“I see that you have quite a few papers there. What all do you have in there?” asks Betty Kant, head of the MIS task force that is the liaison group between your systems group and Sawder’s Furniture Company. You are shuffling a large bundle of papers as you prepare to leave the building. “Well, I’ve got some financial statements, production reports from the last six months, and some performance reports that Sharon gave me that cover goals and work performance over the last six months,” you reply as some of the papers fall to the floor. “Why do you ask?”
Betty takes the papers from you and puts them on the nearest desk. She answers, “Because you don’t need all this junk. You’re here to do one thing, and that’s talk to us, the users. Bet you can’t read one thing in there that’ll make a difference.”
a. The only way to convince Betty of the importance of each document is to tell her what you are looking for in each one. Use a paragraph to explain what each kind of document contributes to the systems analyst’s understanding of the business.
b. While you are speaking with Betty, you realize you actually need other quantitative documents as well. List any you are missing.