ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
Page 1 of 6
ISYS90045 Professional IS Consulting
Semester 2, 2020
Exam
There are 6 pages in this exam including this cover page
THIS IS AN ONLINE OPEN-BOOK EXAM.
STUDENTS ARE ALLOWED TO CONSULT NOTES AND ONLINE RESOURCES.
STUDENTS MUST WORK ALONE AND ARE NOT ALLOWED TO COMMUNICATE OR CONSULT WITH
OTHERS ABOUT THEIR ANSWERS TO THE EXAMINATION QUESTIONS.
Instructions for students;
1) You can access your exam via Canvas LMS under the Assignment section.
2) This is a 2 hour exam plus 15 minutes reading time.
3) Reading time for the exam will be from 3pm to 3.15pm on Friday 27th November AEDT. During this time,
we will be available via zoom to answer your queries about the process.
4) The Reading Time Zoom link is:
https://unimelb.zoom.us/j/84435440647?pwd=V051WnU5REpoVkYzMGJRMElnOTB1QT09
Password: 6c374c
5) You have 3 hours (180 minutes) to complete this exam which needs to be submitted by Friday 27th
November 2020 at 6:15pm AEDT. Multiple submission can be made to Canvas up until this submission
deadline. Each submission is recorded, the most recent submission will be the version assessed. No late
submissions will be allowed.
6) Answer ALL 4 (four) questions in the exam.
7) Each question is worth 10 (ten) marks.
8) Be sure to complete ALL the parts for each the question.
9) It is recommended that you use a Word document to complete the answers:
a. If you have to handwrite your answer, write legibly in blue or black pen
b. If you need to sketch a diagram or a chart, you could draw it out and embed it into your exam
document along with the other answers.
10) Ensure your student number is visible on all documents.
11) Make sure to clearly write the question numbers followed by your answers to each question.
12) The Academic Integrity form on Canvas needs to be completed when you submit your exam.
13) Submit your exam answer document via the Assignment section on Canvas. The exam submission will be
processed through Turnitin for plagiarism. We will check submissions for originality and will invoke the
University’s Academic Misconduct policy (http://academichonesty.unimelb.edu.au/policy.html) where
inappropriate levels of collusion or plagiarism appear to have taken place.
ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
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Q1. Stakeholder communication - structured communication and managing
advice
Read the following scenario and answer ALL of the embedded questions: A, B, C, D and E.
You are a Senior Consultant that has moved to a smaller boutique firm hoping to gain more direct
client communication experience. The boutique that you now work for uses a structured
communication style, which you have never previously used.
You have been allocated a client in the fishing industry, “Deep Dive Inc”. This organisation specialises in
deep-sea tuna caught off the coast of South Australia, but are experiencing issues. “Deep Dive Inc”
pride themselves on having the freshest and most sustainably caught tuna in the industry. Recently, the
costs of catching fish have increased with increase costs in maintaining boats and the licence to catch
fish increasing among some of the issues.
They have a discovered there is a new entrant into the tuna market - “Aqua Dive Inc” - that produces
tuna using aqua culture or fish raised in specially designed tuna farms. The costs of producing tuna this
way appear much lower as the price of Aqua Dive Inc tuna is, in some cases, 20% less expensive for
customers. Deep Dive Inc is losing market share and loyal customers to Aqua Dive.
Deep Dive Inc has selected your consultancy to look into what is happening and communicate with
them about what options may be available to them to recover market share.
(A) When we start communicating with clients what is the structured communication tool that we
use? (1 mark)
(B) Apply the communication tool from part (A) to communicate with Deep Dive about the issue of
market share. Describe each step of the communication tool, within each of these steps what
analytical tools would you consider using? (3 Marks)
You identify some issues that may be of concern particularly around how Deep Dive manage their
internal processes. These issues include wasting money on a number of unnecessary expenses
including an advertising agency running generic and largely redundant TV, print and social media ads to
a largely loyal customer base.
You are also surprised to discover that one staff member is offering huge discounts on tuna to a high-
end restaurant chain in return for favourable product reviews, which are not really forthcoming.
Uncovering these issues means you have to deliver this information to Deep Dive Inc.
(C) How do we deliver bad news in consulting? What steps would you take to deliver this news to
Deep Dive? (1 Mark)
(D) When communicating with stakeholders, there are 3 issues that consultants need to consider.
Apply these issues to Deep Dive Inc. (3 Marks)
(E) Reflecting on the scenario, as a consultant, do you think you have communicated with Deep
Dive Inc in a way that takes into consideration the range of issues identified in managing
advice? Explain how. (2 Marks)
ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
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Q2. The Engagement Lifecycle
Read the following scenario and answer ALL of the embedded questions: A, B and C.
The engagement lifecycle underpins the approach consultants use for all engagements.
Your consultancy is focussed on assisting complex, multinational clients to implement simple yet
effective technology solutions. One of your key clients – a global pharmaceutical manufacturer “Giant
Pharma”– is currently investigating the possibility of being able to produce enough vaccine for the
COVID-19 vaccine globally. They are aggressively pursuing clinical trials in order to win several key
multinational contracts offered by countries in the European Union and Asia-Pacific regions.
However, there is a major hurdle they need to address before being considered: Giant Pharma
currently have a systemic issue regarding their office work practices, where each Giant Pharma
workplace in each city keeps local records of hospital administrators, physicians and patients
participating in their drug trials. The records are kept in Excel spreadsheets on various laptops with
little version control and they have important phone numbers on sticky notes on desks (not to mention
this breaches many privacy rules but that’s for another time). There could be up to 300 hospitals, 450
physicians, 250 administrators and 2500 patient details in spreadsheets and handwritten sticky notes
globally.
Giant Pharma are experiencing confusion with trial results as some hospitals have similar names and
some physicians have the same name in different cities, which means that the results of the trials may
have been assigned to the wrong physician. Monthly update meetings have become panicked and
chaotic when these mistakes are realised. These mistakes could ruin the validity of the trial results and
mean there is no confidence that “Giant Pharma” would be able win key COVID-19 vaccine contracts.
Giant Pharma is proposing that you assist with a possible move to a new Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system, away from the localised ad hoc and unsafe patient recording and
management systems they have currently been getting away with. This recording system has been
happening for about 15 years.
The Giant Pharma wants this system to store all its patient records and medical information. There are
serious concerns coming from your consultancy that this implementation could be fraught with
complications as you are aware of a culture of not sharing information and siloed business teams
within Giant Pharma. It has been this way for so long that change is going to be challenging. Yes, it
could be an opportunity for your consultancy but there could be risks.
(A) What are the 5 key stages in an engagement lifecycle? (1 Marks)
(B) What key activities should you perform in each stage outlined in part (A)? (7 Marks)
(C) Reflecting on this case, do you think it is wise to take on Giant Pharma as a client? Explain why.
(2 Marks)
ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
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Q3. Problem Solving and Hypothesis Driven Consulting
Read the following scenario and answer ALL of the embedded questions: A B C D and E.
Problem solving is the core of what consultants do. There are two main types of problems: structured
and unstructured.
(A). There are key differences between structured and unstructured problems, what are they? (1
Mark)
We have heard repeatedly that this year is unprecedented and has fundamentally impacted multiple
industries. One such industry that has faced dramatic change is the airline industry, with international
and domestic travel reduced by a staggering 90% compared to the previous year. The International Air
Transport Association (IATA) estimates that the global industry will lose US$252 billion in 2020. Many
airlines are cutting up to 90% of their flight capacity.
While these industry losses seem colossal, it has struck a personal chord with you. Your best friend,
Angie Becker, is a former commercial airline pilot who has transitioned into a management role at an
international airline, “SingAir International”. During the initial grounding of the fleet in March 2020
Angie’s hours were reduced to 2 hours a week. In recent weeks, there appears to be a light at the end
of the tunnel with some domestic and international travel possibly resuming under new restrictions.
This is good news. Angie has been put in charge of transitioning the airline to ‘new-normal’ which is the
airline running at 25% capacity for the foreseeable future. She is pleased, but slightly overwhelmed by
the task and what she has to take into consideration:
1) The fleet of planes have been sitting in hangars for months and need safety checks and
maintenance.
2) Staff need to be re-hired and potentially retrained in safety and first aid skills including COVID
protocols.
3) The plane fuel prices need to be negotiated with fuel suppliers which makes up 40% of the cost of
the flight.
4) The ticketing process needs a review to include checks of where passengers have been in the last
14 days and where their final destination will ultimately be and their return trip process.
5) The food and beverage menus need a revamp and the catering contracts need to be renegotiated
(bearing in mind nearly a third of passengers don’t eat their evening meal on flights).
6) Maintain a customer service focus and experience that the airline is known for (SingAir
International have many loyal customers and this organisational culture must continue).
7) The airline industry overall, is trying to return to the skies and what are the competitors doing to
get their airlines operational again.
Question 3 continues on the next page ...
ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
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The situation that Angie is presented with is to produce a report and PowerPoint presentation to the
key airline stakeholders showing how the airline can get a quarter of the flights operating in a COVID-
safe way by the end of 2020. The meeting with key stakeholders is scheduled for the end of November
2020. After the meeting, the stakeholders will decide quickly. First, Angie needs to define the problem
and do some analysis
(B). Help Angie to define the problem at SingAir International, write a hypothesis question or
statement (1 Mark)
(C). Analyse the problem noted above and use an Ishikawa (or Fishbone diagram) to demonstrate
the possible factors which may have influenced or caused the problem? (4 Marks)
(D). Refer to a Starburst diagram (same as 5W and 1H diagram) to demonstrate your analysis of the
problems at SingAir International (2 Marks)
(E). Reflecting on this case, as a consultant yourself is there any advice you could give Angie when
solving an unstructured problem? (2 Marks)
ISYS90045 Professional Skills in IS Consulting Semester 2, 2020
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Q4. Proposals: Client Ecosystem
Read the following scenario and answer ALL of the embedded questions: A, B, C and D.
In this subject, we discussed the ‘client ecosystem’ model.
(A) Illustrate the client ecosystem and define each stakeholder group that it contains. (3 Marks)
(B) Why is the client ecosystem model an effective and insightful tool when forming a proposal
and working with your clients? (2 Marks)
2020 was meant to be your year! Like with most things it has ended up being a very different
experience than you had imagined. This was the year that you walked away from the prestigious role
as a Senior Manager at a ‘Big 4’ consulting firm to start your own café venue in a shopping precinct
nearer to your home. This site was selected given proximity to a number of major fashion retailers,
technology stores, supermarkets and large private business offices.
You have just settled on the purchase of the business when the restrictions for COVID struck your
business. Overnight, you were no longer able to seat customers in your café.
Fortunately, you’ve had plenty of experience dealing with problems from your consulting years and
you were able to draw on these skills to pivot this business you’ve just invested in. It is clear you are
going to have make some key changes to the way the café operates – and quickly. One of the first
issues to deal with is understanding your customers, and the customers who are all experiencing
disruption in their respective areas. You are going to have to understand their needs in order for you
to continue running the café so that it remains relevant in your customers purchasing habits.
(C) Draw out the client ecosystem. What are some of the key considerations for each stakeholder
group that you will need to make to best take on this work? (3 Marks)
(D) Reflecting on the ecosystems, how can you test you’ve captured the issues? (2 Marks)
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