Notes for Interim Report

    This report has the simple purpose of showin" rel="nofollow">ing to the CEO what progress you have made in" rel="nofollow">in fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing a solution that may meet their needs. The CEO will be expectin" rel="nofollow">ing that this report does not present a complete solution. Nevertheless, it should still be professionally presented and frankly discuss areas that still need to be researched, etc… - Aims at sellin" rel="nofollow">ing your prelimin" rel="nofollow">inary ideas to senior management - Brief, & simpler than your fin" rel="nofollow">inal report sin" rel="nofollow">ince you may not have enough in" rel="nofollow">information in" rel="nofollow">in such an early stage. - Explain" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">in your report if you do not have enough in" rel="nofollow">information now, and need more time & efforts for further study. This is a limitation that must be stated clearly.) - Briefly talk about possible solutions and discuss which approach is better. - Should still be professionally prepared Busin" rel="nofollow">iness/User Requirements Read the case (pp. 6-7, syllabus) and have a good understandin" rel="nofollow">ing of the requirements. Assume that you can in" rel="nofollow">interview the CEO, and his staff to clarify their requirements. From what you capture from the in" rel="nofollow">interviews, you develop the functional requirements (and non-functional requirements if your clients have some). In real-world project, you will have to go through many rounds of in" rel="nofollow">interviews and meetin" rel="nofollow">ings/workshops to clarify requirements. In this project, you may make up the requirements. But they must be reasonable & logical. Need to do some research before writin" rel="nofollow">ing Assignment Background You are an in" rel="nofollow">information system and technology consultant hired to design and implement a Customer Service System (CSS) designed to support the followin" rel="nofollow">ing busin" rel="nofollow">iness: Just Relax Inc (JRI) is a unique vacation spa concept. JRI's guests check everythin" rel="nofollow">ing at the door, except their clothes and some personal items. No laptops, phones, briefcases, wallets or anythin" rel="nofollow">ing else are permitted on the grounds. The exception is a combin" rel="nofollow">ination picture identification and credit card issued by JRI at check in" rel="nofollow">in and given to each guest upon arrival. JRI has a golf course, tennis courts, bicycle paths, a restaurant and a nightclub. Guests stay 1 to 4 nights and use the ID/credit card to rent equipment, book and pay for green fees and courts, purchase food and other refreshments. At the end of their stay, they review their bill, receive their personal belongin" rel="nofollow">ings and are off. JRI is at capacity. The resort's reputation is perfect. Management has a knack for deliverin" rel="nofollow">ing a value package unequalled by anyone in" rel="nofollow">in JRI's market. JRI management would like to take advantage of new technology to help accomplish the followin" rel="nofollow">ing goals: - Increase security. - Increase the customer value package by elimin" rel="nofollow">inatin" rel="nofollow">ing lin" rel="nofollow">ine-ups for equipment pick up and payment. For example: a guest should be able to walk in" rel="nofollow">in, fin" rel="nofollow">ind a tennis racket and walk out to the court. Similarly a guest should be able to return the racket to the shelf without havin" rel="nofollow">ing to stand in" rel="nofollow">in lin" rel="nofollow">ine to pay for the rental fee. Another example is the ability of any guest to pre-order lunch and have it delivered to his/her table upon arrival at the sun deck. When lunch is over, the guest can leave without havin" rel="nofollow">ing to wait for the check. Management has already fin" rel="nofollow">ingered the use of the ID/credit card as the bottleneck. Management would like to rid themselves and their guests of the hassle of constantly showin" rel="nofollow">ing the card for verification of person (picture and signature) and havin" rel="nofollow">ing the guest sign off on the account. The project should in" rel="nofollow">include hardware, software, communications, fin" rel="nofollow">inancial, human resource issues and solutions as well as anythin" rel="nofollow">ing else that you deem to be important. Above all, it needs to be feasible. Prelimin" rel="nofollow">inary groundwork for this project in" rel="nofollow">includes the identification and analysis of the underlyin" rel="nofollow">ing busin" rel="nofollow">iness processes in" rel="nofollow">involved as well as a clear defin" rel="nofollow">inition of the scope of your project. I suggest you complete an environmental scan of available (and future) technology. This prelimin" rel="nofollow">inary groundwork will be presented to your in" rel="nofollow">instructor as an in" rel="nofollow">interim report. The output from your work will be a formal report (in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing table of contents, executive summary, annotated bibliography and data disclosure). Headin" rel="nofollow">ings and organization are up to you. Significant primary and/or secondary research is expected to support your fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings (e.g. cost to manufacture, marketin" rel="nofollow">ing costs, distribution costs, advertisin" rel="nofollow">ing costs, etc.). Valuable sources in" rel="nofollow">include third party analyses in" rel="nofollow">in busin" rel="nofollow">iness periodicals and credible Internet sites (e.g. Strategis, Dunn & Bradstreet), the websites of the organization and in" rel="nofollow">insider in" rel="nofollow">interviews. The entire research fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ing used to generate the report must be properly referenced and in" rel="nofollow">included in" rel="nofollow">in a portfolio to be handed in" rel="nofollow">in with the report. Relevant fin" rel="nofollow">indin" rel="nofollow">ings should be presented within" rel="nofollow">in their appropriate contexts and highlighted for quick reference. The analysis in" rel="nofollow">in the report itself must, however, be able to stand on its own. Note: Reports that do not apply the citation and bibliographical standards described below are unlikely to receive a grade higher than 80%. Citations & Bibliographies - APA Standards (LRC) Plagiarism often occurs unin" rel="nofollow">intentionally because students have not yet become accustomed to applyin" rel="nofollow">ing proper citation standards. Here are some guidelin" rel="nofollow">ines to help you apply these important standards: - Cite all sources used to prepare your analyses in" rel="nofollow">in the body of all of your assignments. Each and every idea that is not your own, whether quoted, paraphrased, or otherwise used to substantiate your analysis, should be accompanied by a reference in" rel="nofollow">in a foot- or endnote. From the placement of the note and, where relevant, the quotation marks, it should be evident to which idea the note applies. • - Unless otherwise directed, always in" rel="nofollow">include a list of references or“bibliography” - Use the APA standards described on the LRC website. Citations give credit to the origin" rel="nofollow">inal author and help the reader fin" rel="nofollow">ind the sources used. Submissions that do not appear to meet these citations standards will be penalized.