Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer employing 550 people with projected annual earnings of $46 million (University of Phoenix, 2011).
The company is wholly owned by Riordan Industries, a Fortune 1000 enterprise with revenues in excess of $1 billion (University of Phoenix, 2011).
Hugh McCauley, the COO of Riordan Manufacturing, has requested the integration of Riordan Manufacturing’s existing variety of Human Resource (HR) tools into a single integrated application (University of Phoenix, 2011).
This paper will discuss in detail three phases of development for the new integrated HR application: information-gathering, architecture and process design, and implementation. The development of a new system to assist with administrative operations can be a mind-numbing process, but with the right tools victory is inevitable. Within the preliminary stages of developing Riordan Manufacturing’s new HR system, the leading phase is information-gathering.
According to Dictionary. om (2013), the information-gathering phase is the act of collecting information. In certainly no particular order, one of the many key sources of information-gathering is the stakeholders. When developing a new integrated HR system, the best start to information-gathering is with the requestor. Hugh McCauley, the COO of the company, and he has requested a new HR system with purpose and objectives in mind. A stakeholder can also be classified as the Human Resource Department or the company itself.
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Gathering requirements can also be obtained by reviewing Riordan Manufacturing’s corporate goals, and per ‘our future’ via Riordan Manufacturing’s intranet webpage, the focus is in achieving and maintaining reasonable profitability to assure that the financial and human capital is available for sustained growth. Reviewing existing systems is the most influential source of data to gather requirements, because the project itself calls for the integration of a variety of HR tools into a single integrated application (University of Phoenix, 2011).
There are numerous techniques that can be used for gathering requirements.
Some of these techniques help engage the participants in a meaningful discussion which gets their thoughts flowing and paints a better picture for what the stakeholder is looking for (“Requirements Authority”, 2013).
In certainly no particular order, one of the many information-gathering techniques is workshops. Requirement gathering workshops can help promote individual perspectives to be shared that will support business requirements. Workshops can also help participates understand the scope of the project, which can potentially promote commitment towards the project.
As stated previously, reviewing the previous Human Resources (HR) systems is the single best source for information-gathering requirements. In addition to the previous HR systems, reading supportive physical documents can be used as a source for information-gathering. By reviewing physical documents, gray area data can be brought to the surface to help with the development of the new HR system. The arrangement of interviews can significantly encourage the development team to extrapolate a true understanding of the goals of project.
Hugh McCauley, the COO of Riordan Manufacturing, is the requestor of this project; therefore, Mr. McCauley is the best candidate for an interview. In the scope of being cost-effective, the project should apply a prototype system that HR associates test to observe its success or failure. A prototype system can also help the development identify hiccups to be rectified before the launch of the new integrated HR system. Within the same frame of a prototype, the development team should conduct observations to perceive a real-life vision for the new system.
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Business has its origins in primitive societies – food gathering, hunting and eventually agriculture were essential to sustain even a basic form of life and were more effective when people formed themselves into organised groups or communities. The making of tools, implements and clothing gave rise to today’s manufacturing industry. In this environment, organisations have developed ...
The observation information-gathering process in the project will provide the development team a true understanding of the responsibilities of the HR team. Applying the right information gathering techniques can be the determining factor in the project’s success or failure. The purposed methodology for this project is the Agile development methodology because Agile’s backward scalability. The development of the integrated HR system will call for many sample systems; therefore, the method of development will need to promote the ability to make changes mid-process.
While Agile provides flexibility to make changes as per customer requirements, it is more inclined towards better client satisfaction. Lastly, Agile provides that flexibility to error check; which promotes more bug free and less erroneous projects. In order to avoid incomplete, inconsistent, or incorrect requirements, it is imperative to identify the key factors that help ensure the information required for the project is gathered successfully. In certainly no particular order, management’s commitment to the project is paramount because of the awareness for organization’s goals.
Management’s goals for the project can direct the developers to gathering required information successfully. Management can also act as an information checkpoint to validate the validity of gathered information that is required for the success of project. Interaction between users and the HR system personnel can provide quality feedback for the success of the application. This information is required because the development team must ensure the application is user-friendly, so, end-users can navigate successfully. As stated previously, there must be goal congruence among developers, users, and management.
The importance of congruent goals will safeguard the time spent in developing the integrated HR system. Often times, developers are required to re-design systems because the project goals are not defined by all involved parties. Developers must understand the personnel’s understanding of the application. The developers understanding of the application is defined as how well the information systems personnel understand the purpose, the tasks, and the outputs of the work processes that the application is to support (TechRepublic, 2013).
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Abstract Information systems (IS) projects are vulnerable to resource cutbacks and the increasing complexity of systems and advances in information technology make finding the right personnel difficult and the associated development costs high. Good project management is essential for success. Some alignment methodologies include IBM's business systems planning (BSP), Robert Holland's strategic ...
This key factor greatly increases the ability of the team to correctly and quickly specify the requirements. The last key factor that helps ensure successful information gathering is planning. The planning factor is defined as the amount of preparation performed for the developer’s requirements-gathering process and included the identification of specific tasks and the person responsible for performing them (TechRepublic, 2013).
Studies have shown that a work plan and schedule for completion are necessary for project success (TechRepublic, 2013).
According to “Project Scope” (2013), “the Project Scope pertains to the work necessary to deliver a product. ” (What defines a project scope? ).
Requirements and deliverables define the project scope, and it is critical that the stakeholder is in agreement with the information discussed in the proposed plan (“Project Scope”, 2013).
If the project plan is the heartbeat of a solid project management methodology, the scope statement is the breath. The scope statement details the vision of the project.
It describes the goals, the deliverables, and documents what a successful conclusion to the project looks like. According to Dennis, Wixom, and Roth (2012), the areas of project feasibility that are examined in the analysis phase of the SCLC involve in the following three steps: (1) understand the existing situation (the as-is system), (2) identify improvements, (3) define requirements for the new system (the to-be system) (“The analysis phase”).
In order for developers to create the best system, the developers need to understand the existing situation. Experience shows that it is useful to study the current situation whenever possible. The insights gained from reviewing the existing system can be quite valuable to the project team (Dennis, Wixom, & Roth, “The analysis phase,” 2012).
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The second step, identify improvements, helps outline the needed modifications the will be introduced in the new system.
Lastly, the final step is to define requirements for the new system. The system requirements are derived from people within the business. Occasionally, surface requirements can be obtained by a consultant, who can also sort or order them and research the ramifications of the requirements. However, consultants do not understand the business like the people that work for the business. Therefore, the requirements originating from management and end-users can help the developer establish concrete requirements for the new system.
