Problem I – (15 points)

“You’ll be happy to know that we made a strong case to manage­ment that we should hire a new systems analyst to specialize in ecommerce development,” saysJoe Sigha, a systems analyst for the multi-outlet international chain of Mighty Vitamin Shops. He is meet­ing with his large team of systems analysts to decide on the qualifica­tions that their new team member should possess. Joe continues, saying, “In fact, they were so excited by the possibility of our team helping to move Mighty into an ecommerce strategy that they’ve said we should start our search now and not wait until the fall.”

Sue Root, another analyst, agrees, saying, “As long as the economy is healthy, the demand for Web site developers is far out­stripping the supply. We should move quickly. I think our new person should be knowledgeable in CASE tools, Visual Basic, and JavaScript, just to name a few.”

Joe looks surprised at Sue’s long list of languages, but then replies, “Well, that’s certainly one way we could go. But I would also like to see a person with some business savvy. Most of the people coming out of school will have solid programming skills, but they should know about accounting, inventory, and distribution of goods and services, too.”

The newest member of the systems analysis group, Vita Minn, finally breaks into the discussion. She says, “One of the reasons I chose to come to work with all of you was that I thought we all got along quite well together. Because I had some other opportunities, I looked very carefully at what the atmosphere was here. From what I’ve seen, we’re a friendly group. Let’s be sure to hire someone who has a good personality and who fits in well with us.”

Joe concurs, continuing, “Vita’s right. The new person should be able to communicate well with us, and with business clients, too. We are always communicating in some way, through formal presenta­tions, drawing diagrams, or interviewing users. If they understand decision making, it will make their job easier, too. Also, Mighty is interested in integrating ecommerce into the entire business. We need someone who at least grasps the strategic importance of the Web. Page design is such a small part of it.”

Sue interjects again with a healthy dose of practicality; saying, “Leave that to management. I still say the new person should be a good programmer.” Then she ponders aloud, “I wonder how important UML will be?”

After listening patiently to everyone’s wish list, one of the senior analysts, Cal Siem, speaks up, joking, “We’d better see if Superman is available!”

As the group shares a laugh, Joe sees an opportunity to try for some consensus, saying, “We’ve had a chance to hear a number of differ­ent qualifications. Let’s each take a moment and make a list of the qualifications we personally think are essential for the new ecom­merce development person to possess. We’ll share them and continue discussing until we can describe the person in enough detail to turn a description over to the human resources group for processing.” Be specific and explain your reasoning in answering the following questions as they relate to this scenario:

a) What qualifications should the systems analysis team be looking for when hiring their new ecommerce development team member? (3 points)

b) Is it more important to know specific languages or to have an aptitude for picking up languages and software packages quickly? (3 points)

c) How important is it that the person being hired has some basic busi­ness understanding? (3 points)

d) Should all team members possess identical competencies and skills? (2 points)

e) What personality or character traits are desirable in a systems analyst who will be working in ecommerce development? (4 points)

Problem II – (20 points)

Use the process of normalization to transform the table below into 3NF. Show the tables in 1NF and 2NF that are created in the process.