Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Case Study: Defining Mission Objectives for Mike's Bikes
It's time now to interview Mike and his staff so that they can help you define the mission
objectives for the Mike's Bikes database. Here's a partial transcript of the interview with
Mike. Once again, your assistant, Zachary, is conducting the interview.
Z
ACHARY
: “Can you give me an idea of the things you'd like to track in the data-
base?”
M
IKE
: “Oh sure, that's pretty easy. I want to keep track of our inventory, our
customers, and our sales.”
Z
ACHARY
: “Is there anything else that you can think of that is related to these sub-
jects?”
M
IKE
“Well, I guess if we're going to keep track of our inventory, we should
know who our suppliers are.”
Z
ACHARY
: “What about the sales reps involved in each sale?”
M
IKE
: “Oh yeah, we should definitely keep information about our employees.
If nothing else, it's a good idea to do this from a human resources point
of view. At least, that's what my wife tells me!”
(The interview continues until Zachary has finished asking all the questions on his list.)
When the interviews are complete, review all the information you've gathered and define
theappropriate mission objectives. Besuretokeepthe“final words”inmindasyoudefine
them. Here are a few possible mission objectives for the Mike's Bikes database.
Maintain complete inventory information.
Maintain complete customer information.
Track all customer sales.
Maintain complete supplier information.
Maintain complete employee information.
Once you've compiled a list of mission objectives, review them with Mike and his staff.
When they are satisfied that they understand the mission objectives and that the list is re-
latively complete, commit the list to a document in your favorite application program and
save it for later use.
Summary
Thischapteropenedwithadiscussionofthe
interview process.
Youlearnedwhyinterviews
are an important part of the database design process and why it's important to learn how to
conduct aninterview properly.Younowknowthedifference between an
open-ended
ques-
