UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2017/2018
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF BUSINESS
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
BBIT 207 SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY
FULL TIME/PART TIME/DISTANCE LEARNING
DATE: DECEMBER, 2017 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE (Compulsory)
a) Discuss the conventional and human oriented views of ISD (4 Marks)
b) Discuss the key drivers of knowledge management (6 Marks)
c) Describe the approaches to addressing competitive effectiveness using IS/IT
(6 Marks)
d) Distinguish between JAD and Stakeholder analysis (2Marks)
e) Describe the potential benefits and the potential blocks to problem cognition when using
techniques in system development (5 Marks)
f) Define the term information systems development (2Marks)
g) Describe Mumford’s three levels of user participation (3 Marks)
h) Discuss two ways in which ICT-enabled organizational change can happen in an organization.
(2Marks)
QUESTION TWO
a) Consider and describe the nature of analyst, methodology, and situation and their
interrelationships in terms of some of the systems development methodologies discussed
during this subject. (8Marks)
b) Identify the outcomes of BPR programmes (4Marks)
c) Current trends in software engineering are moving away from the waterfall model for
large projects and moving toward iterative methods such as the spiral model. Discuss
what are we gaining and losing as a result (8 Marks)
QUESTION THREE
a) Describe a methodology which can be considered to reflect the “science” paradigm and a
methodology which can be considered to reflect the “systems” paradigm. Refer to the
main objectives, phases/activities, and deliverables of the methodology in your
description. Justify your classification of the methodologies. (10 Marks)
b) Systems analysts need to communicate and interact extensively with users. However the
“vocabulary” of systems development is often not familiar to users and the organisational
backgrounds and experience of systems analysts may be very different from those of
users. What problems might this cause during the requirements definition phase in
particular, and how might they be overcome? (10 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR
A company has over the years used software development methods that rely on documented
specifications and designs. Agile methods are being considered seriously in the pursuit of growth
and internationalisation of the business.
a) Explains the agile principles for rapid software development and justify its appropriateness as
a method for adoption. (12 Marks)
b) Discuss the view that modern life cycle models with their emphasis on prototyping, create
systems that are often fragmented and difficult to integrate; of unsatisfactory reliability,
performance, and functionality; and of limited longevity. (8 Marks)
QUESTION FIVE
Explain and compare the implications of choosing Object Oriented Systems Development, as
opposed to Structured Systems Development, for the following challenges in developing
software. Your answer should include discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of each
approach for each challenge.
a) Designing the software. (5 Marks)
b) Producing the software code. (5 Marks)
c) Testing the software product. (5 Marks)
d) Documenting the software process. (5 Marks)
