Modern Systems Analysis and Design (3rd Edition) [Hardcover]

Jeffrey A. Hoffer (Author), Joey George (Author), Joseph Valacich (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0130339903 | ISBN-13: 978-0130339904 | Publication Date: June 19, 2001 | Edition: 3

For Systems Analysis and Design courses. The third edition of Modern Systems Analysis and Design investigates the very latest of systems analysis and design. Rather than looking strictly at the technological aspects, Hoffer, George and Valacich focus on the business perspective and the human, organizational and technical skills an information systems professional needs to be successful.

Editorial Reviews

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Description

Modern Systems Analysis and Design covers the concepts, skills, methodologies, techniques, tools, and perspectives essential for systems analysts to successfully develop information systems. The primary target audience is upper division undergraduates in a management information systems or computer information systems curriculum; a secondary target audience is MIS majors in MBA and M.S. programs. Although not explicitly written for the junior college and professional development markets, this book can also be used for these programs.

We have over 50 years of combined teaching experience in systems analysis and design and have used that experience to create this newest edition of Modern Systems Analysis and Design. We provide a clear presentation of the concepts, skills, and techniques students need to become effective systems analysts who work with others to create information systems for businesses. We use the Systems Development Life Cycle Model as an organizing tool throughout the book to provide students with a strong conceptual and systematic framework.

The book is written assuming that students have taken an introductory course on computer systems and have experience designing programs in several programming languages. We review basic system principles for those students who have not been exposed to the material on which systems development methods are based. We also assume that students have a solid background in computing literacy and a general understanding of the core elements of a business, including basic terms associated with the production, marketing, finance, and accounting functions.

Modern Systems Analysis and Design is characterized by the following themes:

1. Systems development is firmly rooted in an organizational context. The successful systems analyst requires a broad understanding of organizations, organizational culture, and operation.
2. Systems development is a practical field. A coverage of current practices as well as accepted concepts and principles are essential in a textbook.
3. Systems development is a profession. Standards of practice, a sense of continuing personal development, ethics, and a respect for and collaboration with the work of others are general themes in the textbook.
4. Systems development has significantly changed with the explosive growth in databases, data-driven architecture for systems, raid application development, and the Internet. Systems development and database management can be and possibly should be taught in a highly coordinated fashion. We show when rapid application development methods should and should not be applied. The Internet has rapidly become a common development platform for database driven electronic commerce systems. This text is compatible with the Hoffer, Prescott, and McFadden database text, Modern Database Management, Sixth Edition, also published by Prentice Hall. The proper linking of these two textbooks is a strategic opportunity to meet the needs of the IS academic field.
5. Success in systems analysis and design requires not only skills in methodologies and techniques but also in the management of projects: time, resources, and risks. Thus, learning systems analysis and design requires a thorough understanding of the process as well as the techniques and deliverables of the profession.

Given these themes, this textbook emphasizes the following:

1. A business rather than a technology perspective.
2. The role, responsibilities, and mindset of the systems analyst as well as the systems project manager rather than those of the programmer or business manager.
3. The methods and principles of systems development rather than the specific tools or tool related skills of the field.

Distinctive Features

The following are some of the distinctive features of Modern Systems Analysis and Design:

1. This book is organized in parallel to the Hoffer, Prescott, and McFadden database text, Modern Database Management, Sixth Edition, which will facilitate consistency of frameworks, definitions, methods, examples, and notations to better support SA&D and database course adopting both texts. Even with the strategic compatibilities between this text and Modern Database Management, each of these books is designed to stand alone as a market leader.
2. The grounding of systems development in the typical architecture for systems in modern organizations, including database management and Web-based systems.
3. A clear linkage of all dimensions of systems description and modeling—process, decision, and data modeling—into a comprehensive and compatible set of systems analysis and design approaches. Such a broad coverage is necessary for students in order to understand the advanced capabilities of many systems development methodologies and tools that are automatically generating a large percentage of code from design specifications.
4. Extensive coverage of oral and written communication skills including systems documentation, project management, team management, and a variety of systems development and acquisition strategies (e.g., life cycle, prototyping, rapid application development, object orientation, joint application development, and systems reengineering).
5. Coverage of rules and principles of systems design, including decoupling, cohesion, modularity, and audits and controls.
6. Consideration of standards for the methodologies of systems analysis and the platforms on which systems are designed.
7. Discussion of systems development and implementation within the context of management of change, conversion strategies, and organizational factors in systems acceptance.
8. Careful attention to human factors in systems design that emphasize usability in both character-based and graphical user interface situations.
9. CASE technology is used throughout the text to illustrate typical systems analysis and design documents and CASE-based systems development is discussed; however, no specific CASE tool is assumed. A variety of CASE and visual development products are illustrated and the current limitations of CASE technologies are highlighted.
10. The text includes a separate chapter on systems maintenance. Given the type of job many graduates first accept and the large installed base of systems, this chapter covers an important and often neglected topic in SA&D texts.

New to the Third Edition

• The text has been reorganized. Advanced chapters, "Rapid Application Development" and "Object-Oriented Analysis and Design," have been moved to the end of the text to form Part VI: Advanced Analysis and Design Methods. The physical database design chapter has been combined with the logical data modeling chapter to form Chapter 12. Both changes allow for a smoother flow of chapters.
• Increased focus on make versus buy and systems integration. More and more systems development involves the use of, packages in combination with legacy applications and new modules. Chapter hi shows how companies deal with these issues.
• Coverage of Internet-based systems. We have redesigned the distributed systems design chapter (now Chapter 16) to also address Internet-based application design topics not covered in the other chapters. We cover Internet application design standards, how to maintain site consistency, security issues, and data warehousing, among other topics. We believe that Modern Systems Analysis and Design now has one of the most extensive treatments of Internet application design among its competitors.
• Integration of electronic commerce into the running cases. One of the three fictional running cases in the text, Pine Valley Furniture, is a furniture company founded in 1980, who now, in the Third Edition, has decided to explore electronic commerce as an avenue to increase its market share. Broadway Entertainment Company, Inc., BEC, a fictional video and record retailer, is a student project case that allows your students to study and develop a Web-based customer relationship management system.
• Expanded and updated coverage of systems analysis as a profession. We have updated the coverage of codes of conduct and added new material on how systems professionals can approach business problems with ethical considerations. We have also updated information on career paths with the latest information gathered from professional societies.
• Updated illustrations of technology. Screen captures have been updated throughout the text to show examples using the latest versions of CASE tools, programming and Internet development environments, and user interface designs. Many references to Websites are provided for students to stay current with technology trends that affect the analysis and design of information systems.
• Expanded coverage of process modeling techniques. Chapter 8 now includes an introduction to business process modeling and functional hierarchy modeling as alternatives to data flow diagramming. These three process modeling techniques are compared so a student knows when to use each in practice.
• Net Search Exercises. Search exercises on the Website can be found in every chapter. The icon signals when a topic in the text has a corresponding Net Search exercise on the Website. Students can access the exercise from http://www.prenhall.com/hoffer and email their findings to their instructors.

Pedagogical Features

The pedagogical features of Modern Systems Analysis and Design reinforce and apply the key content of the book.

Three Illustrative Fictional Cases
Pine Valley Furniture (PVF): In addition to an electronic business-to-consumer shopping Website, several other systems development activities from Pine Valley Furniture are used to illustrate key points. Pine Valley Furniture is introduced in Chapter 3 and revisited throughout the book. As key system development life cycle concepts are presented, they are applied and illustrated with this illustrative case. For example, in Chapter 6, we explore how PVF plans a development project for a customer tracking system. A margin icon identifies the location of the case.

Hoosier Burger (HB): This second illustrative case is introduced in Chapter 2 and revisited throughout the book. Hoosier Burger is a fictional fast food restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana. We use this case to illustrate how analysts would develop and implement an automated food ordering system. A margin icon identifies the location of the case segments.

Broadway Entertainment Company, Inc. (BEC): This fictional video rental and music company is used as an extended project case at the end of fifteen out of twenty chapters, beginning with Chapter 4. Designed to bring the chapter concepts to life, this case illustrates how a company initiates, plans, models, designs, and implements a web-based customer relationship management system. Discussion questions are included to promote critical thinking and class participation. Suggested solutions to the discussion questions are provided in the Instructor's Manual.

End-of-Chapter Material. We developed an extensive selection of end-of-chapter material designed to accommodate various learning and teaching styles.

• Chapter Summary. Reviews the major topics of the chapter and previews the connection of the current chapter to future chapters.
• Key Terms. Designed as a self-test feature, students match each key term in the chapter with a definition.
• Review Questions. Test students' understanding of key concepts.
• Problems and Exercises. Test students' analytical skills and require them to apply key concepts.
• Field Exercises. Give students the opportunity to explore the practice of SA&D in organizations.

Margin Term Definitions. Each key term and its definition appear in the margin. Glossaries of terms and acronyms appear in the back of the book.

References. Located at the end of each chapter, references together amount to over 100 books, journals, and Websites that can provide students and faculty with additional coverage of topics.

Using This Text

As stated earlier, the book is intended for mainstream SA&D courses. It may be used in a one semester course on SA&D or over two quarters (first in a systems analysis and then in a systems design course). Because of the consistency with Modern Database Management, chapters from this book and from Modern Database Management can be used in various sequences suitable for your curriculum. The book will be adopted typically in business schools or departments, not in computer science programs. Applied computer science or computer technology programs may adopt the book.

The typical faculty member who will find this book most interesting is someone

• with a practical, rather than technical or theoretical, orientation
• with an understanding of databases and systems that use databases
• who uses practical projects and exercises in the course.

More specifically, academic programs that are trying to better relate their SA&D and database courses as part of a comprehensive understanding of systems development will be especially attracted to this book.

The outline of the book generally follows the systems development life cycle, which allows for a logical progression of topics. However, the book emphasizes that various approaches (e.g., prototyping and iterative development) are also used, so what appears to be a logical progression often is a more cyclic process. Part I of the book provides an overview of systems development and previews the remainder of the book. Part I also covers those skills and concepts that are applied throughout systems development, including systems concepts, project management, and CASE and other automated development technologies. The remaining five sections provide thorough coverage of the six phases of a generic systems development life cycle, interspersing coverage of alternatives to the SDLC as appropriate. Some chapters may be skipped depending on the orientation of the instructor or the students' background. For example, Chapters 1 (environment of SA&D) and 2 (critical success factors for SA&D) cover topics that are emphasized in some introductory MIS courses. Chapter 5 (project identification and selection) can be skipped if the instructor wants to emphasize systems development once projects are identified or if there are fewer than 15 weeks available for the course. Chapters 10 (conceptual data modeling) and 12 (database design) can be skipped or quickly scanned (as a refresher) if students have already had a thorough coverage of these topics in a previous database or data structures course. Finally, Chapter 18 (maintenance) can be skipped if these topics are beyond the scope of your course.

Because the material is presented within the flow of a systems development project, it is not recommended that you attempt to use the chapters out of sequence, with a few exceptions: Chapters 8 (process modeling), 9 (logic modeling), and 10 (conceptual data modeling) can be taught in any sequence; and Chapter 12 (database design) can be taught after Chapters 13 (output design) and 14 (interface design), but Chapters 13 and 14 should be taught in sequence.

Software Packaging Options

• Visible Analyst
• Oracle8I

To enhance the hands-on learning process, Prentice Hall can package this text with Visible Analyst or Oracle8i software. Your Prentice Hall sales representative can provide you with additional information on pricing and ordering.

The Supplement Package

A comprehensive and flexible technology support package is available to enhance the teaching experience:

Instructor's Resource CD-ROM. The Instructor's Resource CD features the following:

• Instructor's Resource Manual, by Jeffrey A. Hoffer, Joey F. George, Joseph S. Valacich, and Lisa Miller, with teaching suggestions and answers to all text review questions, problems, and exercises. Lecture notes on how to use the video series (described below) are also included. The Instructor's Resource Manual is also available in print and from the faculty area of the text's Website.
• Test Item File and Windows PH Test Manager, by Lisa Miller, University of Central Oklahoma, includes over 3,000 test questions including multiple choice, true/false, completion, and essay questions. The Test Item File is available in Microsoft Word and as the computerized Prentice Hall Test Manager, which is a comprehensive suite of tools for testing and assessment. Test Manager allows instructors to easily create and distribute tests for their courses, either by printing and distributing through traditional methods or by on-line delivery via a Local Area Network (LAN) server. Test Manager features Screen Wizards to assist you as you move through the program, and the software is backed with full technical support.
• PowerPoint Presentation Slides feature lecture notes that highlight key text terms and concepts. Professors can customize the presentation by adding their own slides, or editing the existing ones.
• Image Library is a collection of the text art organized by chapter. This includes all figures, tables, and screenshots, as permission allows.

Companion Website (http://prenhall.com/hoffer) – The Companion Website accompanying Modern Systems Analysis and Design includes

1. An interactive study guide with multiple choice, true/false, and essay questions. Students receive automatic feedback to their answers. Responses to the essay questions, and results from the multiple choice and true/false questions can be emailed to the instructor after a student finishes a quiz.
2. Web-based exploratory exercises, referenced in the text margin as "Net Search" features are developed on the site.
3. Destinations module (links) includes many useful Web links to help students explore systems analysis and design, CASE tools, and information systems on the Web.
4. PowerPoint presentations for each chapter are available in the student area of the site.
5. A full glossary is available both alphabetically and by chapter, along with a glossary of acronyms.
6. Chat facilities include Message Board and Live Chat. Message Board allows users to post messages and check back periodically for responses. Live Chat allows users to discuss course topics in real-time, and enables professors to host on-line classes.
7. A secure, password-protected Instructor's area features downloads of the Instructor's Resource Manual and data sets to accompany the text case studies.

Video Series
Four of the five clips on this video were prepared by Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS) and cover topics such as joint application design and application engineering; the fifth clip covers the application of object-oriented analysis and design in a municipal government agency. Each clip is approximately 15 minutes in length and includes an introduction and prologue from the text authors. Lecture notes and suggestions on how to use the videos are included in the Instructor's Resource Manual.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 768 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (June 19, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130339903
• ISBN-13: 978-0130339904
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not cheap, but worth-to-buy book., December 18, 2000

By 

Jeong Hyun Shin (mo, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Systems Analysis and Design (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

I just finished a system analysis & design course with this text book. A through-semester project was also done. Actually, I had a chance to compare severals book on System Analysis & Design. My bottom line for this book is that this book is the one currently most worth to buy. Its throughful and easy-to-understand explanation for each SDLC step, how it's applied in real business situation and all possible tools for each step, such as CASE, JAD, DFDs, E-R diagrams (Flankly, i think ER diagrams of this book need more improvement..) and so on. All are really good to catch out clear concept to understand 'what is the system analysis & design' and 'how it works'. If you want to buy a book delivering clear concepts of system analysis and design and how it works in real business situation. I recommend this book. But, If you want very specific, in-dept or new-kids-on-the-block kind of topics for System analysis & design, I don't recommend.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent college text book, October 4, 2001

By 

Karl E. Horak (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Systems Analysis and Design (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

As an adjunct professor of systems and database design, I use Hoffer's text in my master's level courses. It covers a huge breadth of topics in sufficient detail to give students a basic understanding, even if we completely skip the large numbers of case histories. I'm particularly pleased with its illustrations and the manner in which it handles the zillions of disparate diagramming methods available for system design. I'm happy enough with it as a classroom text that I use it as a reference for my day-job as a computer consultant. Strongly reccomended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excelent Systems Analysis and Design book!., August 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Modern Systems Analysis and Design (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a very recommended book for those people that are studying Systems Analysis and Design, because it explains in a simple mode the most complicated things; and includes another methodologies further the structured (like OO and RAD)!. If you are looking for a complete book in Systems, this is The book.

Also recommended: Systems Analysis and Design; Julie and Kenneth Kendall.