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M253: Tprvr WonxrNc IN DrsrnrnurED EI{VIRoNMENTS

TuroR Mlnrrn AssrcNupNr

Cut-Off Date:
Total Marks: x00
Marks Scored:

What to submit

Each page of each document you submit should be headed with the title of the TMA, your name and your personal
identifi er, for example :
M253 TMA 1

Ahmad Hasan
04321

You should submit one zipped file which contains the following two files: One file should contain your individual
response (Questions 1) and the second file should contain the team response (Questions, 2,3, 4,5 and 6). The two files
should be named TMA01-YourName-YourlD-individual and TMA01-YourName-YourlD-team respectively. Please
number the pages in each file.

The zipped file should be in the following format:

M253-TMAO1-Semester-Yea r-YourBranch-YourlD-YourName

Plagiarism Warning:

As per AOU rules and regulations, all students are required to submit their own TMA work and avoid plagiarism. The
AOU has implemented sophisticated techniques for plagiarism detection. You must provide all references in case you use
and quote another person's work in your TMA. You will be penalized for any act of plagiarism as per the AOU's rules and
regulations.

Declaration of No Plagiarism by Student (to be signed and submitted by student with TMA work):

I hereby declare that this submitted TMA work is a result of my own efforts and I have not plagiarized any other person's
work. I have provided all references of information that I have used and quoted in my TMA work.

Name of Student:
Signature:
Date:
ScnNenro

Imagine that you and the other members of your team are employed by a small firm of computer software
consultants known as Techtronic's Solutions. Techtronic's Solutions offers a range of systems design and
development services, although for larger projects it contracts out system development to others.

When developing a system in response to a successful proposal, teams are usually put together depending upon
the skills needed by the project and employges' availability'

An invitation to work on a system design project has been received from Al-Emmar Real Estate Corporation
(see below). This invitation was received at a very busy time for Techtronic's Solutions so the project team was
assembled only based on the availability to work on the project, rather than the skills that might be required.
Due to commitments to other projects that each of you will be working on, you will be unable to meet,
regularly, face-to-face during the course of the project. Micro Systems Solutions has therefore decided that your
team will work as a distributed team, communicating electronically.

Techtronic's Solutions sees distributed working to be more flexible in creating project teams and hopes this will
enable them to respond more effectively to new clients. Your employer has already been encouraging
employees, as professional practitioners, to keep a reflective journal. They now wish to extend this idea to
teams and to encourage team reflection at key stages of the project. They would like the team reflection to be
used in creating reports to describe and evaluate the team working on this current project.

Al-Emmar Real Estate Corporation

Your team has been assigned to handle a new client called Al-Emmar Real Estate Corporation

The Al-Emmar real estate corporation provides real estate services in Dubai and some other parts of the world.
Currently all management, billing, property listings etc. are being handled manually. A1-Emmar Real Estate has
a sizable customer base, and mostly gets new customers by word of mouth. The Al-Emmar Real Estate wants to
increase their customer base and reach out to more people by introducing a website for the agency.

The management of the Al-Emmar Real Estate has decided that it would be more efficient to have a
computerized management system and a propefty listing website for the Al-Emmar Real Estate; the system
should provide the following functionalities :

A website with the ability to showcase and manage the property listings while allowing potential clients
a concise and structured way of searching for properties.

Maintain a customer base and periodically generate correspondence emails for all customers informing
them of any investment opportunities etc.

Once a month, or fortnightly generate bills for any services provided to the customers like routine
property inspections, management fees, etc.

The system will

also include a scheduling module to help the realtors in the agency, manage their
meetings with clients as well as a payroll module for the Al-Emmar Real Estate employees.
 ih, syrt.* should also provide reporting facilities including reports oR revenue, customer leads, staff
produetivity etc.

When designing the system, it should be kept in mind that the system is intended for use by
Al-Emmar ReaI
Estate employees who are only casual users of computu systems. Therefure, the system in the
Al-Emmar Real
and on-line help'
Estate Corporation must be simple to use and robust, providiug guidance at every stage of use

The Al-Emmar Real Estate management approaches your employers to undertake an investigation
of their
to
currerf and futurp needs and identi$ possible ways of addressing these needs. Your employers have agreed
undertaks this study in two stages, which will be advised to you in the Activity Shset for eac,h of
the two
milestones in this cout$e, and are summarized in the Road Map.

E,ND OF SCENARIO
 I

AM ACTI\TTIES
the
and as a team' in order to achieve
the set of activities that you need to comprete, as individuars
This section comprises
learningoutcomesofthecourse,andtocompletethistutormarkedassignment. r : ll -
Cur-Orn DAr!
ActrvrtY commentarY End of week 1

' Post a short

should contain
describing yourr"rr l. ii" ffi. t;rr introJuctory messages(s)
inaiViauat.resPonse
some of the following information:
. Contact Details
o Information about Yourself
a part of a team
o Previous experience working as
r Skills engage in and Your End of week 2
Create a Project f,og *hithl* t*ord the activities that you ou en!
of vour team
'n rtuctions to.whalSther-T::o"tt
reactions to them, i,tl;;i;;;;'1'
questions In your log:
contribute. Try to answer tte fottowing tndividual response
r What you hope to gain from underlaking this course?
to meet these learning
o What ,f.ifl, ao yotitf ink you will need in order
you feel that you will need
. ffi"JT;eady possess any of these skilrs, or do
to dlveloP them during the course?
.r ljo you
Do lulsset, 4rrJ
vou foresee Prvv'-"'" '
any Problems? ---am
----------- -- End ofweek 3
nt"atio'pott u *eftite evaluation on the team forum. Each
Each team member
member should i"iiri"i"ni*tu'i" r* iheir, individg chosen
]I::::?i:T;T:
site ror the rest IndiVidual'resPonse
"rroo,. than 300 words) ortheir
il:T,i"J;H::1",;,];ffi.roi*or"
tttut yo, could use in your evaluation
are:
of the team. So.. ..rt..1u
1 - structure

2- navigation
3- presintation of text and images
4- visual laYout
5- Use of media.
websites of your team
After you have posted your own evaluation't:lt llt^*sen
s$es'
;;ffi ;;d think abtut their comn'rents.on Lhose think is the best site to End of week 4
Prt *rt.*a websites in a rank order' briefjusiification for vour ordering'
"[th.
whar you think is ,n" ;;r;;; ;agi"; ,i r.ry Individual,resPonte
which
the team members into a single list,
Combine the individual opinions of ordering of all the sites
rank
represents the collective .i.* J,i,,..,rrole
team on the

that you have evaluated' End of week 5

application area that
R*d tt. S""nario (above) to @e
have chosen as q&geq&[ r activities dunng the rest of thi
trndiVidual respq,nse
iffiever sources you choos;e - for examPle'
Read some relevant
;;';;;;;; ;"btitt'',
E-Library, brochures 9p,'':11 ^s::i:::i,:[]::|;:Hifl,",
lri'"?Tft;ffil:;X-*itr, i* material on *niin to baJe vour subsequent analvsis

s stakeholders in
to be involved in, or affected by, its
the system, in the senle-rl* ,n"y are likely
ceveloplllEltt ur u):-' - yours, in End of week 6
members and compare the,m with
Look at lists compileOEv th"-ott"r team lndividual
unJih" ord.. oIt1r. it"*r thutjhqy--.-o$uit].--
terms of both th"i.
"o.t"Jnt, abo of' what -----
major End of week 7
As a teampome to a common agreement Individual
subsvstems rou
 4
subsystems from those that you have
,{
Each group should analyze one of the two End of week 8
0 \I"k@eam. (in
subsl'steml that have been identifiea.lnii will involve determining individually
subsystem will Indiv'idual/group
each group) which requirements of which stakeholder the nominated
then post response
addrels. daving made your individual lists of suggestions, you should
whom you are cooperating on the
I'our suggestlons to the group members with
agree on
iubsystJirs allocated tol'ori group, so that you can compare your lists and
6 ^^ffmnh licf fnr fhe qtrhqvsfem.
Ail agreed ltsts should be made available to the whole team'

and
A final team document should be produced showing all the chosen subsystems
L ^. , .' ': I I ^,{,t*aoo fho ntq nf the stakeholders.
oI [ne End of week 9
12 As a tearn, you need to come to a common agreement about the contents
system identified in the
web apptication that will be the proposed solution to the
grouprespQns.9
scenario.

As a team, you need to decide the contents of the home page and the
nature of the
t"t of pug.r that will be directly accessible from it. We would expect you to identify
at leasi fiur pages. It would be-sensible to check that your proposed
website design
is consistent-with the subsystems that you earlier identified as impoftant
for your
various stakeholders L) Q-/

page should be
The responsibility for determining what should be displayed on each
Rearrange the members of the two groups so that
allocated to group in the team.
each group Jould be with a different reltow member of the team. Each group will

End of week 10
13 You should analyze each proposed page that has been allocated to you Dy me leam'
This will involve determining individually the content that you think it needs to
display, and the way in which this content will be presented. You should note down
they gr,oup.response
the'reasons for the items that you include on your allocated pages and the way
will be presented.

Having made your individual lists of suggestions, you should then post your
,rgg..--tion. to the group members with whom you are cooperating on each of the
pa!!s allocated to youigroup, so that you can compare your suggestions and agree
f,iu desciiption of what should be displayed on each page and how it a:,)
"o**on
should be displayed.

All agreed page descriptions should then be made available to the whole team.

When all the page descriptions have been agreed and submitted to the team, they
should be combined into a single document that presents the team's conclusions
about the nature and content of the top two layers/subsystems of your proposed
website.
P-r,dc f", th" b.*fit of your clients, a brief team report on the work you have End of week 11
14
undertaken and the conclusions you have reached about the various aspects of
.4 the system that you have investigated during this project. rnO,iv,ituatfgloup
u, resoonse

\4
\
\-)
 LIVERABLES marked
as part of this tutor
to answer as a team and individually
questions that you need
This section comprises the
'section.
set out in the 'Team
Activities
should have
nave completed
suluPrsrvu !'v
the *---
activities
Yott
\-or.I questions
.^ - ^,,Lmil rrnrrr resDoflses to the
As a resurt orperrorming
activities t -,'1,'I.li1T"I::j::J:il:T;U::H'1ffi1il1:; i, o, i u
'"0 "' that led to
:il,fi:l;:,:T"f
mentioned below. ou
i;ilJ'"$l;ll'l'"@it[::d1**tr1:i:*:*li;i;?"'h',ll3"l;IT"Ii:
v
to question 1,
processes
to have pt:oduced responses
utro U" expected, as'an'individual'
your team response'

ilursuox-t .-'-" experience whrcn

individual
"---_-nuu.guin:d..- individual
in your o*n *o'dfubffiour
Explain and relate it to your
duiing rhe study of this
course. Support r"rriit*"t'*1,ttgg:e
i;ffig with aPProPriate examPles'
or
d;;il;;i"oo"t and identifv actions
a)Howwouldyoucompareyourcontributiontotheteam}ysummarizing
your involvJ;":;;;tt'J*"r'or" f;;i;;; ; signifi cant contribution to
activities ro'"'i' itl'tiox
trtu' voo
;td';;;;o-u.1ng Teamwork and how
what probl-ems
the team efforts? for not fullY contributing'
you tackle the situation? lt1l"T:.#;;';;;t;;

,,i#***:fi .Tl"llJ"T'#l*'y,l::::.::iy""brienv
I ',lTjH:r.'h"J::ffi,Tlili::yr:t*j;l*U,".,Xffi
o'qTlTti1l,1'::::*mn:Jl::il''#lT,t'ffis
summaries the team have
i:*u'-"*
ng i a tea m' b ri env
[:f"**f*]l; 1[ :":["ilil'tr-'f !t'." * "r'i
n.
c)
describeshorvdoesyourtime.unug.*.nfn.inwittrttreneedsoftheteam
,"'*"r"g. your time effectively? [10]
and *0",
work
*"r..
"jj"li'Jiiv"*
600 and 800 words
should be an essay of between
o The answer to this question

.o 'J"::$.hot posts to L^Mt o:.'":"^: "'- '- "

your posts the
Screen shot of vour activities carrlecI out during
"^*" ":,1":'^t-1":Jt),*,,'I:""1;:5;;t['ring
contribution during it'" ttu"' formation and the

to submit the tollorvtqg' trettvs'o"'''

-'"'^- '--- ------=lude the following:
Team
single docutnent ResPonse
Tl* t..* *.ds to subrnit a

represents the agreed

view ofthe whole team about
.- The overall rank order that
;;;;.;tites that have been evaluated' - .
uv which vou arived at collective
vour
. An explanation
"f;;;;;;;ti't
ranking.
oYourSummaryofthedifferentaspectsoftheteamworkandsuggestion(s)for

:'fl *[il:T,:HHI'ii'J""*?""r:r"l]:"-ll:il?l^'J:::",HlJY
't';:TlJ;'T":Ji;iiri+i'i,,;,ilr+,+:,,qlt'srw,'
Quesrtor:1 , : ;,;;; [;;; ia;otin*a ror the client's
 indicate any areas ofoverlap.
-and
1 . The answer to this question should be no more than250 words in total, in
addition to any tables or diagrams supporting your answer. It should be a copy
of a shared document that has been agreed by the team as a result ofthe team
activities.
o This is a report to the company itself which will do the work (the one in the
scenario). althoush it may be seen bv the client.

How has the team evolved over the project span? What aspects have become more Team 15
effective or less effective, and how has the team reflected on and evaluated its own response
performance?
(,i
)/
o The answer to this question should be no more than 300 words in total, and
should also be a copy of a shared document agreed by the team.

What are your team's proposals for the home page of the website for your Team 15
proposed system and for the 4 pages directly accessible from the home page? response ,

The answer to this question should be no more than 400 words in total, in (.
addition to any tables, diagrams or screenshots illustrating your answer. Your
answer to this question is the final progress report for this milestone. It should
be directed to the company and not to the client; although the client will see it
and it should therefore be understandable by the client. In particular, it requires
the team to report on the results of your consideration of the content and
presentation ofa website interface for the system that you proposed.

What are your team's overall recommendations to the client at this stage of your Team 20
investigations into their problem, as described in the Scenario? response

The answer to this question should be no more than 500 words in total, not,,
counting the material included as appendices. It should be a copy of a shared ^
document that has been agreed by the team. Your answer should take the form
of a short report based on the team activities and decisions made during the
whole project. It should bring together the results of your activities in a form
that could be presented to the client as an initial proposal for the new system
they need in order to manage their business more effectively.

End of TMA.