1. 1 Initial Narrative for this Sample Case (this case is abbreviated for this limited web sample test): John Frisk is the Help Desk Director, responsible for the company’s Telephone Service Specialists. His specialists answer questions from users of Home Management Software, a recently developed software package to help home owners use their computer to connect and manage many electronic devices from one computer source. The new software is very good! The hardware is easy to connect. The system really operates well. And, the function within the software is very helpful. But there are always a few peculiar questions. The Telephone Service Specialists are well trained and have experience connecting all kinds of devices to the Home Management Software system. So, they can handle most questions. Usually, the questions are straight forward, “What is a USB port?” “Do I have to plug in the wireless system in order for it to work?” Sometimes the questions are harder. Different Operating Systems act differently with the software and someone is always dreaming up things to do that were not in the original plans, “Can I turn off my answering machine with the ‘Table Lamp Adapter’ module?” “I just downloaded Version 3.3.4 and now my outside lights don’t go on automatically any more. What happened? How do I fix it?” One specialist commented, “You know, the more questions we answer, the more questions our clients have. I’ve talked with one fellow three times. He keeps calling back because he gets answers. He complains that other companies help desks don’t really help. But he likes us; we talk to him and take the time to solve his problems. We can often help people fix things on their home systems that other companies cannot. Its quite interesting work.” Recently there have been many more calls. And, the calls seem to take longer to answer. The Home Management Software is becoming more and more sophisticated and some of the Help Desk calls are are getting more and more complex. When the Help Desk tried to transfer tough calls to the system designers, the designers quickly pushed the calls back, “The Help Desk is there to take all these calls. You have to manage whatever comes. We are busy working on the next upgrade.” A complicated call can take quite a bit of time. Sometimes the Telephone Service Specialist has to take a call-back number and then go and investigate a peculiar set-up. Sometimes they have to talk to the software engineers and actually do a test. John recently hired six more people to keep up with the work load. Still, the average Help Desk call is taking too long; too many calls are ‘Late’ (the waiting time and answer time is longer than the Help Desk’s 30 minute goal). John is seriously considering adding four more additional Telephone Service Specialists. The market for Home Management Software was robust for a while but sales are now in a downturn. This is becoming a problem and management is pressing to cut costs. And, with the six recent new hires, the Help Desk over budget. Management recently said, “Your costs are out of control! We want you to lay-off six Telephone Service Specialist.” That put an end to John’s thoughts of adding four more specialists. Management views the Help Desk as an overhead function. John views the Help Desk as an essential service. He argued the Help Desk support is a necessary condition to increase customer satisfaction and encourage future sales. And, the Help Desk performance needs to improve, not be reduced. So far, he has prevented the lay-off.

2. 2 Sample Questions: Question Resolving cause insufficiency: (2 Points) In the case, there is a relationship between ‘We must accept all calls that come’ and ‘Our costs are out of control’. However the logical twig below left is not logically sufficient. Correct the logic by re-writing the cause  effect logic in the space on the right. Add any other effects and causalities from the case as needed to eliminate any logic reservations. This problem will be graded upon the clarity of your logic, the sufficiency of your logic twig and the number of logic reservation which remain. Question improving a feedback loop: (4 Points) This case discusses how the Help Desk function seems to have an every increasing work load from our clients. From the case discussion, there seems to be a feed back loop between “Clients are pleased” and “We solve clients problems.” Please re-write the loop in the space on the right. Include any needed additional entities and logic drawn from the case. Include the minor changes in the wording of the original two entities on the left to show the increased work load of the Help Desk as the loop continues. This problem will be graded using the Categories of Legitimate Reservation and the logic provided in the case. * Our costs are out of control *We are often late We must accept all work Clients are pleased We solve clients’ problems

3. 3 John had lunch today with Bill, an old college friend; they took business classes together. Bill and John have remained friends for a long time; mostly because of similar careers. Bill also works with a large software firm. When John discussed the pressure he was getting to lay people off, Bill said, “I can solve that problem for you. Just transfer your Help Desk calls to our Help Desk phone number and we will take all your calls--’for a price’. You won’t need any of your people. We can take over your whole operation!” At first, John thought Bill’s offer was a joke, something he said just for laughs. But, John can’t seem to get the offer out of his head; he has been pondering Bill’s offer all afternoon. Clearly, Bill can’t take over all Home Management Software Help Desk calls. But maybe they could take some. But how? How could they maintain quality control? How can they contribute to marketing their software if they are not talking to customers? The Telephone Service Specialists are a good resource for the company. It would be a shame to lose them. The Help Desk specialists and the systems designers work well together. The specialists can talk to the designers about peculiar problems and get answers. The designers get insight and ideas from the specialists. The Telephone Service Specialists have become quite good computer trouble shooters; maybe a bit too good. That is, besides solving Home Management Software questions, they seem to answer a lot of other computer question not related to our software. Its hard to tell them to stop helping people with computer problems. They want to maintain their reputation as experts. But, we can’t continue answering so many interface questions about other companies’ products And there is the ‘Test House’. Well, its not a real house, its a big test room where the anyone can connect the Home Management Software system to almost anything imaginable. Whoever answers customer calls would want to be close to the Test House. Additional Narrative for this Sample Case (abbreviated for this limited web site):

4. 4 Question using the Negative Branch Reservation: (10 Points) In the case, the Help Desk Director suggests screening all Help Desk calls and sending easy calls to a contract Help Desk function (outside the company). Some department heads are very concerned about the quality of contracted services and the impact on future sales. To assist the Help Desk Director in this decision, create a Negative Branch Reservation that shows the Positive Side of the Injection, “We contract easy Help Desk calls to an outside firm.” Also show the Negative side of the Injection. Find where the negative side turns negative and insert a Trimming Injection. Indicate how the Trimming Injection eliminates the Negative effects. This problem will be graded according to the Categories of Legitimate Reservation and the representation of the case as explained to this point. We contract easy Help Desk calls to an outside firm Positive SideNegative Side

5. 5 Question using the PreRequisite Tree: (8 Points on these two parts) In this case, the Help Desk Director must overcome the obstacles that could arise when he tries to implement the solution. And, he needs to obtain buy-in from the other office departments. Some departments work closely with the Help Desk people and benefit from their feedback. The Help Desk Director has to find a way to achieve his ambitious injection. This question will be graded upon creating reasonable Obstacles, good Intermediate Objectives (or conditions) and logical ordering of the PRT consistent with the case. One of the Director’s ideas is “We contract easy Help Desk calls to an outside firm.” However, the company is in the middle of cost cutting. There is no money for new contracts right now. Write your recommended Intermediate Objective for this obstacle in the space below. There is no money for new contracts right now. IO: We contract easy Help Desk calls to an outside firm There are other obstacles to the injection “We contract easy Help Desk calls to an outside firm.” Identify four additional obstacles with their corresponding Intermediate Objectives. Order the obstacle-intermediate objective pairs in a PreRequisite Tree in the space provided below.