Abstract
The paper is devoted to system analysis and design of a particular case of Hoosier Burger restaurant, a fictional fast-food establishment, the owners of which would like to introduce some radical changes to their business management. It outlines the most pressing problems faced by consultants and their possible solutions. The paper consists of an Introduction, Conclusions and such sections as Information Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Analysis, Hoosier Burger Project’s Scope and Feasibility, Customers’ and Employees’ Feedback, Process Modeling, Conceptual Data Modeling, all of which encompass major consultants’ tasks.
Key words: Hoosier Burger case
Hoosier Burger Case
Hoosier Burger, as we know, is an imaginary fast-food service, located in Indiana. Its fictional creators, Bob and Thelma Mellankemp, dreaming of developing a business for their own, buy a former family restaurant and start their business there. However, they soon face a number of problems, in particular, inventory items track keeping, which have to be solved by consultants. Their next step is implementing an automated food-ordering system, which will tackle some of the most important issues the owners have to deal with (Valacich et al, 2012). In this paper we, in a role of consultants, will demonstrate how system analysis works out in a specific situation trying to provide step-by-step proper solutions to each of the case scenarios.
Information Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) Analysis
In this part of the given assignment we will apply the SDLC approach to the given restaurant of Hoosier Burger. But, first, let us try to define information system analysis and design. This is a method which helps to develop and maintain various information systems that perform general business functions, for example, listing customers’ names, analyzing orders or paying the workers (Valacich et al, 2012). Then, SDLC, in particular, is “a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application” (Search Software Quality, 2012). There are four steps in SDLC, which are the following: (1) planning and selection, (2) analysis, (3) design, and (4) implementation and operation (Valacich et al, 2012, p. 13).
The first phase is obvious from the very case scenario given in the book (Valacich et al, 2012): the owners of Hoosier Burger have come up with the idea of a new, enhanced system, i.e. they want to computerize their business, paying special attention to inventory supervision, customers’ orders, and management systems, within the work of which errors often occur. This stage also includes a plan consisting of a schedule for system development and then the owners have to decide whether they really want to spend some of their resources on a new system establishment or not.
Step two is usually devoted to analyzing current systems in use and what a new system should be like (Valacich et al, 2012). In the case of Hoosier Burger this is paper-based system and the owners have decided to have an opportunity for “electronic access to forecasting information, inventory usage, and basic sales information”, which …