CHANGES IN CASE STUDY FORMAT: PAPER P3, BUSINESS ANALYSIS

CASE STUDY SCENARIO AND QUESTIONS

Case study The Institute of Information Systems Architects (IISA) was founded in 1999 by representatives of a number of organisations who felt that systems architecture should have its own qualification. The Institute has its own Board who report to a Council of 13 members. Policy is made by the Board and ratified by Council. The IISA is registered as a private limited company.

The IISA is based in London where it employs staff to administer its examination scheme and provide services to its members. It also employs two chief examiners on a full-time basis. These examiners are responsible for setting the IISA certificate examinations which take place monthly in training and conference centres around the UK. No examinations are currently held outside the UK.

The examination scheme The IISA examination scheme contains four examinations. If candidates pass all four papers they can undertake an oral diploma examination. If they pass this oral they are eligible to become members. Each examination costs 42. The oral examination costs 60 and is conducted by two members of the Institute. The current membership fee is 30 per year. Many training companies run courses to help candidates prepare for the IISA examinations, however, it is possible to sit an examination without attending such a course.

All the examinations are open book, one-hour examinations, preceded by 15 minutes reading time. At a recent meeting, the IISA Board rejected the concept of computer-based assessment. They felt that competence in this area was best assessed by written examination answers.

Candidate numbers for the last four years are given in Figure 1:

2003 Number of Candidates Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3 Paper 4 Diploma Members 2,897 2,649 3,450 3,210 3,015

2004

2005

2006

2,800 2,300 1,908 3,012 2,985

2,600 2,115 1,975 1,790 1,690

2,215 1,879 1,750 1,600 1,550

17,050 19,115 19,350 19,715

FIGURE 1: CANDIDATE NUMBERS FOR 20032006

The Board of the IISA is concerned about falling candidate numbers. They have concluded that this drop reflects the maturing marketplace in the UK and that they should now look overseas for candidates. The Board has targeted India, Singapore and China as countries with a large number of IT professionals who would be interested in the qualification. It is now formulating a strategy to launch the qualification in these three countries.

Eighty percent of IISA candidates already have a degree. However, they perceive that getting the IISA Diploma will enhance their career prospects. Many employers specify the

Diploma in Information Systems Architecture in their job advertisements for system architects. IISA promotes events to communicate the fact that the IISA Diploma is the primary qualification for system architects.

The examinations system The examination script handling system requires markers, invigilators and auditors. These are all employed by the IISA on a contract basis and are usually practising or retired information system architects. Many have taken early retirement from colleges and universities. They are paid hourly fees for undertaking invigilation, marking and auditing as requested by the IISA. The administrative employees of the IISA must check marker and auditor availability before sending scripts to them to mark or audit. It is increasingly difficult to find people to undertake marking (and, to a lesser extent, invigilation and auditing) and the IISA is currently considering raising marking fees and undertaking a recruitment drive. The marking load per marker is not particularly onerous. The most prolific marker last year marked 900 scripts at an average of 10 per day. Each script is normally four to six pages long.

In recent years, there have been a number of problems with the script handling system: 1) The cost of couriers has increased substantially. 2) Some scripts have been lost by couriers and candidates have had to be compensated. 3) It has proved difficult to keep marker, auditor and invigilator details up to date. Some scripts have been sent to out of date addresses and it has been difficult (and on one occasion, impossible) to recover the scripts. 4) Candidates increasingly expect their results to be processed more quickly. At a recent feedback seminar, the slow publishing of results was heavily criticised. 5) The cost of secure storage and secure disposal has increased.

The script handling system The examinations are held in conference centres and training rooms around the country. The open-book nature of the examination means that many of the security measures surrounding closed-book examinations are no longer required. However, examinations are invigilated by an external invigilator employed by the IISA on a contract basis. The invigilator hands out the examination scripts at the start of the examination and collects them at the end. He or she then takes them home and arranges for a secure designated courier to collect the scripts and take them to the IISA headquarters in London. When they arrive in London, administrative employees identify the appropriate and available markers and send the scripts, by secure designated courier, to these markers. The markers then mark the scripts and return them (again by secure courier) to the IISA headquarters. The administrative employees then review the need to audit selected scripts. All scripts with a mark between 45 and 55 are sent to an auditor for second marking. The auditor (like the marker and the invigilator) is employed by the IISA on a contract basis. Once audited, the scripts are returned with a recommended mark. Again, transport between the auditor and the headquarters is only through secure, designated couriers. If the candidate has scored less than 45 or greater than 55 their results are published straight away. The candidate is notified by e-mail or by surface post of their actual mark. Candidates whose scripts were audited are sent their marks after the audit has been completed.

It has been suggested that changes in the script handling system should be made before the organisation attempts to expand overseas. Before discussing possible changes, it has been agreed that a process diagram should be drawn of the current script handling system at the IISA. The diagram is shown in Figure 2.

Script Handling System

Candidate

Complete Examination

Receive results

Invigilator

Collate Scripts

HQ Admin

[Mark<45 OR Mark>55]

Distribute Scripts

Determine Audit Requirement Allocate Auditor

[Mark 45 -55]

Publish Results

Marker

Mark Scripts

Auditor

Audit Scripts

Courier

Transport Scripts

Transport Scripts

Transport Scripts

Transport Scripts

Transport Scripts

FIGURE 2: THE CURRENT SCRIPT HANDLING SYSTEM AT THE IISA

The nature of the Board and its relationship with Council make it a very conservative organisation. It is notably risk averse and is only confident about its expertise within the fairly restricted bounds of information system architecture. Attempts to look at complementary qualifications (such as software engineering) have been swiftly rejected by Council. However, at a recent Council meeting, internal development, acquisitions and strategic alliances were all discussed as possible development methods by which the organisations strategic direction could be pursued. After much discussion it was agreed that strategic alliances appeared to offer the best way forward, and so the Board were asked to favour this approach when formulating their strategy for India, Singapore and China.

REQUIRED: Question 1 a. Analyse the macro-environment of the IISA. Use this analysis to highlight the key drivers of change that are likely to affect the IISA in the future. (20 marks including 3 professional marks)

b. Explain the principles of strategic alliances and assess how appropriate this development method is to the IISA. (10 marks)

c. Evaluate the significance of the script handling system in the context of Harmons process-strategy matrix. (10 marks)

d. Define TWO options for the redesign of the current script handling system at the IISA. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each option. (10 marks including 2 professional marks)