Chapter 7: End-of-Chapter Questions

1. The SLC includes all five phases but the SDLC includes only the first four.

2. Users and top management representing users make the key decisions concerning the SLC because the systems belong to them—not to the information specialists.

3. The MIS steering committee establishes policies, provides fiscal control, and resolves conflicts.

4. Managers plan the CBIS project to define the scope of the project, recognize potential problem areas, arrange a sequence of tasks, and provide a basis for control.

5. Users, including both managers and nonmanagers, typically recognize problems. Some users can exist outside the firm.

6. System constraints originate both within the firm and in the firm’s environment.

7. A feasibility study is a quick look to determine whether to embark on an SLC, whereas a system study is a full-blown study aimed at learning everything possible about the subject system.

8. The six types of feasibility are technical, economic return, noneconomic return, legal, operational, and schedule. Schedule feasibility relates to the project rather than the system.

9. Before the MIS steering committee authorizes the analysis phase, they want to know whether the system will accomplish the objectives and whether the proposed study is the best way to go about analyzing the current system.

10. Announcements are made at the beginning of the analysis phase to inform the employees of the study and ask their cooperation with the study, and at the beginning of the implementation phase to inform the employees of the decision to implement the system and ask for cooperation in the implementation efforts.

11. The most effective way to learn of users’ information needs is to conduct personal interviews.

12. Structured design is a top-down approach, beginning with the top system level and working down through the layers of subsystems.

13. As represented by the two-headed arrows in Figure 8.12, the steps of programming, database preparation, facilities construction, and education can all go on at the same time. However, there is a need for close coordination among all of the activities.

14. The four cutover types are immediate, parallel, phased, and pilot. Immediate cutover is feasible only for small firms and small systems. Parallel cutover offers the greatest security.

15. Post implementation reviews are conducted by information specialists and internal auditors. The reviews are conducted shortly after cutover and periodically throughout the use phase.

16. Systems maintenance is necessitated by the requirement to correct errors, keep systems current, and improve systems.

17. A Type II prototype eventually becomes an operational system.

18. You use an integrated application generator or a prototyping toolkit to produce prototypes.

19. Prototyping can replace the SDLC for small projects and can be used in any SLC phase for large projects.

20. SPIR provides the starting point for engaging in IE.

21. The essential ingredients of RAD are visionary management, people with specialized skills, and a four-phase RAD life cycle methodology.

22. A firm would pursue reverse engineering as a way to create missing documentation for operational systems.

23. Reengineering is the only one of the three Rs that changes a system’s functionality.

Topics for Discussion

1. The MIS steering committee sees to it that the policies of the firm’s executives concerning information resources are carried out. Some of the members of the MIS steering committee are likely to also be members of the executive committee that plays the key role in establishing the firm’s SPIR.

2. A go/no go decision option is available at the end of each SLC phase.

3. The performance criteria are performance standards that the system must attain if it is to meet its objectives. The assumption is that if the system satisfies its performance criteria, the system objectives will be met.

4. The systems analyst can guard against the prototyping pitfalls by not rushing through the development process too quickly. Time must be devoted to documentation and working with the user to ensure that the system meets the user’s needs in the best way. Sometimes speed must be sacrificed in order to do a good job. Actually, the best way to avoid the pitfalls is not at the analyst level but at the top-management level. Top management should impose standards on the prototyping process in terms of planning, documentation, testing,