Prototype System

Abstract

The technical requirements of the methodology introduced can be summarised as follows:

• In supplying a conceptual framework to handle case-specific segments, variables and informants by incorporating established strategic segmentation concepts, the prototype has to offer reliable database management facilities and a comfortable user interface for the input, editing and viewing of objects and data.

• In detailing the object relationships for the vertical and horizontal structure of the current and envisaged model, the configuration process is exposed to the effects of combinatorial explosion. Since templates and scripts provide the user with smart ways for concise object linking, the prototype has to incorporate rule-based mechanisms for decoding the user information and for the dynamic generation of the objects and relations necessary for the analysis.

• For determining the envisaged model configuration, the methodology requires the evaluation of planning objects and competencies via qualitative assessments and scoring methods. However, to secure acceptable levels of user inputs the prototype needs to support inheritance methods which adequately consider the single and multiple dependencies within the object hierarchies.

• To analyse objects for model inclusion, their individual data requirements have to be estimated and set against their specific activation and evaluation states. The prototype has to consolidate the input quantities and related data, and carry out Pareto-analyses which should also been shown as charts.

• In selecting the most suitable object set for the envisaged planning model, mismatches between object-specific activation and evaluation states have to be detected. By taking into account the consequences of design changes, the prototype has to perform what-if analyses and to use heuristic rules to generate proposals for the step-by-step improvement of the model configuration.