Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
MINICASES
1.
Worldwide, vacation cruises on increasingly larger ships
have been steadily growing in popularity. People like the
all-inclusive price for food, room, and entertainment, the
variety of shipboard activities, and the ability to unpack
just once and still visit several different places. The
first of the two minicases used throughout this topic is
the story of Happy Cruise Lines. Happy Cruise Lines
has several ships and operates (begins its cruises) from
a number of ports. It has a variety of vacation cruise
itineraries, each involving several ports of call. The
company wants to keep track of both its past and future
cruises and of the passengers who sailed on the former
and are booked on the latter. Actually, you can think of
a cruise line as simply a somewhat specialized instance
of any passenger transportation company, including
airlines, trains, and buses. Beyond that, a cruise line
is, after all, a business and like any other business of any
kind it must be concerned about its finances, employees,
equipment, and so forth.
a. Using this introductory description of (and hints
about) Happy Cruise Lines, make a list of the things
in Happy Cruise Lines' business environment about
which you think the company would want to maintain
data. Do some or all of these qualify as ''corporate
resources?'' Explain.
b. Develop some ideas about how the data you identified
in part a above can be used by Happy Cruise Lines to
gain a competitive advantage over other cruise lines.
2.
Sports are universally enjoyed around the globe.
Whether the sport is a team or individual sport, whether
a person is a participant or a spectator, and whether
the sport is played at the amateur or professional
level, one way or another this kind of activity can be
enjoyed by people of all ages and interests. Furthermore,
professional sports today are a big business involving
very large sums of money. And so, the second of
the two minicases to be used throughout this topic is
the story of the professional Super Baseball League.
Like any sports league, the Super Baseball League
wants to maintain information about its teams, coaches,
players, and equipment, among other things. If you are
not particularly familiar with baseball or simply prefer
another sport, bear in mind that most of the issues
that will come up in this minicase easily translate to
any team sport at the amateur, college, or professional
levels. After all, all team sports have teams, coaches,
players, fans, equipment, and so forth. When specialized
equipment or other baseball-specific items come up, we
will explain them.
a. Using this introductory description of (and hints
about) the Super Baseball League, list the things in
the Super Baseball League's business environment
about which you think the league would want to
maintain data. Do some or all of these qualify as
''corporate resources,'' where the term is broadened
to include the resources of a sports league? Explain.
b. Develop some ideas about how the data that you
identified in part a above can be used by the Super
Baseball League to gain a competitive advantage
over other sports leagues for the fans' interest and
entertainment dollars (Euros, pesos, yen, etc.)
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