Chapters 2, 3, and 4 – Computing Needs,
Business Data Strategy, and Ethical Considerations – An Interactive Approach
Note: You are to use the same fictional business idea from the first “Through the Lens of an IS Manager” assignment. Your fictional business from the first assignment will be used for all of the “Through the Lens of an IS Manager” activities throughout the semester.
This assignment integrates your understanding of computing needs, data strategy, and the ethical and workplace considerations of IT/IS in a practical, interactive manner. This is not an assignment where you will simply provide written responses – this is a ‘learn by doing’ style assignment.
Part 1: Determine the Computing Needs of Your Fictional Business:
This part of the assignment is designed to make you think critically about the technology infrastructure and tools required in different departments of a business. By developing personas and their daily tech needs, you get to experience firsthand the diverse requirements of different roles within an organization.
- Step 1 – Identify two distinct roles from different departments within your fictional business. Think about a typical day for these roles: what tasks they handle, who they communicate with, and what challenges they might face.
- Step 2 – For each role, develop a persona.This should include their name, position, background, and a brief description of their daily responsibilities.
- Using a slide deck tool of your choice (e.g., PowerPoint, Google Slides), create a slide for each persona.
- The slide should contain:
- Persona’s image (this can be a stock photo or an avatar – maybe even a https://www.bing.com/images/create if you are feeling fancy)
- Name & Department
- A brief background
- A bullet-point list of daily tasks/responsibilities
- A bullet-point list of the specific technological tools and infrastructure they need to complete those tasks. Think software, hardware, specific applications, platforms, etc.
- The slide should contain:
- Using a slide deck tool of your choice (e.g., PowerPoint, Google Slides), create a slide for each persona.
- Step 2 – For each role, develop a persona.This should include their name, position, background, and a brief description of their daily responsibilities.
Tip: How can I incorporate ChatGPT or a generative AI tool into this?
- Research Assistance: If unsure about the kind of technological tools a specific role might use, ask ChatGPT for insights. For example, “What software tools might a marketing manager typically use?”
- Slide Refinement: Once your slides are ready, you can describe their content to ChatGPT and ask for feedback or potential improvements.
- Persona Development: If you’re struggling with creating a persona’s background or daily responsibilities, ChatGPT can provide ideas or suggestions to enhance your story. Remember, be specific with what you are asking to ChatGPT. The more context you provide, the better your responses from ChatGPT will be.
- Important note: . https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-hallucination-chatbots-chatgpt-falsehoods-ac4672c5b06e6f91050aa46ee731bcf4 If you do not understand the outputs that you are getting, resort to what you have always done for research – use a search engine like Google, or Bing, and check for accuracy. ChatGPT, or Bing’s AI search, or even Google Bard + research when combined can make for a helpful resource.
By crafting these personas, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of how technology is interwoven into daily business operations across different departments. Remember to make each persona unique, showcasing the diverse tech that is used within your fictional organization.
Submission requirement for Part 1: the slide deck with the two persona slides.
Evaluation criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
| Identification of roles: Roles from two different departments are clearly identified.Each role description should be 1-2 sentences. | 0.2 |
| Persona Development: Image SelectionRelevant image that matches the role and department.Name & DepartmentClearly defined name and department.Background Description2-3 sentences providing context for the persona’s role and experience.Daily Tasks/ResponsibilitiesList of 3-5 major tasks/responsibilities that align with the persona’s role. | 0.3 |
| Technological Needs Assessment: List of Technological ToolsList of 3-5 relevant technological tools/software/hardware per persona.Specific tools are mentioned (e.g., “Salesforce CRM” instead of just “CRM software”). | 0.2 |
| Format: Students attach a PowerPoint file to their submission in Canvas. | 0.10 |
Part 2: Develop a Data Strategy: People, Processes, and Technology
By focusing on people, processes, and technology, you will learn to holistically approach data management and utilization within an organization.
- Step 1 – familiarize yourself with “People”, “Process”, and “Technology” below. I’m including this to help you think through how these are all related before you move onto “Step 2” below.
People: Identify who will be responsible for data management, utilization, and decision-making in your fictional business. Consider roles such as data analysts, data engineers, managers, and other stakeholders.
Processes: Define the workflows and procedures that will be used for data collection, storage, analysis, and presentation. Think about how data will flow through the organization, from its point of creation to its point of use (remember my Solid Waste Management example from my lecture videos?).
Technology: Recognize the tools, platforms, and infrastructure that will support your data strategy. This includes databases, data analytics platforms, visualization tools, and more.
- Step 2 – Create a shared document using Office 365 or Google Docs (I recommend Office 365 because you all have access to this for free as FIU students). Create a table on your document that looks like the one below where you will jot down your group’s ideas for people, processes, and technology.
| People | Processes | Technology |
| Your ideas would go here | Your ideas would go here | Your ideas would go here |
Tip: How can I incorporate ChatGPT or a generative AI tool into this?
- Ideation Aid: Use ChatGPT to help brainstorm potential elements for each of the three pillars. For instance, you could ask, “What are common data processes in e-commerce?” (but be sure to describe what your fictional business is first to ChatGPT so that it can provide support that is in alignment with what you are thinking through.
- Clarification: If there’s any part of your strategy that seems unclear, describe it to ChatGPT and ask for feedback or suggestions to enhance clarity.
- Important note: https://apnews.com/article/artificial-intelligence-hallucination-chatbots-chatgpt-falsehoods-ac4672c5b06e6f91050aa46ee731bcf4 If you do not understand the outputs that you are getting, resort to what you have always done for research – use a search engine like Google, or Bing, and check for accuracy. ChatGPT, or Bing’s AI search, or even Google Bard + research when combined can make for a helpful resource.
Submission requirement for Part 2: A Word document with step 2. Please do not share a link to a Word document – actually upload the Word document into Canvas.
Evaluation criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
| Core Concepts of Information Systems PeopleList 5-6 roles involved in data management and utilization.ProcessesDescribe 5-6 key workflows related to data flow. 1-2 sentences per workflow.Technology Mention 5-6 tools or platforms supporting the data strategy. No more than a sentence is needed for each. | 0.6 |
| Format: Students attach a Microsoft Word file to their submission in Canvas. | 0.2 |
Part 3: Creating an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) using Lucidchart (free) and Demonstrating Primary & Foreign Keys in Excel
The purpose of this part of the assignment is to familiarize you with the fundamental concepts of database design, specifically focusing on entity-relationship diagrams and key concepts. By using Lucidchart for ERD creation and Microsoft Excel for key demonstration, you will experience a hands-on approach to practical database management concepts.
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- Step 1 – Watch the following snippet of the https://mediaweb.fiu.edu/Mediasite/Play/8aa5eef9d4c84593a1fd601bf486be0f1d (only the part from 18 minutes and 44 seconds to 59 minutes and 25 seconds – the whole Chapter 3 video is not necessary for this, just the time stamps I’ve listed) that shows you how to access Lucidchart, and create a basic entity relationship diagram, as well as how this intersects with Microsoft Excel for the assignment.
- Step 2 – Identify up to 10 entities for your fictional business. Remember, an entity represents a real-world object or concept, such as ‘Customer’ or ‘Product’. For each entity, determine between 5-10 fields/attributes. The number of fields/attributes will vary based on the entity’s nature and the data you aim to capture. Using Lucidchart’s drag-and-drop interface, drag ‘Entity’ shapes onto the canvas for each of your identified entities. Name each entity and add fields/attributes accordingly.
- Step 3 – For each entity, determine a primary key – a field/attribute (or a combination of fields/attributes) that uniquely identifies every record. As you identify relationships between entities, note where foreign keys are necessary. A foreign key in one entity will point to a primary key in another entity, representing the relationship.
- Step 4 – Launch Microsoft Excel and create a new spreadsheet.
- Pick any 2 entities from your ERD. Create separate sheets within your spreadsheet for each entity (like I did in the video).
- Add the fields/attributes and columns for each respective sheet (1 sheet per entity – just like the video).
- One of these fields/attributes should be your primary key for each entity.
- Populate your sheets with some sample data (tell ChatGPT to generate a .csv for you – I’ll include a sample prompt that can help with this in the “tip” area for this section. In the entity that has a foreign key, ensure some of those keys match the primary keys from the other entity. This demonstrates the connection or relationship between the two tables/entities.
Tip: How can I incorporate ChatGPT or a generative AI tool into this?
- Idea Generation and Validation: Before starting with your ERD, you can pose your initial ideas or concepts about the entities and their relationships to ChatGPT for feedback.
- Field/attribute identification: If you’re unsure about the fields/attributes for a particular entity, ask ChatGPT for ideas. For example, “What attributes would be essential for a ‘Customer’ entity in an online retail business model?”
- Mock data generation: If you need mock data for your Excel sheets, provide a brief description of the entity and its fields/attributes to ChatGPT and ask it to generate sample data entries. Sample prompt (edit to your liking) “Generate a table of data with 10 rows for the following attributes: ID, Name, Favorite Color, Favorite Dinosaur”.
Submission requirement for Part 3:
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- Export your ERD from Lucidchart as a PDF and attach it as a file to your submission (as a PDF and not an image).
- To export as a PDF from Lucidchart, please do the following:
- Select “File” from within Lucidchart (where you can see your Entity Relationship Diagram)
- Select “Export” -> “PDF”.
- Select “Download”.
- You should now have a PDF that you have downloaded.
- To export as a PDF from Lucidchart, please do the following:
- Save your Excel demonstration of primary and foreign keys and attach it to your submission.
- Export your ERD from Lucidchart as a PDF and attach it as a file to your submission (as a PDF and not an image).
Evaluation criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
| Database Design Entities and Fields/Attributes Identification of up to 5-10 clear entities relevant to your fictional business.5-10 fields/attributes for each entity, with clarity and relevance.Entity-Relationship Diagram Proper usage of Lucidchart to depict entities and their fields/attributes per the lecture video.Clear identification of primary keys and any necessary foreign keys. | 0.4 |
| Application in Excel Spreadsheet OrganizationCreation of separate sheets for 2 chosen entities from the ERD (within the same Excel file).Listing of fields/attributes in columns with clear labels.Data PopulationUse of relevant sample data for each attribute.Proper demonstration of relationships using primary and foreign keys. | 0.3 |
| Overall execution Clarity and PresentationLogical organization and neatness in both the ERD and Excel spreadsheet.Following InstructionsAdherence to the given steps and guidelines provided in the assignment. | 0.05 |
| Format Students attach both a PDF of their Lucidchart output and an Excel file to their submission in Canvas. | 0.05 |
Part 4: Mock News Report on a Privacy Incident
I’ve set up this part of the assignment to enhance your understanding of potential privacy incidents in a business context and so that you can grasp the importance of clear and effective communication in addressing such incidents. This task will also familiarize you with real-world privacy policies and give you the opportunity to creatively utilize generative AI in crafting a compelling narrative.
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- Step 1 – Review two real-world privacy policies from companies in industries relevant to your fictional business. Note the URLs for these two privacy policies as you will need to include those in your submission.
- Step 2 – Using insights from the privacy policies studied, fabricate a privacy incident for your fictional business.
- Think about:
- What data was compromised?
- How was it accessed?
- Who is affected?
- Was it a technical fault, human error, or malicious activity?
- These areas that you are going to think about are going to be used for step 3 to generate a prompt, so it’s going to be helpful for you to write this down somewhere.
- Think about:
- Step 3 – Use a generative AI tool like ChatGPT to create the draft of your news story. Input the details of the incident into the AI tool, and let it generate a news report for you. Refine the output to ensure it is coherent, factual (based on your fictional incident), and effectively conveys the gravity of the situation. Yes, you should directly copy/paste from ChatGPT for this part without issue (just refine your output where necessary to make sure it makes sense). Save your prompt, as I want to see it as part of your submission.
- Step 4 – Generative AI-crafted Executive Email
- Employ the same AI tool (ChatGPT or something else) to help https://www.canada.ca/en/treasury-board-secretariat/services/access-information-privacy/privacy/breach-management/notification-affected-individuals-sample-letter.html
- Input a brief outline or a few key points to guide the AI:
- Acknowledgment of the incident.
- Expressing regret and taking responsibility.
- Brief on immediate actions taken.
- Assurance of future measures.
- Contact points for concerned customers.
- Save your prompt, as I want to see it as part of your submission.
- Once generated, fine-tune the email to ensure clarity, sincerity, and professionalism.
Tip: How can I incorporate ChatGPT or a generative AI tool into this? (beyond what I’ve noted above)
- Feedback loop with AI: After you’ve refined your output, you can re-input some parts into the AI to get further refinements, creating a feedback loop till you get the most optimal narrative or response.
- Preparation: Before you jump into using AI, I encourage you to outline your thoughts first. This ensures you have clarity on the incident’s specifics and aren’t overly reliant on the AI for ideation. This also helps you with getting better at writing prompts – a skill you’ll develop as you continue to work on assignments like this in this course.
Submission requirement for Part 4:
- A single Word document that contains:
- The links to two privacy policies that you reviewed
- The generative AI news story that you create
- The prompt that you used to create the generative AI news story
- The generative AI executive email
- The prompt that you use to create the generative AI executive email
Evaluation criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
| Understanding Privacy Policies SelectionChoice of two real-world privacy policies relevant to your fictional business. | 0.1 |
| Creation of a Privacy Incident Detailing the IncidentClear description of the compromised data, access method, affected parties, and cause (technical fault, human error, or malicious activity). This should be part of your prompt for ChatGPT or some other generative AI tool.Applicability to Fictional BusinessRelevance and plausibility of the incident in the context of the chosen fictional business. | 0.3 |
| Generative AI Use News Report DraftEffective utilization of ChatGPT to produce a coherent news report about the privacy incident (include the prompt you used to generate the news report)Report clarity, accuracy (based on the fictional incident), and its ability to convey the seriousness of the situation.Executive Email DraftUse of ChatGPT or generative AI software to assist in drafting an email that addresses the incident (include the prompt you used to generate the email draft) | 0.35 |
| Format Students attach a Microsoft Word file to their submission in Canvas. | 0.05 |
Part 5: Business Impact Analysis – Ethics
In today’s business landscape, the integration of technology in operations can raise various ethical concerns. It’s crucial for companies to anticipate these ethical challenges and address them proactively. You’ll get to simulate/think through this below for your fictional business.
Step 1 – Choose five business processes pertinent to your fictional organization. Think about the various operations that take place in your company, from customer relations to back-end operations.
Step 2 – For each business process, identify the information system or technology involved. For instance, if you’re looking at ‘Customer Data Collection,’ the system could be a ‘CRM System’.
Step 3 – For each process and system, think deeply about potential ethical concerns. This could range from privacy issues, potential biases, misuse of data, lack of transparency, and so on.
Step 4 – Finally, propose practical recommendations to address the identified ethical concerns. This could include policy changes, technological solutions, or operational shifts.
| Business Process | System | Ethical Implications | Recommendations |
Tip: How can I incorporate ChatGPT or a generative AI tool into this?
- Brainstorming – Before filling out your table, use ChatGPT to brainstorm potential ethical implications related to business processes and technology.
- Recommendation drafting – Once you’ve identified a particular ethical implication, discuss potential recommendations with ChatGPT. For example, “How can a business ensure transparency in its AI algorithms?” Use the feedback from ChatGPT as a base to refine your final recommendation. ChatGPT can be used as an assisting tool, not a primary source. The tool should enhance your work, not replace your thought process.
Submission requirement for Part 5: a Word document with the table above fully populated.
Evaluation criteria:
| Criteria | Points |
| Business Process Identification Selection of five business processes relevant to your fictional business, demonstrating a clear understanding of the company’s operations. | 0.2 |
| Technology/System Integration Proper identification of the information system or technology involved in each business process, showcasing depth in technology-business integration. | 0.2 |
| Ethical Concern Analysis Incorporation of diverse ethical concerns, such as privacy, data misuse, and transparency.The direct relevance of identified ethical concerns to the chosen business process and system. For clarity and conciseness, you are advised to keep each ethical concern description within 20-70 words. | 0.2 |
| Recommendations Practical and innovative solutions addressing ethical concerns.Proposals directly target and effectively mitigate the outlined ethical issues. For clarity and conciseness, you are advised to keep each recommendation within 20-70 words. | 0.2 |
Submission instructions for the group
- One-time Submission: All components of the assignment must be submitted together, in one go. Please do not submit the assignment in parts or piece by piece.
- Names: Include the names of contributors on just one of the files; if all participated, no names are needed on the submission. Those who didn’t contribute must follow the “Individual Makeup Instructions”. There’s no middle ground: you either work with the group or do the individual assignment.
- Attaching Multiple Files: Canvas allows you to attach multiple files to a single submission. Ensure that you’ve attached all necessary files for the assignment before hitting the ‘Submit’ button.
- Please name your files, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 – to align with the respective parts of the assignment.
- Files that you need to include in your submission:
- The PowerPoint with the two persona slides for Part 1.
- A Word document for Part 2.
- A PDF of your ERD and a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet for Part 3.
- A Word document for Part 4.
- A Word document for Part 5.
- Group Submission: Only ONE submission is required for each group. Ensure that all group members have reviewed and approved the content before submitting.
- Makeup Submissions: If any group member needs to submit an individual makeup:
- When they submit, it may appear as though the group’s original submission has been replaced or overwritten in the student view.
- Do not panic! From the my perspective, ALL submissions are visible. While you can only see the most recent submission, I can access and review every file submitted.
Double-check your attachments and make sure everything is in order before submitting to avoid confusion or errors.
Individual Makeup Instructions
If you need to complete this assignment individually as a makeup, it means that you did not have the same the rich learning experience that group collaboration offers – I hope that for the next assignment you can work with your group. To ensure you receive a comparable learning experience, I’ve added some components to the individual route. For this assignment, you will undertake this assignment using a fictional business example (different from the fictional business your group has created). Additionally, each part of the assignment has extra requirements for individual submissions:
- For part 1, alongside the standard instructions, locate two job postings from any company. Based on the job posting details, deduce the likely software, hardware, specific applications, and platforms these roles would require. Provide links to the job postings. Your analysis for each posting should span 4-5 sentences.
- For part 2, As per the original instructions, complete the ‘people, processes, and technology’ table for your fictional business. Additionally, select a real business and complete the same table for it. Ensure you cite your sources for the real business analysis.
- For part 3, alongside the standard instructions, expand your Excel document to contain sample data for 5 of your entities (no more than 10 records per entity).
- For part 4, follow the given instructions for the group. Additionally, draft a hypothetical internal email intended for employees (for guidance – https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/data-breach-response-guide-business ) .
- For part 5, adhere to the set guidelines for the group instructions. Further, research a real-world example of an ethical dilemma concerning technology in a business setting. Craft a 10-12 sentence summary of the event. Within this summary, reflect on how you would have approached the situation differently if you were in a leadership role.
Submission: If you complete the individual make-up option, you can submit it to the same assignment drop box as your group. If you do this, you’ll notice that it looks like you overrode the group submission; however, that is not the case. On my end I see each individual submission, though on the student view it only shows the most recent submission. If you opt to submit an individual submission, please be sure to put your name on the assignment submission so that I know who to issue credit to.
