- Purpose :
The main purpose of implementing the five Information Systems into R & B Homecare’s business operations is to overcome problems, errors and inefficiencies faced by the company without Information System. For example, the senior management has to inform every employee about an announcement. Without implementing Electronic Mail for every employee, distributing the announcement to every employee is a tedious yet time consuming job. R & B Homecare is currently using the traditional method of paper and pen for the application of leave and also recording sick days and holidays owing of employees. Without using computers, the sick day and holidays owing records of employees are difficult to retrieve due to unorganized book keeping. Besides, employees will find it more convenient to apply for leaves through Electronic Mail. Currently, R & B Homecare has to hire several employees to manage the payroll information. However, with the new payroll management system, it only needs one or two employees to manage the input of payroll information. Nevertheless, it is difficult for customers to learn more about R & B Homecare’s products without a company’s website. Besides, setting up a company website can also provide information about the location of branch outlets nearest to the customer. Lastly, the car log book entry system can solve the problem of employees using the company’s vehicle for personal purposes. Furthermore, it can also record precise cost for product deliveries.
- Goals :
By implementing Information System, R & B Homecare is able to market their products better, conduct E-commerce, provide better customer services, coordinate its employees effectively and also reduce error rates in their business operations. In order to achieve all these goals, R & B Homecare is proposed to implement all 5 of the systems mentioned above. Generally, the proposed Information System promises the efficiency of R & B Homecare’s business operation. It also prepares the company for its expansion of business to West Malaysia in 2005.
- Time Schedule for the Information System Project :
- The System Development Life Cycle(SDLC) Approach
The figure above shows the system development life cycle for R & B Homecare. As this is the first stage of the Information Systems development, the SDLC only involves 3 phases which are the planning phase, the analysis phase and the design phase. The main purpose of the planning phase is to define precisely the business problem and the scope of the required solution (Worthington 2003, Pg 220). While for the analysis phase, its main purpose is to understand and document the needs and the processing requirements of the new system (Worthington 2003, Pg 220). Lastly, the main purpose of the design phase is to design the solution system (Worthington 2003, Pg 220).
- Location Map :
R & B Homecare’s Office Layout
- Feasibility Study of the Information System :
Feasibility study of the new Information System determines whether R & B Homecare is able to adopt the Information System to its business both technologically and economically.
The above table shows the financial calculations for the development and operation of the new Information System. As anticipated, the usage of the Information System for 3 years is able to bring a return on investment for R & B Homecare as much as 84.38%. Using the Information System for a longer period will promise more benefit to R & B Homecare. Thus, it would not be a problem for R & B Homecare to implement the proposed Information System at the economical point of view. On the other hand, we will also have to take the technological feasibility into consideration. With the implementation of the new Information System into R & B Homecare, some employees might not feel confident or comfortable working under the new environment involving plenty of computer applications. However, this problem can be easily overcame by employing more employees who are experienced in computing and also provide training to existing employees. Last but not least, we will also have to take the organizational feasibility into consideration. For instance, employees might have a substantial computer phobia as they are used to the traditional ways of business. This difficulty can be overcame too by providing computer training to existing employees.
- ANALYSIS :
After completing the planning phase of the new Information System, we move on to the next phase which is the analysis phase. The analysis phase is defined as one phase of the System Development Life Cycle whose objective is to understand the user needs and develop requirements ( Worthington 2003, Pg 220). Thus, gathering relevant information and working out a solution are vital in the analysis phase.
- System Philosophy/
Requirements :
There are two types of Information Systems that I am proposing to R & B Homecare. These two types of systems are the Transaction Processing System (TPS) and the Management Information System (MIS). The TPS is defined as an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to record completed business transactions (Worthington 2003, Pg 20). The TPS is a suitable system for R & B Homecare as it is efficient in managing the payroll transaction of employees and also sales to customers. Another system that I am proposing to the company is the MIS. The MIS is defined as an organized collection of people, procedures, software, databases, and devices used to provide routine information to managers and decision makers (Worthington 2003, Pg 20). The MIS promises efficiency to R & B Homecare’s business operations. This particular system supports the different departments of the company linked through a common database (Worthington 2003, Pg 20). Besides, the MIS also connects to the TPS to help managers make better decisions about their business operations.
In order for these two Information Systems to work best for R & B Homecare, the company has to provide its workplace with relevant hardware and software. The hardware needed are such as printers, network cards, internet dial-up modems, personal computers with at least 2.0 GHZ Pentium 4 processors, etc . Whereas the examples of software needed are such as Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Office XP, etc.
- Policies :
In order not to allow unauthorized personals to access or alter the configurations of the newly proposed Information System, some policies have to be adopted. For instance, a unique username and password should be generated for every employee. This is to make sure that only employees have the authority to access to the company’s information on the web. Moreover, the system administrators in the company should have another set of username and password that will allow them to change the configurations of the Information System. This will ensure the smooth running of all the business operations without unwanted trouble.
- Constraints :
During the development and operation of this Information System, some constraints or hurdles might arose. For instance, the development cost might be considered quite high by R & B Homecare. However, the implementation of the Information System brings rewarding benefits to the company in the long run such as more efficient operation and also higher revenues. Moreover, the existing employees of the company might be used to the traditional method of carrying out business operations. Therefore, it might be quite difficult for the existing employees to adopt to the new Information System. Yet, this problem can be solved by employing more employees who are computer literate and provide relevant training to existing employees.
- Users Involved :
The users of the proposed Information System can be divided into 2 groups from the company who are the general staff and the senior management staff. Furthermore, the proposed Information System also provides convenience to every department of the company. For instance, the Electronic Mail is useful to every staff of the company as they are able to email among colleagues and clients. Whereas the leave application system is used by the Human Resource and Management Department and other employees to apply for leaves and also records the attendance of employees. The payroll management system will be used by the Finance Department to calculate the precise amount of salary for employees. The users of the company’s website will be mostly customers or prospective product buyers. The website will be used by the Marketing Department to provide information about the company and its products. Lastly, the car log book system is used by all the delivery officers of the company who uses the company’s vehicles. All the 5 systems will be maintained by the company’s Information System Department. All the company’s employees are considered as direct users. While the customers are considered as indirect users.
3.5 Transactions to be processed :
Transactions are regarded as the input to the company’s Information System. Some of the examples of inputs are annual leave application details, employees’ personal details, payroll details, number of days or hours working per month, pay rate, reasons of absent, driving details, cost of petrol, staff time sheets, feedback from clients, etc.
3.6 Reports to be produced :
The reports produced are considered as the outputs of the Information System. Some examples of output reports are customer feedback report, annual leave report, employee details report, cost per kilometer report, staff timesheet report, business performance report, gain and loss report, employee tax reports, etc. All these reports is able to help managers make better decisions for their company in future and also keep track of their employees’ performance.
3.7 Decisions to be supported :
The output reports produced by the Information System will be very useful for the company’s business. For example, the customer feedback report will tell the company about customers’ suggestion and opinion about the company’s products and services. In this way, the company can make changes according to customers. Whereas the annual leave report and employee details report can help manage these respective information well. The staff timesheet report can make sure all employees arrive and leave work on time. The cost per kilometer report determines the exact cost for deliveries of products each month.
3.8 Benefits of System :
Overall, the proposed Information System can bring benefits to the company such as higher total revenue, better customer service, efficient payroll, well kept records of employee details and cost saving on
the traditional way of business operations, etc.
-
DESIGN :
Lastly, we come to the last phase of the System Development Life Cycle for this 1st stage system development. This last phase is the design phase. It is defined as the phase of the SDLC where the system and programs are designed ( Worthington 2003, Pg 221).
4.1 System Interfaces :
The system interfaces used in the proposed Information System are user friendly. Our system designers carefully designed the website and all other systems for easy navigation even by first time users. Basically, the website is divided into two sections. One section provides company and product details to common customers. Whereas the other section is meant for the company’s employees. In this particular section, employees are able to print their own tax reports, apply for leaves, etc. Below are some example screens of the proposed system interface.
Main Page of Company’s Website
Emailing the company
Payroll Management System
4.2 Data Flow Diagram :
The data flow diagram or DFD is a graphical model showing the inputs, processes, storage, and outputs of a system produced in structured analysis ( Worthington 2003, Pg 305).
- Context Diagram : Payroll Management System
- Data Flow Diagram : Payroll Management System
- Entity Relationship Diagram : Payroll Management System
The entity-relationship diagram or ERD is a graphical model of data
needed by a system, including things about which information is stored and the relationships among them, produced in structured analysis and information engineering ( Worthington 2003, Pg 305).
5.0 Conclusion :
-
Summary :
To sum up, the purpose of this proposal is to suggest 5 systems to be implemented into R & B Homecare’s business operations. This systems will bring provide lots of benefits to the company. In the long run, the proposed Information System if adopted by the company, will ensure effective and efficient business activities, return profits, and gain customers’ trust. Thus, it is strongly advised that R & B Homecare implement the proposed Information System for the well-being of its business in the long run and for expansion in near future.
- Worthington, P. 2003, Introduction to Information Systems IS100, Thomson, Australia.
