Riordan Manufacturing Service Request SR-rm-022 (Section 1)
Seth Stafford
BSA/375
May 11, 2015
Todd Feuerherm

Riordan Manufacturing Service Request SR-rm-022

Riordan Manufacturing was established in 1991 by Dr. Riordan. He started this company in San Jose, CA where currently the corporate office is and where the Research and Development Department is located. Riordan is a global plastics manufacturing company that is now employing 550 people. The annual revenues are 46 million and they have plants in Albany, GA, Pontiac, MI, and Hangzhou, China. The plant in Albany produces plastic beverage containers. The one in Pontiac products custom plastic parts and the one in China produces plastic fan parts. Riordan Manufacturing is a subsidiary of Riordan Industries, Inc a global plastics manufacturing company that is a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues that will exceed 1 billion (Apollo Group, 2011, 2013).
The C.O.O. of Riordan Manufacturing Hugh McCauley has submitted a service request SR-RM-022 the goal to improve the human resources information system. This request will affect all plant locations throughout the company. Riordan wants the system to be state of the art and will take advantage of the newest technology out there. The expected results will define the business requirements needed to me this proposed enhancement. The overall objective is to create a detailed system and an aggressive project implementation plan that Riordan Manufacturing can plan to utilize the new system by the upcoming second quarter of next year. This in mind, Riordan’s main goal for the company is to motivate and retain their employees with competitive pay and working in a team-oriented environment.
The business needs and current technical specifications of their current HR system needs to be defined first before analysis is to begin. The current HR system at Riordan was installed in 1992. There The current system focuses on keeping tracking of the list employee information which is personal information, pay rate, hire date, personal exemptions for tax purposes, seniority date, vacation hours and organizational information. All this information isn’t being stored in one location at Riordan Manufacturing. Also, none of their plant locations have any secure system in place to handle the essential duties of HR. Any changes to the previous mentioned employee information has to be hand written and submitted to their manager for change. The manager will then submit the document to a payroll clerk at their corporate offices for them to have the change completed. Training and development records are being kept on an Excel spreadsheet by a specialist in that department. These records are being stored as well in an insecure place by the training/developmental team. Recruiters maintain their own applications that are for new applicants and all the applications are stored in a central location. The new applicants status is tracked and recorded on a excel spreadsheet. There is no central location where employee files are located. Instead, the individual manager over that department stores their employee’s files in their own office. Mangers as well have to individually keep track and submit Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences. Requests for accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) have to be submitted to the employee’s manager. Riordan has a compensation manager the primary responsibility for them is to keep records of job analyses, individual compensation decisions, and salary surveys which are all stored on an Excel spreadsheet. The Employee relations specialist primary role is to keep track of grievances, complaints, and harassment complaints which are kept in their own offices (Apollo Group, 2011, 2013). All of these separate files and excel spreadsheets would be better managed with a fully integrated information system. Goals of mine would be first to assess the current system and its processes that Riordan uses at the moment. Then determine exactly how a new information system will meet all their HR needs. I need to identify areas of improvement and present my plan of improvements to their current system.
In the requirements gathering process I need to get as much information as I can from a few key stakeholders of Riordan Manufacturing they would be as followed. Hugh McCauley Chief Operating Office(service requester), Yvonne McMillian, Director of HR, Terri Carranza, Compensation & Benefits Manager, Andrea Gamby, Employee Relations Manager, Silvija Peterson, Payroll Manager, Maria Trinh, Chief Information Office, and Patricia Miller, Manager IT Services.
There are many techniques out there for the important part of information gathering and system analysis. The tool or technique I would like to use for this situation is the Joint Application Design (JAD) session for the key holders that I previously mentioned. The JAD session provides an intense and structured meetings throughout a certain amount of time usually a week. During this week this will provide an opportunity for myself to collect all the system requirements from all they key people that will be involved with developing this new system.
These JAD sessions will give me the opportunity to discuss with individuals (employees) that are familiar with the current system and the everyday process. The Managers that are part of this process will be able to provide me with directions on what they want to include in the new system and how this system will impact there everyday job responsibilities. The sponsor of this JAD session would be Hugh McCauley. Maria Trinh and her IT staff underneath her can contribute on the technical side of any proposed ideas during this meetings. Any technical limitations can be brought up from her group based off any proposed ideas that are being brought up about the new system.
When the JAD session has been completed, the next step I would take is conducting interviews with various HR employees that have different responsibilities within that department. This will help with the analysis process of looking at the current system and its part in HR. After interviewing the HR employees, I would begin the process of interviewing other employees that don’t work in HR and provide them with questionnaires regarding their everyday job responsibilities. When I receive back there questionnaires, I will start conducing individual interviews and set up times to observe them in action at work. This will give me a better understanding of their everyday job process and will give me important information to bring to the developmental process of the new system. The last process would be reviewing any key documents, training manuals, and policies for their current system to get any detailed information that I might of missed from the JAD sessions or previous interviews.
There are 5 key strategies for having a successful time in gathering information. These 5 key strategies are according to Digital Media Training’s website http://blog.dmtraining.net/blog/bid/337833/5-Strategies-for-Successful-Information-Gathering 1. Be Proactive- What do you know about the company/industry? Be proactive and be prepared for every first meeting. Know information about the company, industry and any general information about the person you are about to interview. 2. Know What to Ask- Like the previous strategy being proactive. By doing your pre-meeting research this will help you ask the right type of questions to your interviewee. 3. Sound Curious- When you are in those meeting or interviews stay alert, take good notes and highlight any important information. This strategy makes you look good when you look very interested in every word he or she is saying. 3 4. React vs Respond- Don’t automatically react to a response by an interviewee with the same response just because you’re familiar with the topic. 5. Learn Buying Patterns- Learn how to uncover and find the information about how the company made a purchase decision. Learn all the factors that go in with making a final decision with the company.
Project scope this is the part of project planning that determines and documents a list of specific goals for the project, deliverables, cost associated, and any important deadlines to meet. It establishes a boundary for each team member involved and gives them responsibilities for the project. It will keep them focused and on task for their particular role within the overall group. The scope will define the procedures for how work will be completed and that same work is verified and approved to go to the next step. The analysis phase of the system development life cycle (SDLC), this phase will examine important parts of the proposed project. Project feasibility during the analysis process will define what the new system will do, who will be using this new system, and when/where the new system will be used. There are three other feasibilities to be aware of during the analysis phase which are technical feasibility (Can we build it?), Organizational feasibility (If we build it, will they use it?) and Economic feasibility (Will it provide value to the business?). These feasibility studies will provide a couple of insights into the organization. The first would be that it provides an historical background of the company, defines strengths and weakness of the company, and identify any new opportunities that can be taken advantage. Any threats that could bring the project to a halt or be cancelled would be possibly identified during the feasibility studies.

References
Apollo Group. (2011, 2013). Virtual Organizations. Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/
Digital Media DM Training (2014) Digital Media Training Blog “5 Strategies for Successful Information Gathering” Retrieved from http://blog.dmtraining.net/blog/bid/337833/5-Strategies-for-Successful-Information-Gathering