...Soft Systems Methodology A report by Dale Couprie Alan Goodbrand Bin Li David Zhu Department of Computer Science University of Calgary Table of Contents. Abstract. Introduction Map Stage 1. Problem situation unstructured. Stage 2. Problem Situation expressed. Rich Pictures Illustration of Stage 1 and Stage 2 as a whole in SSM Pitfalls that must be avoided. Stage 3: Naming of Relevant Systems Root Definitions CATWOE Stage 4: Conceptual Models Systems Thinking Formal Systems Model Monitoring a System Stage 5: Comparing Conceptual Models with Reality Using Conceptual Models as a Base for Ordered Questioning Comparing History with Model Prediction General Overall Comparison Model Overlay Stages 6 and 7. Implementing Feasible and Desirable Changes Case Study - Rethinking a Service Function in the Shell Group Stages 1 and 2 Stage 3: Naming of Relevant Systems Stage 4: Conceptual Models Stage 5: Comparing Conceptual Models with Reality Stages 6 and 7. Implementing Feasible and Desirable Changes Observations and Conclusions Exercise References Figures. Figure 1. Figure 2. Figure 3. Figure 4. Figure 5. Figure 6. Soft Systems Methodology map. Transformation process for producing Rich Picture. The routing of Systems Thinking. Shell's MF Rich Picture. Shell's MF world view of training. Shell's MF training conceptual model. Tables. Table 1. One to one transformations involving different world views. Table 2. Shell's Comparison with reality. Abstract This document deals with...
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...SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY Soft Systems - Modified December 2005 Bob Williams 1 bobwill@actrix.co.nz The Kellogg Foundation http://users.actrix.co.nz/bobwill SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) was developed by Peter Checkland in the late 60’s at the University of Lancaster in the UK. Originally it was seen as a modelling tool, but in later years it has been seen increasingly as a learning and meaning development tool. Although it develops models, the models are not supposed to represent the “real world”, but by using systems rules and principles allow you to structure your thinking about the real world. The models are neither descriptive or normative, though they may carry elements of both. One of the interesting things about SSM is that it constrains your thinking in order for you to expand your thinking. Thus blowing away the idea that system thinking is always expansive. Like many other systems approaches the heart of SSM is a comparison between the world as it is, and some models of the world as it might be. Out of this comparison arise a better understanding of the world ("research"), and some ideas for improvement ("action"). In classic SSM the researchers begin with a real-world problem (or perhaps “situation” is a better word). They study the situation in a fairly unstructured way. Following this, they develop some models of that situation. The particular strength of SSM for evaluators is that it can be used to untangle the evaluative lessons...
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...A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Amanda J. Gregory Centre for Systems Studies, Business School, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull, HU6 7RX, United Kingdom, A.J.Gregory@hull.ac.uk ABSTRACT Strategic management involves decision-making about an organization's objectives together with the formulation and implementation of plans, particularly regarding the allocation of resources, to support their achievement. As such, strategic management is a dynamic and complex process involving consideration of internal and external factors, and the short and long term. The effectiveness of an organization’s strategic management can critically impact upon its viability and there are many reasons why the stategic management process may fail. Such reasons include failure to: think creatively about the likely affects of plans obtain external/internal participation and commitment co-ordinate and control resources. In this paper it is argued that many of the reasons for failure may be attributed to the successive dominance of different reductionist approaches to strategic management. From a systems perspective it may be argued that such approaches represent partial approaches to strategic management that neglect the complex, embedded and dynamic nature of modern organizations. Accordingly, the reasons why strategic plans fail are taken to provide a framework for the evaluation of the potential contribution of a range of systems methodologies to the strategic management process...
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... Introduction Operations and Systems SSM Recomandations Management Issues REPORT THAT ANALYSES THE SYSTEMS AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AT ATOKOWA ORGANISATION (SUPPLIED) WITH RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE THEIR BUSINESS To :Jonothan Atokowa Analysis of Current Systems and Operations Business process mapping is defining exactly what an organisation does, who is in charge to what standard a process will be completes and how successful the business process can be determined. It will help understand the strengths and weaknesses within the existing process and help improve productivity increase efficiency , reduce errors and stimulate sales revenue. Process identification at Atokowa Description of Activity Atokowa retail outlet -Product scanned into Epos system | | Products are totalled | | Payment is taken | | Written in transaction table | | Decremented in stocks table | | Review of daily reorder report | | Delivery request | | (Melbourne )Warehouse,process ofr delivery request | | Purchase of supplies/ products from China | | Purchase of products from Hong Kong | | Table 1 The transactions table in the ASIS MS Access database serves almost the same purpose as the Table stocks, combining the two in to one could make the process faster and easier to understand. The system creates unnecessary work. The Stocks...
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...4/4/2016 49004 Systems Engineering for Managers Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - An Introduction Last Lecture 2 We completed our introduction to systems concepts: Definitions Characteristics Significance Feedback 1 4/4/2016 This lecture 3 We will give a brief description of Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology (SSM); We will indicate where it is appropriate to use; We will distinguish it from “hard” approaches. 4 Lecture Relevant Reading Checkland P (1993), “The Development of ‘Soft’ Systems Thinking”, Jackson MC (2004), “Soft Systems Methodology”, Optional Reading: Staker RJ (1999), An Application of Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology to the Development of a Military Information Operations Capability for the Australian Defence Force 2 4/4/2016 “Classical” Systems Engineering 5 One way of thinking suggests… engineering begins when a need is established. the engineer’s task then provides a solution ... A “how to” oriented activity the need is expressed in terms of a system with defined objectives If there is a current situation S0 and a future, desired situation S1, then select the best of the available ways of getting from S0 to S1 so that the process becomes one of evaluating alternative solutions using models and criteria However… 6 More often than not, for managers, the problem is ill-defined – or the need is not readily established “What is the issue?” is the relevant question before...
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...Chapter 1 Information Systems backbone Why is Information systems considered as company’s background? This section of report is focused towards the primary goal of the research i.e. Why is information systems considered as a backbone of any organization. Secondary data is used to prove the primary aim of report. Information systems perform three vital roles in any type of organization: 1. Support business operations 2. Support managerial decision making 3. Support strategic competitive advantage Ref: http://csob.berry.edu/faculty/lleblanc//newpage31.htm How information system is integrated in company Figure taken from Kristin Wischow, Rob Ward, Ryan Odell, David Sjoquist, Rahul Shah() Systems and Information Systems Cited from (http://homepages.wmich.edu/~r4ward/Systems%20and%20Information%20Systems%20Project.htm) On Wall-mart store All medium to large organisations depend on Information technology for their continued survival. Consider organisations like British Gas, British Telecom, the Power and Water companies having to manually calculate, millions of customer bills every month or quarter! Clearly the clerical effort involved would make it difficult if not impossible for the organisation to make a profit. Similar arguments apply to many other organisations such as the high street banks, central and local government. A recent article in the Daily Telegraph IT supplement suggested that many large organisations could last no longer than 24 hours without IT...
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...Introduction 66xxx This report uses management science models as a method of solving management issue in Economic Development Initiatives Ltd, a research and consultancy Company located in High Wycombe. The issue identified within the company will be analysed in terms of models in order to support decision-making from a qualitative perspective. The most appropriate method which can be used to solve the issue in EDI will be subsequently identified in EDI while taking into account its limitations. Finally, the systems implications with relevance to the model used and recommendations made will be discussed. Company background Economic Development Initiatives (EDI) is a globally focussed consultancy, research and training company currently operating in two countries; United Kingdom and Tanzania. The UK company is also actively involved in the development of the mobile survey software ‘Surveybe’ which meets the needs of researchers in all fields while its sister company specialises in data collection for clients. EDI has a niche in the market and works with clients such as the World Bank, Millennium Challenge Corporation and national governments. Currently the UK Company employs 10 people while the Tanzanian company employs over 75 members (Surveybe, 2013). Problematic situation Ragsdale (2008) state that a problem arises when a gap or disparity exists between the present situation and some desired state of affairs. The author also points out to the Key elements of...
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...having successful project completion. There is a need for a common framework for requirement analysis. Some organizations have their own process but still it is required to create a conceptual model for requirement analysis. As requirement analysis is human centered activity it is considered as Soft System. As there are many stakeholders involved in the FPSO projects it is considered as fuzzy problem to record all their objectives for requirement analysis. Soft System Methodology will be tool for creating the conceptual model. Most frequently used framework is indicated below in figure 2. [pic] Figure 2: Existing requirement analysis framework by JSPL We will modify Checkland’s SSM to more succinct model for improving the existing requirement model of JSPL as indicated in the figure 3. [pic] Figure 3: Improved Checkland’s SSM for JSPL In These ‘Formulate Root Definitions’ and ‘Build Ideal Systematic Model’(Conceptual Model) blocks are known as basic ‘building block’ of SSM. The main aim of Root Definition is to capture the purpose and conceptual model is to represent the structured activities which are needed to solve the purpose. In short Root Definition is about ‘What System is ‘and...
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...NS2 soft solution: Ns2 soft solution is a software development based company which contain innovative and expertise to facilitate complex projects in an efficient way. We offer various broad solution projects for researchers and students to increase demands among other centers and customer centric solution with high standard. We offer various projects under NS2 simulation based on IEEE papers and non IEEE papers. We deploy various NS2 projects as a virtual one in real time application. Ns2 soft solution is a highly experienced team member of developer professionals providing a wide range of complex projects and network protocol simulation. Our motto: • Advance technology enhancement. • Make everything possible. • Provide service quality for every commitment. Basic aims of Ns2 soft solution are: • Providing guidance for students to select the efficient project based on student interest which ensures a success in their projects. • We train and make students to learn all the concepts from basic to advance such that students can get a clear idea about the project what they do. • Based on...
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...Ulster Coleraine, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland dw.bustard@ulster.ac.uk Abstract When considering ways of improving requirements engineering, or indeed any aspect of software development, it is often possible to build on relevant experience in other disciplines. In particular, in relation to the human side of reaching agreement on requirements, Principled Negotiation seems to offer a good framework for the process involved. This paper summarises the main concepts of Principled Negotiation and reports on an experience of its use over several years in helping Environmental Health Departments in Northern Ireland introduce IT systems. The relationship between Principled Negotiation and Soft Systems Methodology, a general problem solving strategy built on systems thinking concepts, is also considered briefly. Keywords: Principled Negotiation, Soft Systems Methodology, System Change Introduction In the preface to his classic text on the management of software development, Brooks (1975) starts with the statement that “In many ways, managing a computer programming project is like managing any other undertaking—in more ways than most programmers believe. But in many other ways it is different—in more ways than most professional managers expect.” This reminds developers that software can largely be treated like any other artefact, building on similar development approaches. It also recognises, however, that software has some special characteristics that need particular attention during construction...
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...Charles Kettering, the famed US electrical engineer and inventor said “A problem well-stated is half-solved.” One of the key capabilities in Consulting is to develop a good understanding of the problem situation from a number of different perspectives. This stage in the consulting process is known as ‘problem structuring’. The capabilities in Consulting have no limits with extraordinary growth in which is capable to handle and bring solutions for all business problems. Consulting is currently not well defined; however, it may refer to as giving advice to companies provided by trained professionals who help managers solve operational and strategic problems through the use of their knowledge and systematic analysis of facts and experience. Many specialised practitioners from all industry sectors often refer to themselves as ‘consultants’, in which roles they share knowledge and proffer advice to clients. The teaching of consulting begins its teaching by introducing the art and science of consulting. The reason being is that when coming up with any problems within a business, everything can be approached scientifically and everything can become art (Vidal R. 2006). The message given here believes to indicate that in complex situations to problem solving, it is advisable to use both the scientific and artistic attitudes for a more satisfying result to achieve with the risk of failure been minimized, all the participants been empowered and everybody to have given the chance...
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...or continuity of an organization. Traditional models have been able to explain what areas to focus on in decision making, while the new models especially the quantitative models have been able to clarify and analyse situations based on numerical, mathematical and qualitative basis. The crucial point in this case, is the pressure to respond to certain situations with flexibility and urgency or perhaps a spontaneous solution to problems. In this case study, the mobilization and coordination of the staffs and managers was crucial in within a short time and decision making or problem solving also demanded rapt response. Approaches such as the hard and soft system methodologies and the Multi Attribute Utility Theory appears to be a more concrete approach towards decision making and problem solving. The soft and hard systems methodologies address both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of decision making or problem solving, while the Multi Attribute Utility Theory is of the same perspective (Wisniewski 2005). The organization (airline) considered has continued to improve in performance after the natural incident ( the earthquake). The financial report disclose that 2010 is a remarkable year in the history of the company as profits soared, awards and recognition was accredited to some of the managerial staff by external bodies or institutions. The module from a personal perspective has imbibed a logical , analytical approach of considering situations and problems. Making a choice...
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...Colter Rohm, Steven Py 09/06/2015 Business 110 B Dr. Rich Module B A. Suppose you are a project manager using a waterfall development–based methodology on a large and complex project. Your manager has just read the latest article in Computerworld that advocates replacing this methodology with prototyping and comes to you requesting that you switch. What would you say? A: We would say no. I think it is best if the project manager to keep using the waterfall methodology. The project is said to be large and complex. The prototype methodology is more favorable to smaller scale projects because you will create and get your prototype reviewed by decision makers countless of times before you get the pass for the project. Waterfall methodology is a long process but we think it will be better than switching to prototyping because it is new and we do not have much experience with it. B. The basic types of methodologies discussed in this chapter can be combined and integrated to form new hybrid methodologies. Suppose you were to combine throwaway prototyping with the use of waterfall development. What would the methodology look like? Draw a picture (similar to those in Figures 1–2 through 1–7). How would this new methodology compare to the others? A: Attached on end of this Module. C. Look on the web for different kinds of job opportunities that are available for people who want analyst positions? Compare and contrast the skills that the ads ask for to the skills that...
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...overview of 3 Methodologies for comparison Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) • Developed by the UK government in 1982; mandatory use for some Civil Service applications; now mature and widely used • Use supported by many CASE tools (including Select) • Builds on the traditional Systems Development Life Cycle and has clearly defined stages; it thus lends itself to project management techniques • Provides development staff with detailed guidelines, requiring, for example, the completion of pre-printed documents • Data driven ; based on assumption that systems have an underlying data structure that changes little over time – however, later versions of SSADM have placed increasing emphasis on user • Thorough quality assurance: deliverables at every stage reviewed in structured walkthroughs and signed off by users • Separates the logical view of the system from the physical • Provides 3 main views of the system, the Data Flow Diagram, the Entity Relationship Diagram and the Entity Life History, which can be cross-checked one against the other. Rapid Applications Development (RAD) • The name speaks for itself – need for RAD driven by rapidly changing business needs • Can be viewed as an example of the spiral model for systems development. The spiral model acknowledges the stages that form the SDLC but builds into each stage iteration, prototyping and extensive user involvement. • Prototyping may be of whole system or part of...
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...information: Downloaded by Universiti Teknologi MARA At 09:40 21 June 2016 (PT) To cite this document: Isabel Schellnack-Kelly , (2016),"Records management and Information Culture: Tackling the People Problem", The Electronic Library, Vol. 34 Iss 3 pp. 548 - 549 Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EL-09-2015-0167 Downloaded on: 21 June 2016, At: 09:39 (PT) References: this document contains references to 0 other documents. To copy this document: permissions@emeraldinsight.com The fulltext of this document has been downloaded 30 times since 2016* Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: (2016),"The Accidental IndexerThe Accidental Indexer Information Today Medford, NJ 2015 222 pp. US$ 39.50 soft cover ISBN 978-1-57387-514-1", The Electronic Library, Vol. 34 Iss 3 pp. 549-550 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EL-10-2015-0194 (2016),"Digital literacy and digital content supports learning: The impact of blogs on teaching English as a foreign language", The Electronic Library, Vol. 34 Iss 3 pp. 522-547 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ EL-05-2015-0076 (2016),"Effects of gender in library and information science research: A case study of The Electronic Library", The Electronic Library, Vol. 34 Iss 3 pp. 488-503 http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EL-08-2014-0126 Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emeraldsrm:434496 [] For Authors If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then...
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