Chapter 1

Background of the Study

Human Resource information system is a system which combines the

activities connected to Human Resource Management (HRM) and information

technology into one platform through the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

software. The goal of HRIS is to join different parts of human resources, including

payroll, labor productivity, and assist management in the decision making at the

strategic level (Gunawardena, 2014).Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is

a systematic way of storing data and information for each individual employee to aid

planning, decision making, and submitting of returns and reports to the external

agencies. HRIS can be briefly defined as integrated systems used to gather, store

and analyze information regarding an organization’s human resources. It merges

Human Resource Management (HRM) as a discipline and in particular it’s basic HR

activities and processes with the information technology field. It can be used to

maintain details such as employee profiles, absence reports, salary administration

and various kinds of reports (Shanu, 2013).

Despite determined efforts for HRIS implementation there are many

challenges faced by the organization. It is not only in pre-implementation or during

implementation, organizations are facing issues. Organizations face many

challenges in the post- implementation stage of HRIS (Saini, 2014).

The issues and barriers faced by nine Indian organizations in implementing

and managing HRIS. They found two important barriers, such as; lack of knowledge
of HR department about HRIS and less focus on HR department. The

implementation of HRIS causes some problems such as lack of skill and expertise,

technical problems, lack of capital, and time consumption by the untrained staff

(Raza ,2015).

Krishna & Meena (2010) identified the various functional areas to which ICT

(Information Communication Technology) is deployed for information administration

in Higher Education institutions. Joseet (2013) identified the realization that the use

of business HRIS in developing and retrieval, recognize the positive influences that

these systems have recruiting the process in which better performance is expected

from people recruitedinternally.

According to Supangco (2015) in her Strategic HR Practices in Some

Organizations in the Philippines research study, strategic human resource (HR)

practices in a convenience sample of organizations in the Philippines and compares

result of Cranet (Cranfield Network) surveys conducted in 2003 and 2008.

Characteristics of sample organization as well as their strategic planning process

generally obtain, but involvement of HR from the outset of business strategy

formulation does not yet characterize the majority of this organization.HR practices

that have basically remained the same include among others, the following, the most

common source of HR head is HR specialist from outside the organization, and

responsibility of HR policy decisions is shared between HR and Line managers.

Taking an assessment of the organization's human resources needs and

requirements is paramount. If the needs assessment is not done well or is not well-

justified, the entire project is then jeopardized and will fail. Failure should not be an
option because it results in tremendous amounts of wasted money, time and

resources that can add up fast (Gara, 2012). It is most time consuming and

cumbersome process. While some companies hire a consultant to recommend the

appropriate system, others do it on their own. There are many HRIS vendors and it

is nearly impossible to evaluate all of them properly. In addition, all HRIS typically

supports add-on programs by third parties that can extend the functionality of the

core HR package (Tarnowski, Deshpande, 2014).

There are many steps that contribute to the successful rollout of HRIS

implementation in any organization, but the first on that list is a change management

process (Mehrdadi, 2011). The resistance needs to be recognized and diagnosed

clearly by the line heads or HR heads of the organization. Once the relation is

established that the resistance &annoyance exists due to innovative system, few

remedial actions should be taken by the management (Sharma, 2013, Bohle,

Gomez). John Kotter in his 2010 article Winning at Change, found that more than 85

per cent of organizations that undertake major transformations, such as a move to

shared services or implementation of ESS, fail mainly because of a lack of change

management. Organization change management is designed tohelp the project to

successfully manage the people and organizational aspects during the migration

from one state to another. For most HR professionals organisation change

management is not a new concept, but applying it to their own technology projects

is.

The development of HRIS can be categorized into two: administrative

purpose and analytical decision support purpose. The first purpose focuses more on
administrative and operational efficiency which probably reduces cost and time. This

would help the organization on managing their employees and focus on strategic

planning for the organization. The second purpose is on analytical decision making.

This purpose greatly helps the administration as well as the HR staff to make

decisions based on the information generated from the HRIS (Kovach and Cathcart,

2010).

In developing HRIS, one should identify the outline of the overall business

strategy. This outline shapes the functionalities that the HRIS must possess. The

outline should also incorporate degree of flexibility to allow new developments in the

organization, business environment, technology or management thinking. If

designed correctly, the system manages the information in line with how the

organization is managed (Kontakos 2012).

Lyceum Northwestern University continually endeavors with passion to

uphold high educational standards and to be responsive towards local and global

changes. With this endeavor, the institution must respond with these changes by

maximizing the use of technology while reducing the efforts to perform the usual

task. Maximizing the use of technology will allow the entire institution to perform the

usual task in a more effective and efficient way. The passion of the institution has

triggered the developer to contribute to the improvement of the institution in terms of

managing human resources. The idea was to propose and integrate a Lan Base HR

Information System with the human resource processes currently used by the

institution. The proposed system will help the administration, as well as the Human

Resource Department to improve the way they manage the information of the
employees in a more efficient way. The system is also expected to reduce the

amount of work allotted by the HR officer in maintaining employee records and

benefits the management and focus on strategic planning and management that

could contribute to the decision making of the entire organization.

Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework used for this study will be presented in the Figure

1.1 where it shows the variable that is included in the study.

In the development of the system, the developers made use of the Rapid

Application Development (RAD) Model as basis for the study’s construct. The

process involved in RAD model includes requirement planning, user design,

construction, and cutover. The requirement planning phase will undergo an interview

with the selected user to identify their needs. User design phase which the

developers will plan the design of the database and graphical user interface (GUI) of

the system. Construction phase, this is where the coding, testing, integration takes

place. And cutover this will cover the final testing of the system before the

deployment.
Figure 1.1 Research Paradigm of Lyceum Lan Base Human Resource Information System

Statement of the problem

 This study aims to design and developed a Human Resource Information

System for Lyceum North Western University. This study sought answer to the

following questions:

1. What are the processes involved in the current Human Resource system?

2. What are the problems encountered by the staff in the current Lyceum Human

Resource system?

3. What are the features to be included in the proposed Human Resource

Information System for Lyceum North Western University?

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the developer is to design and develop a Lan Base

Human Resource Information System for Lyceum North Wester University to speed

up and provide maintainability on the most vital information of human resources.

Specifically, the project study sought to:

1. to describe the existing HR management processes of

Lyceum North Wester University in terms of:

a. Recruitment and Selection;

b. Personnel Information Management;

c. Evaluation and Promotion;

d. Termination; and,

e. Reports Generation.

2. identify the functional and non – functional requirements;

3. describe the features of the system, and;

4. test the usability of the Lan Base Human Resource Information System.
Significance of the Study

This study is beneficial to the following:

Employees. The proposed system will help lessen the paper works of

employees and will make the process of automobile services records for better

customer relationship management purposes simpler and faster. It will help the

staffs to alleviate the problems encountered in automobile service record tracking

when done manually. The system will make the staffs more organized and will also

lessen the possibility of losing information compared to using appointment books. It

can help the staffs in reducing phone calls and e-mails from clients seeking

automobile services. Searching and gathering details on auto services management

will be easier and faster because it generates reports automatically. Most

importantly, this will enhance the staff’s function and performance.

Clients. The proposed system gives business owner more easy access to the

auto services process. It will provide convenience to the owner and clients in a way

that they can perform a service record management online anytime and any day as

long as they have internet access..

Researcher. This study helps the researcher to experience and gain more

knowledge and skills in developing an automobile service management system. It

will enhance the researcher’s potential and improve his creativity as he develops the

system. It will also help the researcher to analyze what improvements needed for an

automobile service managements system to become successful in accordance with

the requirements. It will give the researcher a higher level of competitiveness in

which he can use in improving his work output in the future.

 Future researchers. This study will serve as a reference or guide for future

researchers. This will assist them in finding information about their, and it can serve

as a basis for their study. It will also give them ideas for developing their information

system. They can also enhance and provide additional features as recommended

and if necessary.

CHAPTER 2
 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Foreign Studies

The 2013 National Restaurant Industry Survey represents the first national

employer survey of work and human resource management in the U.S. Restaurant

Industry. It documents the range of practices adopted by employers and how those

practices affect turnover and employment stability – problems that are endemic

across the industry. They examined management practices and outcomes in four

customer segments: fine upscale dining, casual fine dining, moderately priced family

restaurants and fast food / quick service restaurants. High levels of employee

turnover are problematic in restaurants serving all four customer segments – leading

to higher employee costs and lower service quality and organizational performance.

In fact, the survey data demonstrates that better human resource practices can

reduce employee turnover almost by half.

They surveyed restaurants in the 33 largest metropolitan areas of the country,

where wages and the cost of living are likely to be higher than in smaller cities and

towns – and where higher competition is likely to drive employers to invest more in

employees in order to compete more effectively on quality and service. Over half of

these restaurants are located in states with tipped and non-tipped minimum wage

rates that are considerably higher than the federal minimum rates. Thus, the wages,

human resource practices, and turnover reported by managers in this sample should

represent somewhat better conditions than those found in a nationally representative

study. Nonetheless, even in this sample, the proportion of restaurants that adopt
better human resource (HR) practices and invest in the workforce is modest. Several

findings are noteworthy.

According to National Survey, the first national employer survey of work and

human resource management in the U.S. restaurant industry, they conducted a

telephone survey of managers in 1,150 restaurant establishments across the

country. Managers in each workplace provided information on the types of

customers served and restaurant characteristics. They reported the number and

types of employees providing front-and-back-of-the-house services. For this report,

front-of-house employees include servers, bartenders, hosts, bussers, runners,

barbacks and cashiers. Back-of-the-house employees include line cooks, prep

cooks, dishwashers and potters. For each of these groups, managers reported on

their human resource practices – including staffing and selection, training and

development, compensation, and the organization of work. Performance outcomes

such as turnover and employment tenure were also addressed.

In this report, we provide an overview of the restaurants included in our study

as well as our findings regarding the use of different management practices and their

relationship to key outcomes.

According to Human Resource Management for the hospitality and tourism

industries written by Dennis Nickson, there are arguments for best fit advocate a

close fit between competitive strategies and Human Resource Management, those

in favor of best practice approaches to HRM suggest that there is a universal ‘one

best way’ to manage people. By adopting a best practice approach it is argued that
organizations will see enhanced commitment from employees leading to improved

organizational performance, higher levels of service quality and ultimately increased

productivity and profitability. Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles’, the HRM

practices that are offered in support of a high commitment and performance model

are generally fairly consistent. For example, Redman and Matthews (1998) outline a

range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational

strategies aimed at securing high-quality service:

Recruitment and Selection. Recruitment and selecting staff with the correct

attitudinal and behavioral characteristic. A range of assessments in the selection

process should be utilized to evaluate the work values, personality, interpersonal

skills and problem-solving abilities of potential employees to assess their ‘service

orientation’.

Retention. The need to avoid the development of a ‘turnover culture’, which

may course be particularly prevalent in tourism and hospitality. For example, the use

of retention bonuses to influence employees to stay.

Teamwork. The use of semi-autonomous, cross-process and multi-functional

teams.

Training and Development. The need to equip operative level staff with

team working and interpersonal skills to develop their ‘service orientation’ and

managers with a new leadership style which encourages a move to a more

facilitative and coaching style of managing.

Appraisal. Moving away from traditional top down approaches to appraisal

and supporting thing such as customer evaluation, peer review, team based
performance and the appraisal of the managers by subordinates. Generally, all of

these performance appraisal systems should focus on the quality goals of the

organization and the behaviors of the employees needed to sustain these.

Rewarding Quality. A need for a much more creative system of rewards and

in particular the need for payment systems that reward employees for attaining

quality goals.

Job Security. Promises of job security are as seen as an essential

component of any overall quality approach.

Employees Involvement and Employer Relations. By seeking greater

involvement from employees the emphasis is on offering autonomy, creativity,

cooperation and self-control in work process. The use of educative and participative

mechanisms, such as team briefings and quality circles are allied to changes in the

organization of work which support an ‘empowered’ environment.

Mc Donald’s is the world’s leading fast-food company by sales, with about

32,000 restaurants serving burgers and fries in about 120 countries. It consists of

Human Resource Functions followed to acquire employees.

Job Analysis. In Mc Donald’s job analysis done on the basis of interviews.

They have predetermined standards on which employees are awarded on the basis

of their skills, knowledge and experience.

Recruitment, Selection and Retention. For Mc Donald’s, people are its

important asset. This is because customer satisfaction begins with the attitudes and

abilities of employees and effective workers are the best route to success.
 Recruiting Suitable Applicants. Positions are generally advertised in the

restaurant. The company’s recruitment history shows this is the best method of

hiring quality staff. It also uses local job centers, career fairs and other local facilities.

It is virtual to use effective hiring material with a clear message targeted at the right

audience.

Selection. After the final interview, the manager will rate the responses of the

applicant. A successful applicant will have demonstrated skills and behaviors that

have been identified as being key to the position.

Orientation. Mc Donald’s inducts all new employees into the business

through Welcome Meeting which they must attend. The Welcome Meeting gives an

overview of the Company including job role, food, hygiene and safety training,

policies and procedures, administration, benefits and training and development.

Mc Donald’s performance appraisal methods are graphical rating scale and

360 degree feedback.

For better and innovative human resource management, Mc Donald’s

implemented K/3 HR Personnel Management, Payroll Management and Report

Module as well as Performance Management, Employee Capacity Quality module.

Mc Donald’s has built HR management platform and finished planning for

organization structure, managed personnel files, input dynamic human resource

data and managed payroll. Based on K/3 HR System Personnel Management and

Payroll Management, Mc Donald’s not only records employee transfer, promotion

and transfer history but also adjust the workflow.

 If a resigned staff come back and rejoin in K/3 HR System checks ID Card

Number and lists all the history of the staff, which helps the manager make proper

decision.

The concept of human resource management first appeared in the 1980’s

and the use of the term grew in the 1990’s. Initially, writers in the field focused on

trying to distinguish between personnel management and HRM, but according to

Boxall and Purcell (2008) HRM has, in spite of the lack of clarity over definition,

become the most popular term to refer to the activities of managers in relation to

people management.

The glance through any journal relating to human resource management

nowadays, will find countless advertisements relating to the various ways that

information technology can assist those in HR department to do their jobs. These

include systems for e-recruitment, online short listing of applicants, online

performance management and appraisals, e-learning, online psychometric testing,

as well as IT systems to help with payroll, employment data, recruitment

administration, references and pre-employment checks. There are also large

organizations which use HR shared service centers where they bring many of the

HR services together and use technology such as e-mail, a company intranet or

telephones to provide HR information in order to deal with HR queries and provide

expert advice for people working at various sites, sometimes in different countries.

The increase use of information technology is already having all of these

effects, at least to some extent. For many HR managers, IT for routine tasks frees

them from more mundane tasks, so they have more time to think strategically.
Increasing use of IT has also ensured a much greater amount of information is

available on which to base decisions and to plan for the future.

2.2. Local Studies

According to Vivien T. Supangco in her Strategic HR Practices in Some

Organizations in the Philippines research study, strategic human resource (HR)

practices in a convenience sample of organizations in the Philippines and compares

result of Cranet (Cranfield Network) surveys conducted in 2003 and 2008.

Characteristics of sample organization as well as their strategic planning process

generally obtain, but involvement of HR from the outset of business strategy

formulation does not yet characterize the majority of this organization.

HR practices that have basically remained the same include among others,

the following, the most common source of HR head is HR specialist from outside the

organization, and responsibility of HR policy decisions is shared between HR and

Line managers.

On the other hand, a few practices have changed in the following manner:

increase in the application of HRIS (Human Resource Management System) in

payroll, time and attendance, but decrease in application in recruitment and

selection. In addition, performance appraisal is practiced across all staff categories

in 2008; in 2003 only the managerial and professional/technical workers are

generally appraised through formal system.

The Provincial Government of Bulacan’s Human Resources Office (PHRMO)

is responsible for, among other services, the maintenance of records associated with
payroll preparation and processing. They are also responsible for maintenance of

201 files of each individual employee.

Among the significant services brought about by PHRMO through the use of

HRIS, on top of the list is the fast and accurate processing of pertinent employee

records like service records and payroll. Through the automatic computation facility

and integrated time keeping system, processing time to determine leave credits,

which is necessary for computation of pay of employees who have absences and

processing time to prepare remittances for GSIS, PAG-IBIG and MEDICARE are

very well addressed. This system did not only empower the employees and

increased their productivity, but also became a tool to eliminate red tape. Through

HRIS (Human Resource Information System), response time to employee request is

admirable.

Human Resources Information System (HRIS) formerly Personnel

Management Information System consists of areas in Local Governance:

 eAdministration (Support Services/Administrative Services and Human

Resource Management)

 eServices (Payroll Processing and Records Management)

The HRIS is a LGU type, locally used by Provincial Government of Bulacan.

Its functions are to give innovative services in maintenance of personnel records,

payroll management and processing and biometrics time keeping.

Human Resource Innovations and Solutions, Inc. (HURIS) is a Philippine-

based Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) and Consultancy company that

started in 2005 by seasoned HR and IT Professionals. It is a complete HR solutions

provider that enables business transformation through advanced methodologies and

information technology.

The company specializes in providing Business Partners with superior

technological solutions and high level outsourcing services across all functional

areas of Human Resources. The company’s main thrust is to provide the Business

Partners assistance in the design, management, development and streamlining of

systems, functions, procedures and processes to increase organizational efficiency

and maximize internal resources with the use of local HR Management Systems and

high level HR Outsourcing services. Their products are Attendance Monitoring

System (AMS), Human Resource Management System (HRMS), integrated

Cooperative Management System (ICMS), Payroll System and ePayslip. The

services they provided are HR Knowledge Process Outsourcing (HR – KPO), Payroll

Business Process Outsourcing, Special Projects (HR Audit / Benchmarking,

Performance Management, Pre and Post Retirement Programs and etc.

In the article created by Dr. Divina M. Edralin, a full-time professor on

Business Management Department of De La Salle University about issues in human

resource management and approaches to their solution, she mentioned that it is an

acceptable fact that the success of an enterprise is tied to the competence and

effectiveness of the people who work in and with the organization. And therefore, if

the people are genuinely to be a sustainable source of distinctive competitive

advantage of Philippine companies in the next millennium, the underlying principles

that management must adhere to in the strategic planning and implementation of

approaches in resolving issues in human resources management are: (1) Respect

for the rights and dignity of workers, (2) Concern for the general welfare and security

or workers; and (3) Recognizing that people are valued stakeholders of the

enterprise.

There is no “one best” approach for any given industry or firm. The greatest

challenge for businesspeople is to understand the, and use a nexus of, diversified

approaches which are labor-friendly and concomitantly focused on achieving

organizational goals through technological (production processed), structural (roles

and relationships), managerial (administrative actions), and people (human

resources can be educated, trained, coached, and counseled) transformation of

renewal.

This is the Renewal-Driven HRM paradigm shift that Filipino

managers/owners can seriously consider to address core issues and problems in

human resources management that have impeded Philippine industries and deterred

them from pursuing appropriate and doable approaches that will enable such firms

to be globally competitive at the turn of the millennium.

The Government Human Resource Information System (GHRIS) project is

envisioned to provide the Philippine National Government with a comprehensive

human resource management information system for all of its 1.7M national

government employees. The GHRIS application and data is to be centralized and is

accessed through a friendly and intuitive interface via a computer web browser. The

GHRIS application should have the capability to be accessed at over 1,500 various

locations within the Philippines, with some locations having limited electrical and

networking capability.
 The system should be able to initially support 10,000 operational users with

the ability to expand to cover 1.7M users should the Employee – Self Service be

activated. Access to the system should be controlled and restricted to individual

accounts using unique personal login information. The ability to define levels of user

access rights within the system and other strong security features and measures are

required functions.

In its finalized implementation, the GHRIS system should handle the complete

lifecycle of all national government employees including their initial entry into

service, to their retirement or separation which includes the following HR actions

such as recruitment and hiring, promotions, retirements, awards, evaluations,

casualty operations, calculations for re-contracting requirements, retention,

assignments, training, schooling, finance, absences, personnel assigned equipment

and other associated personnel actions specific to the different agencies and

common within the government. The system should also support and streamline

lengthy approval processes by providing an efficient and timely method of approving

and tracking actions.

The human resource management information system is for 6 pilot

government agencies namely the Commission on Audit (COA), The Department of

Budget and Management (DBM), The Department of Finance (DOF), The Bureau of

Treasury (BTr), the Department of Science and Technology Advanced Science and

Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) and the Department of Science and Technology

National Computer Center (DOST-NCC).

The GHRIS Software Application

 A Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Software that fits the specifications and

requirements of the project as stated inclusive of licenses and other associated

costs such as installation, customization and some training and orientation for the six

pilot agencies named above as well as the different environments (Development,

Testing, Pre-Production, Production and Disaster Recovery environments) for the

Application Software.

The GHRIS Database Infrastructure

Software and related licenses for the different environments (Development,

Testing, Pre-Production, Production and Disaster Recovery environments) for the

Database software.

Consulting Services

 Consulting and Technical Services as deemed needed in order to analyze,

develop and implement the GHRIS Project

 Technical Services in order to install and configure the GHRIS Software to

fit specifications and requirements.

 Technical Services in order to configure and customize the Hardware and

Software of both the Application and Database Portion

 Training

Synthesis and Relevance to the Study

The above related studies are all significant to the proponents’ recent project

development. The essential researched related studies above and the proponents’

project focused on Human Resource Information and its divergent fields. Both
discussed the different parts or key areas of human resource as part of the

systematic process of managing employees.

Foreign and local related studies stated common human resource

management key areas or process routines likewise to the proponents’ studies as

part of systematic planning and process in managing employees. The key areas or

process routines are Recruitment and Selection of suitable applicants, Retention,

Evaluation and Probation for appraisals, Monitoring of employees’ profile and 201

Files, etc. The most common focus of all studies is the employees.

One related study stated the acceptable fact that employees are considered

as an asset of one’s enterprise and one of the reasons of its success. So the

management must adhere and improve the strategic planning and implementation

approach when it comes to human resource management. This related study also

shows the recognition of the workers and valued as the stakeholders of the

enterprise.

Another related study shows that human resource management is now joining

and complementing the field of information technology, even in private enterprise or

in government sectors and agencies. The future of Human Resource Information

System is now seen as systematic, integrated, computerized and more innovative.

Most of the private enterprise and government agencies are now implementing

Human Resource Information System that can process different key areas or

procedures in a span of short range of time. They can handle multitasking and

increased level of productivity by acquiring the new process.

 There are local related studies featured the system or application that can

managed human resource and even payroll. This is the goal of the proponents to

develop a system which can fulfill human resource management tasks and

processes that generically suites to different enterprises. The proponents

researched in local and foreign related studies shows that the Human Resource

Information now deals with the technology to reduce cost of processes, ease the

process, gain productivity and be multitasking and to be globally competitive and

successful on the field they concerned with.

 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

Research Design

The developer will use the descriptive-developmental research design in this

study because it deals with everything that can be counted and studied and is able

to design, developed and evaluate the study. It deals with everything allow the

developer understand the data collected and evaluated. The descriptive research

describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being

studied. However, it does not answer questions about how, when, and why the

characteristics occurred, which is done under analytic research. Although the data

description is factual, accurate and systematic, the research cannot describe caused

a situation (Shield and Tajalili, 2008). Developmental research in the other hand is

the one that, among other key characteristics “involve intensive collaboration among

researchers and practitioners” and maintains a commitment to theory construction

and explanation while solving the real-world problems (Reeves, Herrington, and

Oliver, 2009).

Rapid Application Development model relies on prototyping and rapid cycles

of iterative development to speed up development and elicit early feedback from

business users. After each iteration, developers can refine and validate the features

with stakeholders. RAD model is also characterized by reiterative user testing and

the re-use of software components. Hence, RAD has been instrumental in reducing
the friction points in delivering successful enterprise applications

(Stair and Reynolds, n.d).

The developer uses Rapid Application Development model for adaptation for

Wedding Planner App in development, because RAD comprises of software

development stages that mimic the traditional waterfall model. It compresses the

steps in the waterfall model into fewer steps that form a cycle of iteration in

development instead of the former linear and structured approach. RAD also

provides a development environment that puts more effort on analysis and design

stages (Et Al, 2000)

The prototyping method used in rapid application development allows the

developer to rapidly identify the types of data and process models required to meet

the application requirement. Figure 3.1 shows the Rapid Application Development

Methodology.

One of the core tactics developers used this strategy is Rapid Application

Development (RAD), which in its most basic form minimizes planning and intensifies

prototyping. This RAD process allows our developers to quickly adjust to shifting

requirements in fast-paced and constantly changing market. They’ve found that by

using the RAD process, they can adapt to a flexible process.

There are many benefits to using Rapid Application Development. RAD

allows progress to be accurately and quickly measured. It also provides a reduction

in development time, and the ability to garner constant customer feedback (Stiner,

2016).
 The RAD methodology focuses on a short development time-cycle, typically

in iterations. A fully functional iteration of the system is the end result. This shorter

time period significantly reduces the costs of project. RAD method also dictates that

the business owner becomes actively involved during development and requires less

planning prior to system development (Mueller, 2009).

Figure 3.1 Rapid Application Development Cycle

The phase prior to what the developers did in each phase are stated here

under.

Requirement Analysis. The requirements are gathered at a high level

instead of at the precise set of detailed requirements level. In case the user changes

the requirements, RAD allows changing these requirements over a period of time.

This phase determines plans for testing, training and implementation processes

(Thakur, n.d).

This phase combines the elements of system planning and analysis during

the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Here, the software users (client),
developers (IT) and team managers agree on the project scope, prominent issues,

potential issues and obtain management authorization. At our company, this remains

the most vital stage of the process; communication is key to this stage (Stiner,

2016).

The Requirements Planning stage consists of a review of the areas

immediately associated with the proposed system. This review produces a broad

definition of the system requirements in terms of the functions the system will

support. The deliverables from the Requirements Planning stage include an outline

system area model (entity and process models) of the area under study, a definition

of the system's scope, and a cost justification for the new system (Isam, n.d).

The developers conducted several informal interview to selected users to

determine all the possible requirements that will be used in the system.

System Design. The design and refine phase that can be best characterized

as a workshop. Participation is intense and typically hands on. RAD design

workshops can take place over a series of days, but extended blocks of time are

useful.

During the RAD design, users respond to actual working prototypes and

analysts refine designed modules based on user responses. The workshop format

is exciting and stimulating and there is no question that this creative endeavour can

propel development forward at an accelerated rate (Kendal 2002).

The developers fully planned for the general output of the study. In this stage,

all the data that has been gathered was used to be able to put up an Information

Technology solution.
 System Construction. The objectives of the Rapid Construction stage are to

complete the detailed design of the proposed system; to create and test the software

that implements the proposed system; to generate a system that operates at an

acceptable level of performance; to prepare documentation necessary to operate the

proposed application; to design, develop, and test the required transition software

and; to perform the steps necessary to prepare for the conversion of the system to

production status. In this phase, the implementations of all the designs were

developed to produce output. The use of the Rapid Application Development model

in testing would be impossible without something to actually test.

In the Construction stage, a small team of developers, working directly with

users, finalizes the design and builds the system. The software construction process

consists of a series of "design-and-build" steps in which the users have the

opportunity to fine-tune the requirements and review the resulting software

implementation. This stage also includes preparing for the cutover to production. In

addition to the tested software, Construction stage deliverable include

documentation and instructions necessary to operate the new application, and

routines and procedures needed to put the system into operation.

The developers designed and built the exact output of the system. The

system construction phase of the system is for developing the Online Wedding

Planner of the North.

System Testing. This stage is an activity which aimed to evaluate an

attribute or capability of a program or system and determining that it meets it

required results. Testing is more than just debugging. The purpose of testing can be

quality assurance, verification and validation, or reliability estimation.

As prototypes are individually tested during iteration, the overall testing time is

reduced in RAD. In this phase, every piece of software that is release need to

undergo a rigorous and extreme testing procedure before it can be released for

general use. The Rapid Application Development model in testing is one such

testing procedure that enables quality products to be developed faster, saving

valuable resources.

The developers will perform a series of test where test vases will be used to

check the module for bugs, fault and other errors. This will allow the developers to

assume an implementation of the system.

System Implementation. This stage includes the implementation of the

system. This phase is the last phase to be implemented in the development process.

This stage can be implemented upon the approval of the client.

In this phase, once the design has been tried and tested by the testing team,

the customers are given a demo version of the final program. Now they must use the

program and indicate whether they are satisfied with the product or not. If they

accept that the software is satisfactory and as per their demands and requirements,

the process is completed. On the other hand, if he is dissatisfied with certain aspects

of the software, or feels that an integral component is missing, the design team

proceeds to solve this problem. The benefits of dividing the work into these various

stages is that everyone knows what they are doing, and are specifically trained to

carry out their responsibility.

 The developers will be testing the developed system as a whole to check if

any errors occur for deployment.

Sources of Data

The primary sources of data are the data that the user want to see in the

propose system. And the user explained how the developers can help them by

developing the Online Wedding Planner of the North.

Secondary sources such as library and internet researches were also done to

find and collect information about other existing systems. Researches were also

conducted to gather information on how to meet the specified requirements of the

end-users. And, existing forms from the company are also gathered to collect

information on how data is processed in terms of registration, renewal and

cancellation of business permit to get an idea what inputs are needed to successfully

implement this project. Informal interview were conducted by the developers to

gather facts, opinion and speculation of how to develop the system. In this context,

the questions raised were mostly referring to the steps and guidelines on how to

create a Wedding Planner App.

Instrumentation and Data Collection

For an effective study, instrumentation and data collection were conducted to

gather some tactful information.

Interview. The interview is the primary technique for information gathering

during the systems analysis phases of a development project. It is a skill which must

be mastered by every analyst. The interviewing skills of the analyst determine what
information is gathered, and the quality and depth of that information. Interviewing,

observation, and research are the primary tools of the analyst.

Interviews can be defined as a qualitative research technique which involves

“conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents to

explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program or situation” (Boyce and

Neale, 2008). Interviews are one way to gather data for research. The data gathered

are usually, though not always, qualitative in nature. Interviews are usually used to

explore a topic or topics in considerable depth with a few people.

The interview is a specific form of meeting or conference, and is usually

limited to two persons, the interviewer and the interviewee. In special circumstances

there may be more than one interviewer or more than one interviewee in attendance.

In these cases there should still be one primary interviewer and one primary

interviewee (Modell, n.d).

Internet Research. The developer used the Internet Research to gather

relevant and related sources of information to be used as a guide in developing the

application. This is also considered as secondary source of data. The first step in

internet research is to familiar with the terms in searching related to the topic. Term

must be clear and concise to find related information and references.

The internet is extraordinary source in gaining information. It is said to be the

researchers dream come true hence, you can access information steamily limitless.

There are billions of pages of information on the web and finding relevant and

reliable information in just one click (“Research Tool”, 2013).

 The Internet, as a field, a tool, and a venue, has specific and far reaching

ethical issues. Internet research ethics is a sub-discipline that fits across many

disciplines, ranging from social sciences, arts and humanities, medical/biomedical,

and hard sciences. Extant ethical frameworks, including consequentialism,

utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, and feminist ethics have contributed to the

ways in which ethical issues in Internet research are considered and evaluated

(Buchanan, 2016)

Conceptually and historically, Internet research ethics is related to computer

and information ethics and includes such ethical issues as participant knowledge

and consent, data privacy, security, confidentiality, and integrity of data, intellectual

property issues, and community, disciplinary, and professional standards or norms.

Library Research. The developers used the library as another source of

literature for the documentation of the developed application. The library hold the in-

depth collection of materials on one or several subjects and related to the study

topics. It will general include primary as well as secondary sources. This method in

which developers gather the necessary information from various printed sources.

Research resources typically consist of books from academic publishers and articles

from scholarly journals.  Depending on your topic, you may need additional types of

sources such as data and statistics, primary sources, articles from trade journals,

music, and videos.  All of these types of sources can be found in the Libraries and

on the Libraries' website.

Library research is defined as the system study and investigation of some

aspect of library and information science where conclusion are based on the
analysis of data of the collected in accordance with pre-established research design

and methodologies (Hlwiki International, 2013).

This helps the developer in finding the similar studies and thesis that can be

based as references in the process of studying the application. The developer used

the library research as method to gather the obligatory information from the different

testimonials with includes the consultation of books and related thesis. This method

helped the developer to improve the documentation of this study as some published

and unpublished related thesis, books, article that could suffice and justify all the

information included in the study.

Tools for Data Analysis

Use Case Diagram. The developer used the use-case to fully understand the

process of the application. It is a methodology used in system analysis to identify,

clarify, and organize system requirements.

The use case is made up of a set of possible sequences of interactions

between systems and users in a particular environment and related to a particular

goal. It consists of a group of elements (for example, classes and interfaces) that

can be used together in a way that will have an effect larger than the sum of the

separate elements combined. The use case should contain all system activities that

have significance to the users. A use case can be thought of as a collection of

possible scenarios related to a particular goal, indeed, the use case and goal are

sometimes considered to be synonymous (Rouse, 2013).

The developers use this tool to visualize the physical interaction of entries to

process and how they interact and how they work. Keep in mind that diagram is
merely a representation and this is where actual creation takes place. Diagram

derivate from use cases and complements them.

Entity-Relationship Diagram. An entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is a

graphical representation of an information system that shows the relationship

between people, objects, places, concepts or events within that system. An ERD is a

data modelling technique that can help define business processes and can be used

as the foundation for a relational database (Rouse, n.d)

The Developer used in ERD during the planning stages of the software

project, It help to identify different system elements and their relationships with each

other. It is often used as the basis for data flow diagrams or DFD’s as they are

commonly known.

Database Schema. Refer to a visual representation of a database, a set of

rules that govern a database, or to the entire set of objects belonging to a particular

user. Read on to find out more about database schemas and how they are used.

A database schema represents the logical configuration of all or part of a

relational database. It can exist both as a visual representation and as a set of

formulas known as integrity constraints that govern a database. These formulas are

expressed in a data definition language, such as SQL. As part of a data dictionary, a

database schema indicates how the entities that make up the database relate to one

another, including tables, views, stored procedures, and more.

The developers used this tool to define the objects in the database from

which the system will use data collection and retrieval. This will be useful because it

provides all the information in database.