Comprehensive Systems Project (CSP):
This project will allow the students to test their skills by functioning as an information systems consultant in a real environment. Each student will have a great deal of flexibility in selecting a "client" and setting the project scope.
As a result, each person will be able to tailor a major portion of the course to his/her specific background, interests and goals. A private or public sector entity at which the student has been previously employed or would like to be employed, a campus group or department, or a charitable organization to which the student belongs represent excellent candidates.
The overall objective of the CSP will be to review all (or a subset) of the client's management information systems and recommend a strategy for the future. The review will include documenting and analyzing existing systems, interviewing key management and user personnel, and defining a systems strategy for the client that will improve its effectiveness and competitive position through the use of new and/or improved management information systems.
The systems strategy will include recommendations in the areas of application software, hardware and organizational implications. The project will simulate an information systems consulting assignment and allow the student to bring value to the client by applying the knowledge gained in this course as well as many others in the MBA program.
Grades on the CSP will be a function of the skill with which the important issues are addressed, the perceived value of the work to the client and the overall quality of the report.
Possible interview questions for CSP:
"Managing" is directing the use of resources--our instructor has broken this use into three areas: planning; execution (including directing, staffing and organizing); and control (including reporting and monitoring).
In light of that, may I ask the following:
1. What planning are you undertaking?
2. What organizing or directing are you doing?
3. What monitoring and controls are in place in relation to the plan and its execution?
-What decisions do you regularly make?
-What info do you need to make these decisions?
-What info do you currently receive?
-What info would you like to receive?
-What are the four most helpful improvements that could be made in the present info system?
A question about the data you receive:
Does the data you receive have the following characteristics:
-Relevancy (is it relevant to your specific needs?)
-Accuracy (is the data correct and timely--i.e. do you receive what you need when you need it?)
-Completeness (is all the data you need there or are there other things you would like included?). What info would you like to have?
General questions:
-Is the business on plan?
-How well does your part of the business utilize info?
Final CSP topic:
The client is a T-shirt manufacturing cell of a major card company. I wish to review the information coming in to the
manager of the cell, document and analyze the systems they now have, and define a strategy that will make information
flow more effective.
Possible areas to examine include the following:
The costing process that the cell goes through to see if it made any
money;
the process involved in ordering the shirts from the vendor;
the method used to keep track of defective items;
the system of interoffice communication regarding cell activity;
the label-making process; reports coming out of the
central system that go unused or not understood.
The CSP will consist of a review of the cell in the areas above to determine how well the information available serves
that particular manufacturing cell, and recommendations for further action along with strategy for implementation.
The project will also try to determine if the business is operating according to a plan set out, and how well it
is following the plan.
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