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Compare benefits and drawbacks of applying local knowledge to the design and implementation of community-based participatory research

Discussion Instructions:

  1. Compare benefits and drawbacks of applying local knowledge to the design and implementation of community-based participatory research. 
  2. Understand the basic principles of action research.
  3. Communicate through writing that is concise, balanced, and logically organized.

Read Chapters 1 and 2 in Community-Based Participatory Research, address the following in a discussion post:
* Discuss the benefits of using local knowledge when designing a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project.
* Discuss the drawbacks of using local knowledge when designing a CBPR project.

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Project Deliverable 1: Project Plan Inception

Running head: PROJECT INTRODUCTION
PROJECT INTRODUCTION 7
Project Deliverable 1: Project Plan Inception
Section 1: Project Introduction


Introduction and Background

Cadre Data Services (CDS) is a company that is the involved in the business of data collection and analysis. The company was created to offer businesses the power to put their data into deriving value for them. The analyzed data is then used by business leaders to make important decisions regarding their organizations. Businesses are increasingly finding themselves generating a huge amount of data and CDS has emerged as one of those with solutions that can help businesses deal with this. As businesses accumulated data, it was increasingly difficult for them to effectively manage the data given their lack of or insufficient expertise in the area. This meant they were stuck with huge data they didn’t understand. But considering the place of data in today’s economy it was important to find ways to decipher it. CDS comes in and makes the process much easier and manageable as they provided there deep knowledge on the field. Their clients would then only have to focus on their core competencies. (Furr, & Dyer, 2014).

CDS has grown to a $25 million company in under two years of the operations. It currently has twenty employees. With this fast growth, the company has outpaced its current operations and premises. It is therefore wishing to move to newer premises as well as more importantly develop a more comprehensive information technology infrastructure as it seeks to leverage more of the data it collects. With a 60% growth target over the next eighteen months, this will be of absolute importance to ensure the technology put in place can ensure those goals are met.

Type of Business Activities

The types of business activities carried out by CDS include the use of operation systems and web analytics in the collection of data. The company then analyzes the data with tools it has at its disposal and provides its clients with the resultant business intelligence. The company has diversified the industries it handles data for to increase its reach. This has provided it with the opportunity to reach as many clients and potential customers as well. Clients can contract CDS with collecting and analyzing data for them. CDS also collects data from a number of sources for purposes of conducting their own analyses that are then sold to organizations separately. This could be industry information, trends and so forth.

When done efficiently, data collection and analysis can prove to be a boon for businesses. With CDS, they get to have a more concrete understanding of the operations from the past, its current state as well as the potential future that could be gleaned from the data that has been collected and analyzed. The analysis will provide predictions that the business leaders can use to plan for the future. While the decision making is left to the clients themselves, they have come to rely on and trust the insights provided by CDS from analyzing data.

Therefore, CDS provides a wide range of data services that will fit a business’ need. Whether it is the collection of its data, analysis or even both, they can depend on CDS to carry those tasks as efficiently as possible. Should they instead need data that has already been analyzed and they have no access to, they can still depend on CDS to provide it. (Furr, & Dyer, 2014).

Outsourcing and Offshoring Activities

Outsourcing has provided CDS with the opportunity to take advantage of solutions that will lead to lower business costs. The company for purposes of promoting efficiency, streamlining operations and focusing on it strengths decided to outsource their customer service, and auditing services to qualified organizations offering them at a lower cost. CDS has managed to grow in its two years of operations by embracing this solution that leaves it really concentrate on providing their clients with the very best solutions in data collection and analysis. without having to dedicate resources to those areas that while necessary are still not central to its core strengths as an organization CDS has managed to accrue enormous benefits. The companies providing the outsourcing services are experts in the given fields with the activities being their core operations. This enables to offer the services more competitively and with the quality required by CDS. The outsourcing company also gets to handle any and all issues that might arise from those functions without having to involve CDS. In its capacity as a data collection and analysis company, CDS also provides its clients with outsourcing for their data collection and analysis needs. Offshoring is a function that CDS offers foreign clients. This has been the result of the company expanding its operations to include a wider customer base. Given its expertise in the field, CDS can provide the services more efficiently and at a lower cost. (Pereira, Munjal, & Ishizaka, 2018).

Information System Personnel

Out of twenty employees, four of them work for the IT department. The department is headed by a manager who is the chief information officer for the entire company. They are responsible for developing an overall strategy for the department and inform the management of the company on these plans. They are also responsible for supervising those under them into carrying out tasks put forth by the management. there is a database manager whose role is the development and management of the company’s collection of data in the database and ensuring that is easily accessible whenever it is needed. There is a data manager whose responsibilities are developing and sourcing technologies that will help in furthering and optimizing the company’s data collection and analysis activities. An information security manager is responsible for ensuring the security of the company’s information technology infrastructure as well the data for its clients. The four employees are also responding for further tasks like network administration and information technology support for the other employees. (Lane, 2014).

Types of Data Collected

Given the wide range of its client base, CDS collects different types of data. These include internal from companies including sales data, customer data, traffic to websites, usage statistics of mobile apps, engagement on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and more wider-ranging data like labor numbers, and long term trends. CDS gets to collect the data either for the client within that client’s own systems or can collect other data on its own. (Lane, 2014).

Current Information Systems

CDS uses operational systems for purposes of data processing. While these systems have been able to function well for the company, they might not be the best options moving forward. Operational systems are fragmented from each other. Each of them operates within their own siloed environment away from the others. Any changes and upgrades made to one of them are done without regard for integration with the others. This has made it difficult for the company to effectively carry out cross departmental sharing and collaboration. To solve this problem, the solution being eyed will be the adoption of a data warehousing concept that will bring these disparate operational systems together. This will make the database more efficient with improved data processing as well as other functions like online querying. (Lane, 2014).

The company uses predictive analytics to analyze the data it collects. The techniques that have been put in place to facilitate this include statistics, data mining, and modeling to better and accurately predict future events from current data for their clients. The company is considering adopting more advanced techniques to further develop their analytic capabilities. These include artificial intelligence and machine learning. This will reduce the need for human intervention as they should automate a large chunk of the process while operating independently. The company interfaces with its systems are in need of an upgrade given that they are not intuitive and therefore take a long time for new employees to fully comprehend. (Lane, 2014).

The current network infrastructure for CDS includes computer terminals and a small data center set up at the company current premises that it seeks to move out from. Within this building is also a LAN network used to provide connection services. Information security has been implemented with measures including logical and physical. There are firewalls and anti-virus software as well as access control for employee access to the system. the premises are also protected with a CCTV network and employees use their keycards to access the premises. (Lane, 2014).

Conclusion

With the above project, CDS should be able to attain its goal of 60% growth over the next eighteen months quite easily. This will require a team of individuals with the appropriate experience and expertise in the fields represented. A qualified project manager should coordinate and supervise the project successfully.

References

Furr, N. R., & Dyer, J. (2014). The Innovator’s Method: Bringing the Lean Startup Into Your Organization. Harvard Business Press.

Lane, D. (2014). The Chief Information Officer’s Body of Knowledge. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Pereira, V., Munjal, S., & Ishizaka, A. (2018). Outsourcing and offshoring decision making and its implications for the firm. Journal of Business Research.

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Document Control

Business Requirements
Reference number:

Document Control

Change Record

Date Author Version Change Reference

Reviewers

Name Position

Table of Contents
2Document Control
1 Business Requirements 4
1.1 Project Overview 4
1.2 Background including current process 4
1.3 Scope 4
1.3.1 Scope of Project 4
1.3.2 Constraints and Assumptions 5
1.3.3 Risks 5
1.3.4 Scope Control 5
1.3.5 Relationship to Other Systems/Projects 5
1.3.6 Definition of Terms (if applicable) 5

1 Business Requirements

1.1 Project Overview

Provide a short, yet complete, overview of the project.

1.2 Background including current process

Describe the background to the project, (same section may be reused in the Quality Plan) include:
This project is
The project goal is to
The IT role for this project is

1.3 Scope

1.3.1 Scope of Project

The scope of this project includes a number of areas. For each area, there should be a corresponding strategy for incorporating these areas into the overall project.
Applications In order to meet the target production date, only these applications will be implemented:
Sites These sites are considered part of the implementation:
Process Re-engineering Re-engineering will
Customization Customizations will be limited to
Interfaces the interfaces included are:
Architecture Application and Technical Architecture will
Conversion Only the following data and volume will be considered for conversion:
Testing Testing will include only
Funding Project funding is limited to
Training Training will be
Education Education will include

1.3.2 Constraints and Assumptions

The following constraints have been identified:
The following assumptions have been made in defining the scope, objectives and approach:

1.3.3 Risks

The following risks have been identified as possibly affecting the project during its progression:

1.3.4 Scope Control

The control of changes to the scope identified in this document will be managed through the Change Control, with business owner representative approval for any changes that affect cost or timeline for the project.

1.3.5 Relationship to Other Systems/Projects

It is the responsibility of the business unit to inform IT of other business initiatives that may impact the project. The following are known business initiatives:

1.3.6 Definition of Terms (if applicable)

List any definitions that will be used throughout the duration of the project.

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design of quality information systems.

If you are using the Blackboard Mobile Learn IOS App, please click “View in Browser.” Click the link above to submit your assignment. Students, please view the “Submit a Clickable Rubric Assignment” in the Student Center.  Instructors, training on how to grade is within the Instructor Center. Project Deliverable 2: Business Requirements  Due Week 4 and worth 110 points This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a business requirements document and a project plan. You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment. Label each file name according to the section of the assignment it is written for. Additionally, you may create and / or assume all necessary assumptions needed for the completion of this assignment. Procuring quality business requirements is an important step toward the design of quality information systems. Completion of a quality requirements document allows user needs and expectations to be captured, so that infrastructure and information systems can be designed properly. Your company, which is a data-collection and analysis company that has been operating less than two (2) years, is seeking to create a repository for collected data beyond standard relational databases. Your ten (10) terabyte data warehouse is expected to grow by 20% each year. You are mindful of data warehousing best practices which will aid you immensely in your requirements gathering effort. Using the requirements document provided in the course shell, you are to speculate on the needs of the company. You must consider current and future requirements; however, assumptions should be realistic and carefully considered.    Section 1: Business Requirements Document
1. Write a four to six (4-6) page original business requirements document for the project plan using the template provided. Note: The template is provided under the Additional Resources in the Student Center tab of the online course shell.
. Describe the project including the following:
. Describe and define the scope of the project.
. Speculate as to how to control the scope.
. Identify possible risks, constraints, and assumptions.
. Describe the relationship and integration between systems and infrastructure. Note: Database and Data Warehousing, Analytics, Interfaces and Cloud Technology, and Infrastructure and Security should be considered.
. Speculate upon potential outsourcing or offshoring needs.
. Identify and justify the necessary resources including staffing that are necessary.
. Define relevant terms that will be used throughout project.
· Use at least two (2) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
Section 2: Revised Project Plan Use Microsoft Project to:
2. Update the project plan from Project Deliverable 1: Project Plan Inception, with three to five (3-5) new project tasks each consisting of five to ten (5-10) sub-tasks.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
· Evaluate an organization through the lens of non-IT senior management in deciding how information systems enable core and supportive business processes as well as those that interface with suppliers and customers.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in information systems.
· Write clearly and concisely about strategic issues and practices in the information systems domain using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.
Click here to view the grading rubric.
 

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Product Sales

 

Q2.

Question 1: Use Product Sales.xlsx to create a macro to sort the product by the total sales (in a decreasing order) and report the results in a new worksheetnamed “Summary.”

Requirements:

1. You can use macro recorder to help in programming but do not only use the macro recorder.
2. In the new worksheet “Summary” the following two columns are required:
a. Product (0.6 points)
b. Total Sales (in decreasing order of total sales) (0.6 points)
3. The macro should also:
a. Calculate the runtime (0.6 points)
b. Prompt a dialog box showing the time in seconds. The message will be “This macro ran in __ seconds.” (0.6 points)
Bonus: Create a list of charts for the top 50 products and display these charts in another worksheet named “Charts.”) (1.2 points)
Question 2: Use Travel Expenses.xlsx to create a wizard that will guide users through a few steps to enter some information used to calculate travel expenses.

Requirements:

1. You will create an ActiveX control button on the worksheet (“Sheet1”) to initiate the wizard process. (0.6 points)
2. The wizard should include the following steps:
a. Step 1: Entering the name (0.6 points)
b. Step 2: The number of miles traveled on the trip (0.6 points)
c. Step 3: The average miles per gallon (MPG) on the trip (0.6 points)
d. Step 4: The average price per gallon paid for gas on the trip (0.6 points)
3. You should include at least the following controls in each step:
a. A label showing what information a user should enter in this step (0.6 points)
b. A place where the user can enter the information (0.6 points)
c. A “cancel”button (0.6 points)
d. A button to go back to the previous step (0.6 points)
e. A button to go to the next step (0.6 points)
f. A “finish” button (0.6 points)

More requirements for the buttons:

g. By clicking the cancel button, there should be a pop-up window asking the user whether he or she would like to cancel the process:
i. “Yes” cancels the process (0.6 points)
ii. “No” returns to the wizard (0.6 points)
h. A user should not be able to go back in the first step (0.6 points) or go to the next in the last step (0.6 points). If the user clicks the button to go to the next without entering any information, there should be a message box reminding him or her to enter information and not allowing going to the next step (0.6 points).
i. A user can only finish in the last step (0.6 points). By clicking the finish button, there should be a new row in the data range showing all the information just entered. (Note: the column names should not be replaced.) (0.6 points)
4. Once a record is being created, the Excel file should automatically calculate the total travel expense for this trip and store it in the last column. (0.6 points)
5. The next time you run the wizard, your utility should create another record in the data range (a new row). It should not replace any records before. (0.6 points)
6. Users should be able to continue working on the worksheet with the wizard being displayed. (0.6 points)

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Java application-Blessings Young

Part 1
Modify your Java application so that it is an easy-to-use GUI  application where all of the interaction is performed on one screen. You  will now take the individual components and translate them to a single  interactive GUI interface using the following GUI components, container,  the event listeners, and event subclasses to enhance your application  as a more GUI-appropriate interface:

  • GUI components
  • Container
  • Event listeners
  • Event subclasses (at least 3–4 utilized)
    • ActionEvent
    • ItemEvent
    • FocusEvent
    • KeyEvent
    • MouseEvent
    • WindowEvent
  • ActionPerformed Method

Part 2
For this assignment, you are being asked to make sure you are  exception handling by verifying that all of the customer-entered  information is valid before the order is submitted to ensure order  accuracy. 
The customer information that the customer must now enter that should be validated includes the following:

  • Entered user name (must fill in a name)
  • Entered at least one sub to order
  • Selected all three attributes for sub (such as bread type, sub type, and sub size)
  • Entered delivery address that includes street, city, state, and zip code
  • Entered telephone number xxx-xxx-xxxx

In this assignment, you are adding in error handling to make sure the customer is filling in all of the required information.
To accomplish this task, you will be utilizing the following Java classes:

  • Methods in the character class and StringBuilder class to validate and manipulate characters in a string
  • Try… Catch for the exception handling of all input fields
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Database Modeling and Normalization

Assignment 4: Database Modeling and Normalization
Due Week 4 and worth 120 points
Imagine that you work for a consulting firm that offers information technology and database services. Part of its core services is to optimize and offer streamline solutions for efficiency. In this scenario, your firm has been awarded a contract to implement a new personnel system for a government agency. This government agency has requested an optimized data repository for its system which will enable the management staff to perform essential human resources (HR) duties along with the capability to produce ad hoc reporting features for various departments. They look forward to holding data that will allow them to perform HR core functions such as hiring, promotions, policy enforcement, benefits management, and training.
Using this scenario, write a three to four (3-4) page paper in which you:

  1. Determine the steps in the development of an effective Entity Relationship Model (ERM) Diagram and determine the possible iterative steps / factors that one must consider in this process with consideration of the HR core functions and responsibilities of the client.
  2. Analyze the risks that can occur if any of the developmental or iterative steps of creating an ERM Diagram are not performed.
  3. Select and rank at least five (5) entities that would be required for the development of the data repositories.
  4. Specify the components that would be required to hold time-variant data for policy enforcement and training management.
  5. Diagram a possible 1:M solution that will hold salary history data, job history, and training history for each employee through the use of graphical tools. Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
  6. Plan each step of the normalization process to ensure the 3NF level of normalization using the selected five (5) entities of the personnel database solution. Document each step of the process and justify your assumptions in the process.
  7. Diagram at least five (5) possible entities that will be required to sustain a personnel solution. The diagram should include the following:
    1. Dependency diagrams
    2. Multivalued dependencies

Note: The graphically depicted solution is not included in the required page length.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:

  • Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
  • Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
  • Include charts or diagrams created in a drawing tool with which you are familiar. The completed diagrams / charts must be imported into the Word document before the paper is submitted.
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Denormalization Functionality

Denormalization Functionality” Please respond to the following:

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 Optimizing Database Design

Optimizing Database Design” Please respond to the following:

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current US issue that is being reported by at least two other countries

Go to www.WorldPress.org and read about a current US issue that is being reported by at least two other countries (could also go to Japan NHK or Toronto Star for comparisons) Provide links and references to these news reports. Compare how the news reports are presented. Discuss how your views of this issue is influenced by American or by others’ views.
Criteria:

  • News story is related to event from the current year and was covered by US and at least two other countries.
  • Links were provided to the news reports used for this assignment.
  • Student has summarized the issue and identifies similarities/differences in the presentation by other countries.
  • Student provides personal assessment of how their views are influenced when reading multiple versions of the same story.
  • Formatting follows APA guidelines; paper is 3-5 pages in length, in addition to title page and reference list.