Casey's Collections: A Strategic Decision-Making Case Using the Systems Development Lifecycle—Planning and Analysis Phases

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model, developed in the 1980s, remains the foundational model for strategic decision making regarding the development or acquisition of new information systems (IS). The SDLC model proposes five system development phases—planning, analysis, design, implementation, and maintenance—using a waterfall theory. These early phases of the SDLC require strategic decisions to be made regarding information systems. Strategic decision making is a model of multi-attribute utility theory, which helps promote decisions that maximize utility among multiple alternatives. This case provides students with experience in making reasoned strategic IT decisions by executing the planning and analysis phases in a new system acquisition life cycle. This educational case is structured to be the first of several cases covering the SDLC involving the same small fictitious public corporation, Casey's Collections. Upon completion of the case, students should have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the process of IS strategic decision making. In addition, students should better understand how to identify an information system's needs and prepare system proposals based on the generation and analysis of alternative solutions. This case is suitable for students in an introductory or graduate accounting systems course; it is also appropriate for use in a IS course on systems analysis and design.