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126 Part 2 • InformatIon requIrements analysIs

3. Ever since you walked through the door, your interviewee, Max Hugo, has been shuffling
papers, looking at his watch, and drumming on his desk with his fingers. Based on what you
know about interviews, you guess that Max is nervous because of the other work he needs to
do. In a paragraph, describe how you would deal with this situation so that the interview can be
accomplished with Max’s full attention. (Max cannot reschedule the interview for a different
day.)
4. Write a series of six closed questions that cover the subject of decision-making style for the manager
described in Problem 2.
5. Write a series of six open-ended questions that cover the subject of decision-making style for the
manager described in Problem 2.
6. Examine the interview structure presented in the sequencing of the following questions:
1. How long have you been in this position?
2. What are your key responsibilities?
3. What reports do you receive?
4. How do you view the goals of your department?
5. How would you describe your decision-making process?
6. How can that process best be supported?
7. How frequently do you make those decisions?
8. Who is consulted when you make a decision?
9. What is the one decision you make that is essential to departmental functioning?
a. What structure is being used? How can you tell?
b. Restructure the interview by changing the sequence of the questions (you may omit some, if
necessary). Label the reordered questions with the name of the structure you have used.
7. The following is the first interview report filed by one of your systems analysis team members: “In
my opinion, the interview went very well. The subject allowed me to talk with him for an hour and a
half. He told me the whole history of the business, which was very interesting. The subject also men-
tioned that things have not changed all that much since he has been with the firm, which is about 16
years. We are meeting again soon to finish the interview because we did not have time to go into the
questions I prepared.”
a. In two paragraphs, critique the interview report. What critical information is missing?
b. What information is extraneous to the interview report?
c. If what is reported actually occurred, what three suggestions do you have to help your teammate
conduct a better interview next time?
8. Cab Wheeler is a newly hired systems analyst with your group. Cab has always felt that question-
naires are a waste. Now that you will be doing a systems project for MegaTrucks, Inc., a national
trucking firm with branches and employees in 130 cities, you want to use a questionnaire to elicit
some opinions about the current and proposed systems.
a. Based on what you know about Cab and MegaTrucks, list three persuasive reasons why he should
use a survey for this study.
b. Given your careful arguments, Cab has agreed to use a questionnaire but strongly urges that
all questions be open-ended so as not to constrain the respondents. In a paragraph, persuade
Cab that closed questions are useful as well. Be sure to point out trade-offs involved with each
question type.
9. “Every time we get consultants in here, they pass out some goofy questionnaire that has no mean-
ing to us at all. Why don’t they bother to personalize it, at least a little?” asks Ray Dient, head of
emergency systems. You are discussing the possibility of beginning a systems project with Pohattan
Power Company (PPC) of Far Meltway, New Jersey.
a. What steps will you follow to customize a standardized questionnaire?
b. What are the advantages of adapting a questionnaire to a particular organization? What are the
disadvantages?
10. A sample question from the draft of the Pohattan Power Company questionnaire reads:
I have been with the company:
20–upwards years
10–15 years upwards
5–10 years upwards
less than a year
Check one that most applies.
a. What kind of a scale is the question’s author using?
b. What errors have been made in the construction of the question, and what might be the possible
responses?
c. Rewrite the question to achieve clearer results.
d. Where should the question you’ve written appear on the questionnaire?