The first branch office of DreamHome was opened in 1992 in a city called Glasgow in the UK. Since then, the Company has grown steadily
and now has several offices in most of the main cities of the UK. However, the Company is now so large that more and more administrative
staff are being employed to cope with the ever-increasing amount of paperwork. Furthermore, the communication and sharing of
information between offices, even in the same city, is poor. The Director of the Company, Sally Mellweadows feels that too many mistakes
are being made and that the success of the Company will be short-lived if she does not do something to remedy the situation. She knows
that a database could help in part to solve the problem and requests that a database application be developed to support the running of
DreamHome. The Director has provided the following brief description of how DreamHome currently operates.
DreamHome specializes in property management, by taking an intermediate role between owners who wish to rent out their
furnished property and clients of DreamHome who require to rent furnished property for a fixed period. DreamHome currently has about
2000 staff working in 100 branches. When a member of staff joins the Company, the DreamHome staff registration form is used. The staff
registration form for Susan Brand is shown in Figure 11.1.
Each branch has an appropriate number and type of staff including a Manager, Supervisors, and Assistants. The Manager is
responsible for the day-to-day running of a branch and each Supervisor is responsible for supervising a group of staff called Assistants. An
example of the first page of a report listing the details of staff working at a branch office in Glasgow is shown in Figure 11.2.
Each branch office offers a range of properties for rent. To offer property through DreamHome, a property owner normally contacts
the DreamHome branch office nearest to the property for rent. The owner provides the details of the property and agrees an appropriate
rent for the property with the branch Manager. The registration form for a property in Glasgow is shown in Figure 11.3.
Once a property is registered, DreamHome provides services to ensure that the property is rented out for maximum return for both
the property owner and of course, DreamHome. These services include interviewing prospective renters (called clients), organizing
viewings of the property by clients, advertising the property in the local or national newspapers (when necessary), and negotiating the lease.
Once rented, DreamHome assumes responsibility for the property including the collection of rent.
Members of the public interested in renting out property must first contact their nearest DreamHome branch office to register as
clients of DreamHome. However, before registration is accepted, a prospective client is normally interviewed to record personal details and
preferences of the client in terms of property requirements. The registration form for a client called Mike Ritchie is shown in Figure 11.4