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Question 9 Walton Foods Ltd is a local supermarket that prides itself on its DIY approach to keeping at the forefront of retail technology

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Question 9 Walton Foods Ltd is a local supermarket that prides itself on its DIY approach to keeping at the forefront of retail technology. So, it has just replaced its Point of Sale (PoS) terminals (card readers) with new ones, which can accept payments from chip and pin cards, and also read contactless cards and near-field communication (NFC) from smartphones. Like all such Pos terminals, cash limits are set on contactless and NFC payments, so all larger payments continue to be made by customers inserting their chip and pin cards into the terminal and entering a pin via a touchscreen interface. The Pos terminals were purchased by Walton Foods from a "discount" website that supplied only technology. Walton Foods were delighted when the assertion on the website that the terminals were "plug compatible" replacements for their previous terminals proved correct - hey were able to replace all of the terminals in a couple of hours while their store was closed. And, having checked that each worked with the manager's personal credit card, all the old terminals were put in the skip, and stores were ready to open the next morning. Walton Foods were also very pleased with the cost of the terminals, which was a lot less than for comparable devices from mainstream suppliers. Since the devices were plug-compatible replacements, they hadn't had to pay for expensive installation contracts. And it also meant that Walton Foods could be confident that they could replace any terminal that developed a fault during the guarantee period - they had purchased two spare terminals so that any faulty ones could be sent back to the supplier under the return to base" warranty without reducing the number of terminals in use. And they had a year on the warranty period before making long-term maintenance arrangements. All went well for the first few days after the terminals were installed. Walton Foods' customers liked being able to use contactless cards and pay with their smartphones. They were also quite taken with the touchscreen displays for PIN entry, although some did find it a little disconcerting that the "buttons" on the screen were positioned randomly, rather than mimicking a physical keypad. However, they accepted that this was to improve security, as it was much more difficult for anyone to work out somebody's PIN just by watching them use the keypad. It was just a bit unfortunate that a few customers didn't really look at the screens - they just "typed" their normal pattern to enter their PIN – which meant that they entered the wrong PIN. And they did that again on their second and third attempts, so their cards were locked by their banks. Walton Foods realised they needed to put prominent "instruction" signs next to each terminal, and to train their checkout operators to help the customers. It was even more unfortunate when not one, but most of the terminal screens started to develop faults. First, the backlights started to fail, making it very difficult to see the positions of the "buttons". Then, the "buttons" in certain positions on the screen- usually on the bottom row - would not respond at all. Both of these faults might have had something to do with the way the screens were being cleaned – the instructions that came with the terminals said they should be cleaned periodically with a "damp"cloth, but the cleaners had found that the only way to remove the fingermarks that were accumulating on the screen was to use a "keyboard cleaner" spray every day, soaking the screen and then wiping it dry - without noticing that the liquid from the spray was seeping inside the terminals. Walton Foods did try to obtain guidance on cleaning the terminals, but the website from which they purchased them just referred them to the instructions that came with the terminals, and reminded them that they didn't offer any follow- up services or maintenance. And when Walton Foods returned the two worst- affected terminals under warranty, the supplier refused to repair or replace them because they had not been cleaned in accordance with those instructions - "user damage” was not covered by the warranty. So, now Walton Foods had no spare terminals, and several of those installed were not functioning properly. They had also found it impossible to find anybody to maintain and service the terminals - the usual maintenance companies just laughed when they heard what devices Walton Foods had purchased, and said they were so unreliable that they would not touch them. Walton Foods was now in a serious position. Those of its remaining customers who had not had their cards locked, as a result of not looking at the screens when entering their PIN, were now unable to enter a PIN at all on most of the terminals. When first the contactless and then NFC payment mechanisms started to fail as well, Walton Foods found they had reverted to being a cash-only shop, with only a (very) small number of loyal customers. (a) Identify three service failures that have resulted from Walton Foods approach to introducing the new technology (3 marks) (b) Distinguish between Utility and Warranty. By using examples from the Walton Foods scenario, show why both warranty and utility are necessary for the delivery of value. (8 marks) (c) Briefly state six aspects of service management best practice and briefly describe how they appear to have been overlooked by Walton Foods. (You may find it helpful to consider part d) as you answer this.) (6 marks) (d) The various stages of the ITIL service lifecycle are supposed to ensure that services can be introduced or improved without leading to problems. Relate your answers to part c) to the stage of the lifecycle where they should have been addressed. (You will not be penalised for minor inaccuracies the names of any ITIL concepts to which you refer). (6 marks) (e) Hence, suggest how Walton Foods might have improved their approach to introducing the new point of sale terminal facilities. (7 marks) Question 10 Lulworth Valley Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Lulworth Valley area. It has decided to upgrade its existing case management software with view to have a modern IT platform for handling criminal cases. Following extensive and thorough investigations, it became apparent that the existing system is incapable of handling the ever-increasing number of criminal cases. Moreover, the current system is unable to establish direct communication with other police forces' IT systems to share information and to minimise redundancy. The planned system should allow Lulworth Valley Constabulary to collaborate with other police forces. This capability has not been available within the existing software. This project is funded by the government and is planned to have connections with other national software systems, for instance the judiciary. The work is scheduled to be completed within five years starting in January 2021. The government has announced an allocated budget of £50 million and has revealed the project will be undertaken by a successful approved contractor. Moreover, at the final stages of the development, appropriate training should be provided for relevant stakeholders. Suppose you are the project manager of this Case Handling Software project, working for the contractor. Due to the sensitivity and the nature of the project, the tasks will be completed by staff employed by your company following a full screening recruitment process. This process is often time-consuming and can last up to 5 months. Moreover, one of the challenges for the team is that there are no previous similar projects which have been completed successfully. The Project Manager's role is very important in ensuring the successful completion of the project. The Project Manager keeps an oversight of the project and to maintain an accurate record of progress both communication and reporting are important. As Project Manager, you decide to produce a Communication Plan to help ensure effective communication between all members of the project. (c) Why is communication particularly important in this project? (2 marks) (d) Describe four different aspects of the communication plan and explain why they are important. (4 marks) (e) Describe two communication problems that might occur in this project and explain what the Project Manager could do to pre-empt them. (4 marks) (a) In the module TM254, the following categories of project risks were described: Actors, Technology, Tasks and Structure. Using the information in the above scenario state one risk in each category, specific to the Case Handling Software project. (4 marks) (b) For each risk you have identified in part (a) i) assess the likelihood of the risk occurring and its likely impact, giving justification for your answers, ii) suggest whether the risk should be accepted, avoided, reduced or transferred, justifying your answers. (Ensure you have addressed both parts of the question for each risk, and have included justifications for both parts. (16 marks)