MNGT 7660/7666
Analysis & Design of Business Information Systems
Dynamic Syllabus
(Last modified 01-07-08)

Prerequisites:  Graduate standing.

Texts:  Whitten & Bentley (2007).   Systems Analysis and Design Methods, 7^th ed.    McGraw-Hill Irwin: Boston.

Course objective: The objective of this course is to introduce students to systems analysis and design. Systems Analysis and Design methods will be studied and used to analyze and model an information system of a regional company or organization and to design, model, and prototype an appropriate new system that meets the needs of the user.

Policy: It is important for you to realize from the outset that there are components of this course that are far less structured than what you are normally accustomed to, especially in some areas relating to the project. This means that you are expected to take the initiative and responsibility in these areas.
        Deadlines are final and must be met. It is your responsibility to allocate time accordingly.  NO excuses will be accepted, including natural disasters and/or computer crashes.  Ensure that you have enough backups to allow for the worst case scenarios, such as loss of your homework or project. I expect a professional attitude in order to ensure project success.  "Whatever it takes" should be your guideline for the quarter.
        All work must be printed double-spaced in high quality print.  Each student will bring a blue scantron sheet to the exams. A grade of "incomplete" will not be given for this course unless very unusual non-course-related circumstances are documented and approved.  While an effort is made to assign grades as objectively as possible, it is not possible in a course such as this for the grade to be entirely objective.  Therefore, some portion of your grade will be determined by the subjective evaluation of the instructor. Each student is expected to have read and studied the material before each class and to bring the textbook to each class session.  No make-up exams will be given unless (1) I am notified prior to the exam’s regular administration that you will miss the exam, and (2) an acceptable University-approved excuse is provided promptly.  Plagiarism of any type will result in an automatic report to the Academic Honesty Committee.  Students are subject to all provisions of the student academic honesty code listed in the S.G.A. Constitution.

Evaluation:

Your grade will be assigned based upon the following traditional grade categories:
    A: 90% & up   B: 80%- below 90%   C: 70%- below 80%   D: 60%- below 70%  F:  below 60%

NOTE: Peer evaluations will be conducted and the results will be considered in determining an individual student's project grade.

Communication: We will use your Auburn University e-mail address (userid@auburn.edu) for course communication. It is your responsibility to contact the Information Technology Help Desk to have this address forward mail to the e-mail address that you regularly check.

Academic Honesty: ALL PORTIONS OF THE AUBURN UNIVERSITY HONESTY CODE (TITLE X11) FOUND IN THE TIGER CUB WILL APPLY TO THIS CLASS. All violations or alleged violations of the Student Academic Honesty Code (see SGA Code of Laws in the Tiger Cub) will be reported to the Office for the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Special Accommodations for Students with Disabilities: Students who need special accommodations should make an appointment as soon as possible with the faculty member in charge of your lecture section to discuss your Accommodation Memo. It is essential that the faculty member be aware of necessary accommodations at the beginning of the course. If you do not have an Accommodation Memo but need special accommodations, contact the Program for Students with Disabilities, 1244 Haley Center, 334-844-2096 (Voice T/O).

------------------------------------------------------------------

Tentative & Dynamic Course Schedule:
 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

MNGT 7660 Project Notes

Teams: Each student will participate as a member of an assigned team to complete the very substantial project.  It will require MANY hours of work per week per team member to complete and will result in the iterative development of a substantial project notebook which documents your system analysis and design. In addition, students can expect to encounter a variety of interesting challenges in learning the concepts of system development and in applying them in a real-world situation. Learning to effectively use a systems modeling tool will be a part of this process.

Project Proposal: Project teams will be responsible for identifying a company within which the analysis & design process can be applied to a problem/opportunity. Each team will submit a typed written proposal of the business processes to be reviewed on the date indicated in the course schedule. Teams will be expected to logically explain and discuss the organization chosen. Do not expect approval if the team has a minimal grasp of the organization to be studied and is not adequately prepared.

Project Milestone Reports/Consultations: Each team will make formal milestone reports/presentations to the instructor and to the class.  The team should be prepared to discuss the requirements for that milestone assignment (refer to the Milestone Requirements for details). These presentations are scheduled not only to serve as "milestones" for the team, but also to allow the instructor to monitor the progress of the teams, to evaluate the performance and contribution of each team member, to provide feedback, and to allow the class to critique, question, and learn from each system development effort.  Bring the project notebook of previous and current requirements for review by the instructor during the presentation and to be left for later review. These materials will be returned.

Trouble Shooting: Students should exhaust every effort possible to resolve difficulties. This includes contacting other project teams. Each team will undertake unique projects so there is no direct competition among teams. Teams can therefore be information providers, working with and supporting others. Each team is expected to maintain adequate control of back up programs and data. Loss of a system or data is not an acceptable response to project requirements and consultation reviews. Each team must organize and manage itself to effectively meet the requirements of the instructor and the users for whom they will be developing the system. It is strongly recommended that members on each team be assigned tasks such as archive librarian, hardware specialist, quality assurance proof reader (text), DFD consistency proof reader, treasurer, prototype coordinator, presentation manager, etc. You may discover other major tasks that should be assigned as well. However, all team members should be knowledgeable in all aspects of the project, especially the system modeling using the CASE tool. The final project and documentation will be kept by the instructor for future reference. This copy should be of the highest professional quality in every way (graphics, text, grammar, spelling, etc.). If the team desire additional copies for the analyzed company or for personal reference, they should prepare them in advance of the final project submission. Each team should determine the deliverables to end users early in the quarter, as they should receive at least a condensed bound copy of the project.

Presentation: Final project presentations will be done in the highest quality, professional manner. Representatives of the company analyzed are to be invited and your presentation should be aimed at them.  Therefore, presentations should be made in the language of the user. The presentations will be made in the class room during the time scheduled for the final exam, as indicated on the course schedule. Hardware, software, presentation, and materials are the responsibility of the individual teams. Presentation format should be approximately 35-45 minutes in length, and the following schedule is recommended (time in minutes):
-- Introduction / overview / history (3 to 4)
-- Current system & problems (6 to 7, primarily business related presentation)
-- Proposed system  (8 to 9, business related, some technical coverage, highlighting changes).
-- Prototype (12 to 18)
-- Estimated costs (2 to 5)
-- Question and answers / review (5 to 7)

Other Project Details: Decide on a standard, professional printing format early and be consistent with your word processing throughout the project. The final project prototype should be a functional system/user interface designed to resolve a particular need for that organization and should mirror the proposed DFDs. Access, Oracle, Visual Basic, web-based resources, etc., may be utilized for the prototype (should be approved by the instructor), and a separate disk copy of the prototype will be submitted with the completed project. Your project should meet the requirements of the end-user. It should also be creative and explained thoroughly and clearly. Separate disk copies of ALL work -- VAW, Designer, Access, Visual Basic, and word processing (Word or WordPerfect) files -- should be included in the project documentation. MAINTAIN BACK UP COPIES WITHIN YOUR TEAM. DISKS DO FAIL! Place the completed project in White slant-ring binders; one or two is typically adequate. Be sure to label/title both the front and the spine of the binder(s) with the project name, team number and member names, and the quarter and year. Use typed tab dividers (positioned as described in the Detailed Project Requirements) with reinforced holes.

----------------------------------------------------------

Milestone Report/Consultation Requirements

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Detailed Project/Milestone Requirements

1.  Create Project Documentation formatted to conform to the following requirements/guidelines (Include a Table of Contents for each volume/notebook and Tabs to identify each component/section within each volume: ** Denotes where Section dividers/tabs should be placed; * Denotes where individual tabs should be placed):

**Section I.
        *A. Team member resumes, in alphabetical order, with individual team member photographs attached/included.
        *B. Updated project proposal.
        *C. A history and thorough business description of the company.
        *D. Organization Chart (unit and IS)
        *E. Stakeholder description
        *F. Project Charter (click HERE to see an example) to include:
                1.   Project Objectives                                6.   Business Constraints
                2.   Project Conception                               7.   Technology Constraints
                3.   Problem Statement                                8.   Project Strategy
                4.   Initial Scope of the Project                    9.   Project Documentation and Communication
                5.   Project Vision                                      10. Project Organization and Staffing Approach
        *G. Project management analysis (Gantt or PERT)

**Section II.
        *A. Business Requirements Statement (A complete logical description/specification of the
               proposed system.)
                *1.  System improvement analysis
                        a. Information sources exploited
                        b. PIECES analysis (click HERE for information about PIECES analysis; text, p. 208, 209)
                        c. System improvement objectives (text, p. 181-183)
                *2.  Use Case Analysis: Use Case Glossary (ex., p.254-255) & Model Diagram (ex., p. 256)
                *3.  Logical process models (context diagram; decomposition diagram/hierarchy
                       chart (EXAMPLE); leveled set of data flow diagrams; and detailed entity, data store, data flow,
                       and process descriptions via dictionary/repository entries.
                *4.  Logical data model and detailed data requirements/descriptions
                *5.  Logical network requirements
        *B. System Proposal
                1. Candidate system analysis (click HERE for an example of a candidate system analysis and
                        feasibility matrix)
                        a. Candidate system feasibility matrix
                        b. Alternative solutions and feasibility analysis matrix
                2. Recommendations
        *C. Appendix (analysis support material: sample documents, procedures, existing related
               documentation, etc.)

**Section III.
          A. System Design Specification (A complete logical/physical description/specification of the
               proposed system.) (click HERE for information about and/or examples of physical DFDs, network
               architecture diagrams, and data distribution architecture diagrams
                *1. Set of physical DFDs
                *2. Network architecture diagram
                *3. Physical Database Schema
                *4. Data distribution/technology assignment diagram
                *5. Data-to-Process CRUD Matrix
                  6. Person/Machine Boundary Diagram (not required)
                  7. Manual Design Unit Diagrams (not required)
                  8. Structure Charts (not Required)
        *B. Test plan
        *C. Data conversion plan

**Section IV.
        *A. Working prototype (multiple, iterative versions)
                1. Output screens/documents (hard and/or soft copy), samples
                2. Input screens/documents (hard and/or soft copy), samples
                3. Navigation screens
        *B. Dialogue chart (click HERE to see an example)
        *C. User Manual (hard-copy and/or on-line)
        *D. State Transition Diagram

**Section V.
        *A. Training plan
        *B. System conversion plan
        *C. Support and maintenance plan
        *D. Detailed system methodology overview (specific to your project) and justification

**Appendix.
System development support material not included elsewhere (example: individual and team time/activity logs, project management working documents, etc.).

2.  Additional Documentation/Project Notebook Requirements/Guidelines:

        A.  Diagrams should be presented as follows (note tab locations):
* 1. System Context Diagram
* 2. Functional Decomposition Diagram (Hierarchy diagram)
* 3. Level 0 (System) Diagram
* 4. Level 1, 2, etc. Diagrams
Each diagram should be followed by the dictionary descriptions/entries for that diagram in the following order (as each applies):
         1. Diagram     2. Entities      3. Data Stores        4. Processes       5. Data Flow
Diagram relationships/linkages (explosion paths) should be indicated by the dictionary IDs printed at the top of each diagram. Diagrams should be printed in a consistent manner (size, notation, etc.)

        B. Diagram and dictionary documentation considerations.
1. All diagrams should be completely and correctly labeled.
2. Documentation print should be consistent and easily readable.
3. Be sure to locate Tabs as indicated.
4. If multiple layers are necessary, arrange diagrams and dictionary entries for a particular path from top to bottom
    (from the process on the system-level diagram to the primitive diagrams; in other words, depth first rather than
    breadth first) before including diagrams and dictionary entries for other paths.
5. Entity dictionary entry considerations: Elaborate description of the entity, what it represents, purpose it serves in
    the business, purpose it serves for the proposed application, and data supplied by or distributed to it.
6. Data store & data flow entry considerations.
    a.  Elaborate description of the data store or flow, what it represents, purpose it serves for the proposed application,
         and data represented by it.
    b.  Elaborate description of the logical data structure, what it represents, purpose it serves in the business, purpose
         it serves for the proposed application, purpose it serves for the relationship between the entities and/or processes.
7. Process entry considerations.
    Elaborate description of the process, the function it represents in the application, purpose it serves for the proposed
    application, explosion path explanation (if necessary), and relationship between it and other processes
8. Function entry considerations.
    Elaborate description of the function, the purpose it serves for the application, and the relationship between it and
    other functions.
9. Multiple dictionary entries may be printed per page as long as they are they same type; for example, all process
    descriptions or all data flow descriptions.
 

        C. Other similar modeling tools should follow these guidelines to the degree possible.  Other non-similar modeling tools should follow the formats/guidelines illustrated in the textbook, unless others are provided.

        D. One way that the prototype will be documented is by a User Manual.  The hard-copy of this manual should be a combination text and screen shots that thoroughly explain the system and its use.  Each screen should be described in terms of its content, purpose, use -- for each item on the screen, what is it, what is its purpose, and what must be done to use it.  An introduction to the user guide should explain the purpose/function of the system, the functionality that it provides to the user(s), and its relationship to the appropriate DFDs of the proposed system.  You may also develop an on-line user manual or other on-line user-help, in addition to the hard-copy user manual, if you desire.

Note: This document/syllabus is subject to change by the instructor by either verbal or written statement. Verbal instructions will accompany these written instructions.

Team # and Name__________________                         Your Name: ____________________

Directions: List the names of all team members, including yourself, in the first column. Assign a letter grade to the items in columns two through nine for each team member. In column ten, if the total team contribution is 100%, give the percentage contribution that each team member has made to the overall project to this point (these should total 100%). Beneath the table, please provide written comments/justification for your assessments.
 

--------------1.------------- List team members, including yourself, below:	----2.---- Contri- bution to data collection effort:	----3.---- Contri- bution to Logical Model develop- ment:	----4.---- Contri- bution to Physical Model develop- ment:	----5.---- Contri- bution to prototype develop- ment:	----6.---- Contri-tion to other misc. areas	----7.---- Availa- bility & attend- ance at meetings:	----8.---- Coopera-  tion/ attitude within the team:	----9.---- Contri- bution to the present- ation:	----10.---- Overall assessment of contri- bution to the project (%):
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

Comments/Justification (use back if needed):
 

Return to my MNGT 7660 page