Ace Auto Dealers specializes in selling new vehicles from
Subaru. The company advertises in local newspapers and
also is listed as an authorized dealer on the Subaru Web site
and other major Web sites for auto buyers. The company
benefits from a good local word-of-mouth reputation and
name recognition and is a leading dealer for Subaru vehicles
in the Portland, Oregon, area.
When a prospective customer enters the showroom, he or
she is greeted by an Ace sales representative. The sales representative
manually fills out a form with information such as
the prospective customer’s name, address, telephone number,
date of visit, and model and make of the vehicle in which
the customer is interested. The representative also asks where the prospect heard about Ace—whether it was from a newspaper
ad, the Web, or word of mouth—and this information
is noted on the form also.
If the customer decides to purchase an auto, the dealer fills
out a bill of sale form and enters the following information
into Ace’s sales information system: the vehicle identification
number, vehicle make and model, color, options selected, the
list price, the final price, and the date of the sale, along with the
purchaser’s name, address, and telephone number. (The final
price is the list price minus any dealer discounts.) Files for this
system can be found on the Laudon Web site for Chapter 14.
Ace does not believe it has enough information about its
customers. It cannot easily determine which prospects have made auto purchases or the percentage of prospects who
have been converted into buyers. Nor can it identify which
customer touch points have produced the greatest number
of sales leads or actual sales so it can focus advertising and
marketing more on the channels that generate the most
revenue. Are purchasers discovering Ace from newspaper
ads, from word of mouth, or from the Web? Additionally, the
firm cannot tell whether its customers are more interested in
no-frills cars or those with luxury options.
Prepare a systems analysis report detailing Ace’s problem
and a system solution that can be implemented using PC
database management software. Then use database software
to develop a simple system solution. Your systems analysis
report should include the following:
Description of the problem and its organizational and
business impact.
Proposed solution, solution objectives, and solution
feasibility.
Costs and benefits of the solution you have selected.
The company has a PC with Internet access and the full
suite of Microsoft Office desktop productivity tools.
Information requirements to be addressed by the
solution.
Management, organization, and technology issues to
be addressed by the solution, including changes in
business processes.
On the basis of the requirements you have identified,
design the database and populate it with at least 10 records
per table. Consider whether you can use or modify the existing
customer database in your design. Print out the database
design. Then use the system you have created to generate
queries and reports that would be of most interest to management.
Create several prototype data input forms for the
system and review them with your instructor. Then revise
the prototypes.
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