Personal Trainer, Inc., owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen midwestern cities. The centers have done well, and the company is planning an international expansion by opening a new “supercenter” in the Toronto area. Personal Trainer’s president, Cassia Umi, hired an IT consultant, Susan Park, to help develop an information system for the new facility. During the project, Susan will work closely with Gray Lewis, who will manage the new operation. 

  

Background 

  

At their initial meeting, Susan and Gray discussed some initial steps in planning a new information system for the new facility. The next morning, they worked together on a business profile, drew an organization chart, discussed feasibility issues, and talked about various types of information systems that would provide the best support for the supercenter’s operations. Their main objective was to carry out a preliminary investigation of the new system and report their recommendations to Personal Trainer’s top managers. 

  

After the working session with Gray, Susan returned to her office and reviewed her notes. She knew that Personal Trainer’s president, Cassia Umi, wanted the supercenter to become a model for the company’s future growth, but she did not remember any mention of an overall strategic plan for the company. Susan also wondered whether the firm had done a SWOT analysis or analyzed the internal and external factors that might affect an information system for the supercenter. 

  

Because the new operation would be so important to the company, Susan believed that Personal Trainer should consider an enterprise resource planning strategy that could provide a company-wide framework for information management. After she finished compiling her notes, Susan listed several topics that might need more study and called Gray to arrange another meeting the following day. 

  

Assignments 

  

1. Based on the background facts described in Chapter 1, draft a mission statement for Personal Trainer. Consider the firm’s overall direction, and the services, products, and experiences the company might want to offer its customers in the future. In your statement, consider all the stakeholders affected by Personal Trainer’s operations. 

  

2. Susan and Gray probably will need more information about the proposed system. Make a list of people whom they might want to interview. Also, suggest other factfinding techniques they should consider. 

  

3. Consider the internal and external factors that affect information systems. Which factors, in your opinion, will have the greatest impact on the system proposed for the new supercenter? Explain your answer. 

  

4. At the conclusion of the preliminary investigation, Susan and Gray will deliver a written summary of the results and deliver a brief presentation to Personal Trainer’s management team. Prepare a list of recommendations that will help make their written and oral communications more effective. Put your list in priority order, starting with what you consider to be the most important suggestions. Before you complete this task, you should review Part A of the Systems Analyst’s Toolkit, which provides suggestions for oral and written presentations