing the Capability Maturity level which has been attained by your firm. Describe how your firm attained that level and the *cost savings* you expect that capability to provide. (Your firm can reasonably claim to have achieved level 2 in the Capability Maturity Model.)

NOTE: Make up a story about your firm. You should invent a company history or a competitive situation. Describe how your firm went about achieving that level.

  1. Choose a systems-development methodology (FAST, classic, RAD, JAD, or some other method known to you) and present your arguments for using that methodology to Giada and Annalisa.
  2. Contact your client in whatever way you think is appropriate given that client's quirks. After setting the stage for your communication, present the documents you've created above.

Remember to stay in role! This is a business communication situation, not an academic one.

Phase – 3:

Most of the senior staff at Bacchus have agreed to have your firm perform a full analysis of their system, believing that your ability to automate their operation will provide value in the long run. Naturally, each member of the staff has a different idea about the benefits of automation. Mary Wollstonecraft is convinced that allowing John Keats to record information about workers' hours will speed the payroll process - though John is not convinced - and would like to be able to receive updates about orders and shipments electronically. Ada Byron is interested in providing distributors with an on-line interface for making orders. Susan Anthony is convinced that an Internet site is essential for her marketing efforts. Giada and Annalisa Bacchus both believe that automation will allow them to be more efficient in ordering supplies and in monitoring their own inventory, allowing them to save money.

Interestingly, the member of the staff who is most doubtful of the need for your firm's services is Annalisa Bacchus, who believes that the company could develop its own automation system, perhaps with the addition of an additional employee. She believes that doing the work in-house will save money, both in terms of the development and in terms of purchasing the right capabilities. She is concerned that your firm will try to impose a system on Bacchus that is similar to those of other companies - meaning that Bacchus Winery will be paying for capabilities that it does not need.

Annalisa's feelings have led to several contentious meetings at Bacchus. Finally, the sisters have asked you to make a return visit so that you can explain the methodologies used by your firm.

Senior members of your firm have encouraged you to treat this as an opportunity. Rather than be defensive in the face of Annalisa's criticisms, they urge you to take the opportunity to demonstrate that the firm has experience and expertise in the field of analysis and design.

Assignments
  1. Prepare a description of your firm's approach to the management of project lifecycles.
  2. Address the most common causes of project failure and describe the steps your firm will take to mitigate the risks associated with them, paying close attention to financial risks.
  3. Prepare a Management Expectations Matrix to ensure that Giada and Annalisa have a clear idea of the compromises they will have to make, then explain why you recommend the priorities that you identify in the matrix.

Phase 4:

Your follow-up presentation has convinced Annalisa Bacchus that, in the long run, her company will benefit from having your firm perform a careful analysis of its needs. She and the other senior managers have asked you to begin the fact-finding process. You have asked for a week to plan your approach, and Giada and Annalisa have agreed to make their staff available to you beginning a week from today. In a telephone conversation they inform you that their staff will assist in any process you deem necessary, though they ask you to consider their need to continue production while the analysis proceeds.

Assignments
  1. Prepare a document describing the three fact-finding exercises you think will be most useful for your client's situation.
  2. Support your document by developing a plan for each exercise - the agenda for a JRP, the questions for a questionnaire or an interview, a plan for document sampling, a schedule for the observation of the work environment, etc.

Plot twist: Two days after your telephone conversation Mary Wollstonecraft has run off with Pat Breaker, from shipping, taking $20,000 from the company coffers...