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CHAPTER 2

THEORITICAL FOUNDATION

The theoretical foundation describes all the theories used by the author in developing the

proposed systems, in order to support throughout this thesis in order to give a strong

theoretical background to the proposed systems.

2.1 Information Systems

A systems is a collection of interrelated components that function together to

achieve some outcome. Information systems is a collection of interrelated

components that collect, process, store, and provide as output the information

needed to complete business tasks. (Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, and Stephen

D. Burd 2004, p6)

Information systems components can be thought of as subsystems that interact or

as hardware, software, inputs, outputs, data, people, and procedures. Many

different types of systems solve organizational problems, including transaction

processing system, management information systems, executive information

systems, decision support systems, communication support systems, and office

support systems.

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2.1.1 Elements of Information Systems

Information Systems consist of several elements that form a

systematical unity to process raw information into usable processed

information. The basic elements of information systems are: (Efraim

Turban, Kelly R. Rainer, Richard E. Potter, 2003 p16)

� Hardware is a set of devices such as processor, monitor, keyboard

and a printer that accepts data and information, processes them,

and display them.

� Software is a set of programs that enables the hardware to process

data.

� Database is a collection of related files, tables, relations, and so

on, that stores data and the associations among them.

� Network is a connection system that permits the sharing of

resources by different computers.

� Procedures are the set of instructions about how to combine the

above components in order to process information and generate

the desired output.

� People are those individuals who work with the system or use its

output.

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2.2 System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

System Development Life Cycle is a project management framework organized

into phases and activities. The phases in SDLC are consisting of project planning

phase, analysis phase, design phase, implementation phase, and support phase.

(Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, and Stephen D. Burd 2003, p36)

System developers learn the SDLC phases and activities sequentially, based on a

waterfall approach; in practice, however, the phases overlap and projects contain

much iteration of analysis, design, and implementation activities. SDLC

describes activities and functions that all systems developer performs, regardless

of which approach they use. The SDLC includes the following phases in the

figure below:

People

Hardware Software

Procedures Network Database

Figure 2 1 Components of a computer-based information system

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2.2.1 Project planning phase

Project planning phase is the initial phase of SDLC, whose

objective is to identify the scope of the new system, ensure that

the project is feasible, and develop a schedule, resource plan, and

budget for the remainder of the project. We identify five activities

in the project planning phase:

� Define the problem

� Produce the project schedule

� Confirm project feasibility

� Staff the project

� Launch the project

Figure 2 2 Information Systems Development Phases

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First of all, is to define precisely the business problem and the

scope of the required solution. In this phase, you will know all of

the functions or processes that will be included within the

system. It is also important to identify the major uses of the new

system and the business problems that the new system must

address.

Secondly, the two activities of producing the project schedule

and staffing the project are closely related. A detailed project

schedule listing tasks, activities and required staff is developed.

The next major element is to confirm the feasibility analysis

which investigates economic, organizational, technical, resource,

and schedule feasibility. Finally, the total plan is reviewed with

upper management and the project is initiated. An official

announcement often communicates the project launch.

2.2.2 Analysis phase

Analysis phase is the second phase of SDLC whose primary

objective is to understand and document the business needs and

the processing requirements of the new system. We consider six

primary activities as part of this phase:

� Gather information

� Gather system requirements

� Build prototypes for discovery of requirements

� Prioritize requirements

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� Generate and evaluate alternatives

� Review recommendations with management.

First of all, gathering information is a fundamental part of

analysis. The system analyst will meet with users to learn as much

as possible about the problem domain. But it is not sufficient

enough, as analysts must review, analyze, and structure the

information obtained so that they can develop an overall

understanding of the new system requirements. To help the

analyst gather and understand the requirements is to build a

prototype of pieces of the new system so that the users can review

them. As the processing requirements are uncovered, each must

be prioritized. As the analysts prioritize the requirements, they

also research various alternatives for implementing the system.

Finally, the team selects and recommends an alternative to upper

management.

2.2.3 Design phase

The design phase is the third phase of the SDLC whose objective

is to design the solution system based on the requirements defined

and decisions made during analysis. There are seven major

activities that must be done during this design phase:

� Design and integrate the network

� Design the application architecture

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� Design the user interface

� Design the system interface

� Design and integrate the database

� Prototype for design details

� Design and integrate the systems control

Many new systems today are being installed in network and

client-server environments. During design, there are elements

combined to yield an integrated user interface. Most new

information systems must also communicate with order existing

systems called the systems interface. Database and information

files are an integral part of information systems for business. The

database for the specific system must also be integrated with

information database of other systems already in use. To verify

the correctness of the proposed design, we can build working

prototypes of parts of the system. Finally, every system must have

sufficient controls to protect the integrity of the database and the

application program.

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2.2.4 Implementation phase

The implementation phase is the fourth phase of the SDLC,

during this phase; the final system is built, tested, and installed.

The objective of this phase is not only to produce a reliable, fully

functional information system but also to ensure that users are all

trained and that the organization is ready to benefit as expected

from use of the system. There are five activities that make up the

implementation phase:

� Construct software components

� Verify and test

� Covert data

� Train users and document the system

� Install the system

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The software can be constructed through various techniques. The

conventional approach is to write computer programs using a

language such as visual basic or java. The software must also be

tested, and the first kind of testing verifies that the system actually

works. The existing information is important and needs to be

converted to the format required in the new system. A critical

activity during implementation is to train users on the new system

so that they will be productive as soon as possible. Finally, the

new equipment must be in place and functioning, the new

computer programs must be installed and working and the

database must be populated and available.

2.2.5 Support phase

The support phase is the last phase of the SDLC whose objective

is to keep the system running productively during the years

following its initial installation. There are three major activities

that occur during this phase:

� Maintain the system

� Enhance the system

� Support the users

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Because of the complexity of software and the impossibility of

testing every possible combination of processing requirements,

there will always be conditions that have not been fully tested and

thus are subject to errors. Key tasks in maintaining the system

include both fixing errors also known fixing bugs and making

minor adjustments to processing requirements. To implement

major enhancement, the company must approve and initiate an

upgrade development project. Another important activity is to

provide assistance to the system users. A help desk consisting of

knowledgeable technicians is a popular method to answer users’

questions quickly and help increase their productivity.

2.3 Human Computer Interaction

Human–computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people

(users) and computers. It is an interdisciplinary subject, relating computer

science with many other fields of study and research. Interaction between users

and computers occurs at the user interface, which includes both software and

hardware, for example, general purpose computer peripherals and large-scale

mechanical systems, such as aircraft and power plants.

Human-computer interaction is also defined as a discipline concerned with the

design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for

human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them."

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Furthermore, according to Interaction Design (John Wiley, 2001, p6) Human

Computer Interaction means designing interactive products to support people in

their everyday and working lives. In particular it is about creating user

experiences that enhance and extend the way people work, communicate and

interact.

2.3.1 Interaction Design Process

Essentially, the process of interaction design involves four basic activities: (John

Wiley, 2001, p12)

1. Identifying needs and establishing requirements.

2. Developing alternative designs that meet those requirements.

3. Building interactive versions of the designs so that they can be

communicated and assessed.

4. Evaluating what is being built throughout the process.

These activities are intended to inform one another and to be repeated.

For example, measuring the usability of what has been built in terms of whether

it is easy to use provides feedback that certain changes must be made or that

certain requirements have not yet been met.

In addition to the four basic activities of design, there are three key

characteristics of the interaction design process:

� Users should be involved through the development of the project.

� Specific usability and user experience goals should be identified, clearly

documented, and agreed upon at the beginning of the project.

� Iteration through the four activities is inevitable.

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2.3.2 The Goals of Interaction Design

Part of the process of understanding user’ needs, with respect to

designing an interactive system to support them, are to be clear about

your primary objective. Is it to design a very efficient system that will

allow being highly productive in their work, or is it to design a s system

that will be challenging and motivating so that it supports effective

learning, or is it something else? According to (John Wiley, 2003, p13),

we call these top-level concerns usability goals and user experience goals.

2.3.2.1 Usability Goals

Usability is regarded as ensuring that interactive

products are easy to learn, effective to use, and

enjoyable from the user’s perspective. Usability is

broken down into the following goals: (John

Wiley, 2001, 14-17)

� effective to use (effectiveness)

� efficient to use (efficiency)

� safe to use (safety)

� have good utility (utility)

� easy to learn (learn ability)

� easy to remember how to use

(Memorability)

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2.3.2.2 User Experience Goals

The realization that new technologies are

increasing opportunities for supporting people in

their everyday lives has led researches and

practitioners to consider further goals. The

emergence of technologies (e.g., the web, mobile

computing) in a diversity of application areas (e.g.,

entertainment, education, home) has brought about

a much wider set of concerns. As well as focusing

primarily on improving efficiency and productivity

at work, interaction design is increasingly

concerning itself with creating systems that are:

(John Wiley, 2001, p18-19)

� satisfy

� enjoyable

� fun

� entertaining

� helpful

� motivating

� aesthetically pleasing

� supportive of creativity

� rewarding

� emotionally fulfilling

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2.4 Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

Data Flow Diagram is a graphical system model that shows all of the main

requirements for information systems in one diagram: inputs and outputs,

processes, and data storage. Everyone working on a development project can see

all aspects of the system working together at once with the DFD. The DFD is also

easy to read because it is a graphical model and because it is a graphical model

and because there are only five symbols to learn. End users, management, and all

information systems workers typically can read and interpret the DFD with

minimal training. (Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, and Stephen D. Burd, 2003,

p202)

Data Flow Diagram (DFD) shows how the system transforms input data into

useful information. It shows how data moves through information systems but

does not show program logic or processing steps. A set of DFDs provides a logical

model that shows what the system does, not how it does it (Shelly, Chasman,

Rosenblatt, Thomson, 2005).

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There are four basic symbols used to construct data flow diagram: entity, process,

data flow, and data store. The symbols are as follow:

Figure 2 3 Data Flow Diagram Symbol

Many different types of data flow diagrams are produced to show system

requirements. DFD fragment shows one process in response to one event. Other

data flow diagrams show the processing at either a higher level (a more general

views of the system) or at a lower level (a more detailed view of one process).

These differing views of the system (high level vs. low level) are called level of

abstraction. Level of abstraction is any modeling technique that breaks the

system into a hierarchical set of increasingly more detailed models.

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Following describes each of DFD abstraction level: (Satzinger, Robert B.

Jackson, and Stephen D. Burd, 2003, p204-206)

� Context diagram is a DFD that summarizes all processing activity within the

system in a single process symbol.

� DFD fragment is a DFD that represents the system response to one event

within a single process symbol.

� Event-partitioned system model or diagram 0 is a DFD that models system

requirements using a single process for each event in a system or subsystem.

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2.5 The 7Cs Framework

According to Jeffrey F. Rayport and Bernard J. Jaworski (McGraw-Hill, 2003), in

order to create a good website we should consider the elements of customer

interface. An effectively designed website should both attract target segment

customers and discourage others. Compelling sites communicate the core value

proposition of the company and provide a rationale for visiting the site or even

shopping there. There are 7 aspects that will be faced in order to design an

effective site. Below is the framework and explanation of each aspect.

Context Aesthetically

dominant

Functionally dominant Integrated

Content Product dominant Information dominant Service dominant

Community Nonexistent Limited Strong

Customization Generic Moderately customized Highly customized

Communication One-to-many non-

responding user

One-to-many

responding

user

One-to-one non-

responding user

One-to-one

responding

user

Connection Destination Hub Portal

Commerce Low Medium High

Tabel 2 1 7C's Framework

a. Context

It captures site’s layout and design. How a site is designed and how people may

feel about the design. It includes graphics, colors, design features, and ease of

navigation.

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b. Content

It refers to what’s presented on the website. All digital subject matter such as:

text, pictures, sound, and video are considered as content, and together all those

forms present information about a company’s products and services.

c. Community

It is interaction between site users, the ways that the site enables user-to-user

communication. It can happen through one-to-one interactions or among many

users.

d. Customization

It is the sites ability to tailor itself to different users or to allow users to

personalize the site.

e. Communication

Communication refers to dialogue between a website and its users. It can take 3

forms: site-to-user communication, user-to-site communication, or two-way

communication.

f. Connection

It is the degree that site is linked to other sites.

g. Commerce

A website’s commerce capabilities allow it to sell goods, products, and services.

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2.6 Interview

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004, p 250), Interview is a

fact-finding technique whereby the systems analysts collect information

from individuals through face to face interaction. Interviewing can be

used to achieve any or all of the following goals: find facts, verify facts,

clarify facts, generate enthusiasm, get the end-user involved, identify

requirements and solicit ideas and opinions.

2.6.1 Advantages of interviews

� Interviews give the analyst an opportunity to motivate the

interviewee to respond freely and openly to questions.

� Interviews allow the systems analyst to probe for more feedback

from the interviewee

� Interviews permit the systems analyst to adapt or reword

questions for each individual.

� Interviews give the analyst an opportunity to observe the

interviewee’s nonverbal communications.

2.6.2 Disadvantages of interviews

� Interviewing is a very time-consuming, and therefore costly, fact

finding approach.

� Success of interviews is highly dependent on the systems

analyst’s human relations skills.

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� Interviewing may be impractical due to the location of

interviewees.

2.6.3 Types of interviews

2.6.3.1 Unstructured Interviews

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004,

p 251), unstructured interview is an interview that

is conducted with only a general goals or subject in

mind and with few, if any, specific questions. The

interviewer counts on the interviewee to provide a

framework and direct the conversation.

Unstructured interviews tends to involve asking

open-ended questions (a question that allow the

interviewee to respond in any way that seems

appropriate)

2.6.3.2 Structured Interviews

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004,

p 251), structured interview is an interview in

which the interviewer has a specific set of

questions to ask to the interviewee. Structured

interview tends to involve asking more closed-

ended questions (a question that restricts answer to

either specific choices or short, direct responses)

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2.7 Questionnaire

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004, p 248), questionnaire is a

special purpose document that allows the analyst to collect information and

opinions from respondents.

2.7.1 Advantages of questionnaire

o Most questionnaires can be answered quickly. People can complete and

return questionnaire at their convenience.

o Questionnaires are a relatively inexpensive means of gathering data from

a large number of individuals.

o Questionnaires allow individuals to maintain anonymity.

o Responses can be tabulated and analyzed quickly

2.7.2 Disadvantages of questionnaire

o The number of respondents is often low

o There’s no guarantee that an individuals will answer or expand on all of

the questions.

o Questionnaire tends to be inflexible.

o It’s not possible for the systems analyst to observe and analyze the

respondent’s body language

o There is no immediate opportunity to clarify a vague or incomplete

answer to any question.

o Good questionnaires are difficulty to prepare.

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2.7.3 Types of questionnaire

2.7.3.1 Free format questionnaire

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004, p 249),

free format questionnaire is a questionnaire designed to offer

the respondent greater latitude in the answer. A question is

asked and the respondent records the answer in the space

provided after the questions.

2.7.3.2 Fixed format questionnaire

According to (Whitten, Bentley and Dittman, 2004, p 249),

fixed format questionnaire is a questionnaire containing

questions that require selecting an answer from predefined

available responses.

2.8 Integrated Information Systems

Integrated Information Systems is basically a computer-based business

Information Systems that integrates internal and external business process of a

company. According to (Satzinger, Robert B. Jackson, and Stephen D. Burd,

2004, p718), software integration is the process of combining separately

produces components or subsystems and addressing problems in their

interactions. In proposed system, the internal system – online system, it controls

internal data management generated by employees. It links to an external system

– offline system, which provides information for customer and support the

reservation and sales process.

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2.8.1 Integrated Online and Offline Business Model

One of the decisions firms must confront is whether to provide both an

online and offline interface to customers. The benefits of a hybrid

strategy include a persistent connection with customers, new value for

customers, access to new customers, and scalability. The challenges of

hybridization include cannibalization, channel conflict, customer

confusion, and investor confusion.

The potential benefits for a company that uses both an online and offline

strategy. First, there is a constant connection with customers, 24 hours a

day. Also, there are new value possibilities for customers because the

firm is now able to provide new-to-the-world offerings that would not be

possible if they pursued an exclusively online or exclusively offline

strategy. For example, a company with both online and offline strategies

could allow customers to order products online but return them to the

company’s physical stores. Third, it is also possible to increase the size of

the customer base. Finally, the approach is scalable in the sense that the

new integrated strategy can be replicated around the world.

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However, firms that do not carefully manage the integration face

potential difficulties. The opening of an online store can sometimes

cannibalize or draw down sales revenues, from bricks-and-mortar stores.

Another potential drawback is customer confusion. If a company’s online

and offline interfaces are not tightly linked, customers can become

confused and frustrated. For example, if customers purchase products

online but cannot return them to the brick-and-mortar stores, they may

decide not to frequent either online or offline store.

2.8.2 Internal System

The internal system (offline system) of the propose system is divided into

two major parts: information update system and administration system.

The information update system is used to update staff, tour package, and

hotel information. In addition, the administration system is the system

available in administration desk to input, update, and search data when

customer makes reservation via telephone.

Following are the specific features of the information update system:

� Users can add, search, edit, and delete staff record.

� Users can add, search, edit, and delete tour package information.

� Users can add, search, edit, and delete hotel information.

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Following are the specific feature in the administration system:

� Users can add new customer record

� Users can search and edit customer record.

� Users can access tour package, hotel, and flight information.

� Users can make a reservation for tour package and flight ticket.

� Users can access customer opinion.

2.8.3 External System

External system (online system) provides information for customer and

support company’s reservation and sales system. It provides a web-based

system, so that customer can seek for information they need and also

make a reservation for tours and travel products and services available.

Following are the features of the external system:

� Users can acquire tour package information.

� Users can make reservation to particular tour package offers.

� Users can acquire hotel information.

� Users can acquire flight schedule information.

� Users can make reservation for flight ticket.

� Users can sign in to system to get membership.

� Users can log in to the system to see their profile, history, and

Other information.

� Users can see the company profile.

� Users can give any critics, suggestions, and opinions for the

Company.

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2.9 Graphical User Interface

User interface is the parts of an Information Systems requiring user interaction to

create inputs and outputs (Satzinger, Jackson & Burd 2004, p. 532). User

interfaces involve inputs and outputs that are more directly involve with a system

user. A user interface enables user to interact with the computer to record a

transaction, such as when a customer service representative records a phone

order for a customer. Sometimes, outputs are produced after user interactions,

such as a waiter query about the existing order of a particular customer.

(Satzinger, Jackson & Burd, 2004, p. 202) states that the guideline for designing

user interfaces include visibility and affordance. Visibility means that a control

should be visible so users know it is available and that the control should provide

immediate feedback to indicate it is responding. For example, button that can be

clicked by a user is visible, and when it is clicked it changes to look as though it

has been pressed, to indicate it is responding. Some buttons make a clicking

sound to provide feedback. Affordance means the appearance of any control

should suggest its functionality- that is, the purpose for which the control is used.

On the computer, a button affords clicking, a scrollbar affords scrolling, and an

item in a list affords selecting. If user interface designers make sure that all

controls are visible and clear in what they do, the interface will be usable.

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2.10 Internet

Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected computer

networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet

Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks" that consists of millions of smaller

domestic, academic, business, and government networks, which together carry

various information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file

transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other resources of the World Wide

Web (WWW).

According to Patrick McKeown (Thompson, 2003), Internet is not single

network, but rather a network of networks. In fact, the name Internet is a

shortened version of the term inter-networking, meaning that it allows you to

work with multiple networks simultaneously. To connect to the Internet, your

computer will usually first connect to a LAN through an ISP through modem and

telephone line. The LAN, mainframe, or ISP is, in turn, connected to a regional

network via a high-speed telephone line.

2.11 Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)

HTML is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means

to describe the structure of text-based information in a document — by denoting

certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists, and so on — and to supplement that

text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects. HTML is

written in the form of labels (known as tags), surrounded by angle brackets.

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HTML can also describe, to some degree, the appearance and semantics of a

document, and can include embedded scripting language code which can affect

the behavior of web browsers and other HTML processors.

According to (Jeffrey F.Rayport and Bernard J.Jaworski, McGraw-Hill, 2003),

HTML is the most common text-based tagging language for creating documents

and setting up hypertext links between documents on web. HTML stands for

Hyper Text Markup Language. Hypertext refers to the ability to link to other

pages. Markup describes the way content is displayed.

HTML can be thought of as a set of rules and conventions for designing text

formats, and those rules and conventions are relatively simple to learn and use.

HTML uses tags to structure text into paragraphs, lists, and so forth, and to

indicate font size and style. HTML specifies what each tag means and what the

text between the tags will look like on computer screen.

Figure 2 4 HTML’s Elements

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2.12 Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

A web page is identified by its address. In web terminology, the address of a

Web page is referred to as its uniform resource locator. It is so named because a

URL. URL, stands for Uniform Resource Locator, is a standard means of

consistently locating Web pages or other resources no matter where they are

stored on the Internet. (Patrick McKeown, Thompson, 2003)