Human civilization is at an interesting age-the age of digitization. In 1946,Presper Eckert and John Mauchlyinvented the first computer, setting pace for what would be one of the most important human inventions. Almost one hundred years later, the computer has augmented the digital world, “invading” almost every aspect of human activity. From: healthcare, security, accounting, and even space exploration amongst numerous other areas that enable thriving if not survival of humanity.
However, the functionality of a computer is dependent on instructions, instructionsare oftenembedded in software. Curley (2018) defines software as “a set of electronic program instructions or data a computer processor reads in order to perform a task or operation.” Hence proving software is important in enabling the digital age to grow. Therefore, software being a product and as it is with every product; there are producers, distributors (sellers)and consumers. It has a number of business organizations that specialize in software production. Our report will focus on the conceptual view of coming up with a suitable software to suit either the client or the market.
Ladd et al (2010) argues, “Mobility and its implications for user interfaces in information systems (IS) is currently one of the most visible trends for research in human-computer interaction (HCI) to address.”
The enterprise world being competitive, calls for even more competence from the players in order to ensure survival in the software production enterprise. In the need to remain relevant, productive and ensure profitability, businesses define their scope of operation, divided as:
The design of the business product is specifically to suit the market gap identified
The product is customer-centric, i.e. its design follows the specific needs of the customer and not necessarily the market.
In order to determine the scope of a business, analysis of the suitability and productivity is necessary. Developers, as in our case face the dilemma of choosing between developing a market or customer product, we will determine most suitable approach between market oriented and customer Centricity.
The purpose of this report is to analyze the decision and requirements underlying the identification of software components for developing business software that ensures satisfaction of the customer.
The report will cover the expectations of customers on the software they purchase; it will explore a Kano analysis to,according to Mustasfa (2015), “classify software requirements to optimize customer satisfaction.” It will also include a requirements design using Quality Function Deployment. Additionally, the report will explore the design risk analysis using failure-mode-and-effect-analysis and then present the results of the analyses. Moreover, we will undertake statistical process control to enable us analyze the quality of the selected processes in making decisions.However, the report will not include details of software development, i.e. software programming. It will nevertheless focus on the design of software as a business product for an established company.
The aim of this plan is to:
In an article on management and decision-making, Eden and Ackermann argue that, stakeholders are “People or small groups with the power to respond to, negotiate with, and change the strategic future of the organization.” (1998). Therefore, for any business organization to thrive, there should be a culture of harmony among its stakeholders, adequately ensuring the meeting of respective requirements for each stakeholder. A recent study by stakeholdermap (2017), categorizes stakeholders as:
Mathur et al (2007) notes that, “In order to have an effective stakeholder engagement, it is crucial that all the relevant stakeholders are identified early in theprocess…” of decision-making and involvement in business activities. Hence, stakeholders to a business enterprise include:
In most cases, each stakeholder has a role in the business and an expectation from the business as well. For instance the needs of the stakeholders of Orion Inc. are:
Consumers expect quality software in return for the value of their money as well as the reliability of the company to deliver on their promises
The government requires compliance of the company with environmental regulations and promotion of sustainability in line with international policies. Additionally, it expects payment of tax by the company.
The media expect accountability of the company to its actions, i.e. disclosure of information relating to industrial actions and provision of reliable information on company performance
Trade unions expect fair wages and payment to the company workers as well as provision of humane working conditions for the workers
Employees expect a fair working environment that offers opportunities to grow, through promotions etcetera as well as reasonable payment in relation to their input
Shareholders require accountability from the company for the financial processes involved with the company. They expect utilization of investing resources to ensure profitability and growth of the company
The community expects the company to give back through charity support and donations. It also expects it to offer employment opportunities to the locals
Business partners such as suppliers, expect fair bargain as well as honesty, elsewhere competitors, expect fair and ethical competition from the company to promote healthy growth of both companies
The governing body expects disclosure of all business operations by the executive to monitor growth and ensure the company operations are in line with the business philosophy. The governance body also oversees the company meets all its obligations to the other stakeholders
In business, there are five fundamental components making up the entire “picture,” among them is the buyer (customer), the customer, often points the direction of the business organization hence need to identify their needs accurately to enable relevant and better product provision.
Sorger (2010) proposes one method ofidentification of customer needs as involving five steps:
Elsewhere, Rees(2014) proposes four steps to the identification of a customer need, these include:
Sorger method
Strengths
Weakness
Opportunities
Threats
Strengths
Weakness
Opportunities
Threats
Given that, our company wants to develop entirelynew software for User-Interactive interface, it is important to adopt a more comprehensive approach in collection of data that is required for analysis and decision-making. Therefore, we will adopt the Sorger method.
The aim of a business is often to make a positive impression on their buyers while also generating returns. Therefore, for there to be a positive impression the customer ought to be satisfied by the product, a Kano model thrives on:
It involves two dimensions:
The goal of our company is to ensure customer satisfaction with our new software. According to an argument by America society of quality (2018), there are three expectation levels influencing customer satisfaction, including expected needs, normal needs and exciting.
They are also known as musts, included in basic entrance level, where satisfying this needs introduces the company to the market. The needs involve the basic properties of a product, i.e. properties. Hence the customer needs are:
Normal needs are the product qualities that enable the company to stay relevant and running in the market. They are also customer wants. Customer wants for software they include. They are to suite customer requirements such as:
Desirables are the features and qualities that make a product stand out and the company to be a supply leader. They are the cream that attract the customers, cultivate loyalty, ensuring they become return customers. The customers’ desirables may include:
|
Kano Analysis for Customer Prioritization |
Adore |
I would Adore it; enjoy it; it would be helpful to me. |
||||
|
Normal |
ought to be that way; it is a basic need. |
|||||
|
Indifferent |
Indifferent; |
Supplier Selection and Evaluation
According to Lee et al (2011), “To specify the MSS software components, we distinguish between a generic solution level, which covers abstract domains of MSS design, and a solution instance level.” In most cases, a fully functional software development comprises the integration of several components.
Software can be categorized as;
In ourcase, user interactive Interface software is under system software, the components include:
There are a myriad of considerations when choosing which supplier to provide the given component. The choice of a supplier is dependent on the specific component. In choosing a supplier for server services, we will consider:
In a study by Khaireddin (2016) on the development and application of supplier’s selection, he proposes the use of “Multi-criteria approach: the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)” to identify the most suitable supplier. The approach involves:
There are several processes involved in development of software. Ranging from idea-baking to the design process and eventually deployment or what is commonly known as the beta stage. In development of system software, the following processes are employed as a standard measure:
From the graphs, we find that:
Software development for commercial usage is often a carefully planned and documented exercise. Therefore, the whole process is tested and the general bugs that occur fixed before the software is released for beta testing. In our case, the user interface software was tested using 141 beta users before it was deployed and declared fit for marketing
Perfection, especially in digital products is near impossible and therefore, software designs, software functionality and many other components of software are prone to failure or occasionally breakdowns. Therefore, need to define the malfunctions as problems
Majorly, the problems that occur during software usage are:
Problem solving rationale
According to Kazi and Shaikh (2015), six-sigma method also denoted by the acronym DMAIC during application, is conceived “as a problem solving method, and use it to analyze it from that perspective…”
The six-sigma method employs DMAIC, as:
Conclusion
From our report, we can conclude that, quality planning and analysis is necessary in almost every business field. From service delivery, product development, and business operations, it proves to be effective in:
In general, quality is the new currency for business operations and therefore ought to be emphasized by every firm or individual embarking on enterprise operations in order to ensure that they remain relevant and up in business. The major measures of quality planning and analysis as identified from our report are:
With this tools a business owner or the executive can be able to deploy new products or venture into new business fields confident that they will in the end be favored by statistics and business conduct ethics.
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