Page 181 -

148 Part 2 • InformatIon requIrements analysIs

an executive with Michigan Manufacturing (2M). You are interviewing him as a preliminary step in
a systems project, one in which his subordinates have expressed interest. As you listen to I. B., you
look around his office to see that most of the information he has stored on shelves can be classified as
internal procedures manuals. In addition, you notice a PC on a back table of I. B.’s office. The display
screen is covered with dust, and the manuals stacked beside the PC are still encased in their original
shrink-wrap. Even though you know that 2M uses an intranet, no cables are visible going to or from
I. B.’s PC. On the wall behind I. B.’s massive mahogany desk you see five framed oil portraits of
2M’s founders, all clustered around a gold plaque bearing the corporate slogan, which states, “Make
sure you’re right, then go ahead.”
a. What is the organizational narrative or storyline as portrayed by I. B. Daring? Rephrase it in your
own words.
b. List the elements of STROBE that you have observed during your interview with I. B.
c. Next to each element of STROBE that you have observed, write a sentence on how you would
interpret it.
d. Construct a table with the organizational story line down the left-hand side of the page and the
elements of STROBE across the top. Using the symbols from the “anecdotal list” application of
STROBE, indicate the relationship between the organizational story line as portrayed by I. B. and
each element you have observed (that is, indicate whether each element of STROBE confirms,
reverses, causes you to look further, modifies, or supplements the narrative).
e. Based on your STROBE observations and your interview, state in a paragraph what problems
you are able to anticipate in getting a new system approved by I. B. and others. In a sentence or
two, discuss how your diagnosis might have been different if you had only talked to I. B. over the
phone or had read his written comments on a systems proposal.

Group Projects
1. Assume that your group will serve as a systems analysis and design team for a project designed to
computerize or enhance the computerization of all business aspects of a 15-year-old national U.S.
trucking firm called Maverick Transport. Maverick is a less-than-a-truckload (LTL) carrier. The
people in management work from the philosophy of just-in-time (JIT), in which they have created a
partnership that includes the shipper, the receiver, and the carrier (Maverick Transport) for the pur-
pose of transporting and delivering the materials required just in time for their use on the production
line. Maverick maintains 626 tractors for hauling freight, and has 45,000 square feet of warehouse
space and 21,000 square feet of office space.
a. Along with your group members, develop a list of sources of archival data that should be checked
when analyzing the information requirements of Maverick.
b. When this list is complete, devise a sampling scheme that would permit your group to get a clear
picture of the company without having to read each document generated in its 15-year history.
2. Arrange to visit a local organization that is expanding or otherwise enhancing its information sys-
tems. To allow your group to practice the various observation methods described in this chapter,
assign either of these two methods to each team member: (1) developing the analyst’s playscript or
(2) using STROBE. Many of these strategies can be employed during one-on-one interviews, whereas
some require formal organizational meetings. Try to accomplish several objectives during your visit
to the organization by scheduling it at an appropriate time, one that permits all team members to try
their assigned method of observation. Using multiple methods such as interviewing and observation
(often simultaneously) is the only cost-effective way to get a true, timely picture of the organization’s
information requirements.
3. The members of your group should meet and discuss their findings after completing Group Project 2.
Were there any surprises? Did the information garnered through observation confirm, reverse, or
negate what was learned in interviews? Were any of the findings from the observational methods in
direct conflict with each other? Work with your group to develop a list of ways to address any puz-
zling information (for example, by doing follow-up interviews).

Selected Bibliography

Cooper, D. R., and P. S. Schindler. Business Research Methods, 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin,
2007.
Edwards, A., and R. Talbot. The Hard-Pressed Researcher. New York: Longman, 1994.
Kendall, J. E. “Examining the Relationship Between Computer Cartoons and Factors in Information
Systems Use, Success, and Failure: Visual Evidence of Met and Unmet Expectations.” The DATA
BASE for Advances in Information Systems, Vol. 28, No. 2, Spring 1997, pp. 113–126.