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This paper focuses on steps to develop an Entity Relational Model (ERM) using a case study of Human Resource Training Management (HRTM) in an organization. It is designed and written to help students learn the process to create a conceptual model by working through the HRTM business activities. ERM represented by Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), and Chen’s notation being used to illustrate the graphical ERD representation. The following steps which involved are: ((1) Identify, analyze and refine the business rules which involved studying the business activities, gather the information and discover the data elements by identifying the information: needs, users, sources and constitution (2) Identify the main entities (3) Define the relationships among the entities, (4) Complete the initial ERD. Each step is explained and accompanied by examples and diagrams to illustrate the process. Keyword: Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD), Conceptual Model, Human Resource Training Management (HRTM), Chen’s Notation and, Information Management. INTRODUCTION Database design is an important component of the curriculum in business and information management. In introduction to database, students must understand the basic of database design as well as the approach and techniques used by a database designer to communicate with the users in order to understand their needs. Database design consists of four primary phases: requirements specification, conceptual design, logical design, and physical design. In requirements specification phase, user needs are gathered through a process of collecting data from users and existing systems, and from available documentation to determine database design specification. The requirements document can be analyzed and turned into a basic data set which can be converted into a conceptual model. Hence, in the second phase, conceptual design involves the process of transferring user requirements to a specific graphical data model. A data model is represented in a diagram which is used to present the data requirements at International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 1446 different levels of abstraction (Rob & Coronel, 2007) and the most commonly used modeling technique for relational databases is the Entity Relationship (ER) modeling. Logical design is the process of translating the ER diagram into a set of tables. The initial step in logical design is to represent the entities, attributes, and relationships found in the ER diagram into a set of related tables. The second step is to transform the tables to remove duplication of data using a process called normalization (Codd, 1970). On the other hand, physical design is the process of specifying database parameters such as data type and field length, then implementing the design in a specific relational database management system. This paper gives more focus on the second phase: conceptual design. LITERATURE REVIEW Students learning to create conceptual data models from written descriptions and communications are sometimes confusing by the fact that they can develop several alternative ER models to represent the same situation. Interpreting the user requirements that lead to conceptual data models can be very subjective. Students studying ER modeling technique are also expected to make suitable assumptions to create models to represent a business context. Research involving ER modeling has focused on certain ER modeling principles and notations. However, reasons to why some are able to create ER models from communications and written descriptions fairly easily while others find it difficult are not discussed (Bodart et al., 2001). Connolly & Begg (2002) state that to gain an understanding of the nature of the data and how it is used by an organization, a model for communication that does not involve technical discussion is necessary. Kimball (1997) states that ER modeling is a regulation used to represent associations among data and is focused on removing data redundancy more often than to create databases that can be queried efficiently. ER modeling is still one of the popular approaches for teaching conceptual modeling and therefore, the purpose of this paper is to assist students to create conceptual data models from written and verbal descriptions using ER diagrams. In the conceptual design stage, the conceptual model must embody a clear understanding of the business and its functional areas. ER models have a layered approach to organizing information, in that the basic components of an ER model: entities, attributes, and relationships can only be combined in certain ways (Chen, 1976). The approach to design a conceptual model using ER diagram that is used in this paper refers to the approach presented in Coronel and Morris (2015). Developing a conceptual model using an ER diagram consists of the following steps: (1) Identify, analyze and refine the business rules, (2) Identify the main entities, (3) Define the relationships among the entities, (4) Complete the initial ER Diagram In the following paragraphs, the first step in developing a conceptual model using an ER diagram, i.e. identify, analyze and refine the business rules, is explained. GATHERING BUSINESS RULES As previously mentioned, the first step is to identify, analyze, and refine business rules. According to Rob & Coronel (2007), business rule is a brief, precise and unambiguous description of a policy, procedure or principle within a specific organization. Business rules are derived from a detailed description of an organization operation. A detail description of operation can be found during International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 1447 database initial study phase by analyzing the company situation. The database designer (DD) can gather the information by doing some interviews and document survey at the company. The staff who is involved in the systems (i.e. during the input, process, output, and feedback) and the staff who are involved in decision making must be identified and interviewed to get the detail of company operations, inclusive of: manual or computerized operations, business functions, events, policies, units, stakeholders, their relationships, the business rules, and the relevant documents or forms. Documents such as the company procedures, standards, annual reports, work orders, job descriptions, organization chart, desk files, and operations and systems manuals must also be analyzed by the DD. It is recommended that the findings are gathered and kept in a written format and are updated to reflect any changes in the operations environment. The information must be written clearly and must be widely disseminated to ensure that every staff in the organization shares a common understanding of the rules. DD must identify the following: (1) what kind of information is needed, (2) who will use the information, (3) where the information is located, and (4) what data elements are needed to produce the information. In order to identify them, the necessary information can be obtained by the following: (1) developing and gathering end-user data views, (2) directly observing the current system: existing and desired output, and (3) interfacing with the system design group. Knowing the business rules enables the DD to understand fully how the business works and what role the data plays within the company operations. The business rules prepare for the proper identification of entities, attributes, relationships and constraints. As stated by Rob and Coronel (2007), a noun in a business rule will translate into an entity in the model, and a verb associating nouns will translate into a relationship among the entities. The relationships must be considered as bidirectional which can go both ways. The process to create a conceptual model will be illustrated by working through the following case study. IMPLEMENTATION: CASE STUDY HRTM ABC is an organization which deals with record and information activities. To ensure every staff has the necessary knowledge and skills to improve its services, the top management has developed set a policy where every staff must attend courses for at least seven days per year. There are many courses offered by several agencies. The staff can select any of the courses or the Head of Department will select the relevant courses for them. An application form to apply for the course must be sent to the Training Unit at least one month before the course starts, using the course application form. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 12, Dec, 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 1448 Currently, the Training Unit manages the training activities. This unit is directly under the company director and is lead by a senior officer (Figure 1). The other supporting staff include a clerk, two junior officers and an office boy. The Training Unit is currently using manual systems in their day to day operation that consist of letters, files and record books. However, they always refer to one of the company information systems available to search for staff details. Once the Training Unit has received the courses offer letters from the agencies, the Training Unit will distribute them to the respective departments to get candidates. If any of the staff are interested to attend any of the courses, they can apply manually using an application form obtained from their Head of Department. The Training Unit will then process the applications and then send a letter to the staff who will be attending the course. Every middle and end of the year, the Training Unit must prepare a report on courses information and staff training attendance to submit to the top management and Headquarters. The most important information that they need is: how many staff have att

Developing Human Resource Training Management (HRTM) Conceptual Model Using Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)