2 System development life cycle has six stages of creating a sys.docx

2 System development life cycle has six stages of creating a
system. 3 Each step is important as it plays a significant role in
a project. The development cycle involves the developing and
implementing systems in order to retire the information systems
from initiating, analyzing, designing the systems to the
implementation and maintenance phases. The process is best
used when creating or updating a database system and is most
useful when undertaking a large project.
· Planning- Stage where you outline the problem, the main
objectives, and all resources which will be required for
use. 4 After that, you choose if you will create a new system,
make some upgrades to the existing system or just leave the
current system as it is.
· System Analysis- Determination of the client’s needs. The
client is tangled as they clarify how they need the development
to be carried out and in what way it will ensemble their
needs. 4 Thus, documents the necessities and gets a sign-off
from both the customer and administration to go forward with
the system.
· System Design- It is the architectural phase. The members
derive the logical plan and construction of flow of information
for the system. Concrete coding is not yet underway at this
period.
· System Implementation- We begin the actual coding of the
system begin. Developing and installing of the system begins
here. Maintenance, as well as any other future updates of the
system, are carried out in this phase.
4 · System testing and Integration- After coding is
comprehensive, the system goes over a severe test to see if it
has any excuses and that it is steady. Once it concludes the
assessments, the consumer can now use it.
· System maintenance- If a consumer has any inquiry or
apprehensions about the system, they can get sustenance from

the designers who remain to maintain the system. Operations
such as backups and recovery can be performed in this stage as
well as issuing of permissions by the system’s administrator.
Methodologies Software methodology is an outline used to
assemble, strategize and regulate the development of a
system. 4 Agile, RAD and JAD are software procedures, though,
vary from each other.
3 Agile methodology is used for taking on software engineering
schemes. They try to decrease peril by developing software in
repetitions that can take up to 4 weeks. After 4 weeks have gone
off each repetition, the members re-evaluate plan significances.
It inspires teamwork.
There are several variances between JAD and RAD procedures.
While both JAD and RAD employ teams that are contain users,
managers, and Information Technology staff, they have quite a
few points of dissimilarity. For example, JAD stresses on team-
based information-gathering missions, that are only one phase
of the growth process. RAD, however, is more of a trampled
form of the whole process (Topi & Tucker, 2014). JAD is a
prototypical that combines together commercial areas and IT
professionals in a highly engrossed workshop. The prime reason
for the usage of JAD is to advance the value of the final
development by inserting emphasis on the straightforward
portions of the progress life cycle. This lessens the likelihood
of errors. RAD, however, is a system development process that
aids functioning systems to be established within a limited time
period as slight as few months. This emanates with some
concessions. This is for the reason that developments are
planned with static timelines, in which detriments are completed
on the functionalities if need be.
As of all the three procedures, I would select RAD methodology
as it bargains faster implementation as equated to the other
approaches. It also lessens the volume of creation needed to
complete a development. 4 Yes, I would use models as it gives a
user a sensation of how the concrete system will function and
offer their views and commendations hence they feel like they

are part of the system development.
5 Six Steps of the Preliminary Investigation and the Project
Triangle.
They include:
· Step 1: 3 Understand the problem- Identify the current system
and analyze the problem statement.
· Step 2: 3 Define Project Scope and constraints- Identify which
part of the scheme is to be included and what is left out.
· Step 3: 4 Determine Feasibility- Get to know which feasibility
study will be carried out.
· Step 4: 3 Analyse time and project cost-Estimate the time that
the project will take to be complete and cost involved.
· Step 5: 4 Present results and recommendations to
Management- This should be in the form of a word document
called a Preliminary Investigation Report which gives a detailed
report of the system.
5 Data flow Diagram The data flow diagram categorizes where
the data originates from, heads to, and by which transport
system it travels. The data flow illustration technique that is
frequently utilized to develop a source system is also frequently
used during the base system analysis. The data flow illustration
generally comprises the tags and the descriptions of the physical
settings that are presented by the information profile. 5 Apart
from the tags and descriptions, the diagram also adds the
proportions of time, categorizations, and movements to the base
system analysis.
Object-Oriented Development Object-oriented development is a
system design concept that assumes the view that what people
really care about are the objects that they desire to manipulate
as opposed to the logic needed to manipulate them. Some of the
examples of objects can take the form of human beings and
buildings and floors. Humans can be described with the use of
names and address.
3 A simple POS system should include a CPU, screen,
keyboard, barcode readers, receipt copier, payment dispensation
system and the POS terminal software.

To checkout, a customer needs to participate in the
checkout. The customer can only check out once, but the mode
of payment can take part in several ways for checkouts like
cash, credit card or debit e.t.c.
Basic Principles of User-centered Design · The principle of user
profiling- Get to know who your user is.This helps in
understanding their preferences so that the system will suit
them.
· The principle of metaphor- Borrow behaviors from systems
that are similar to yours. Complex systems can be understood
more from picking a system that almost looks similar to the one
you want.
4 · The principle of feature exposure- This lets us see clearly
what functions are available · The principle of coherence- The
program behavior should be both internally and externally
consistent.
· The principle of state visualization- Changes in expression
should be reflected in the system · The principle of shortcuts-
This should be able to provide both concrete and abstract ways
of getting a job done.
· The principle of grammar- know what language will be used
for the user interface.
The last Stage of SDLC Systems Support and Security This
stage involves the incorporation of the current security control
procedures. 5 Examples of those controls that can be executed
through incorporation consist of access controls, authentication,
encryption, and firewalls. Other procedures are using antivirus
programs, physical controls, administrative controls, and
technical controls.This stage is significant for it guarantees that
essential control measures are well-known in order to avoid
unlicensed intrusion with an establishment’s information
systems by uninvited parties. In totaling, it ensures that
consumers and handlers’ vital and private data is protected.
5 Local Industry Needs that Could affect POS System There are
several local business needs that can affect the POS system. For
example, businesses may want to track catalog and accept

payments. Also, organizations may want to track procuring
movements and market sales. 5 These clusters of aspects play an
important role in manipulating the development of a POS
system for they are established by certifying that such
requirements are encompassed in the development of the POS
system. With the present knowledge in the POS, rivalry amongst
creators in the world play an important role as each corporation
is looking for the top POS which is dissolute and effective to
keep their clients happy.
5
2
System development life cycle has six stages of creating a
system.
3
Each step is
important as it plays a significant role in a project.
The dev
elopment cycle involves
the developing and implementing systems in order to retire the
information systems
implementation and
maintenance phases. The process is best used when creating or
updating a
database
system and is most useful when undertaking a large project.
· Planning
-

Stage where you outline the problem, the main objectives, and
all
resources which will be required for use.
4
After that, you choose if you will create a
new system, make some upgrades to the existing system or just
leave the current
system as it is.
·
System Analysis
-
Determination of the client’s needs. The client is tangled as
they
clarify how they need the development to be carried out and in
what way it will
ensemble their needs.
4
Thus, documents the necessities and gets a sign
-
off from
both the customer and administration to go forward with the
system.
· System Design
-
It is the architectural phase.

The members derive the logical plan
and construc
tion of flow of information for the system. Concrete coding is
not yet
underway at this period.
· System Implementation
-
We begin the actual coding of the system begin.
Developing and installing of the system begins here.
Maintenance, as well as any
other
future updates of the system, are carried out in this phase.
4
· System testi
ng and Integration
-
After coding is comprehensive, the system goes
over a severe test to see if it has any excuses and that it is
steady.
Once it concludes
the assessments, the consumer can now use it.
· System maintenance
-
If a consumer has any inquiry or
apprehensions about the
system, they can get sustenance from the designers who remain
to maintain the

system. Operations such as backups and recovery can be
performed in this stage as
Methodolo
gies Software methodology is an outline used to assemble,
strategize and
regulate the development of a system.
4
Agile, RAD and JAD are software
procedures, though, vary from each other.
2 System development life cycle has six stages of creating a
system. 3 Each step is
important as it plays a significant role in a project. The
development cycle involves
the developing and implementing systems in order to retire the
information systems
implementation and
maintenance phases. The process is best used when creating or
updating a database
system and is most useful when undertaking a large project.
· Planning- Stage where you outline the problem, the main
objectives, and all
resources which will be required for use. 4 After that, you
choose if you will create a
new system, make some upgrades to the existing system or just
leave the current
system as it is.
· System Analysis- Determination of the client’s needs. The
client is tangled as they
clarify how they need the development to be carried out and in

what way it will
ensemble their needs. 4 Thus, documents the necessities and
gets a sign-off from
both the customer and administration to go forward with the
system.
· System Design- It is the architectural phase. The members
derive the logical plan
and construction of flow of information for the system.
Concrete coding is not yet
underway at this period.
· System Implementation- We begin the actual coding of the
system begin.
Developing and installing of the system begins here.
Maintenance, as well as any
other future updates of the system, are carried out in this phase.
4 · System testing and Integration- After coding is
comprehensive, the system goes
over a severe test to see if it has any excuses and that it is
steady. Once it concludes
the assessments, the consumer can now use it.
· System maintenance- If a consumer has any inquiry or
apprehensions about the
system, they can get sustenance from the designers who remain
to maintain the
system. Operations such as backups and recovery can be
performed in this stage as
Methodologies Software methodology is an outline used to
assemble, strategize and
regulate the development of a system. 4 Agile, RAD and JAD
are software
procedures, though, vary from each other.

13-147
July 5, 2013
This case was prepared by Lauren Ankeles, Marine Graham, and
Priyanka Ramamurthy (MBAs, Class of 2013), and Senior
Lecturer Roberta Pittore.
Copyright © 2013, Lauren Ankeles, Marine Graham, Roberta
Pittore, and Priyanka Ramamurthy. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No
Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this
license
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send
a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300,
San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Sink or SWIM
Lauren Ankeles, Marine Graham, Roberta Pittore and Priyanka
Ramamurthy
How could a sunny February afternoon take such a turn for the
worse? The clock ticked in the MIT
Sloan Student Life Office (SLO), where the three Sloan Women
in Management (SWIM) club co-
presidents and two conference directors were gathered.1
SWIM’s 3rd annual conference, 11 months in
the making, was scheduled to take place the next day. A winter
storm was looming, with weather
predictions varying widely from three to 50 inches of snow in
the next 48 hours. It was almost
2:00pm and a decision had to be made – setup was slated to
begin in minutes, and speakers were
boarding their flights for Boston. Should the conference be
canceled, modified, or go forward as

planned?
SLO Associate Director Marco Esquandolas looked at the five
women seated in front of him and
asked, “Ladies, what is your final call?”
Background on SWIM
The Sloan Women in Management club was founded in the
1980s and had become one of the largest
clubs at MIT Sloan. The organization’s primary goals were to
create an inviting and supportive
community for all Sloan women; advance the careers of current
female Sloan students; work with
faculty, administrators, and the greater business community to
increase opportunities for women in
business; and, attract top female students to MIT Sloan.
1 The Student Life Office provides programs and services to
foster a graduate student community based on collaboration and
contribution. This includes
oversight of student organizations and support on student events
and initiatives.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 2

In an effort to meet all of these goals and cater to the broadest
set of women, SWIM hosted a variety
of year-long programming including networking events, speaker
series, professional development
workshops, mentorship programs, and community building
events. In addition, the club held three
flagship events, one of which was an annual conference where
students could dialogue with leading
women in business. As of February 2013, SWIM had
approximately 300 members,2 550 Facebook
fans, 640 Twitter followers, 270 LinkedIn group members, and
300 individuals on the alumnae
mailing list.
The annual conference had quickly become the organization’s
largest event, despite its inception just
two years earlier. After the relatively small-scale initial
conference featuring panelists primarily from
the MIT Sloan community, the 2012 conference directors sought
to create the gold standard in
women’s business conferences. The “Innovating through
Adversity” 2012 conference brought several
renowned speakers including Fortune 500 CEO Laura Sen (BJ’s)
and VP of Google
Local/Maps/Localization Marissa Mayer to a sold-out crowd of
over 400 attendees. All who
participated hailed the conference a tremendous success. Male
and female students who attended
agreed that of the roughly 30 annual MIT Sloan conferences,
SWIM’s was the best conference of the
year.
There was strong support and interest from the administration
due to the high profile of 2012’s
conference. As SLO Director Christine Pugh noted, “The 2012

conference knocked it out of the park
– probably based on some learnings from the 2011 conference. I
heard it was just phenomenal,
enough people really raved about it that I’m very confident in
saying that.”
The 2013 Conference Leadership Team
The 2013 SWIM club co-presidents, Rachel, Lea, and Tarini,
were eager to build on the previous
year’s success and, immediately after their election to their
leadership roles in February 2012, they
began planning for the 2013 conference.3 As the conference was
the club’s largest event of the year,
Rachel, Lea, and Tarini agreed that they wanted to maintain the
previous year’s structure of heavy
involvement with the event, taking on the roles of conference
CFO, COO, and CMO, respectively.
They would next need to select two directors who would
oversee the content of the conference,
including selecting the theme and speakers, motivating a large
team to execute the event according to
their vision, and serving as the masters of ceremonies for the
event.
The 2013 conference directors, Janet and Merrill, were selected
in March 2012 by all of the co-
presidents, both past and present, and the previous year’s
conference directors. According to Janet, “I
2 Members include women from various Sloan programs (MBA,
Leaders for Global Operations, Master of Finance, Sloan
Fellows, Executive MBA).
3 Names of people from MIT Sloan have been disguised for the

purposes of this case.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 3
was thinking through my next year’s goals. Something I wanted
to do was make a substantial impact
on Sloan. There were lots of ways I could do that. I decided that
one of my goals would be to work on
the SWIM conference which has a very tangible output with a
group of people I really respect.”
The theme for the 2013 conference was set as “Dare to Fail:
Taking Risks When it Matters Most.”
Soon after deciding the theme, the directors finalized a shortlist
of keynote speakers, began
brainstorming speakers for panels, and scheduled meetings with
relevant Sloan faculty and
administration.
The past presidents warned Rachel, Lea, and Tarini that they
experienced significant tension the
previous year over who had final authority in the decision-
making process. Despite this warning, the
same dynamic quickly developed with the new team. The co-
presidents wanted be included in all key
decisions, believing they needed to have a say in the selection
of speakers and topics, both for the
purposes of the conference, as well as to ensure integration with

the SWIM brand and overall
organizational strategy. The conference directors felt that they
were being micromanaged for an event
that they were directing.
As the SWIM leadership team headed off for the summer to five
different cities to pursue internships,
expectations were set that Merrill and Janet would focus on
recruiting speakers, and Rachel, Lea, and
Tarini would work on sponsorship, operations, and marketing
(including ticket sales), respectively.
The five loosely agreed to check-in calls, though specific dates
and milestones were not set.
Maintaining contact during the summer proved challenging, as
the group of five were in different
time zones and had different work schedules. Throughout the
summer Merrill and Janet continued to
chip away at speaker recruitment without much success. Despite
sending out multiple keynote
requests, they continued to hit dead-ends due to scheduling
conflicts and non-responses. On August
10 the first keynote was confirmed – Four Star General Janet
Wolfenbarger – and the team breathed a
small sigh of relief. As they all geared up to return to campus in
the fall, however, there was still
significant concern from the entire team about the lack of
progress that had been made over the
summer in finalizing speakers.
Shortly after General Wolfenbarger was confirmed, the group
faced yet another unanticipated
setback. Merrill, whose summer internship had been at a start-
up, had been offered significant equity
to leave MIT Sloan and continue in her role at the start-up. On
August 20, she sent the following

email to the co-presidents:
…I am nothing less than obsessed with this event – and with
working with Janet and each of you
– and I seriously considered returning to school JUST to direct
the conference. However, that
didn’t seem like the most logical decision, and I ultimately
didn’t feel that giving up my stake in
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 4
the company was worth the conference, regardless of how
amazing the conference is going to be.
I do, however, have a proposal… I would like to ask to continue
to co-direct the conference with
Janet. I am committed to this event’s tremendous success, am
passionate about the theme, and
will work incredibly hard to develop speakers and panels that
are worthy of SWIM. I’ve spoken
with Janet, and she is in support of this.
While it was not clear how involved Merrill would be moving
forward, the co-presidents agreed to
this arrangement. They were concerned about finding an
alternate director given the late stage in the

planning process and trusted that Janet and Merrill had
discussed managing their time appropriately.
The five-person team committed to weekly meetings to ensure
that communication lines would
remain open and progress would continue.
Conference Planning
Despite these challenges, the team maintained a positive
outlook upon returning to campus for the fall
semester, and worked hard to harness the energy of the first
year MBA students. The annual
conference was historically a crucial way to engage new
students and identify future leaders for the
organization. Committees were created to focus on speaker
recruitment (led by Merrill and Janet),
marketing (Tarini), operations (Lea), and sponsorship (Rachel).
Speaker Recruitment
Over the course of the fall semester, it became increasingly
clear that Janet and Merrill were
struggling to find speakers. The plan had been to secure at least
two keynote speakers by the end of
the summer, and then form teams of first year students to take
the lead in recruiting four to five
speakers for each of the two panels.
The panel teams were moving forward with mixed success.
Speakers were responding well to the
theme of failure, but were unable to commit to the conference
date. This had a significant effect on
the rest of the conference planning, particularly the marketing
team, which struggled to accurately
frame the conference. With Merrill on leave from MIT, a
disproportionate amount of work was

placed on Janet.
Though angry words were never exchanged, tension grew
between the conference directors and the
co-presidents. While the presidents had each other to rely on,
Janet shouldered much of the pressure
on her own, searching for a way to push forward and maintain
an energetic exterior to keep the
conference team engaged.
By the end of November 2012, the panel teams were pushing out
multiple speaker requests and
tapping all of their networks for introductions. The team
scrambled to finalize the conference agenda
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 5
before they left for winter break, as everyone would be spread
out traveling the globe until the
beginning of February. By the end of December, nearly all the
speaking engagements were
confirmed.
On January 23, 2013, with two weeks left until the conference,
original keynote General
Wolfenbarger canceled her participation due to government
budget-cuts. The team, exhausted from
the search for speakers, scrambled once again to fill the gaps in

the lineup and manage the fallout
from attendees who had bought tickets intending to hear the
General speak. The co-presidents were
convinced that there was no way to find a keynote at this late
date, but to their surprise a new keynote
speaker who was a growing force in the venture capital world
was quickly confirmed. This was just
what the team needed to sell their last few tickets.
Marketing
In 2012, an aggressive marketing campaign had led to a sold out
conference (400 tickets) nearly two
months prior to the event. For the 2013 conference, the
directors wanted to sell 500 tickets, at a
slightly higher price – $25 for students and $50 for
professionals. The main challenge for the
marketing team, however, was not the price point, but that
marketing needed to begin before speakers
had been confirmed. Falling steadily behind 2012’s numbers,
Tarini commented, “I don’t even know
why the current attendees are buying tickets. Right now, I’m
just selling air.” To compensate, the
marketing plan from the prior year was beefed up to include
social media, outreach to other schools,
and mailing lists targeting professionals. December was a busy
month for ticket sales thanks to the
team individually emailing over 100 professionals in the area,
including every female professor
associated with MIT Sloan, launching an aggressive social
media campaign, and revamping the
promotional material each time a new speaker was added to the
roster. However, ticket sales still
lagged behind the previous year, and Tarini checked daily as the
fear of a half-empty event continued
to grow. The weekend before the conference, the team

confirmed that the event was sold out.
Operations
The conference event space, the premier location on campus and
a highly sought after venue, had
been booked in June 2012. Lea formed a team to help with
operations including vendor management
(catering, facilities, custodial services, security, furniture
rental, audio-visual needs, lighting,
videography), day-of logistics management, and preparation for
the VIP dinner, traditionally held the
night before the conference to welcome speakers and thank
corporate sponsors for their support.
Students who had been active participants in conference
planning were also invited to attend. To cut
costs and improve logistics, the team opted for a new dinner
venue close to campus, which meant
building new relationships with vendors and planning the
budget, menu, and event space from the
ground up. A non-refundable deposit had been put down to hold
the space, and the final payment for
the dinner, estimated to be $3,000, would be due upon
completion of the VIP dinner.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 6

During the planning period, the leadership team identified a
major glitch – a classroom in the same
building as the event venue, traditionally used as an overflow
space for conference attendees, was
booked for a class during the conference. Preparations had to be
adjusted accordingly to
accommodate the reduced seating and inflow of non-conference
attendees that would be coming
through the building entrance.
By the end of January, all of the work orders and purchase
orders had been set up, though no formal
contracts had been signed, and vendors were scheduled to begin
arriving at 2:00pm on Thursday,
February 7 to set up (Exhibit 2). The MIT Sloan administration
had agreed to host an alumnae
breakfast at the conference. In-kind donations had been
solicited from coffee and pastry shops in the
area, who would be delivering items on the day of the
conference. However, on January 24, the MIT
administration notified Lea that they could no longer sponsor
the alumnae breakfast as originally
promised due to budget constraints. With just two weeks until
the conference, the team scrambled yet
again to adjust.
Sponsorship
The sponsorship team, led by Rachel, began planning for the
conference in late June 2012. Initially a
small group worked on drafting promotional materials that
would be shared with potential sponsor
organizations and would provide a summary of the 2012
conference, the vision for 2013, and
information about the benefits of sponsorship. With this
information in hand, the team began reaching

out to the prior year’s conference sponsors to gauge their
interest in sponsoring once again. The team
had a fundraising goal of $40,000. This amount, in addition to
the revenue from ticket sales, would
enable them to cover all conference costs and have a buffer,
which could be applied to the following
year’s conference should the funds not be required. While many
of the previous year’s supporters
were interested in partnering with SWIM again, many
companies did not have the same budget
resources available to them, and as such the sponsorship team
was hard pressed to raise enough
money to fund the conference. Rachel turned to the first year
student committee to help brainstorm a
list of new sponsor organizations and reach out to their network
of contacts. Despite getting off to a
slow start, a driven first year student stepped up taking on
virtually all fundraising tasks and, in late
January, signed the final sponsor, bringing the fundraising total
to $38,000, enough to fund the 2013
conference.
Miraculously the week before the conference, speaker
recruitment, marketing, operations, and
sponsorship were all coming to a successful close.
Final Preparations
Monday, Feb. 4
Five days to go. On Monday, February 4, students arrived back
on campus after their January break,
ready for a new semester. The energy level was at an all-time
high as the full conference team, 20

SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 7
members strong, assembled to discuss final details on the event
that was now 11 months in the
making.
Much like a dress rehearsal, the operations team walked through
all events for the week, hour-by-
hour, to finalize last minute details. The marketing team
confirmed that the event was officially sold
out with 500 tickets disbursed (Exhibit 3), and the sponsorship
team officially closed out their
sponsorship efforts with $38,000 raised, confirming that the
conference would easily break even on
costs (Exhibit 4). All 15 speakers had recently been confirmed
and information on their travel
logistics was being collected. Outside of the five-member
leadership team, most students had been
focused on their own assignments until now, and this was the
first time they were able to see the
breadth of work that had been completed to date. At the
meeting, final decisions were collectively
made regarding social media strategy for the day of the
conference, speaker biographies were
approved for the programs, and signs for the event space were
designed and sent to the printers.
Tuesday, Feb. 5
On Tuesday, between and after classes, the co-presidents
focused on last minute details for the

conference including printing nametags, determining the room-
flow for the event space,
communicating with the photographer, assigning handlers for
VIP attendees, and setting up
interviews between speakers and members of the media.
Volunteer assignments, that took into
consideration both the schedules and personal interests of 50
student volunteers, were confirmed.
Late that afternoon, murmurs began that a snowstorm was
approaching, but in New England,
predictions of inclement weather were an ordinary occurrence.
Weather reports were vague, varied,
and contradictory across networks (Exhibit 5). The conference
team continued operating according to
the original schedule, knowing that since 1997 MIT had closed
only twice due to snow. As Janet
remarked, “Boston is Boston. There is really no way of knowing
so let’s just keep going. It’s just go
go go. There is a lot to be done.”
However, as night approached, weather predictions became
more distressing.
Wednesday, Feb. 6
Forty-eight hours before the start of the conference, weather
predictions across different networks
began to indicate the possibility that a major storm would hit
the Boston area some time on Friday.
Starting at 8:00am, the team began operating on two streams:
(1) continuing to prepare for Friday’s
conference with the finalized set of speakers, and (2)
identifying alternate local speakers should
flights be canceled.
At 9:00am, an email was exchanged among the conference

leadership team:
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 8
Weather looks like it’ll be ok in the AM on Friday but get
steadily worse for the evening.
Hopefully this means speakers will be able to arrive and leave
without issue. Here is a status
report on travel plans:
Traveling in:
• Alison Gerlach: Arriving Thursday night
• Julia Hu: Flying in from San Francisco Thursday afternoon
• Julie Sygiel: Train in from NYC Friday morning
• Sandie O’Connor: Switched flight to Thursday night due to
weather concerns
• Maura O’Neill: Flight from DC Thursday evening
In case of contingency for above speakers:
• Christina Chase can move to Panel #2 (I’ll ask her today)
• 2 of 3 speakers on Panel #1 are local, even if Julia can’t make
it
• All Keynotes are flying in…this is a tough one. I know an
MIT professor who could
possibly do a talk last minute (I’ll ask today)

Thirty-six hours before the event, the conference team sent a
message to all attendees notifying them
that the conference would continue as scheduled and reminding
them of key logistics (Exhibit 6).
Since Monday, the team had been receiving emails from people
on the waitlist for tickets, asking if
there was anything they could do to get off the waitlist. Worried
that people might be scared off by a
potential storm, the marketing team began releasing tickets from
the waitlist although the event was at
full capacity. The remainder of the day unfolded rapidly:
• 4:47pm: One of the corporate sponsors of the conference and a
core sponsor of SWIM
emailed to say their three representatives, who were coming
from upstate New York, would
not be attending due to the weather forecasts. There was no
mention of any implications for
sponsorship funds.
• 7:14pm: New weather reports indicated a stronger storm than
earlier anticipated and in
response, Christine Pugh, SLO director, contacted the
leadership team requesting a meeting
for the next day to discuss contingencies should MIT close (a
historically rare occurrence).
• 8:35pm: Attendees began emailing the conference team to ask
about postponement and
cancellation options, and when they would get their money
back. These emails trickled in
throughout the night and into the next day (Exhibit 7). They
were not sent any response.

Thursday, Feb. 7
T-minus 24 hours. Thursday morning began early, though none
of the presidents or conference
directors had been getting a full night’s sleep that week. The
team pushed forward, operating under
the assumption that either the conference would continue as
planned, or face speaker cancelations.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 9
Before, between and during classes, texts and emails were fired
off rapidly between the conference
directors, presidents, and within each conference committee. At
7:33am, Tarini wrote, “If I keep
getting so many emails from ticket attendees asking if the
conference is cancelled, I will have a legit
breakdown. I’ve gotten nearly 100 emails this morning. Let me
know what they say at the 9am
meeting.” Rachel responded with, “According to my latest
weather stalking this thing will go on.
Snow won’t get bad until afternoon.”
At 9:00am, Lea, Rachel, and Merrill attended a meeting at the
SLO, at which time multiple
contingency scenarios were discussed. The following email was
sent to the entire leadership team to
summarize the meeting and next steps:

We talked about a couple of different scenarios with Marco
Esquandolas, Christine Pugh, and
Sharon Knope this morning:
A. Move forward as planned – expect some speakers not to
make it, and low attendance.
Potentially hold a half-day conference.
B. Cancel the conference this afternoon. Marco Esquandolas is
doing some recon for us
today on whether MIT is likely to close, but there is no
indication that this will happen
yet.
C. Wait to receive notification of MIT closing tomorrow (likely
late tonight or early
tomorrow morning; could be either full day or half day closure).
*TO DO*
1) Now – Janet/Merrill reach out to speakers now to get latest
news on travel plans
2) Now – Merrill check in with MIT Sloan Dean to update him
on contingency plans
3) 12:30PM – Lea check in with Marco for update on MIT
closure status
4) Until a decision is made, Tarini should not respond to any
emails from attendees
As of 11:00am, the speakers team had identified local speakers,
should confirmed speakers face travel
delays or cancelations. At 11:30am, conference discussions

were temporarily put on hold while
Rachel and Tarini attended a SWIM event on personal finance
and career decisions for women,
unrelated to the conference. It was a longstanding goal that the
conference not detract from SWIM’s
general programing at any point during the year. As a rule, at
least one, if not all three, of the club’s
presidents attended any of the events the club held. Lea was not
present, as she was initially planning
to print the 500 nametags needed for the next morning. As a last
minute decision, the team decided to
hold off on this task, and she instead checked in with Marco to
see if he had received any more
information regarding the likelihood of an MIT closure.
While waiting for Marco to return to his office, Lea emailed the
operations committee and the
conference leadership team at 11:53am with an updated
operations schedule and the following
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 10
message suggesting she had received some good news: “For
now, please notify all vendors that we
are moving forward as planned - I will let you know
immediately if anything changes!” However, at
12:36pm, Lea sent a short, cryptic, and concerning text message
to the co-presidents: “Just spoke with

Marco - Can you come now?”
Decision Time
During the many months of planning, each member of the
leadership team had visualized dozens of
possible scenarios for the conference. In some, there were no
attendees, the food never arrived, or the
speakers forgot their talking points. In others, the room was
packed and the crowd was on their feet
giving thunderous applause for a life- and career-changing
event. After so many setbacks, it was
finally all within reach, and it was going to be glorious. Except
now, there was a new and
unprecedented scenario to consider – canceling the conference
for a potentially monstrous
snowstorm, when there was not a cloud in the sky or a
snowflake on the ground.
At 1:30pm on Thursday, February 7, SWIM’s three co-
presidents and two conference directors, who
had been in varying states of misalignment and frustration for
so long, met with Marco in his office to
sort through their options. Weather reports had been monitored
from different networks. Now, there
was every indication that a storm would hit Boston at some
point, but most networks expected the
storm to hit after 12:00pm on Friday, while others said it could
be as late as Friday night. It was
simply too early to tell.
Janet and Merrill collected a status update of where each
speaker was, and when planes would begin
taking off toward Boston. They confirmed that all 15 speakers
were unfazed by weather reports and
were ready to attend the conference the next day, regardless of

the potential snowstorm. One had
already changed her ticket to fly in earlier to avoid any airport
closings, and a second could not be
reached as she was already on a flight from London.
At precisely 2:00pm, vendors would begin setting up the venue
and SWIM would be liable for the
costs. Further, if MIT closed, the rental fees would triple from a
one-day rental to daily rentals
through the weekend, when the rentals could be picked up. Lea
did a back of the envelope calculation
and quickly saw that if the conference was canceled after
vendors arrived, the costs could increase
significantly. The catering company had already warned her that
it was too late to cancel the
perishable food items that had been prepared for the conference
– it was unclear what percentage of
the $13,000 catering bill would be recoverable. Lea knew what
her vote was, but she was curious to
see which way her two co-presidents were leaning.
The MIT administration had not yet closed the Institute, and
would not comment on if they would.
MIT rarely closed its doors, but if it did no events would be
allowed on campus, including the
conference.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 11

What would happen if the conference was not canceled, and
MIT closed later that night? What if the
conference was canceled, MIT did not close, and the storm only
hit Friday night? What would be the
fallout with attendees and corporate sponsors? Rachel was
particularly concerned about the
ramifications for the sponsors, whom her team had worked so
hard to secure. Would SWIM’s
reputation be impacted? Would they be able to secure
sponsorship funds in the future? Tarini
wondered if attendees would show up for the conference, even
if it was not canceled, and if they did,
was there a risk of them being snowed in? If the team opted to
cancel the conference, would they be
forced to give back ticket revenue, and, if so, how would that
affect the bottom line? Could they
really give up on the event that they had sacrificed for and had
devoted the last year of their lives to?
The entire conference revolved around the theme of coming to
the brink of failure and still finding a
way to succeed. With graduation around the corner, there would
be no second chances.
Given that most weather forecasts suggested that snowfall
would only begin at 12:00pm Friday, and
would not escalate until early evening, Merrill began
championing the idea of a half-day conference.
Could they run the events concurrently instead of sequentially,
giving attendees the option to choose
which speaker to hear from? Since the event space would be set
up for one speaker at a time, would
it even be feasible? Would attendees show up for a conference
that only lasted three hours, and if not,
would low attendance be disrespectful to the high profile
speakers?

The conference directors and co-presidents narrowed it down to
three choices:
1. Cancel the conference before 2:00pm, thus saving operational
costs that would otherwise be
incurred.
2. Hold a half-day conference with concurrent speakers.
3. Wait until Thursday night to make a decision, based on more
accurate forecasts and updates
on speaker travel plans.
While initially on the table, rescheduling was not an option for
the team. With only three months left
before the conference leadership team graduated it would be
impossible to find a date that worked for
all, or even most, of the speakers. Additionally, because the
venue had no availability in March,
April, or May, the team would need to find a new location for
the conference. They would in effect be
planning an entirely new conference in one-quarter of the time
it took to plan the initial conference.
For these reasons they knew rescheduling would not work.
In his facilitator role, Marco Esquandolas remained an impartial
observer, telling them,
The way I look at clubs on campus is that it is your chance to
practice management. You put this
all together. You know best if you should cancel or go forward.
In all my years here, this situation
is unprecedented. If it is canceled, it will be devastating. If

there is a storm, it will be devastating.
If there is no storm, it will be devastating. I will support
whatever decision you make.
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 12
The women discussed their options at a rapid pace, knowing the
minutes were winding down. How
would speakers react if the conference had to be canceled after
they had already flown in? Would
companies expect sponsorship money to be returned? What was
best for the safety of attendees? How
much of the setup cost would be sunk if they postponed the
decision? If first year students never got
to see a conference executed, what would a cancelation mean
for the legacy of SWIM? What alternate
venues could accommodate the conference if MIT closed?
Would it even snow?
The only thing they were sure of was that whatever decision
they made would have a long-lasting
impact on the event and organization that they were so
dedicated to.
SINK OR SWIM

Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 13
Exhibit 1 Conference Agenda
8:00AM – 9:00AM Registration Opens
Networking Breakfast
Alumni Breakfast (MIT Sloan Graduates)
9:00AM – 10:00AM Introduction by MIT Sloan Dean
Schmittlein
Morning Fireside Chat: Maria Cirino (.406 Ventures)
Moderated by Bill Aulet (Martin Trust Center for MIT
Entrepreneurship)
10:00AM – 10:15AM Coffee Break
10:15AM – 11:15AM Spotlight: Leadership and Gender: Does it
Matter?
Exploring male and female leadership styles across industries
Nancie Fernandez (Deloitte), Julia Hu (Lark Technologies), and
Martha
Samuelson (Analysis Group)
Moderated by Emilio Castilla (MIT Sloan)
11:15AM – 11:45AM Case Study: Vanessa Green (FINSix)
11:45AM – 12:45PM Networking Lunch
12:45PM – 1:45PM Afternoon Fireside Chat: Sandie O’Connor
(JP Morgan Chase)
Moderated by Shari Loessberg (MIT Sloan)
1:45PM – 2:45PM Spotlight: Risking the F-Word

Redefining the fear of failure for women
Alison Gerlach, Catharina Lavers Mallet (King.com), and Julie
Sygiel (Dear
Kate)
Moderated by Christina Chase (MIT Sloan)
2:45PM – 3:00PM Coffee Break
3:00PM – 3:30PM Case Study: Tamar Dane Dor-Ner (Bain
Consulting)
3:30PM – 4:30PM Closing Keynote Speaker: Maura O’Neill
(USAID)
Exhibit 2 Conference Operations Schedule
Wednesday 2/6/13
11:30 AM Gift bag assembly begins in SLO
1:00 PM Lea picks up keys/elevator pass from Kevin Davis at
Media Lab
5:00 PM All bags in SLO storage
Thursday 2/7/13
1:30 PM Prior event at venue ends
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy

July 5, 2013 14
2:00 PM Venue is available to SWIM
Facilities men arrive to break down prior event
4:00 PM SWIM team begins to drop off completed gift bags
Facilities men depart (expected 2hr setup)
5:30 PM Florists drop off flowers (expected 5:30 - 6pm)
6:00 PM Furniture vendor 1 delivery arrives (expected 6pm)
Furniture vendor 2 arrives to reset stage
6:30 PM Venue lobby doors officially locked
Lea to provide access after to doors and freight elevator
Lighting arrives (expected 6:30pm)
7:00 PM VIP DINNER STARTS
Furniture vendor 2 departs
8:00 PM Furniture vendor 1 departs (expected set no later than
8pm)
Lighting departs
9:00 PM Official reservation for the night ends (SWIM
members still on site)
10:00 PM VIP DINNER ENDS

10:30 PM SWIM team schedule run through (including A/V and
Video planning)
11:00 PM Venue freight elevators will no longer operate
Friday 2/8/13
5:30 AM Venue freight elevators begin operating
Lea to provide access
7:00 AM Pastry pickup (separate from catering)
SWIM conference organizers begin to arrive
2 day custodians arrives
Lighting arrives
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 15
7:15 AM A/V and Video Production arrive (expected 7-7:15)
7:30 AM Caterer arrives to set up breakfast (server on hand all
day)
SWIM conference volunteers scheduled to begin arriving
VIP Room check

Venue lobby doors unlocked
8:00 AM Official start of conference agenda
Registration for Conference/Breakfast begins
9:00 AM Caterer arrives to set up AM snack
9:30 AM Coffee delivery
10:30 AM Organizers sign up to fill holes in networking lunch
(if needed)
10:45 AM Caterer arrives to set up lunch
1:15 PM Caterer arrives to set up afternoon snack
4:30 PM Official Conference Agenda ends
Day custodians depart
Caterer expected to begin clean up
5:00 PM Caterer departs
5:30 PM Facilities arrives for venue reset
A/V and Video Production depart (expected)
Lighting departs (expected)
6:30 PM Venue lobby doors locked
7:00 PM Furniture vendor 1 delivery arrives for pick-up

Furniture vendor 2 arrives for stage pick-up
7:30 PM Facilities departs after reset (expected)
8:00 PM Furniture vendor 1 departs (expected)
Furniture vendor 2 departs (expected)
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 16
Exhibit 3 Ticket Sales Breakdown
Exhibit 4 Sponsorship Funds Raised
Sponsorship funds totaled $38,000.
5 organizations donated $5,000 each and were promised:
• Dedicated table with students interested in your company at
networking lunch
• Recognition on SWIM website
• Twitter and Facebook mentions beginning 2 weeks before
event
• Company profile on SWIM website

TBD Final SWIM volunteers depart with supplies, etc.
11:00 PM Night custodian arrives (has full access to the
building)
11:00 PM Venue freight elevators stop operating
7:00 AM Night custodian expected to depart
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 17
• Company profile listed in conference program
• ‘Thank You’ from SWIM leadership at opening and during
event
• Twitter and Facebook mentions on day of event
• Company name and logo listed in event program
• ‘Thank You’ from SWIM leadership at opening of event
• Company name and logo listed in event program

2 organizations donated $500 each and were promised:
Exhibit 5 Local Weather Reports, 2/5 – 2/7
Tuesday, February 5
No mention of snow
Wednesday February 6
On Wednesday afternoon, Brad Panovich, a meteorologist in
Charlotte, N.C., tweeted to more than
15,000 followers: “So Boston could get either 51” of snow or
3.5” of snow. The ensemble mean is
24.” He was citing the Short Range Ensemble Forecast of the
National Centers for Environmental
Prediction, a model that gave a small chance of both extremes.
“But still possible,” Panovich tweeted.
February 6, 2013, 2:23 PM ET
The Wall Street Journal
Weather Journal: Snowstorm of Uncertainty Nears
“… the coming storm looks to be as close to a meteorologist’s
worst nightmare as can be imagined,
and here’s why: Warm air at the coast will stifle snow
accumulations, while just a few miles inland
the parent storm could produce hefty precipitation totals. The
general rule of thumb is that an inch of
rain equals 10 inches of snow, so any inconsistencies are greatly
magnified. The result is shaping up
to be an extremely tricky storm outlook, especially more than
48 hours in advance — an eternity in

weather forecasting. But as the National Weather Service in
New York City warns: “There is the
potential for this to be the strongest winter storm of the
season.”
SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 18
Thursday, February 7
“Better get ready. National Weather Service forecasters say this
morning that not much has changed
about their forecast for the snowstorm that will wallop
Massachusetts on Friday. It’s still expected to
be a doozie, possibly one for the record books. Forecasters have
issued blizzard watches for much of
the state, warning that the storm may drop as much as 2 feet of
snow, which will be whipped up by
high winds and gusts that could reach 65 miles per hour in some
areas.”
February 7, 2013
The Boston Globe, Metro Section
Snowstorm may bring 30 inches as anticipation builds in Mass.
“The nor’easter forecast to slam the state Friday is creating a
perfect storm of expectations, fueled by
increasingly dire weather reports and flurry of tweets relying on
the reams of raw data available
online. Based on different models used by the National Weather

Service’s Storm Prediction Center,
there were 22 different forecasts of how much snow could be
dropped on the region by Saturday,
ranging from 3.44 inches to a little more than four feet. A look
at the predictions is below, along with
sizes of items for comparison.”
Exhibit 6 Email to Attendees (2/6)
Date: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 6:30 PM
Subject: Message to attendees of 2013 Sloan Women in
Management Conference Dare to Fail
Thank you for registering for the Sloan Women in Management
Conference taking place this Friday,
February 8th! We are thrilled to share this event with you. With
less than two days to go, we wanted
to remind you to bring your ticket, in electronic or paper form
for a quick and easy registration. Join
us at the Networking Breakfast from 8-9AM before our first
speaker takes the stage (the
incredible Maria Cirino of .406 Ventures).
We are very excited to welcome you and our fabulous speakers
to MIT on Friday morning (directions
here), snow or shine.
Registration will available all day, beginning at 8 AM.
We look forward to meeting you on Friday.
Best regards,
SWIM Conference Team

SINK OR SWIM
Ramamurthy
July 5, 2013 19
Exhibit 7 Selected Emails from Conference Attendees (2/7)
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013 7:20 AM
Subject: RE: Message to attendees of 2013 Sloan Women in
Management Conference Dare to...
Thanks for the welcome, but it looks like Boston is going to get
wiped out by a winter storm! What
are your alternative plans???!!!
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013 7:35 AM
Subject: RE: Message to attendees of 2013 Sloan Women in
Management Conference Dare to...
Good morning.
Given the impending blizzard, will this conference be
rescheduled? Thanks!
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013 12:44 PM
Subject: Please reconsider rescheduling due to storm
Hello,
I am writing with the hope that your team would reconsider

rescheduling tomorrow’s conference. I
certainly respect all of the difficult work that goes into
scheduling speakers, logistics, food, etc., but
reports have been broadcasting all day about the Mayor of
Boston asking people to be off the road
after 12 p.m., and numerous companies telling workers to stay
home tomorrow. I am pregnant and not
excited about sitting in snowstorm traffic tomorrow evening; at
the same time, I don’t want to forfeit
my registration investment either, since I am starting my own
business and funds are tight.
Thank you for your consideration.

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