Taken from the text book for the course: Systems Analysis and Design (6^th edition) by Shelly, Cashman and Rosenblatt (Shelly Cashman Series)

Beach Houses Unlimited

BackgroundChapter 1

Linda Mohr and Tracy Gaines launched Beach Houses Unlimited (BHU) on the Web three years ago. As mothers of small children, they were interested in a home business that would allow time at their favorite summer activity — the Jersey Shore. Several years of experience in renting beach houses resulted in the creation of a small business that currently manages rentals for 12 houses along the southern New Jersey beaches. With some guidance from friends, Linda created a basic Web site that details the properties. The Web site includes photos of the properties, rates, and availability as well as the Beach Houses Unlimited telephone number. Linda keeps the Web site up-to-date on a weekly basis off season and on a daily basis peak season.

Tracy managed the financial and logistical sides of the business. She maintained a simple spreadsheet to keep track of numerous activities associated with business operations. For each property, scheduling cleaning crews, arrivals and departures, and showing the properties needed to be recorded. The spreadsheet also was used to keep track of preparation, delivery and follow-up of rental contracts, and the collection of deposit and balance checks. After checkout, records tracking inspection and cleaning of properties were kept and used to determine the disposition of security deposits.

After last summer ended and school was back in session, Tracy and Linda met over coffee.

Linda: Another summer gone, rentals will be over in October. This was a tough year! I am exhausted! I know there has to be a better way to make this work.

Tracy: I don’t know. The spreadsheet is working alright. I guess, sometimes, that I wish I didn’t have to re-enter information over and over again. Maybe I should look into transferring the data over to an accounting program or a database program. I guess they are a better way to go.

Linda: I think that we have enough experience now that we should be able to tap into our existing customer base and get rentals set up now for next year. If we rent to existing customers, then we can eliminate the step of showing the properties, or at least reduce the amount of time and effort that we have been putting into the showings.

Tracy: If we change over to a database, I should be able to run a report that would show you which customers have rented which property and when, and which properties are the easier ones to rent.

Linda: Really? That would be great. Is there any chance we could use the database to generate the contracts? That is another hassle that we deal with.

Tracy: I am sure there is.

Linda: I wonder if there are other software programs that will help us be more efficient. I will do some research on the Web. Perhaps we can make better use of the Web site, too. Maybe start using email as a way to communicate with the customers and owners.

Tracy: The owners. Don’t remind me! I still have my recap reports to do. I have already convinced myself to look into a database or accounting program. I am swamped with this work. You know, we really need to speak to the owners about maintenance issues too. No one seems to use the same carpenters, AC repair techs, or any other maintenance workers, and the renters just call us instead of referring to the maintenance call instructions for the beach house they are staying in. It really would make sense for us to handle maintenance calls for all the houses. It would be great to be able to track some of the maintenance issues we deal with, so we can start thinking about how to make maintenance calls a less cumbersome, time-consuming process.

Assignments

1. Develop a business profile for BHU based on the information provided. Include such information as the company’s overall functions, processes, organization, products, services, competitors, constraints, and future direction.

2. Generate a simple model to represent a process of BHU. The model should include events, subprocesses, and results.

3. Describe how BHU could use transaction processing systems and user productivity systems to support their current enterprise.

4. As BHU does research, they will run across various types of systems. Should they consider any of the following types of systems: EDI, vertical and horizontal systems, or the Internet? Explain your answers by indicating the system, what type of system it is, and its uses and benefits.