AllSeasons is an employment agency providing casual staff to the hospitality industry. Client businesses are across the range: pubs, clubs, restaurants, night clubs, fast food outlets, as well as hotels and motels. The clients require staff on a temporary basis, so that they can cope with the large and irregular fluctuations in demand that are typical in the hospitality industry.
AllSeasons negotiates contracts with business clients to provide temporary staff with specific skills and certifications for an agreed cost. Staff are hired for jobs such as bar attendant, bar useful, waiter, cook's assistant, room attendant, receptionist etc.
When a client business determines that it will need temporary staff, it will issue a staffing request against the contract it has previously established. When AllSeasons receives a staffing request the contract number is recorded by the Contract Manager.
The Contract Manager reviews the terms and conditions of the contract and determines whether the staffing request is valid. For example, the staffing request is valid if the contract has not expired, the type of request that has been requested is listed on the original contract and the request fee falls within the negotiated fee. If the staffing request is not valid, the Contract Manger sends the staffing request back to the client with a letter stating why the request cannot be filled, and a copy of the letter is filed. If the staffing request is valid, the Contract Manager records the details as an outstanding request and forwards the request to the Placement Officer.
In the Placement Department, the type of skills and experience requested are matched with the available staff. If a suitable person is found, he/she is marked as "reserved". If a qualified person cannot be found, or is not immediately available, a memo (letter) is created that explains the inability to meet the request. The memo is attached to the staffing request. All staffing requests are then sent to an Arrangements Officer.
In the Arrangements Department, the prospective casual worker is contacted and asked to agree to the placement. After the placement details have been worked out and agreed to, the casual worker is marked as "placed". A copy of the staffing request and an invoice for the placement fee is sent to the client. The staffing request, the "unable to fill" memo (if any) and copy of the invoice (if any) is sent to the Contract Manager.
If the staffing request was filled, the Contract Manger closes the open request. If the staffing request could not be filled the client is notified. Finally, the staffing request, the "unable to fill" memo (if any) and the copy of the invoice (if any) is filed in the Contract Office.
Finally, AllSeasons is expanding their operations in permanent as well as contractual placements of hospitality staff, and the company wants the new system to support their expanding business.
1. Update Part 1 of the assignment
Apart from what you see appropriate, you should note the feedback that you have received during your presentation as well as in your written report on part 1 of the case study and adjust as necessary. (Please allow at least couple of weeks before your tutor returns marked part-1 assignment to you. So, it's suggested that you start doing part 2 of the assignment earlier rather than later, and don't wait for part-1 of assignment to be marked because it might be too late to complete part-2 of the assignment by the time you get your marks back from your tutor. Remember, you can always revise part-1 as well as your part-2 of the the assignment when you have a draft submission ready).
2. Add activities to event/response table
This is a revised event table from your assignment (part 1) submission.
3. Develop a Context Diagram for your system
If you are not clear what a context diagram might be, then revisit the lecture slides from week 5 onwards.
4. Develop a top level (level 0) Data Flow Diagram (DFD) for your system
This diagram should capture the high level features of your system.
5. Develop lower level DFDs for the core components of your case
Level 1 and perhaps level 2 diagrams for your system's core components. The number of levels may vary based on the complexity of your case study and your design decisions. It is also your judgment call.
6. Design and develop a Data Dictionary for your core system to data elements level
These data dictionary entries should be for your lowest level of DFD diagrams.
7. Develop Process Specifications for the core components of your system
These specifications should be for lowest level of processes that appear on your DFDs. You should specify two separate processes for each of three pSpec types - structured English, decision table and decision tree. Thus, you will provide six pSpecs for six different lowest level processes for the assignment.
8. Develop an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) for your system
It's up to you to decide whether you want to attempt normalisation or not.
9. All assumptions must be documented
10. List of references (Harvard style)
We will be looking for evidence of research and reasoning.