Assignment: Kahuna Cleaning Supply
Kahuna Cleaning Supply is a family-run business based in New Haven, Connecticut that specializes in commercial cleaning supplies and business support products for commercial, industrial, and institutional clients. Only a few computerized operations are in the business. In an effort to become more efficient and profitable, the vice president, Julia Thompson, has hired a systems analyst, Robert Hanover.
Background:
Julia and Robert have made progress in the development of a strategic plan for Kahuna Cleaning Supply. Robert is anxious to define the requirements for the new system. He has gathered more information and has created the following organization chart for Kahuna Cleaning Supply.
Robert: Julia, it’s time to start moving on the system investigation. The mission statement is finalized and strategic planning is well underway. I can see that the directors are beginning to think about how their departments can benefit from better information management.
- Charles Edwards President
- Julia Edwards Vice President
- Andrew McClean Director of Sales
- Anna McNally Director of Finance
- Martha Seymour Director of Operations
- Dennis Martin Shipping/Receiving Manager
- George Thompson Warehouse Manager
- Accounting/Billing Clerk (2) Sales Rep (6)
- Customer Service Rep (3)
Julia: You’re right! Andrew McClean found out that we lost a big order the other day because the customer was able to get the estimate much more quickly from a company in the Midwest because of their online presence. He’s wondering just how many sales we are losing because of timeliness issues. I had Anna’s group gather numbers for the directors about how many times our profit margin has been reduced because of human error somewhere along the order process.
We are profitable, but could be more so by reducing error and becoming more competitive with timely information to our potential customers.
Robert: Andrew’s area of sales is a logical place to start the investigation. I need to interview sales and customer service representatives to get an idea of the requirements for the new information system. What kind of information will we include? What do we want to get out?
What processes need to be managed? What are our business needs?
Julia: This will take some time, and a lot of information needs to be gathered. You should make sure you spend some time with the accounting clerks too, because they fill in for customer
service representatives.
Robert: I’m ready to get started!
Tasks 1:
Develop a fact-finding plan including interviews, documentation review, observation, questionnaires, sampling, and research.
Tasks 2:
Review the organizational model above and list the individuals you would like to interview. Prepare a list of objectives for each of the interviews you will conduct.
Tasks 3:
Prepare a list of specific questions for each individual you will interview.
Tasks 4:
Design a questionnaire that will go to a sample of Kahuna Cleaning Supply customers to find out if they were satisfied with the sales and ordering process. Your questionnaire should follow the suggestions in this chapter. Also, decide what sampling method you will use and explain the reason for your choice.