Assignment 1: The CEO’s Challenge Due Week 3 and worth 150 points 

You’ve just left an all-hands meeting at your company*. The CEO was very upset at the rise of shadow IT projects – a major indicator that the company’s internal information system has failed to meet its needs. 

Because the current information system is inadequate, inefficient, and outdated, the CEO is inviting everyone in the organization to propose a new operational, decision support, or enterprise information system to replace it. The executives have allocated $5 million to fund the most promising idea.  

This is your chance to make a difference in the company (not to mention your own career). Write your proposal as a memo that the entire C-suite will review. Include at least these points, in your own words, to be persuasive: 

1. Identify the main functions of your proposed information system and why they are important to the business. 2. Describe what types of data your information system will hold and how data quality will be ensured.  3. Explain how the old information system handles the functions you mentioned, the problems that occur, and why your information system will handle things better.  4. Offer evidence of feasibility: Show that similar information systems have been built successfully and that they save more money than they cost. 

The executives are busy, so keep your memo to 1-4 pages and avoid any extraneous content. 

*You may use a current or former employer, but do not disclose anything confidential. Or, you can pick another organization if you are familiar with their internal (not customer-facing) information systems. You can disguise the organization and populate it with famous names. Made-up companies are problematic because of the amount of detail and realism they require. 

 CIS 500 – Information Systems for Decision-Making  

© 2017 Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University Confidential and Proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. CIS 500 Page 2 of 3 

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic / organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric. 

Points: 150 Assignment 1: The CEO’s Challenge  

Criteria 

Unacceptable Below 70% F  

Fair 70-79% C  

Proficient 80-89% B  

Exemplary 90-100% A  

1. Identify the main functions of your proposed information system and why they are important to the business.  

Weight: 20%  (30 points) 

Inadequate or no information system 

Limited information on the system proposed, inadequate detail 

Main functions and importance unclear  

Proposed an information system 

Somewhat identified the main functions 

Importance of main functions are unclear 

Proposed an original information system  

Identified the main functions of the system  

Explained the importance of each function to the business 

Explained the stylistic choices for architecture of information system 

Connected main functions of system to business needs and shadow IT 

2. Describe what types of data your information system will hold and how data quality will be ensured.   

Weight: 25% (37.5 points) 

Inadequate description of data types 

Inadequate connection of data storage to the system 

Inadequate explanation of data quality measures 

Described data types, somewhat connected to the system 

Somewhat explained the data storage in system 

Reasonable explanation of data quality measures 

Described the data types in the system 

Explained how the system would hold each data type 

Proposed how data quality would be ensured 

Explained the system storage and interaction with data  

Considered the impacts of cost and maintenance on data quality 

3. Explain how the functions you mentioned are being handled by the old information system, the problems that occur, and why your information system will handle things better.   

 
Weight: 25% (37.5 points) 
 
 
 

Limited description of old system, no explanation of functions 

Inadequate problem identification with old system 

Limited justification for selecting new system over the old one  

Somewhat explained functions handled by the old information system 

Reasonable description of problems of the old system  

Reasonable justification for how the new system is better than the old 

Explained how the main functions are being handled by the old information system 

Described the problems of the old system  

Justified why the new system can handle things better than the old system   

Described why inefficiencies of maintenance in the old system persist 

Provided options for keeping the system separate, integrating with old, or scaling up/down based on business needs  

 
 
 CIS 500 – Information Systems for Decision-Making  
 

© 2017 Strayer University. All Rights Reserved. This document contains Strayer University Confidential and Proprietary information and may not be copied, further distributed, or otherwise disclosed in whole or in part, without the expressed written permission of Strayer University. CIS 500 Page 3 of 3 

4. Offer evidence of feasibility: Show that similar information systems have been built successfully and that they save more money than they cost.   Weight: 20% (30 points) 

Inadequate or unsuccessful system selected 

Limited demonstration of cost savings  

Inadequate defense of the new system to others 

Identified one similar, successful information system 

Somewhat demonstrated cost savings comparison 

Reasonable comparison of the new system to other systems 

Identified similar, successful information systems 

Demonstrated cost savings comparison 

Defended how the new system could operate similarly to successful systems 

Explained what makes the information system identified similar to yours 

Demonstrate how the new system outperforms similar systems 

5. Clarity, persuasion, proper communication, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements  

Weight: 10% (15 points) 

Unclear structure, not persuasive, major grammatical errors 

Somewhat clear structure, limited persuasion, grammatical errors, language too simple or too wordy 

Clear structure, persuasive writing, minor or no grammatical errors, length and format within requirements, plain language  

No grammatical errors, plain language, organized by topic, references business needs, connects to technical specs, persuasive