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Assignments and Lecture Outlines BIT 103 Business Information Systems Assignment 2: MIS Essay This assignment makes up 30% of the assessment for the subject. The assignment is due to be handed in by the end of week 13 of semester. Report length: 1200 words The presentations will be delivered during the last two workshops. __________________________________________________________________________ You will be assigned a topic taken from the text book. The topic will be accompanied by a set of questions. Your task is to write a 1200 word essay addressing the issues raised by the questions. You should not simply answer the questions, nor do you need to confine yourself to the questions given. However your essay must address those questions. Your essay can also address other issues raised by to the topic. As a guide, expect your reader to be able to make sense of your essay without having read the topic or the questions. The essay should be approximately 1200 words During the final two workshops you will be required to give a brief 10 minute presentation to the class explaining your analysis and conclusions. You should assume that while the audience is not familiar with the particular case study, they have some knowledge of the fundamentals of Information Technology and Management Information Systems. For instance, while you would not expect to need to explain Porter’s Value Chain, you might need to use it to explain your analysis. You are encouraged to discuss your ideas with your lecturer/ workshop leader, but should not expect to be provided with solutions. You should expect to make use of resources and references beyond those provided in the text, and to provide a list of references using the Harvard method. See the link on the subject Moodle page for a guide. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is to be submitted via Moodle before the presentation. The essay is to be submitted in pdf format to Moodle by the due date. Before submitting your essay you must first submit it to Turnitin and obtain a satisfactory turnitin report. Any assignment that has not been submitted to Turnitin will be deemed to have not been submitted. Some points to note about your presentation: · Do not simply read the slides. Everyone can see them. · Your presentation should discuss and explain your response to the discussion and critical thinking questions. · While there is often no single correct answer, you are encouraged to discuss your responses with your lecturer/workshop leader. · Do not simply state your answer without explaining how you arrived at it. · It might be necessary to discuss opposing points of voew. · Do not read out a prepared speech. · Prepare your speaker's notes in the form of brief headings, and use these as prompts. If you are familiar with the material (as you ought) then you should be able to talk about it. · Either use cards (with few words) that are small enough to sit in your hand (business card size is good) or make a sheet with big print headings (and nothing else) and lay it on the table where you can glance at it occasionally. · Practice your presentation. If you have not given it out loud (preferably to a friend) you haven’t prepared it. · Do not put too many words on each slide. Slides should support your presentation, not replace it. · Do not block the projector. · Find an opportunity before your presentation to see how the projection system system works. Few things distract more than a presenter who does not know how to start the projector. · Structure your presentation. Even in 10 to 12 minutes, there is much to be gained from organising what you will say. Make sure you have a suitable introduction and conclusion. (Ideally, you shouldn't have to tell the audience when you have finished!) BIT101 Assignments and Subject Guide Semester 1 - 2012 Page 2 Small Business Web Design: The Music Box The Music Box is a very small business in regional Victoria that offers customers the opportunity to search through a range of music online and hire a jukebox with the music of their choice. The business has been in operation for five years and employs two staff, including the owner. They wish to expand their business so that they can conduct all of their transactions online, something which is currently not possible. Many customers find the music they want from the website but then have to contact the business directly by telephone or download a form, fill it in and fax it back to order their music. The business owner, Jan, decided to establish the website because no one else had a website offering a collection of music with jukebox hire. Jan thought it would be useful for customers to be able to see what The Music Box offered. The Music Box website provides a list of the different types of music available, categorised according to the decade in which the music was recorded. Information is also provided on the conditions of hiring, and sample compilations of music are offered as a service to customers. The website design is very simple; all users have to do is to click on one of the items on the left-hand side of the screen to select the music in which they are interested. Apart from this, the only interaction a customer can have with the business is downloading an order form or sending an email, although this is difficult because the contact details are hard to find. Jan, who has a background in accounting but considers herself creative, designed the website herself after completing a four-week short course at a TAFE college. Jan wanted to create a website that would be attractive and interesting to a younger audience, so she chose her design with this in mind. Jan is in her mid-40s and has teenage children; she ran her design ideas past them. Other than limited consultation with her children, all decisions were made by Jan; she didn't undertake any market research, or consult the websites of similar businesses. Jan does not monitor how many people visit The Music Box's website. She realises this would be valuable but does not have the skills to include a counter on the site. Jan has seen this done with other websites and concedes it would be useful to know, but says she does not have to time to take this on. She believes, however, that the number of telephone calls she receives weekly is a good indication of people's interest in the website. Jan also does not know if people return regularly to the website. Email is available and the other staff member reads the email a couple of times a week. Jan thinks this is enough at this stage because they don't receive a lot of email and it does not generate very much business; besides, they don't have the time. Jan tries to update the website content monthly with new music, but acknowledges this does not always happen and, in fact, the prices currently listed are also out of date. She concedes she has not had the time to make the changes-unfortunately, the other employee does not have the skills to help out with the website. Jan believes her website is successful because the business offers a good list and choice of music. Jan has had anecdotal evidence that users like the variety of music and find the, website easy to use. However, she has also had feedback that some customers thought the display was boring. There is a banner heading running across the top of all the pages telling customers that there is a great range of music available. Although Jan's children liked this feature she thinks the animation on the site might be annoying to others. When Jan has more time she would like to expand her website and offer more Opportunities for customers to order online. She is also thinking about other ways she could expand her business. Questions 1. What changes would you recommend Jan make to The Music Box website? How might you test customers' reactions to the website? 2. How could Jan find out what information customers might want from the website? 3. What recommendations would you give Jan to help her identify what customers think of The Music Box website and what value it has to the business? 4. How could Jan encourage more customers to use the website? 5. What advice would you give Jan regarding how she manages her website in the future? Justify your answer. 6. What would you recommend Jan do to move more of her business online? What other recommendations do you have for Jan?