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Riordan Manufacturing HR System

Michael K. Chase

BSA/375

December 7, 2011

Marcel Collin

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Riordan Manufacturing HR System

Riordan manufacturing is interested in upgrading their current HR system, the new

system should be able to integrate with the present system and take the company into the

future. The new system will be more sophisticated and state-of-the-art to assist the human

resources department.

The first thing that the design team must do is analyze the present system that

Riordan has to determine exactly what type of system would work best to accomplish the

service request. The preliminary investigation will focus on the type of system they have

now, and the personnel that will be using this system.

There must be interaction with managers and users to accomplish this team will

inform appropriate personnel about our investigation, and explain the role of a system

analyst. The team will set a time and date to have a meeting with the managers, users, and

the IT staff to inform them exactly what the project will detail. The other items that will

be discussed at this meeting will be the teams responsibilities and answer any questions

that the personnel at the meeting may have, also we will be taking any input from the

personnel that will help us determine the company's needs.

One of the other parts of the meeting will be to inform everyone in attendance that

there is not a problem with Riordan manufacturing, but to update and improve on the

current system so that the company can be more profitable. After this meeting the team is

confident that with an open dialogue with all personnel that will be responsible and using

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the new system we hope to put their minds at ease that it will be a smooth transition into

the new system. The team will also stay informed throughout the whole process and take

any feedback, and ask questions about any additional requirements that will be needed.

The type of information gathering techniques team will use will vary. The first

thing the team will do is analyze the company’s organizational charts. By analyzing the

company’s organizational charts this will give the team a better understanding of

department functions and identify individuals we would want to interview. The team will

realize that organizational charts will show formal reporting relationships but will not be

able to show any informal relationships that may be within a certain group.

The next aspect of the information gathering technique will be to conduct

interviews. The interviews will need to consist of defined and organized steps for each

interview. The steps for the interview will be to determine what personnel should be

interviewed, what are the objectives of the interview, determine what questions will be

asked during the interview to determine what the needs of the company will be. The other

items that must be done is to prepare for the interview, conduct interview, document the

interview, and evaluate what has been stated in the interview.

Another way to analyze the system would be to observe the current operating

procedures. Working with the current system in use will give the team a much better

understanding of what type of system would be better suited to accomplish what the need

of the company. Questionnaires and surveys are also a good way to determine what the

needs of the company will be. The questionnaires will gather a wide range of information

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on different topics, to include what type of work that the system is performing at this time

to include reports, transactions, and duties that the HR department must perform daily. A

few other things that the team must do are research on different systems with the use of

the Internet, magazines, and other IT professionals. One of the most essential parts of any

information gathering techniques is to be sure to document all interviews, facts,

observations, and any ideas that come in from the employees using the current system.

The next thing that the team must do is determine what would be the best design

method to use when designing the new system. The team has determined that the

waterfall method would be the best to develop the system for Riordan manufacturing.

The waterfall method has been around since 1970 (Melonfire, 2006) and is used

extensively in the manufacturing and construction industries. The waterfall method

consists of six phases needed to develop a good working model. The phases are

requirement analysis, design, Implementation, testing, installation, and maintenance.

The waterfall method is useful in developing software and systems for different

uses. According to the article by (Balci, 1998) “One important characteristic of the

Waterfall Model is the iteration arrows that join the processes together.” The arrows

show the development from one stage to the next in the programming process.

The next portion of the project is the scope, the scope is defined as what the

project is supposed to accomplish and what the budget and timeframe will be to

accomplish the appropriate project (Reh, 2010). Scope of the project is to implement and

design a more sophisticated system for the HR department for Riordan manufacturing,

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and bring all of Riordan's manufacturing plants under one system. The system that

Riordan is using now has been in service since 1992, and it is outdated and not designed

for just the HR department. Currently the system must be manually entered daily, this is

extremely time-consuming and costly that is why the company is attempting to develop a

state-of-the-art HR system.

In conclusion Riordan is in search of a new and better HR computer system that

will be able to be expanded into the future. With the use of system analysis and set

procedures it should be relatively simple the design team to create a working system that

Riordan manufacturing will be able to utilize into the future.

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References

Balci, O. (1998). Software Engineering Lecture Notes. In R. Schach, Department of Computer

Science (p. 24). Blacksburg: McGraw-Hill.

Melonfire, C. ( 2006, September 22). Understanding the pros and cons of the Waterfall Model of

software development. Retrieved December 06, 2011, from Techrepublic.com:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/understanding-the-pros-and-cons-of-the-waterfall-

model-of-software-development/6118423

Reh, F. J. (2010, May 10). Project Scope. Retrieved December 06, 2011, from About.com :

http://management.about.com/od/PMterms/g/Project-Scope.htm