Systems analysis and design

Part 1

When conducting a preliminary investigation, you may be called upon to understand the relationship of the system to its external environment, as part of this task. You may also be called upon to conduct a feasibility study, before pursuing the project. Please respond to all of the following prompts:

• Consider the following, related to the Preliminary Investigation:

An information link between the firm and the government is an incoming flow of economic and legislative information. 

What are some examples of an outgoing flow to the government? 

If you were a systems developer, how would you know whether to spend a lot of time conducting a cost-benefit analysis?

Who, in the firm, has responsibility for the strategic business plan?

Part 2

The informal organization makes the formal organization come alive. The informal organization consists of informal networks. These networks can help the supervisor if they influence employees to perform at higher levels or they can hinder performance if they interfere with supervision.

Please respond to all of the following prompts:

• What are the advantages of an informal organization? What are the challenges?
• How can the supervisor foster cooperation with informal groups and their leaders?
• How can the leader(s) of the informal organization help the supervisor achieve departmental goals? How can they hinder their attainment?