Assignment 1: Situational Setup
CS1032A-001 Winter 2025
You must complete all the following projects in one Microsoft Word (.docx) file:
Part 1: Establish an Innovative Startup
Introduction:
Scenario: It's the year 2035, and the world is moving towards sustainable and tech-driven living. You’ve decided to start a small business that solves a unique problem or fulfills a growing need. The product must be innovative, practical, and something you can realistically manufacture at home.
For this assignment, you are to give your company a name and you are to describe what the Startup is. This cannot be a real or existing company (with the ONLY exception being if it is an actual company that you started on your own prior to taking this course).
This business can be anything. It can be hand Plant able Paper Products: Reusable Food Wraps, or hats for cats. The product can be scented candles or even framed pictures of your customer superimposed next to their favorite movie star. The only requirement is that the product requires some physical parts that will necessitate raw material coming in and a finished physical product being delivered.
VERY IMPORTANT: It MUST be a product you can make or do on your own in your house. This excludes making a new electric automobile, sneakers, or a new cell phone. It must realistically be something that a single person could produce from their home.
Part of your assessment will be based on whether the product is realistic and can be created by one person from home. But don’t worry, you won’t be asked to make this product. This is just a hypothetical company that will follow you through the assignments in this course.
You should do an internet search (e.g. Google, Bing, etc.) to ensure the company name you come up with does not already exist. You must pick a unique name for your business.
Throughout this course, your company will grow in size and sales. As your company grows, so will your Information Systems.
Future assignments for CS1032 will contain questions about your expanding needs based on material we will be covering in class. These questions will include not only your decisions, but how and/or why you made them.
You are to submit an MS Word document with the following:
Information:
1.) COMPANY NAME: _________________________________________________________
Note: You must ensure the company does not actually exist, even if it is a company, you never heard of before. Do a quick search on the web. If you wanted to call your company ‘Forest City Ducks’ check to make sure a company by that name does not already exist.)
2.) COMPANY LOCATION: _____________________________________________________
Note: The physical location of the company (city, province/state, and country). Must be a real location (on this planet).
3.) COMPANY FUNCTION/PRODUCT_____________________________________________
Note: Describe the product your company makes. Think of what kind of company you would want to start. It must be a ‘manufacturing company’ that makes a physical product.
The information must be detailed enough to provide a clear understanding of the functionality and the operations of the company. It does not need a lot of information but must have enough to demonstrate that you understand the steps required to make and produce the product. (See the example on the next page to see the expected format of your solution).
Execution:
Write your answers in a Microsoft Word document.
Place your name, followed by the company name at the top and fill in the required information after.
At the end of the document, include your name, Student number and Western ID (the same one you use to log in to OWL).
Formatting is not important if the document is easy to follow and includes the required information.
The document should look like the example on the following page and be of at least the same length.
Forest City Ducks
1.) Forest City Ducks
2.) London, Ontario Canada
3.) This company makes and sells customized 3D printed rubber ducks. Customers can scan their face in our app and have them printed on a 3D rubber duck or select from several already designed models. They may also select the material used, size of the duck, and accessories such as a top hat or sunglasses. The duck is created using a Creality Ender-3 3D Printer and packaged in a decorative cardboard box. The duck is painted to match the specifications of the customer and delivered via carrier delivery service.
Part 2: Verify Reading the Academic Dishonesty Document
Enter your solutions for Part 2 in the same Word document as Part 1 but on a new page.
In other words, you will be submitting a single (one) Microsoft Word document for this assignment.
Every student is required to know the contents of the Academic Dishonesty Document. Failure to read this document in its entirety will not be considered as an excuse for any scholastic offences.
A) Proof of Opening the Document
Download the A Discussion on Academic Dishonesty document that is linked to this assignment on OWL (it can also be found in the Course Overview content unit).
Write down your student number and on the next line write the last two digits of your student number. Finally, write the word that is that corresponds to that position in the Academic Dishonesty document.
Note: Start with the Title. So, Word One (1) is: An, Word Two (2) is: Important, Word Three (3) is: Discussion, etc.
Examples (note: these are the actual words at those locations):
Student Number: 250845378
Last Two Digits: 78
The word that is exactly 78 words from the beginning of the document is: it
Student Number: 250451903
Last Two Digits: 03
The word that is exactly 3 words from the beginning of the document: Discussion
Student Number: 250234212
Last Two Digits: 12
The word that is exactly 12 words from the beginning of the document: Every
Student Number: 250565700
Last Two Digits: 00 (note: this is a special case, enter the word that is 100 words from the beginning)
B) Proof of Reading the Document
Go to page two (2) of the document.
There are Four responsibilities listed. They are denoted by A.) and B.) and C.) and D.)
You must type out the first line (the line that is completely in bold) for each of the six responsibilities.
You enter Part B in the same Word document as Project 1 above, right under Part A.).
This part of the document should look something like:
Responsibilities:
A.) blah blah blah <but the actual words from the document>
B.) blah blah blah <but the actual words from the document>
C.) blah blah blah <but the actual words from the document>
D.) blah blah blah <but the actual words from the document>
Part C) Proof of Understanding the Document
Write a one paragraph summary of why you think the following case is or is not an academic offence and if it is, who is at fault.
Eve is normally a well-prepared student who is on top of her course work. However, this last month has been hard on her. Due to temporary illness, she has fallen behind on her course work and to make matters worse, her laptop broke with all her assignments and coursework on it causing her to lose most of the work on her CS1032 assignment just two days before the deadline!
To help submit the assignment on time, Eve asks her friend Alice for a copy of their assignment so she can get back up to speed and submit before the deadline. Eve promises Alice that she will not directly copy from her work but only use it to check her answers.
Part 3: Install The Required Software.
On the Course Overview section of OWL (found in the Course Content Tab), there is a page called “Installing the Required Software”. Review the steps on this page and watch the video and read the instructions for installing Microsoft Office, the DIA diagram editor, and a plain text editor (Notepad++).
Install each software package on your computer and ensure it is working correctly (e.g. check that the software starts without error and that you can create and edit files/documents).
In the same document as the previous parts, but on a new page, enter the name of the Plain Text Editor you have selected, how you will be running Microsoft Access, and that you have installed the DIA diagram editor and Microsoft World.
This part of the document should look something like:
Project 3:
1.) DIA. (E-R Graphical Tool) Installed and running: Verified by Student.
2.) Plain Text Editor Installed and running: <Name of Plain Text Editor> (i.e NotePad++)
3.) I will use Microsoft Access on: <A windows PC, a Mac using boot camp, or via MyVLab>
4.) I have verified that I have opened Microsoft Access on my computer (or MyVLab): Verified by Student.
Only if using MyVLab:
If you will be using MyVLab (should only apply macOS users). Please also add the following 5th point to your document.
5.) I understand that MyVLab can corrupt files if I save them directly to the Z: drive. I will save my work to the H: drive and only copy to the Z: drive when backing up or submitting my assignment. I will also keep frequent backups of my work.
Note: If you will be using MyVLab (only for macOS users with no access to Windows), you must also verify that you can transfer files between your local computer and the remote windows lab computer (for more details on this see the MyVLab video tutorial in the Course Overview section on OWL).
A very important rule when using MyVLab is to always save to H: drive and only copy your files to the Z: drive (your local computer) when you are backing up your work or are ready to submit. If you save directly to the Z: drive from the software you are using on MyVLab, your file will become corrupted if your internet connection is lost or drops temporarily.