CASE STUDY

CASE STUDY 1: Information System in Restaurant

A waiter takes an order at a table, and then enters it online via one of the six terminals located in the restaurant dining room. The order is routed to a printer in the appropriate preparation area: the cold-item printer if it is a salad, the hot-item printer if it is a hot sandwich or the bar printer if it is a drink. A customer’s meal check-listing (bill) the items ordered and the respective prices are automatically generated. This ordering system eliminates the old three-carbon-copy guest check system as well as any problems caused by a waiter’s handwriting. When the kitchen runs out of a food item, the cooks send out an ‘out of stock’ message, which will be displayed on the dining room terminals when waiters try to order that item. This gives the waiters faster feedback, enabling them to give better service to the customers.

Other system features aid management in the planning and control of their restaurant business. The system provides up-to-the-minute information on the food items ordered and breaks out percentages showing sales of each item versus total sales. This helps management plan menus according to customers’ tastes. The system also compares the weekly sales totals versus food costs, allowing planning for tighter cost controls. In addition, whenever an order is voided, the reasons for the void are keyed in. This may help later in management decisions, especially if the voids consistently related to food or service. 

Acceptance of the system by the users is exceptionally high since the waiters and waitresses were involved in the selection and design process. All potential users were asked to give their impressions and ideas about the various systems available before one was chosen.

Questions:

a. In the light of the system, describe the decisions to be made in the area of strategic planning, managerial control and operational control? What information would you require to make such decisions?

b. What would make the system a more complete MIS rather than just doing transaction processing?

c. Explain the probable effects that making the system more formal would have on the customers and the management.

CASE STUDY 2: Is your Organization Secure ?

Utpal had just joined SystemX as Systems Manager. But he was a worried man looking at the current state of affairs at SystemX. As a part of assessing hardware and software requirements, it was found that out of the 364 desktops at the corporate office; more than half did not have their antivirus software updated with recent virus signature files. Three - fourths had not changed the default e-mail password (it was the user name) and no one had installed OS patches. And one of its local mail servers seemed to be an open relay! For a fleeting moment, he wondered about the situation at the seven branch offices across the country.

SystemX used the internet extensively in dealing with its branches, customers and suppliers. Information like contract documents, marketing plans, cheque and draft numbers, bank account details and collection details were regularly transmitted by e-mail. Utpal’s first thought was that he would recommend that SystemX bring in a security consultant. But the budget constraints meant that his recommendation was unlikely to find favour. He was beginning to feel a bit out of depth and was wondering what he should do to ensure that SystemX’s data remained safe and secure.

Questions:

a. What security loopholes come to the fore in the situation described? How can these be plugged?

b. What is the importance of a “security budget” in the context of the given situation?

CASE Resources

Himadri Barman, Centre for Management Studies, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh 786 004, Assam, India, downloaded from http://himadri.cmsdu.org