The Platters By Mail Record Club Case The Platters by Mail Record Club advertises records and albums in a variety of magazines. Most orders are submitted by magazine subscribers who complete and send coupons to the mail order company. All mail arrives at the receptionist's desk. The receptionist sorts and distributes the mail to the appropriate departments. Mail orders and letters requesting order cancellations are forwarded to an order-entry clerk in the Sales Department. The order-entry clerk initially checks the availability and price of the ordered items, possibly mailing a back order notice to the customer. This clerk also takes orders from customers directly by phone and forwards all fillable order forms to the credit clerk. The credit clerk forwards approved orders to the warehouse. The warehouse fills the approved order and updates the inventory availability. A packing slip is sent with the packaged order to the customer, and a shipping notice is sent to the Accounts Receivable Department. ============================== Credit Dept When fillable orders are received by the credit clerk, the customer's credit status is checked. Orders are approved and an order-confirmation letter is sent to those customers with good credit standing. Customers with bad credit standing are sent a payment overdue notice requesting prepayment. Order Cancellation When the order-entry clerk receives a letter requesting an order cancellation (or a cancellation by telephone), the status of the order is first determined. If the customer order has not been invoiced, the order-entry clerk informs the warehouse that the order should be canceled and then informs the customer that the cancellation has been completed. Accounts Receivable Accounts Receivable bills the customer for the products shipped. This department also maintains the invoice data files, updating them to reflect charges or payments received. Payments are received in the mail and delivered to Accounts Receivable by the receptionist. A payment receipt is sent to the customer. Sales Manager The assistant sales manager is responsible for answering frequent customer inquiries concerning product prices, customer credit, and invoice data

The Platters By Mail Record Club Case

The Platters by Mail Record Club advertises records and albums in a variety of magazines.

Most orders are submitted by magazine subscribers who complete and send coupons to the mail order company. All mail arrives at the receptionist's desk. The receptionist sorts and distributes the mail to the appropriate departments. Mail orders and letters requesting order cancellations are forwarded to an order-entry clerk in the Sales Department.

The order-entry clerk initially checks the availability and price of the ordered items, possibly mailing a back order notice to the customer. This clerk also takes orders from customers directly by phone and forwards all fillable order forms to the credit clerk. The credit clerk forwards approved orders to the warehouse.

The warehouse fills the approved order and updates the inventory availability. A packing slip is sent with the packaged order to the customer, and a shipping notice is sent to the Accounts Receivable Department.

1. Use the CATWOE approach to identify some important aspects of the situation. (10%) 2. Create a Rich Picture to depict some of the important issues; consider depicting aspects such as organizational goals, players, players objectives and concerns, interactions, resources, issues and conflicts, needs to automate, etc. (30%) Note: Make sure that you define the context of the model. For example if it is a university which aspect of the university is modeled (academic, admissions, etc.). You can use the X-Y-Z approach to define the context. 3. Create one activity model with performance measures (see slides 22 and 24) to describe processes that occur in the depicted system. (25%) 4. Prepare two or three causal loop models (they can be 2-3 separately loops or they can be similar to the high school drug use models on related to the business situation. For each provide the list of assumptions they represent. (20%) 5. Write a short evaluation describing your impressions of using the SSM approach and the causal loops. (15%) Examples of what to consider: Did you find them useful? How easy were they to apply? Did they help you identify or define issues that need to be addressed in the situation?

A Data Flow Diagram Solution to the Platters By Mail Record Club Case payment mail distribute mail S-1 inventory inventory availability & price product prices orders & cancellations invoice or receipt packing slip shipped orders phone order/cancellation 2 EE-1 Customer ship orders credit status shipping notice cancellation manage accounts notice perform initial checking pre-paid orders fillable prders shipped/cancelled orders charges/payments approved orders order status S-3 invoice data S-2 orders invoice data check credit status approved orders record order confirmation or pre-payment request 6 credit record S-4 credit status answer inquires inquires response to inquiries credit rating/status A Data Flow Diagram Solution to the Platters By Mail Record Club Case payment mail distribute mail S-1 inventory inventory availability & price product prices orders & cancellations invoice or receipt packing slip shipped orders phone order/cancellation 2 EE-1 Customer ship orders credit status shipping notice cancellation manage accounts notice perform initial checking pre-paid orders fillable prders shipped/cancelled orders charges/payments approved orders order status S-3 invoice data S-2 orders invoice data check credit status approved orders record order confirmation or pre-payment request 6 credit record S-4 credit status answer inquires inquires response to inquiries credit rating/status