The Sell-It-All Company is a wholesale distributor of office supplies. It sells pencils and pens, paper goods (including computer paper and forms), staplers, calendars, and any other items that you would expect to find in an office, excluding furniture and other major items such as computers. Sales have been growing at 5 percent per year during the last several years. Mr. Big, the Sell-It-All president, recently attended a national office supplies convention. In conversations during that convention, he discovered that sales for Sell-It-All's competitors have been growing at 15 percent per year. Arriving back home, he did a quick investigation and discovered the following:
• Sell-It-All's customer turnover is significantly higher than the industry average.
• Sell-It-All's vendor turnover is significantly lower than the industry average.
• The new market analysis system was supposed to be ready two years ago but has been delayed for more than one year in systems development.
• A staff position, reporting to the president, for a person to prepare and analyze cash budgets was created two years ago but has never been filled.
Mr. Big has called on you to conduct a systems survey of this situation. You are to assume that a request for systems development has been prepared and approved. Make and describe all assumptions that you believe are necessary to solve any of the following
a. What are the specific goals of this systems survey?
b. Indicate specific quantifiable benefits and costs that should be examined in assessing the economic feasibility of any solutions that might be proposed. Explain how you would go about quantifying each benefit or cost.
c. Propose and explain three different scopes for the systems analysis.