SR-rm-022 HR System Analysis
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BSA/375
January 14, 2013
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SR-rm-022 HR System Analysis
The SR-rm-022 service request calls for developing a new application for Riordan Manufacturing’s human resources department. According to the Apollo Group Inc. simulation (2011), Riordan Manufacturing wishes to, “Integrate existing variety of HR tools into a single integrated application. We would like to take advantage of a more sophisticated, state-of-the art, information systems technology in our Human Resources department.” In this paper I will address the key factors to analyze the HR system tools such as; Riordan key stakeholders, Joint Application Development, Use Cases, Process Models, Data Models, successful information gathering, and project scope.
Riordan HRIS
According to the Apollo Group Inc. simulation (2011), on the employee site under HRIS, the company’s HRIS was developed in 1992 and is a part of the financial systems package. It keeps track of the employees’ personal information, pay rate, personal exemptions for tax purposes, hire rate, seniority date, organizational information, and vacation hours. Changes to this information are submitted via special forms by the employee’s manager and entered into the system by the payroll clerk. Training and development records are kept in an Excel worksheet by a training and development specialist. Recruiters maintain applicant information for open positions, résumés are filed in a central storage area, and an Excel spreadsheet is used to track the status of applicants. A third-party provider manages the worker’s compensation records. All employee files are kept by individual managers, and there is no central storage. The compensation manager keeps an Excel spreadsheet with the results of job analyses, salary surveys, and individual compensation decisions. Employee relations specialists track information about complaints, grievances, harassment complaints, etc. in locked files in their offices.
Riordan Key Stakeholders
The key stakeholders for this service request are the head managers and director of the human resources department. * Yvonne McMillan – director of human resources * Andrea Gamby – employee relations manager * Terri Carranza – compensation and benefits manager * Silvja Peterson – payroll manager
A new HRIS would integrate the current data storage systems the above key stakeholders are currently using and improve information sharing across the entire human resources department. These individuals would be essential to acquire information regarding requirements for a new information system and would be present throughout the JAD process to determine system requirements.
Joint Application Development (JAD)
For this project I would propose using JAD as the information-gathering technique. “Joint application development (or JAD as it is more commonly known) is an information-gathering technique that allows the project team, users, and management to work together to identify requirements for the system” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 3).
The major advantage of JAD is that it prevents system requirements from being too vague or too specific. JAD requires the use of a JAD-trained facilitator who sets the meeting agenda and guides the discussions for the project. JAD also makes use of open-ended questions for the users to answer, which promotes honest discussion in an open forum; these questions are usually drafted by the facilitator in advance. Each agenda item is allotted around 30 minutes, and breaks are taken frequently, usually between agenda items.
Use Cases
Another valuable tool for the analyst is use cases. Use cases often coincide with JAD and are used when processes or systems are completely re-engineered or any major changes are made that significantly impact the way users work. Use cases can serve to further clarify the requirements elicited from JAD or other elicitation activities.
“A use case depicts a set of activities performed to produce some output result. Each use case describes how an external user triggers an event to which the system must respond… With this type of event-driven modeling, everything in the system can be thought of as a response to some trigger event. When there are no events, the system is at rest, patiently waiting for the next event to trigger it. When a trigger event occurs, the system (and the people using it) responds, performs the actions defined in the use case, and then returns to the waiting state” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 4).
Process Models
Often use cases can be extremely complex and difficult to understand. Process models serve to graphically depict the details of a use case, which can make the information appear more categorically and logically organized; the data flows. In fact a data flow is an element of a data flow diagram, which is the typical format for a process model.
“A process model is a graphical way of representing how a business system should operate. It illustrates the processes or activities that are performed and how data move among them. A process model can be used to document the current system (i.e., as-is system) or the new system being developed (i.e., to-be system), whether computerized or not” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 5).
Most process models are composed of several data flow diagrams. There is typically an DFD used as a summary for the system, and additional DFD’s to provide additional detail of each part of the business process.
Data Models
“A data model is a formal way of representing the data that are used and created by a business system; it illustrates people, places, or things about which information is captured and how they are related to each other. The data model is drawn by an iterative process in which the model becomes more detailed and less conceptual over time” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 6).
An entity relationship diagram (ERD) is a logical data model commonly used by analysts to show all of the data components of a business system. There are relationships between all activities within systems analysis; just as process models are used to make sense of use cases, DFD components must correspond with the ERD.
“Although the process model focuses on the processes of the business system, it contains two data components—the data flow (which is composed of data elements) and the data store. The purposes of these are to illustrate what data are used and created by the processes and where those data are kept. These components of the DFD need to balance with the ERD. In other words, the DFD data components need to correspond with the ERD’s data stores (i.e., entities) and the data elements that comprise the data flows (i.e., attributes) depicted on the data model” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 6).

Successful Information-Gathering
Successfully gathering information begins with selecting the most beneficial stakeholders who will provide the most valuable insight into the existing systems and their deficiencies at lower-levels as well as those at upper-levels to identify system requirements. Another key factor is selecting the best information-gathering technique for the project based on the size and complexity of the system change. Extensive knowledge of the systems analysis tools available to the analyst will also ensure a smooth analysis.
Project Scope
The scope of a project is essentially the size, impact, and estimated requirements of a project. A project can completely fail or be put on hold for long periods after much of the project is completed if the analyst does not accurately determine the project scope; this is known as scope creep. Cost and schedule overruns caused by adding additional requirements should be reduced as much as possible. Good planning goes a long way; the project manager must work to ensure the project remains focused and only essential changes are made to the project plan.
“A feasibility analysis is then used to provide more detail about the risks associated with the proposed system, and it includes technical, economic, and organizational feasibilities. The technical feasibility focuses on whether the system can be built, by examining the risks associated with the users’ and analysts’ familiarity with the application, familiarity with the technology, project size, and compatibility with existing systems. The economic feasibility addresses whether the system should be built. It includes a cost–benefit analysis of development costs, operational costs, tangible benefits, and intangible costs and benefits. Finally, the organizational feasibility analysis assesses how well the system will be accepted by its users and incorporated into the ongoing operations of the organization. The strategic alignment of the project and a stakeholder analysis can be used to assess this feasibility dimension” (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, 2012, Chapter 6).
Summary
The SR-rm-022 service request calls for developing a new application for Riordan Manufacturing’s Human Resources department. Riordan Manufacturing’s current HRIS is very outdated and consists mostly of individual managers maintaining Excel spreadsheets. The key stakeholders for this project are the head managers of the human resources departments and the director of human resources. A new HRIS would integrate the current data storage systems the above key stakeholders are currently using and improve information sharing across the entire human resources department. For this project I would propose using JAD as the information-gathering technique. The major advantage of JAD is that it prevents system requirements from being too vague or too specific. I would propose using use cases, process models, and data models as the systems analysis tools. Use cases can serve to further clarify the requirements elicited from JAD or other elicitation activities. Process models serve to graphically depict the details of a use case that can make the information appear more categorically and logically organized. There are relationships between all activities within systems analysis; just as process models are used to make sense of use cases, DFD components must correspond with the ERD. Good planning goes a long way; the project manager must work to ensure the project remains focused and only essential changes are made to the project plan as well as ensure the project scope is as accurate and complete as possible.

References
Apollo Group Inc.. (2011). SR-rm-022 [Multimedia]. Retrieved from Apollo Group Inc., BSA375 - Fundamentals of Business Systems Development website. Dennis, A., Wixom, B. H., & Roth, R. M. (2012). System analysis and design (5th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection database.