Sample Course Project Case Study

Sample Course Project Case Study

Introduction
Many systems analysis and design instructors include a project as a significant part of the systems
analysis and design course. At some schools, a separate project course exists. For these project
experiences, instructors use either field projects, usually in a local organization or campus unit, or a
project based on a case study. When using a case study, the instructor can use a detailed case which
contains all of the information a student team needs to know about the organization and system
requirements, in which case it is the students responsibility to check these requirements for
consistency, structure them, and compose them into a design or working system. An alternative to such
a detailed case is to provide students with only general background information and then arrange
project activities in which the students glean the additional information they need from interviews or
questionnaires.
In this instructors manual, a sample project case study, in the form of the last alternative mentioned
above, is provided. If you use this case study project, students should prepare a Baseline Project Plan
to deal with the users request. The instructor or other individuals play the roles in the case situation
and provide additional information to the teams as they request it, either through interviews (inside or
outside of class) or questionnaires. If time permits, it is possible to evolve this case to follow through
with additional project steps and systems development phases.
Documents included for this case study are as follows:
(1) A memo from the teams supervisor giving the team their charge for the situation.
(2) An internal company memo in which a user manager requests a system study. Items (1) and (2)
are all the students receive to begin the project. They must capture any other information they
need to work on the case by asking questions of role players.
(3) An interview script provides the persons playing the case study roles with additional
background information. The role players need this information in order to respond to student
requests for additional information. This script provides general background information on the
case, the personas of the key players in the case, guidelines on how to conduct an interview or for
distributing the additional case information to the students, and scripted answers to possible
student questions. These scripted answers are certainly not comprehensive, but they will give the
instructor or individuals some basis for constructing answers to any and all questions.
(4) When students ask the role players the right questions, four handouts containing specific
information are to be given to the students.

Sample Case Study

The sample case study materials appear on the following pages, in a format suitable for duplication.
You have the right, by adopting Modern Systems Analysis and Design, to make as many copies of
these materials as you wish.

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Consolidated Industries
Memorandum
To:
From:
Date:
Phone:

Your Systems Analysis Team

James Duffy, Director of Business Systems
September 25, 2001
555-3786

I just received the attached memo from Hank Jeffries, an old friend of mine who is now in charge of
Vehicle Management. He needs help in analyzing several problems in his department. I would like you
to meet with Hank and explore his situation.
From what Hank says in his memo and from a prior discussion I had with him, you should carefully
consider his situation. I doubt that there is a ready-made solution. I am not sure they really know what
their problems are. I do not know how much you can find out from one interview with Hank and his
staff, so I do not expect you to know how to solve his problems from just this one meeting. In fact, I do
not think Hank expects us to come up with a solution for his problems right now.
You should meet with Hank and his staff and find out what kind of help he would like from us. This
will be a free session, part of developing potential business for us with his department. After you
meet with Hank, organize your thoughts into a recommendation for Hank and me on what kind of
analysis we might do for Vehicle Management. Prepare a presentation that you can take to Hank to sell
our business analysis services. Remember, we are a profit center; we have to sell clients on the idea
that we can help them solve their business problems. We do not give free advice anymore! If we tell
Hank what to do, he is likely to hire someone else to implement the solution.
Hank is a pretty astute manager, although still learning about his new department. So, you should
develop a clear proposal and figure out what key points are necessary to sell our services. This is a
good opportunity for you to generate new business for Business Systems. How is that for a challenge?
Good luck. You are on your own!

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Sample Course Project Case Study

Consolidated Industries
Memorandum
To:
From:
Date:
Phone:

James Duffy, Director of Business Systems

Hank Jeffries, Manager of Vehicle Management
September 23, 2001
555-2487

Jim, it was good to see you again last week at the company picnic. Time has passed quickly since we
graduated from Mid-State University. I'll never forget our I-core group!! Again, congratulations on
your promotion. The people in Systems always seem to have a leg up on the rest of us.
Thanks for letting me bend your ear about what I think is going on here in Vehicle Management. As I
said, I am just starting to understand this place after spending all those years in personnel. It is a big
change for me. Even after a month in this job, I still have much to learn. My problem is, I am not sure
how to begin to understand what is happening here. I have been thinking all weekend about your offer
to help my department look at some of its problems. I think you might just be able to help. Let me
explain our situation a little more carefully, this time without trying to eat a Brat at the same time.
Briefly, Vehicle Management is responsible for the corporation's fleet of executive cars, rental vehicle
pool, and other company owned vehicles. We purchase, plate, maintain, and sell all corporate vehicles.
At any time, we have approximately 300 vehicles (cars, trucks, etc.) in our fleet. We have to place and
track new vehicle orders, inventory all vehicles and record who is assigned each vehicle, update vehicle
maintenance history and requirements to meet manufacturer warranties, and handle all internal billing.
Vehicle Management is a profit center within the corporation. My office staff of six clerical and
professional workers handles all management functions (plus we are also responsible for the mechanics
in the garage). The garage handles all routine functions when a vehicle comes in from use (cleaning,
gassing, parking, etc.), but we decide and tell the garage personnel when preventive and routine
maintenance are to be done or when to take a vehicle out of the fleet. We decide when to turn over
vehicles and what vehicles to order. We handle titling, plating, invoicing, and inventorying of vehicles.
We also must keep track of the driving history (accidents, tickets, etc.) of all employees who use
company vehicles. We do this with very little personal contact with employees since none of my staff
work in the garage.
We seem to have a variety of problems. More specifically, we have had difficulty:
keeping up with the ever increasing workload in the office (e.g., the department has had a 50
percent growth in the number of vehicle use transactions in each of the past three years)
producing special information for our use or for our customers (e.g., it takes us a lot of time to
prepare summaries of vehicle use by customer department, authorization code, or event)
selling vehicles at the best time (we can get the best trade-in price when we sell a vehicle with the
right combination of mileage and age)

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processing vehicle requests for special events (e.g., customer promotional activities, community
service programs, or officer meetings)
preparing a comprehensive history of use and maintenance on a given vehicle
sending out and tracking follow-up maintenance reminder notices to those assigned a vehicle
Jim, we have tried everything we can think of and, yet, our problems seem to get worse. We operate on
very low margins, and corporate does not show any interest in our problems. Consequently, we do not
have much money to spend. We do not want an elegant solution, just one that works. I am not sure
what the real causes of our problems are. Maybe our office procedures are messed up, maybe it is the
computer system we use, or maybe I need to add staff. I sure wish you could tell me how to figure out
what my real problems are!
I know the people in the Business Systems group are real computer experts, but I am not sure our
computer system is the problem. The department purchased fleet management software two years ago
when it saw that our companys growth was going to be explosive. The system runs on the corporate
mainframe and handles our basic data needs. We have one terminal in our office and one in the garage.
We try to operate like a real rental car agency since corporate staff can rent from us or any local or
national chain agency. Customer service seems to be important to those who rent from us, but none
of us have ever worked for one of the big guys. So, I am not sure we are doing what our customers
want.
I would like to schedule a time when several of my staff and I can meet with a couple of the business
consultants in your department and discuss what you might be able to do for us. Then, maybe you can
give me a proposal or outline on how we can proceed. I will have Sally call you in a couple of days
and we will set up a time to talk.

cc: Stan Fox (Vehicle Disposition)

Sue Quinlan (Rental Operations)
Jack Sutton (Vehicle Maintenance)

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Judges Interview Script

Background
Case Objective: The purpose of this case is not to have the students recommend a solution to the
problems. Rather, the purpose is to have students devise and describe a project that would investigate
the problems and which would then lead to (when conducted) recommended solutions. Thus, the case
emphasizes the ability to scope a situation for study and the development of a methodology for systems
analysis. If you wish, and time permits, the student teams can take the project into subsequent steps of
more detailed analysis, design, and implementation.
General Tone: Since the student teams should not concentrate on solving a problem, you should not
give them too much detail. The information they need relates to the scope of operations, concerns of
individuals (but no hard data to back up concerns), and questions the team should investigate. During
the role-playing interview, good responses include the following.
I dont know the answer to that.
I really wish someone would look into that for me.
I think X is happening, but Im not sure.
I have some concerns about that, but thats not in my area.
I have not been here long enough to really understand what is happening there.
I havent had a chance to look into that, yet.
The students should recognize the need for further study, and design a project plan that does the
appropriate analysis.
Your Personas in the Case: Descriptions for the three Vehicle Management staff involved in the
interview follow.
Hank Jeffries, Manager of Vehicle Management: Hank Jeffries has been in the job one month.
He had been in personnel for 10 years, and this is his first assignment outside of personnel. He is
just learning about the Vehicle Management Department, so he has limited knowledge about how
his department works or what his staff does in any detail. That is, he frequently has to answer I
dont know to questions about department operations and history. Jeffries recently received his
MBA after going to school part-time for five years. The company has assigned him to Vehicle
Management as a way to see if he has potential for further advancement. Jeffries was an HR
major as an undergraduate ten years ago. In school he had one systems oriented course, but it
involved mainframe computing in FORTRAN with punched cards. His work in personnel had no
contact with systems. Hank is concerned primarily with the customer service issue mentioned
near the end of the case, but being new to the department, he cannot articulate very well what he
means by customer service. He does not understand the vehicle rental business, including how to
buy or sell the fleet.
Sue Quinlan, Head of Rental and Assignment (oversees all vehicle use): Sue has been one of
the most vocal to Hank about the need for changes in Vehicle Management procedures. Sue came
to Consolidated six months ago after working for four years as a travel agent. Sue is progressive,
but she does not know the operations of the department very well, yet. Sue has not gotten along
very well with the other two managers in the department since her customer service philosophy is
somewhat at odds with the approach others take. Sue is openly critical of what she has seen in the
department and has many concerns, often without hard data, that the department could function
much better.

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Jack Sutton, Garage Operations Supervisor: Jack is a card carrying bureaucrat. He rules the
garage operations with an iron hand, and not a very polite one at times. He sees his job as
controlling a company asset, not providing customer service. Jack has been around the longest
and holds on to old habits. He schedules all maintenance work on vehicles and decides when to
outsource work. He also handles (through Helen McGill) all correspondence with company
employees concerning service of rental and assigned vehicles. Jack and Sue openly feud due to
their different perspectives (Jack--control and Sue--customer service).
Vehicle Management Culture: The department has several internal conflicts, which should come out
in the interview. First, the professional and clerical staff is a mixture of first and second level managers
(and clericals), some of whom view the department as managing vehicles (corporate assets) and others
of whom want to provide service to those who are assigned vehicles. Second, there has been
considerable turn-over in department staff, so there is neither much organizational memory or rapport
among the staff. Decision-making procedures have not been formalized, so the managers all make
independent decisions. Communication between managers is poor. Hank, being new to the department,
often gets caught in the crossfire between other managers. The other managers are still trying to test
Hank and are somewhat envious and upset that he was brought in over them. For example, Jack is not
reluctant to say such things as: Hank, you dont really understand my problems. or Once youve
been here as long as I have...
Key Items of Information: There are four potential handouts for distribution to each student team.
Each handout is to be given only when the team asks any of the kinds of questions listed below:
(1) Vehicle Management Department Staff -Any one of the following questions:
Who works in Vehicle Management?
Would you please introduce yourselves and tell us a little about your responsibilities?
(2) Vehicle Management Organization Chart -Any one of the following questions:
How is the department organized?
Do you have an organization chart for your department we could see?
(3) Vehicle Management Department Operations: Overview -Any two of the following questions:
Who are your customers?
What kinds of vehicles do you have?
How does someone get approved to rent a vehicle from you?
Can any employee rent or be assigned a car?
Where do you keep the vehicles?
(4) Memo from Sue Quinlan to Hank Jeffries -Sue is to drop a hint during the interview that this memo exists (e.g., the team might ask Sue what
she sees as some of the problems, and Sue might say, As I outlined in a recent memo to Hank...
She should then mention one or two of her concerns, but not the whole memo. Then, if students
ask any one of the following questions:
Can we see a copy of your memo, Sue?
Hank, could you give us a copy of Sues memo?

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Questions
Refer to the four handouts for additional information when answering questions.
Question: Where are company vehicles located and used?
Answer: The company has employees in several dispersed buildings in the metropolitan area, but the
vehicle garage and pool is centrally located at one site, the corporate headquarters building. Vehicles
are used both in and out of state.
Question: Who rents/gets vehicles from Vehicle Management?
Answer: Customers are only company employees. Customers are both individuals and departments.
Often the person placing a reservation is different from the person actually using the vehicle (e.g., a
secretary for a manager, an event manager for a group of volunteer drivers). Each of the top ten
corporate executives is entitled to a car of his/her choice ($35,000 price limit), and each of the 30
traveling sales staff also, if they request, is assigned a car. Some departments (like the courier service,
cafeteria service, building maintenance) also have vehicles permanently assigned. All other customers
rent for specified time periods.
Question: How often do you change vehicles in the fleet?
Answer: Executives receive a new car each year. The sales staff will have cars for two years or
40,000 miles. At the end of this time, the car goes into the rental fleet if needed, or is sold at auction.
Cars and minivans are kept in the fleet based upon a rather complex calculation that minimizes total
operating cost. This is different for each make and model of vehicle and relates to its resale value, age,
mileage, expected maintenance costs, and other factors. Stan Fox handles these decisions, so you
should speak to him about the details. Trucks, busses, and maintenance vehicles are kept as long as
possible, basically until maintenance costs get prohibitive.
Question: How satisfied are you with your computer system?
Answer: Vehicle Managements computer system is a comprehensive transaction processing system,
but it does not provide decision support. It handles all billing, vehicle purchasing and receiving, vehicle
retirement, vehicle tracking, and other operational functions. However, it is not a commercial
reservation system. The terminal screens require special training to use, so employees outside the
department have to work through department staff. The system does not print out any documentation
when an employee picks up or drops off a car. All paperwork is processed by sending written
verification from batch printouts in intra-company mail or through internal charges. Internal charges
are made without countersignatures or any checks. There are no checks against renting department
budgets to verify that the department has sufficient funds allocated.
Question: Are employees careful when using company vehicles?
Answer: Jack does not find employees cooperative. He thinks that employees are not good about
returning vehicles on time, and those assigned vehicles (individuals and departments) are not prompt
about bringing vehicles in for scheduled and required maintenance. Sue thinks that, in addition, many
reservations are canceled at the last minute or when there is a no show. Often vehicles are requested
with just a couple of hours warning. Accidents with company vehicles may or may not be reported by
the employee involved. Often Vehicle Management hears about a claim on an accident from an
insurance company or the police. Employees may have renting privileges revoked or at least Vehicle
Management can notify their supervisors if abuse is habitual.

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Question: Are you competitive with car rental companies?

Answer: Sue tells employees that Vehicle Management has two advantages over commercial rental
agencies: price and location. Even though they are a profit center, Vehicle Management just tries to
break even. In each of the last three years they have shown a slight profit, but not substantial enough
with which to do anything major. Their price is about 10 percent less than the commercial agencies.
Being located at the main headquarters building is an advantage for most employees, but not all.
Question: Are customers satisfied with the reservation system?
Answer: We are not sure. Every once in a while a customer will mention what a nice car he had on
his last trip, and we either do not have that kind of vehicle or cannot find any record of that customer
using one of our cars when he said he did.
Question: What are the procedures for checking in a car in the garage?
Answer: Mileage, car condition, etc. are entered on the terminal in the garage. We clean and gas the
car, and do a light inspection to make sure everything is working. We change the oil every 3,000 miles
and change the tires every 40,000 miles. We rotate tires every 10,000 miles. We make sure all required
maintenance is done during the warranty period, and then do regular maintenance thereafter.
Question: What does (Sally, Helen, Margie) do?
Answer: Hank has not gotten into the details of Sallys job, yet. She basically runs the office (buys
forms, supplies, etc.) and organizes financial records for Hank. Helen reviews vehicle use information
and tells the garage mechanics when to service vehicles. She looks at information about the condition
of vehicles as they come in and contacts the renter or assignee for more information when needed.
Margie answers the reservation phone and enters vehicle reservations into the computer system.
Besides this overview, Hank, Jack, and Sue do not really know much about what the office staff does
on a day-to-day basis.
Question: Are you understaffed in any of your operations (like the garage)?
Answer: No. We can outsource some of the garage work, and we can keep up with the requests for
vehicles.
Question: With the 50 percent volume growth in the past few years, how have you coped with the
extra work?
Answer: We were probably over staffed before. As a profit center, we can increase or decrease garage
and office staff as we can afford them.
Question: How well do the office staff and garage mechanics get along?
Answer: They do not get along very well. They have very little contact with one another other than by
phone and written instructions. Jack does not think that the office staff understands the need to run an
efficient garage operation.
Question: What would you like your computer system to do that it does not do now?
Answer: Jack and Sue would like to customize new reports or inquiries as needed. They want to pick
fields, sort the data, and show summaries. They cannot give examples of what I need, but they are
willing to explore that in another discussion later. Besides that, they do not really use the system that
much. Sally and Margie are the main users. Hank has no insight to this question.
Question: Sue, what do you see as some of the problems in the department?
Answer: As I told Hank in my memo, I think we have to become more customer focused. We are
losing business to commercial rental agencies, our computer system is not very helpful in our

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competitive situation, and we have to find new ways to satisfy our customers. I keep thinking back to
my experience as a travel agent and see a lot of opportunities for us. I have not had time to investigate
my concerns; maybe you can help us do that.
Question: Jack, what do you see as some of the problems in the department?
Answer: I am not sure there are many problems, at least everything seemed to be working fine until a
few months ago. I am having trouble now getting cars serviced in time for their next reservations, and
Sue is always bugging me about having the garage people promptly enter information about the
vehicles. I cannot understand why executives, salespersons, and departments with assigned vehicles
will not bring in vehicles for required maintenance when told to do so. Dont they realize that if they
want their vehicle to work when they use it, the vehicle has to be serviced regularly?
Question: What is being done to improve communication within the department?
Answer: Hank, Sue, and Jack just started meeting every Monday morning to review issues. Hank
serves as a moderator, and asks questions. Hank is concerned about everyone working together better.

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Sample Course Project Case Study

Vehicle Management Department Staff

Biographies of Interviewees: The three Vehicle Management staff involved in the interview are:
Hank Jeffries, Manager of Vehicle Management: Hank Jeffries has been in the job one month.
He had been in personnel for 10 years, and this is his first assignment outside of personnel. He is
just learning about the Vehicle Management Department, so he has limited knowledge about how
his department works or what his staff does in any detail. Jeffries recently received his MBA after
going to school part-time for five years. The company has assigned him to Vehicle Management
as a way to see if he has potential for further advancement. Jeffries was an HR major as an
undergraduate ten years ago. In school he had one systems oriented course, but it involved
mainframe computing in FORTRAN with punched cards. His work in personnel had no contact
with systems.
Sue Quinlan, Head of Rental and Assignment (oversees all vehicle use): Sue has been one of
the most vocal to Hank about the need for changes in Vehicle Management procedures. Sue came
to Consolidated six months ago after working for four years as a travel agent.
Jack Sutton, Garage Operations Supervisor: He schedules all maintenance work on vehicles
and decides when to outsource garage work. He also handles all correspondence with company
employees concerning service of rental and assigned vehicles.
Department Staff: One manager is responsible for vehicle purchasing and selling (Stan Fox), another
for managing vehicle maintenance and repair (Jack Sutton), and a third manager oversees the rental and
assignment operations (Sue Quinlan). The three clerical staff handle vehicle reservations (Margie Hall,
who reports to Sue), billing and receivables (Sally Ryan, who also serves as office manager, and who
reports to Hank), and coordination with the garage (Helen McGill, who reports to Jack).

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Vehicle Management Department Operations

Overview
Company Location: The company has employees in several dispersed buildings in a metropolitan
area, but the vehicle garage and pool is centrally located at one site, the corporate headquarters
building. Vehicles are used both in and out of state.
Customers: Company employees are the only customers. Customers are both individuals and
departments. Often the person placing a reservation is different from the person actually using the
vehicle (e.g., a secretary for a manager, an event manager for a group of volunteer drivers). Each of
the top ten corporate executives is entitled to a car of his/her choice ($35,000 price limit), and each of
the 30 traveling sales staff also, if they request, is assigned a car. Some departments (like the courier
service, cafeteria service, building maintenance) also have vehicles permanently assigned. All other
customers rent for specified time periods.
The Fleet: The fleet includes cars, minivans, trucks, two small buses, and some maintenance vehicles.
It does not include forklifts or other such vehicles used in manufacturing settings. Vehicles are rented
for varying amounts of time -- some for a day (e.g., a day trip to visit a customer), some for months
(e.g., for a given project), and some on assignment (e.g., top executives, traveling sales staff, or the
catering department). All vehicles are maintained in the company garage or Jack Sutton may choose to
send a vehicle out to a private repair service (e.g., to do warranty work, to handle an overload situation
or to do body work). Vehicle Management must know where a vehicle is at all times (that is, whether it
is with an employee, in the garage, or out for repair).
Authorization: Not just anyone can rent or is assigned a vehicle from the fleet. Each rental or
assignment must be done under an approved authorization code, which is an internal billing number
(departments, projects, products, special events, and individuals receive authorization codes).

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Consolidated Industries
Memorandum
To:
From:
Date:
Phone:

Hank Jeffries, Manager of Vehicle Management

Sue Quinlan, Rental and Assignment
September 10, 2001
555-2486

Hank, now that you have settled in to your job, I wanted to outline a few of my concerns about the
operation of the department. I will be brief, and then we can discuss these and other issues at your
convenience.
Corporate departments are demanding more information about their operation costs, including
vehicle use. Some of the commercial vehicle rental agencies I used to work with as a travel agent
have developed systems that can print monthly, or on demand, a picture of vehicle rental use and
costs, broken down by person, type of vehicle, and other parameters, for their corporate clients.
Our computer system has no capabilities in this area. Further, I am told the system is
programmed in COBOL under CICS; Systems tells me they are moving away from this platform,
and they no longer have much expertise in such technologies.
We have no internal marketing function for our department, and I suspect that we are losing
business to commercial companies. However, there is no hard data on this. I would like for us to
consider adding a marketing manager and restructuring my job with this new position; the goal is
to be proactive in promoting the departments product. Again, the computer system has no
features that would support a marketing function.
I would like for us to consider selling vehicles to employees when the vehicles are retired rather
than selling them to car brokers at auctions. The new manager could handle this function.
Jack Sutton keeps telling me that trucks and utility vehicles pose a special concern for him. Since
these vehicles are kept longer than cars, proper servicing of them is crucial for a long life and
greatest use.
I think that we have to be more customer oriented in the way we do business. For example, we
(especially Jack) have had a history of not being very tolerant with a customer department's needs
when we schedule routine maintenance. For example, Jack has not instituted any way to reserve
replacement vehicles for a department when its vehicle is in for scheduled service.
Let me know when you would like to talk about these issues. If you know of anyway we could get
some help thinking about these issues, I would be glad to discuss my concerns with anyone.

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