State Parks

Issues

1. How many separate cost-benefit analyses would have be conducted under the consulting team's plan? Explain

2. Could the consulting teams cost-benefit plan have been simplified? How? What would have been lost in this simplification?

3. Briefly list the assumptions that were made in the cost analyses. Assume that you are a member of to state legislature. Prepare a brief report of your concerns relating to theses assumptions.

4. Assume that the tangible benefits and cost savings are not sufficient to justify the implementation and operational costs of PARCS. Write a memorandum to the superintendent of state parts recommending how he could use the intangible benefits and cost-savings to "sell" PARCS to the state legislature.

5. Assume that this was a private, for-profit firm rather than a state agency. Explain how you would deal with the issue of capitalizing or expensing project costs.

State Parks (D)

Dennis Hopper and Mel Cooley were in Dennis's office reviewing the cost-benefit material that was to be inserted in the Requirements Analysis Report to be submitted to the Department of Parks and Recreation. Their university consulting team had been contracted to perform the analysis and logical design for an automated revenue collection system for all state parks. This system would be called the Parks Automated Revenue Collection System (PARCS). Cooley was concerned about the complex system that was divided and assumed it would be a lot of work and there were more estimates that weren't included in the actual costs and benefits. Dennis assured that they would be using Excel spreadsheets, to simplify the work and that he's a confident based on his past work with other agencies.

State agencies in this and most other states have difficulties justifying new technology systems for several reasons. First the agency is not in business of making profit. Therefore, there is rarely if ever sufficient "seed money" to finance initial system development costs pending eventual new system "payback". Such development funds that may be accrued generally are transferred to the state controller's office at the end of each fiscal year and are not available to the state agency after that transfer. Funds are then requested through the governor's budgeting process. If that proves successful, then the governor includes these funds as a part of his or her appropriation request to the state legislature. If it is approved by the state legislature, the state agency must wait until the beginning of the next fiscal year until approved funds can be disbursed.

New System Objectives

1. How many separate cost-benefit analyses would have be conducted under the consulting team's plan? Explain

There would be a total of seven spreadsheets that would have been conducted under the consulting team's plan. The first spreadsheets would fall under those of management needs. These separate PARCS executive information system (EIS) will allow DPR managers to