Background

You are a systems analyst contracted by Earth Friendly Babies, a mail-order company that sells earth friendly baby products. You and your consulting firm have recently completed development of a new system for managing orders and inventory for Earth Friendly Babies. System architecture already has been decided, and you are ready to embark upon installation, evaluation, and training for the new system.

Earth Friendly Babies has grown from an at-home business set up by a stay-at-home mom to a small mail-order company that sends out catalogs to 10 states, employs 5 people in addition to the business owner, and has office and warehouse space in an office park designed to encourage small businesses. The business has relied upon manual data collection methods for taking orders, billing, and managing inventory. The new IS will provide the support necessary for the company to expand to all 50 states with their mail-order campaign. None of the employees has worked with an IS system similar to the one designed. All employees need to be trained in all aspects of the new system, because the company at this point relies on its employees to work where needed, rather than at one job only. You need to provide training for inventory/warehouse and for order support. Each individual will require nine hours total of training, broken down into three three-hour modules, and two people can be released from work at a time for training.

Assignments

1. Design two training schedules for the new system one which is based upon two people released from work at a time, and one which takes advantage of the small number of employees that need to be trained.

2. Develop a training budget assuming that the trainer is paid $140 per hour, that 8 hours are needed to develop training materials, and that the 5 workers earn $18 per hour including overhead. Present the alternatives in memo form to the business owner, and identify any additional information that should be taken into account when choosing between the two training schedules.

3. Prepare a memo detailing which changeover method you are recommending, and why.

4. Should Earth Friendly Babies perform a post-implementation evaluation? If your answer is no, justify. If yes, who should perform it?