Quality has long been a concern of businesses, as it should be for systems analysts in the analysis and design of information systems. The user of the information system is the single most important factor in establishing and evaluating its quality. It is far less costly to correct problems in their early stages than it… [Continue Reading]
Quality Assurance and Implementation
The Total Quality Management Approach – Six Sigma
Total quality management (TQM) is essential throughout all the systems development steps. According to Evans and Lindsay (2004), the primary elements of TQM are meaningful only when occurring in an organizational context that supports a comprehensive quality effort. It is in this context that the elements of customer focus, strategic planning and leadership, continuous improvement,… [Continue Reading]
Responsibility for Total Quality Management
Practically speaking, a large portion of the responsibility for the quality of information systems rests with systems users and management. Two things must happen for TQM to become a reality with systems projects. First, the full organizational support of management must exist, which is a departure from merely endorsing the newest management gimmick. Such support… [Continue Reading]
Top-Down Systems Design and Development
Many companies first introduced computer systems on the lowest level of the organization. This is where the immediate benefits to computerization are most observable and cost-effective. Businesses often take this approach to systems development by going out and acquiring, for example, COTS software for accounting, a different package for production scheduling, and another one for… [Continue Reading]
Using Structure Charts to Design Modular Systems
Once the top-down design approach is taken, the modular approach is useful in programming. This approach involves breaking the programming into logical, manageable portions, or modules. This kind of programming works well with top-down design because it emphasizes the interfaces between modules and does not neglect them until later in systems development. Ideally, each individual… [Continue Reading]
