RIFT VALLEY UNIVERSITY

SYSTEM ANALYSIS AND DESIGN

BUMA

Name: Temkin Shifa ID No 0047/10 Section Buma R

I. Explanation Questions (Write your answers under each question)

1. What are the three fundamental analysis strategies? Compare and contrast the outcomes of each
strategy.

Fundamental Analysis: The majority of investors who want to evaluate long-term investment decisions
start with a fundamental analysis of a company, an individual stock, or the market as a whole.
Fundamental analysis is the process of measuring a security's intrinsic value by evaluating all aspects of a
business or market. Tangible assets including land, equipment, or buildings that a company owns are
reviewed in combination with intangible assets such as trademarks, patents, branding, or intellectual
property.When evaluating the broader scope of the stock market, investors use fundamental analysis to
review economic factors, including the overall strength of the economy and specific industry sector
conditions.

Technical Analysis: The process of evaluating securities through statistics is known as technical analysis.
Analysts and investors use data on market activity such as historical returns, stock prices, and volume of
trades to chart patterns in securities movement. While fundamental analysis attempts to show the
intrinsic value of a security or specific market, technical data is meant to provide insight on the future
activity of securities or the market as a whole. Investors and analysts who use technical analysis feel
strongly that future performance can be determined by reviewing patterns based on past performance
data.

Quantitative Analysis: Evaluation of the historical performance of a company or broad market is often
done through quantitative analysis. Investors perform quantitative analysis through simple financial ratio
calculations such as earnings per share (EPS) or more complex calculations such as the discounted cash
flow (DCF).

2. What are the methods used to identify improvement opportunities during business process
automation? How do the methods used for each analysis strategy affect the outcome of the “identify
improvement” process?

Process improvement can have several different names such as business process management (BPM),
business process improvement (BPI), business process re-engineering, continual improvement process
(CIP), to name a few. Regardless of the nomenclature, they all pursue the same goal: to minimize errors,
reduce waste, improve productivity and streamline efficiency.

Automation’s role in process improvement

Because it’s one of the easiest ways to improve processes is to eliminate manual toil and reduce human
error, automation plays a significant role in process improvement. Process automation helps
organizations understand where they need to improve and what is working as it should.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a hot topic in automation and businesses have embraced the
practice to streamline processes. It allows organizations to mimic human actions for tasks or steps
involved in complex processes. Automation occurs through a string of rules and triggers that eliminate
the need for manual labor in specific parts of the process and allow the RPA to do what a human
previously had to do.

Some process improvements that are automated with RPA includes automated email responses, online
order processing, categorizing help desk tickets, transferring data between systems and payroll
management. This not only helps create more efficiency around business process, but it also helps free
up workers to focus on more complex tasks that automation can’t handle.

Q3. What are the methods used to identify improvement opportunities during business process
improvement? How do the methods used for each analysis strategy affect the outcome of the “identify
improvement” process?

Production, Quality & Manufacturing

Continuous Improvement Process

Stewarts Cycle The Continual Improvement Process (CIP) is an ongoing effort to improve products,
services, or processes. It’s is a six step systematic approach to plan, sequence and implement
improvement efforts using data and elaborates on the Stewart Cycle (Act, Plan, Do, Study). The CIP
provides a common language and methodology which enables understanding the improvement process.
The CIP always links back to each organization own goals and priorities.

The six (6) steps of the Continuous Improvement Process are:

Identify Improvement Opportunity: Select the appropriate process for improvement.

Evaluate Process:

Select a challenge/problem

Analyze: Identify and verify the root cause(s).

Take Action: Plan and implement actions that correct the root cause(s).

Study Results: Confirm the actions taken to achieve the target.

Standardize Solution: Ensure the improved level of performance is maintained.

Plan for Future:Plan what is to be done with any remaining problems

Evaluate the team’s effectiveness Set a target for improvement

Tools that can be used to help with the Continual Improvement Process are:

*Benchmarking

*Force Field Analysis

*Flowcharts

*Affinity Diagram

*Delphi Technique

*Pareto Chart

*Cause and Effect Diagram

*Scatter Diagram

*Check Sheet

*Control Chart

*Process Capability Index and Ratio

Q4. What are the methods used to identify improvement opportunities during business process
reengineering? How do the methods used for each analysis strategy affect the outcome of the “identify
improvement” process?

First the process time is determined for the entire system. Then the time is determined for each sub-
process in the system. The times for the basic sub-processes are then totaled and compared to the total
time for the overall system process. When there are significant differences between the two, analysts,
users and managers look for solutions such as parallelization and process integration. Activity-based
costing is similar to duration analysis except it examines the cost of each major process or step in a
business process instead of the time. The analyst identifies the costs associated with each basic function
and focuses attention on improving the most expensive activities. During informal benchmarking the
business processes of other organizations are studied to identify new and better ideas. The
implementation of these new ideas may bring value to the organization. The outcome of duration
analysis is normally a change in the as-is business process. The outcome of activity-based costing is
normally a reduction in direct costs, but may also affect indirect costs. Informal benchmarking commonly
affects customer-facing business processes such as web site appearances and customer satisfaction
issues.

Q5. In Business Process Improvement, the team's goal is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of
the business processes. What is learned by employing the internally focused analysis techniques of
Duration Analysis and Activity-Based Costing? What is learned through the externally focused informal
benchmarking technique?

. Duration Analysis and Activity-Based Costing are techniques that are aimed at identifying processes that
involve excessive time or excessive cost, respectively. The benchmarking techniques use external
references to suggest business processes that need revision. Informal benchmarking studies customer-
oriented business processes of other businesses, while formal benchmarking involves exchanging
benchmarking teams with other 'partner' organizations who will be seeking to identify areas of
improvement.

Q6. In Business Process Reengineering, the goal of the project is to accomplish radical redesign of the
business process. Why is that not all system development projects strive to achieve the benefits of BPR?

BPR seeks to help companies radically restructure their organizations by focusing on the ground-up
design of their business processes. According to early BPR proponent Thomas H. Davenport (1990), a
business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-
engineering emphasized a holistic focus on business objectives and how processes related to them,
encouraging full-scale recreation of processes rather than iterative optimization of sub-processes.
Business process reengineering is also known as business process redesign, business transformation, or
business process change management.

Q7. Mike Hammer, the father of BPR, estimates that 70% of BPR projects fail. Given that failure rate, why
should a firm bother even attempting a BPR effort?

If a firm refuses to attempt BPR, it will never know if it could have changed the very way in which it does
business, and it will have given up the potential savings due to increased efficiency and effectiveness.
Response: See pages 1249.What are the three types of interview questions? Define and identify why an
analyst would use each type of question. Include an example of each question type.

Q8. What are the three types of interview questions? Define and identify why an analyst would use each
type of question. Include an example of each question type.

Open-Ended Interview Questions

*What’s your opinion of the current state of business-to-business ecommerce in your firm?

*What are the critical objectives of your department?

*Once the data are submitted via the Web site, how are they processed?

Closed Questions

The alternative to open-ended questions is found in the other basic question type: closed questions.
Such questions are of the basic form “Is it easy to use the current system?” and, “How many
subordinates do you have?” The possible responses are closed to the interviewee, because he or she can
only reply with a finite number such as “None,” “One,” or “Fifteen.” Some examples of closed questions
are listed below.

Closed Interview Questions

*How many times a week is the project repository updated?

*On average, how many calls does the call center receive monthly?

*Which of the following sources of information is most valuable to you?

Q9. Document analysis and observation are two requirement gathering techniques. Briefly describe each
and compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages.

. A project team can learn much about the formal As-Is system from this type of analysis. Observation
enables the analyst to see how the As-Is system actually operates, which may differ from the system
outlined in the documentation. The analyst becomes an anthropologist as he or she observes the
business functions, much the same way monkeys have been studied in Africa. The advantages of
document analysis are (1) it provides a starting point for the analyst and (2) it indicates clearly that a new
system is necessary if users have begun to create, make changes to, or leave blanks on documents,
reports and forms. The disadvantage is that many systems are not well documented.

Q10. What two techniques are best suited for gathering information during all three stages of the
information-gathering process (As-Is, improvements, and To-Be)? Discuss the user involvement and cost,
as well as the depth, breadth, and integration of information for each.

Both interviews and JAD assist the analyst in gathering rich and detailed information from the users and
help the analyst to understand the reasons behind them. Interviews provide little breadth or integration
because they require the analyst to travel to visit each information source and they are performed
individually. JAD provides more breadth (medium) and a high amount of integration since participants
attend and participate within group sessions. Conflicts or differences of opinion are normally worked out
during the session and solutions are often found. JAD produces a high amount of user involvement.
Often JAD participants are assigned to attend and participate in sessions by a supervisor, requiring the
greatest effort. Interviews are more individual, but do require some effort (medium). The cost for both
interviews and JAD are considered medium when compared to other information gathering techniques.

Q11.Describe the most common way that the analyst organizes the interview process in term of
structured versus unstructured, and also in terms of open-ended, closed ended, and probing questions.

Although there is no hard and fast rule, it is usually best to begin the interviewing process with
unstructured interviews that consist primarily of open-ended questions. At this point, the analyst will
probably not know enough to ask very specific questions, and so should be seeking to gain a broad
understanding of the situation. As more is learned, the analyst can use more probing questions to dig
deeper. After the analyst has developed a good idea of the major issues, the interviews can become
more structured, with more specific, closed-ended questions being effective in confirming facts and
impressions.

Q12. During an interview, the analyst has been asking about the process used to identify and correct the
number of poor-quality products produced on a manufacturin.analyst commented, "This process seems
way too slow and complicated. I don't know how you people can function if this is the way things are
done." Is this an appropriate comment for the interviewer to make? Why or why not?

. First, it is an opinion statement. Analysts should be objective collectors of information. They are not
there to provide commentary. Second, the remark is derogatory in nature. What if the person he is
interviewing is the one who designed that process? The interviewee will be offended and may withdraw
his/her support for the project. This attitude may spread to other users and may diminish the chance of
a successful project outcome. The analyst needs to stay neutral whenever interacting with the project.

This is not an appropriate statement. There are two serious problems with this statement. First, it is an
opinion statement. Analysts should be objective collectors of information. They are not there to provide
commentary. Second, the remark is derogatory in nature. What if the person he is interviewing is the
one who designed that process? The interviewee will be offended and may withdraw his/her support for
the project. This attitude may spread to other users and may diminish the chance of a successful project
outcome. The analyst needs to stay neutral whenever interacting with the project sponsors, users, and
managers.

Q13. What is the primary goal of observation? What are three ways to make observation more effective?
How reliable are the results of observation?

Generally, the data that is collected from this procedure focuses on the frequency with which specific
behaviors or a type of behavior occurred in the classroom and measures their duration. There are
several elements that are common to most observational systems.

*operational definitions of all the observed behaviors

*training procedures for observers

*a specific observational focus

*a setting

*a unit of time

*an observation schedule

*a method to record the data

*a method to process and analyze data (Stallings and Mohlman)

Prior to the use of systematic observational methods, research on effective teaching typically consisted
of subjective data based on personal and anecdotal accounts of effective teaching. In order to develop a
scientific basis for teaching, researchers began to use the more objective and reliable measures of
systematic classroom observation. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, several hundred different
observational systems have been developed and used in classrooms. There have similarly been hundreds
of studies that have used classroom observation systems since the 1970s.

Q14. Explain Information Gathering Process for System Development Development?

ANS. Sources of data

- Users
- System sponsor/owner: overall project objectives

- Managers: high level, broad view of existing system and requirements

- End-users: detailed, operational level view of existing system and requirements

- Technical staff: technology capabilities, limitations etc.

Q15. What is planning? What are the bases for planning in System Analysis?

. It involves the creation and maintenance of a plan, such as psychological aspects that require
conceptual skills. There are even a couple of tests to measure someone’s capability of planning well. As
such, planning is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior. An important further meaning, often
just called "planning" is the legal context of permitted building developments.

Also, planning has a specific process and is necessary for multiple occupations (particularly in fields such
as management, business, etc.). In each field there are different types of plans that help companies
achieve efficiency and effectiveness. An important, albeit often ignored aspect of planning, is the
relationship it holds to forecasting.

Systems analysis:- is the process of examining a business situation for the purpose of developing a
system solution to a problem or devising improvements to such a situation. Before the development of
any system can begin, a project proposal is prepared by the users of the potential system and/or by
systems analysts and submitted to an appropriate managerial structure within the organization.

PROJECT PROPOSAL

The project proposal is the attempt to respond to or take advantage of a particular situation and is an
essential element for correctly launching the system analysis. Although there are no hard and fast rules
as to the form and content of the project proposal.

THE SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT LIFE CYCLE

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) describes a set of steps that produces a new computer
information system. The SDLC is a problem-solving process. Each step in the process delineates a number
of activities. Performing these activities in the order prescribed by the SDLC will bring about a solution to
the business situation.

PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION

The first phase of the systems development life cycle is preliminary investigation. Due to limited
resources an organization can undertake only those projects that are critical to its mission, goals, and
objectives. Therefore, the goal of preliminary investigation is simply to identify and select a project for
development from among all the projects that are under consideration. Organizations may differ in how
they identify and select projects for development. Some organizations have a formal planning process
that is carried out by a steering committee or a task force made up of senior managers. Such a
committee or task force identifies and assesses possible computer information systems projects that the
organization should consider for development. Other organizations operate in an ad hoc fashion to
identify and select potential projects. Regardless of the method used, and after all potential projects
have been identified, only those projects with the greatest promise for the well-being of the
organization, given available resources, are selected for development.

FEASIBILITY STUDY

The feasibility study investigates the problem and the information needs of the stakeholders. It seeks to
determine the resources required to provide an information systems solution, the cost and benefits of
such a solution, and the feasibility of such a solution. The analyst conducting the study gathers
information using a variety of methods.

REQUIREMENTS DEFINITION

This phase is an in-depth analysis of the stakeholders' information needs. This leads to defining the
requirements of the computer information system. These requirements are then incorporated into the
design phase. Many of the activities performed in the requirements definition phase are an extension of
those used in the preliminary investigation phase. The main goal of the analyst is to identify what should
be done, not how to do it.