CHAPTER 7

VIGNETTE “Boeing Dream liner Faces A Few Bumps in the Road”

Question to Consider:

1.) Is this example of software problems holding up the introduction of a major new product and impacting a firm’s customers and suppliers unusual, or is it a common occurrence?

        For me, this example of software problems is a common occurrence because, we cannot avoid having problems in our certain products or delaying the schedule it was being made. In some instances, company must also be responsible and be as fast as they can in fixing those problems, so that their customers will not be angry about their delayed products.

2.) What can organizations do to reduce the negative consequences of software development problems in the production of their products and the operation of their business processes and facilities?

        Organizations as well as developers must define and follow a set of rigorous engineering principles and be committed to learning from past mistakes. Also, they must understand the environment in which their systems will operate and design systems that are as immune to human error as possible in order to meet the needs of their customers or users.

CASES STUDY 3 “Patriot Missile Failure” 

Questions To Consider:

1.) With the benefit of hindsight, what steps could have been taken during development of the Patriot software to avoid the problems that led to the loss of life? Do you think these steps would have improved the Patriot’s effectiveness enough to make it obvious that the missile was a strong deterrent against the Scud? Why or why not?

        I would recommend that, first they should check the software first and be assured that it's safe to use or so whatever. Second, maybe they should think that detailed guidance is a must and required. Lastly, maybe they should not operate continuously for so many hours the Patriot missile defense system. So that, they could accurately track and intercept an incoming scud.

2.) What ethical decisions do you think the U.S. military made in choosing to deploy the Patriot missile to Israel and Saudi Arabia and in reporting the effectiveness of the Patriot system?

        Since, the army of U.S doesn't have the luxury of collecting definitive performance data in Saudi Arabia & Israel. After all they were operating in a war zone, not a test range. As a result, there was insufficient & sometimes conflicting data on the effectiveness of the Patriot missile.

3.) What key lessons from this example of safety-critical software development could be applied to the development of business information system software?

        When developing safety critical systems, a key assumption must be that safety will not automatically result from following an org. standard development methodology. Safety critical software must go through a much more rigorous & time consuming development process than other kinds of software.