Designing and Implementing an Information System for the Dental Office of Branckowitz & Young

This case provides students with the opportunity to create a functional information system (IS) for a service company. The case facilitates a guided hands‐on experience where students learn to analyze a business entity in the context of its environment; recognize what business processes comprise an entity's value chain; and develop, document, and implement a tailor‐made IS to support the entity's operation. In order to keep the amount of development realistic and the system transparent for students, the case focuses on a small service company: a dental office. The case uses a resource—events—agents (REA) analytical framework for modeling and Microsoft Access for IS implementation. The case is structured modularly, enabling instructors to either explain material or demonstrate analysis/development of a segment of an IS in class and then challenge the students to complete the module's development following the instructor's example. Instructors have the flexibility to give students fewer (or additional) directions in developing the information system, depending on the students' backgrounds and abilities. Instructors also have a choice to limit the scope of the development and implementation to any number of four business processes.