Assessment on the Causes of Stress

Case Study

Please choose one of the following cases to submit.

Chapter 8: THE BED CELLAR

As part of your MIS course, you must study an existing computer-based system and design a new, improved one. You remember seeing a small computer in a downtown furniture store that specializes in beds. You know the store because you bought a water bed there at the beginning of the semester and talked with the owner for some time while you decided on the bed you wanted. You drive to the store, walk inside, and ask to see the owner. The owner, Albert Mendoza, comes out and greets you, “Didn’t you buy a water bed from us a month or so ago? How do you like it?” After some brief conversation you explain that you want to use his store as the basis for your MIS project. Mendoza says, “Sure, you can study our operation. Come over here and let me introduce you to Alice and Ray.”

You walk over to an elderly lady who is writing in a huge ledger—Alice Cook, the book keeper. Alice has been with Bed Cellar for twenty-three years and has been the only person to keep the books. You turn to Mendoza and say, “I thought I saw a computer in here a couple of months ago.” “That’s right,” he replies. “We have a computer that I bought four years ago. We keep it in this room next to my office. Come on over and I’ll show it to you.”

The computer room is actually a closet. To use the computer you have to open the closet door, pull up a chair from another room, and turn on the closet light—the power cord for the computer is attached to an outlet of the closet light. “This one’s kind of a classic,” Mendoza tells you, “You know, they don’t make these any more.” You know he’s right, the brand name is North Chase Micros, one of the personal computer makers that you studied in class. The com pany only lasted a few years and went out of business.

About that time, another man walks in. He is Ray Silva, and he divides his time between operating the computer and selling furniture. The computer is used for about...