Chapter Two

Solving Business Problems with

Information Systems
 Introduction
• Problem solving is an important skill to bring
to any job that you have. It is an extremely
important skill for jobs in the business firms.
In business organizations, some type of
problem is being solved every hour of every
day. Some problems are small, but some are
large enough and serious enough to require a
team of employees to tackle the problem,
analyze it, solve it, fix it, and then make sure it
stays fixed.
Cont’d…
The system analysts and programmers who designed
and developed the MIS, in order to develop a standard
and structured framework for problem solving,
introduced the systems approach to problem solving.

Any manager can use the systems approach irrespective

of the type of problem. It provides a universal
methodology with an inherent logic to solve any kind of
problem through a series of steps.
 The Systems Approach

• The systems approach to problem solving uses

a systems orientation to define problems and
opportunities and develop solutions
The system approach to problem solving
 Defining a problem in a systems context
• The first step in this approach is to identify the problem. A
problem is considered as a constraint or hindrance to the
otherwise smooth flow of activities. It can be identified
through its symptoms. A symptom is an indicator of a
problem and need not be the cause. Decision makers are
required to identify such possible indications.
• For example, a fall in sales is an indicator of a problem.
As and when such an indication comes up, the
management has to review the possible causes for the fall
and identify the real problem(s). Once a problem has been
identified, it has to be defined in clearer terms such that no
ambiguity exists in communicating the problem across the
hierarchy.
 Systems context
• The business organization or process in which
a problem arises could be viewed as a system
of
– input,
– processing
– output
– feedback and
– control components
Symptom: Sales are declining
Problem: Salespersons are loosing orders, because they cannot get info on product prices and availability
Develop and Evaluate alternative solutions
• A problem can be solved in more than one ways.
Therefore, it is recommended that multiple
alternatives be developed for the problem and the best
alternative selected. In this step, such alternatives are
identified and developed.

• The solutions that have worked in the past are a good

source from which to search for new alternatives.
Advice from colleagues (internal) and consultants
(external) can provide fresh insights into the problem.
Cont’d…
• Once the alternative solutions have been developed,
they have to be evaluated to choose the best solution.
Evaluation is mainly done to see how well an
alternative fits as the right solution to the problem.
Every alternative is evaluated through different
analyses like cost-benefit analysis, etc.
 Select the best solution
• The next step is to choose the best alternative as the
solution to the problem. To do this, different factors in
each alternative are compared with other alternatives
to eliminate the less feasible alternatives. After several
comparisons, the best alternative is selected.
• Sometimes it so happens that none of the alternatives can
serve as the solution to the problem. Then, fresh
alternatives have to be developed. Sometimes, it may
happen that ‘no action' is the best solution to the problem.
 Designing and implementing
solutions
Develop design specification and an implementation plan
• Design specification
– description of characteristics and capabilities of
the people, hardware, software, and data
resources and information systems activities
needed by a new system
• Implementation plan
– specifies the resources, activities, and timing
needed for implementation.
Cont’d…
• The selected solution has to be implemented to
solve the problem. Sometimes, the solution has
to be freshly designed in order to be
implemented. For instance, if installation of
new and custom-made equipment is
considered as the chosen solution, then the
equipment has to be designed accordingly and
then installed.
 Follow-up
• This is the final step in this approach. The best
solution can fail to produce the expected
results if put into practice in the real world.
Hence, it is always recommended that the
results produced by the solution be monitored
and evaluated. This is called follow-up.
Follow-up ensures that the post-
implementation performance of the system is
satisfactory.
Cont’d…
• If the implemented solution does not help the
firm and does not meet their system objectives,
then the systems approach assumes you’ll
cycle back to a previous step and make
another attempt to find a workable solution.
 Developing information system solutions

• Developing successful information system solutions

to business problems is a major challenge for
business managers and professionals today.
• As a business professional, you will be responsible for
at least proposing if not developing new or improved
uses of information technologies for your company.
As a business manager, you will also frequently
manage the development efforts of information
systems specialists and other business end users.
Cont’d…
• One method of using the systems approach to develop
information system solutions, and the most prevalent
one in organization systems analysis and design, can
be viewed as a multistep, iterative process called the
systems development life cycle (SDLC).
Systems development life cycle
 Systems Investigation
• This stage is the first step in the systems
development process that enables to answers
the following questions:
– Do we have business opportunities?
– What are our business priorities?
– How can information technologies provide
information system solutions that address our
business priorities?
Cont’d…
• This stage may involve consideration of proposals
generated by a business/IT planning process. The
investigation stage also includes the preliminary
feasibility study of proposed information system
solutions to meet a company’s business priorities and
opportunities as identified in a planning process.
• The preliminary feasibility study help to evaluate
alternative system solutions and to propose the most
feasible and desirable business application for
development.
Cont’d…
 Systems Analysis
• Whether you want to develop a new application
quickly or are involved in a long-term project, you
will need to perform several basic activities of
systems analysis. Many of these activities are an
extension of those used in conducting a feasibility
study. Systems analysis is not a preliminary study;
however, it is an in-depth study of end-user
information needs that produces functional
requirements that are used as the basis for the
design of a new information system.
Cont’d…
• Systems analysis traditionally involves a
detailed study of:
– The information needs of a company and end
users like yourself.
– The activities, resources, and products of one or
more of the present information systems being
used.
– The information system capabilities required to
meet your information needs, and those of other
business stakeholders that may use the system.
Organizational Analysis

• The members of a development team have to know

something about the organization, its management
structure, its people, its business activities, the
environmental systems it must deal with, and its
current information systems. Someone on the team
must know this information in more detail for the
specific business units or end-user workgroups that
will be affected by the new or improved information
system being proposed.
Analysis of the Present System
• Before you design a new system, it is important to study the
system that will be improved or replaced (assuming there is
one). You need to analyze how this system uses hardware,
software, network, and people resources to convert data
resources, such as transactions data, into information
products, such as reports and displays. Then you should
document how the information system activities of input,
processing, output, storage, and control are accomplished.
• For example, you might evaluate the format, timing,
volume, and quality of input and output activities. Such user
interface activities are vital to effective interaction between
end users and a computer-based system.
Functional Requirements Analysis and
Determination

• You need to determine what type of information

each business activity requires; what its format,
volume, and frequency should be; and what
response times are necessary.
• Second, you must try to determine the information
processing capabilities required for each system
activity (input, processing, output, storage,
control) to meet these information needs.
Cont’d…
• When this step of the life cycle is complete, a
set of functional requirements for the proposed
new system will exist. Functional requirements
are end-user information requirements that are
not tied to the hardware, software, network,
data, and people resources that end users
presently use or might use in the new system.
 Systems Design
• Systems design consists of design activities
that ultimately produce physical system
specifications satisfying the functional
requirements that were developed in the
systems analysis process.
 Systems implementation
• The systems implementation stage involves
hardware and software acquisition, software
development, testing of programs and
procedures, conversion of data resources, and
a variety of conversion alternatives. It also
involves the education and training of end
users and specialists who will operate a new
system.
 Systems maintenance
Once the maintenance phase begins, the life cycle starts over
again. New requirements are articulated, analyzed, designed,
checked for feasibility, tested, and implemented. Although
the range and nature of specific maintenance requests vary
from system to system, four basic categories of maintenance
can be identified:
– Corrective maintenance are focused on fixing bugs and
logic errors not detected during the implementation testing
period.
– Adaptive maintenance refers to those activities associated
with modifying existing functions or adding new
functionality to accommodate changes in the business or
operating environments.
Cont’d…
– Perfective maintenance: activities involve changes made to
an existing system that are intended to improve the
performance of a function or interface.
– Preventive maintenance: involves those activities intended
to reduce the chances of a system failure or extend the
capacity of a current system’s useful life.

• The maintenance activity also includes a postimplementation

review process to ensure that newly implemented systems meet
the business objectives established for them. Errors in the
development or use of a system must be corrected by the
maintenance process. This includes a periodic review or audit of
a system to ensure that it is operating properly and meeting its
objectives.
• End of Chapter Two