Basic Concepts The Work Centered Analysis Framework

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Processing Rsums Using Resumix

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Processing Rsums Using Resumix

CUSTOMER
Manager who needs to hire an employee Applicant who receives responses about a job application

Government agency that receives reports about compliance to equal opportunity guidelines

PRODUCT
List of applicants who fit the criteria
Selected data items about each applicant Automatically generated rejection letters

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Processing Rsums Using Resumix

BUSINESS PROCESS
Major Steps:
Define the criteria for selecting applicants Receive rsums Scan rsums and extract data

Select applicants meeting criteria and forward their rsums to the hiring manager
Send out rejection letters Track the hiring process Store applicant data for future searches Rationale: Instead of finding appropriate candidates by searching through paper rsums, extract the information on the rsums and do the search automatically.

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Processing Rsums Using Resumix

PARTICIPANTS
Human resources employees Manager doing the hiring

INFORMATION
Description of job opening Scanned rsums converted into a database format List of qualified applicants

TECHNOLOGY
Rsumix software Scanner

Unidentified computers

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DEBATE TOPIC

The technology is Resumix is designed to convert a resume into a series of fields in a database regardless of what the initial resume looks like. Statements that dont match these specific fields arent recognized. Does the use of this technology imply that a company does not care about the individuality of the applicants?

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INTRODUCTION

Framework - brief set of ideas about organizing a thought process about a concept.It helps by identifying topics that should be considered and shows how they are related. Models - useful representation of reality. The describe or mimic reality without dealing with the details They both help us understand complexity
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A Classification of Models

Iconic Models Analog Models Mathematical Models Mental Models

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Iconic and Analog Models

Iconic (scale) models - the least abstract model, is a physical replica of a system, usually based on a different scale from the original. Iconic models can scale in two or three dimensions. Analog Models - Does not look like the real system, but behaves like it. Usually two-dimensional charts or diagrams. Examples: organizational charts depict structure, authority, and responsibility relationships; maps where different colors represent water or mountains; stock market charts; blueprints of a machine; speedometer; thermometer

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Mathematical Models
Mathematical (quantitative) models - the complexity of relationships sometimes can not be represented iconically or analogically, or such representations may be cumbersome or time consuming.A more abstract model is built with mathematics. Note: recent advances in computer graphics use iconic and analog models to complement mathematical modeling. Visual simulation combines the three types of models.

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Mental Models
People often use a behavioral mental model. A mental model is an unworded description of how people think about a situation. The model can use the beliefs, assumptions, relationships, and flows of work as perceived by an individual. Mental models are a conceptual, internal representation, used to generate descriptions of problem structure, and make future predications of future related variables. Support for mental models are an important aspect of Executive Information Systems. We will discuss this in depth later.
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Examples of Models

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Viewing Businesses as Systems

A business is a system consisting of many subsystems, some of which are information systems. Definition: A system is a set of interacting components that operate together to accomplish a purpose. Key ideas: purpose, boundary, environment, inputs, outputs. Businesses can be considered as systems consisting of business processes. A processs value added is the amount of value it creates for internal or external customers.

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Viewing a firm as a System

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The Value Chain

The set of processes a firm uses to create value for its customers is called its value chain. The value chain contains both primary processes and support processes. The value chain is important because the way business processes are organized in a firm should be related to the way the firm creates value for customers. Understanding how the value chain is supposed to work is the first step in improving business processes.

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Primary processes for a hypothetical restaurant

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The Functional Areas of a Business

Large subsystems of a firm related to specific business disciplines are often called the functional areas of the business. Examples: Production, Sales and Marketing, Finance. Most Businesses are organized around these functional areas. Sometimes there can be organizational inertia where organizational members focus on the functional areas instead of the customer. Functional areas are important, but they should not be the basis for studying information systems
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Business Processes and Functional Areas

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Some Functional Areas in a Typical College or University

Admissions Records and Registration Financial Aid Bursar Human Resources Accounts Payable Budget, Finance, and Accounting Parking Services Academic Department University Advancement Student Services Residence Life Public Safety Physical Plant Student Career Development Health Services

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The Context of Information Systems.

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The System We Are Talking About.

A work system is a system in which human participants perform a business process using information, technology, and other resources to produce products for internal or external customers. The core of a work system is a business process, a related group of steps or activities that uses people, information, and other resources to create value for internal or external customers. Work is the application of human and physical resources to generate outputs used by internal and external customers.

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Information System vs. Work Systems

Bar code scanners and computers identify the items sold and calculate the bill
Work system supported by the information system: Performing customer checkout Aspects of the work system not included in the information system: Establishing personal contact with customers, putting the groceries in bags

University registration system permits students to sign up for specific class sections
Work system supported by the information system: Registering for classes Aspects of the work system not included in the information system: Deciding which classes to take and which sections to sign up for in order to have a good weekly schedule

Word Processing system used for typing and revising chapters

Work system supported by the information system: Writing a book
Aspects of the work system not included in the information system: Deciding what to say in the book and how to say it

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Information System vs. Work Systems

Interactive system top managers use to monitor their organizations performance
Work system supported by the information system: Keeping track of organizational performance Aspects of the work system not included in the information system: Talking to people to understand their views about what is happening

System that identifies people by scanning and analyzing voice prints

Work system supported by the information system: Preventing unauthorized access to restricted areas Aspects of the work system not included in the information system: Human guards, cameras, and other security measures

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WCA framework for thinking about any system in business

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Example: Who is a toy factorys customer?

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Relationship between data, information, and knowledge

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WCA framework for thinking about any system in business

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Five Perspectives for Understanding a Work System

ARCHITECTURE
What are the components of the system that performs the work and who uses the work product? How are the components linked? How do the components operate together?

PERFORMANCE
How well do the components operate individually? How well does the system operate? (How well is the work performed?) How well should the system operate?

INFRASTRUCTURE
What technical and human infrastructure does the work rely on? In what ways does infrastructure present opportunities or obstacles?

CONTEXT
What are the impacts of the organizational and technical context? In what ways does the context present opportunities or obstacles?

RISKS
What foreseeable things can prevent the work from happening, can make the work inefficient, or can cause defects in the work product? What are the likely responses to these problems?

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Important Point Improvements in a work system are usually related to the links between the architecture and the performance perspectives. Customer satisfaction is largely determined by product performance. Product performance is determined by a combination of product architecture and the internal work system performance. Note: efficiency vs. effectiveness
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From work system architecture to customer satisfaction

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Detailed Discussion of the Five Perspectives:

Architecture Performance Infrastructure Context Risks

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Architecture, Perspective #1
Architecture is a summary of how a work system operates. It focuses on the components of the system and how those components are linked, and how they operate together to produce outputs. It is not merely a technical issue; IT and business professional involved with a system need to understand how it operates. It is impossible to build an information system without detailed documentation of information and technology components of the architecture. We use successive decomposition for documenting and summarizing architecture. Process operation and process characteristics
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Architecture, Perspective #1

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Architecture, Perspective #1
CUSTOMER
Customers entire cycle of involvement with the product Requirements Acquisition Use Maintenance Retirement

PRODUCT
Components Information content

Physical Content
Service content (more in Chapter 6)
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Architecture, Perspective #1
BUSINESS PROCESS
Process operation: Processes providing inputs Sequence and scheduling of major steps Processes receiving the outputs Process characteristics: Degree of structure Range of involvement Level of integration Complexity Degree of reliance on machines Linkage of planning, execution, and control

Attention to exceptions, errors, and malfunctions

More to be covered in Chapter 3.
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Architecture, Perspective #1

PARTICIPANTS
Formal and informal organization:

INFORMATION
Major data files in the database:

TECHNOLOGY
Major components: Hardware Software

Job responsibility
Organization chart

Data organization and access

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Performance, Perspective #2
Performance - How well the system operates. A complete analysis involves qualitative and quantitative measurements. Consider some performance variables.

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Performance, Perspective #2

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Performance, Perspective #2
CUSTOMER
Customer Satisfaction

PRODUCT
Cost Quality Responsiveness Reliability Conformance to standards and regulations

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Performance, Perspective #2

BUSINESS PROCESS
Rate of output Consistency Productivity Cycle time Flexibility Security

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Performance, Perspective #2

PARTICIPANTS
Skills Involvement Commitment Job satisfaction

INFORMATION
Quality Accessibility Presentation Prevention of unauthorized access

TECHNOLOGY
Functional capabilities Ease of use Compatibility Maintainability

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Comparing Vague Descriptions, Measurements, and Interpretations

ACCURACY OF INFORMATION
Vague description: The information doesnt seem very accurate. Measurement: 97.5% of the readings are correct within 5%. Interpretation:This is (or is not) accurate enough, given the way the information will be used.

SKILLS OF PARTICIPATION
Vague description: The sales people are very experienced. Measurement: Every salesperson has 5 or more years of experience; 60% have more than 10 years. Interpretation:This system is (or is not) appropriate for such experienced people.

CYCLE TIME OF BUSINESS PROCESS

Vague description: This business process seems to take a long time. Measurement: The three major steps take an average of 1.3 days each, but the waiting time between the steps is around 5 days. Interpretation:This is (or is not) better than the average for this industry, but we can (or cannot) improve by eliminating some of the waiting time.

QUALITY OF THE WORK SYSTEM OUPUT

Vague description: We produce top quality frozen food, but our customers arent enthusiastic. Measurement:65% of our customers rate it average or good even though our factory defect rate is only.003% Interpretation: Our manufacturing process does (or doesnt) seem O.K., but we do (or dont) need to improve customer satisfaction. CIS 465 - WCA Framework
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Infrastructure, Perspective #3
Infrastructure: Essential Resources shared with other systems. Infrastructure failures may partially be beyond the control of people who rely on it (e.g. power outages). Evaluation is difficult because the same infrastructure may support some applications excessively and others insufficiently. Critical mass, having enough users to attain desired benefits, may be a key infrastructure issue. Distinguish between infrastructure and the supporting technology (laptops used in the sales process vs. used for company e-mail).
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Infrastructure, Perspective #3
Technology can be infrastructure if it is outside the work system, shared between work systems, owned and managed by a central authority, or when details are largely hidden from users. Business professionals are often surprised at the amount of effort and expense absorbed by human infrastructure.

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Infrastructure, Perspective #3

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Infrastructure, Perspective #3
CUSTOMER
Technical and human infrastructure the customer must have to use the product

PRODUCT
Infrastructure related to information content Infrastructure related to physical content Infrastructure related to service content

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Infrastructure, Perspective #3

BUSINESS PROCESS
Infrastructure related to internal operation of the process Infrastructure related to inputs from other processes Infrastructure related to transferring the product to other processes

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Infrastructure, Perspective #3

PARTICIPANTS
Shared human infrastructure

INFORMATION
Shared information infrastructure

TECHNOLOGY
Shared technology infrastructure

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Context, Perspective #4.

The organizational, competitive, and regulatory environment surrounding the system. The environment around the system may create incentives and even urgency for change. The personal, organizational, and economic parts of the context have direct impact through resource availability. Even with enough monetary resources, context factors ranging from historical precedents and budget cycles to internal politics can be stumbling blocks. Incentives Organizational Culture Stakeholders
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Context, Perspective #4

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Context, Perspective #4
CUSTOMER
Issues in the customers environment that may affect satisfaction or use Business and competitive climate

PRODUCT
Substitute products Ways the customer might bypass this type of product altogether

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Context, Perspective #4

BUSINESS PROCESS
Organizational culture Concerns of stakeholders Organizational policies and initiatives Government regulations and industry standards

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Context, Perspective #4

PARTICIPANTS
Incentives Other responsibilities and job pressures

INFORMATION
Policies and practices regarding information sharing, privacy, etc.

TECHNOLOGY
Technology policies and practices

Technology that may become available soon

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Risk, Perspective #5
Risks: Foreseeable Things that can go wrong in terms of: accidents and malfunctions computer crime project failure (To be considered again in Chapter 13.)

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Risk, Perspective #5

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Risk, Perspective #5
CUSTOMER
Customer dissatisfaction Interference by other stakeholders

PRODUCT
Inadequate or unreliable products
Fraudulent products

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Risk, Perspective #5

BUSINESS PROCESS
Operator error Sloppy procedures Inadequate backup and recovery Mismatch between process requirements and participants abilities Unauthorized access to computers, programs, data

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Risk, Perspective #5

PARTICIPANTS
Crime by insiders or outsiders

INFORMATION
Data errors Fraudulent data

TECHNOLOGY
Equipment failure Software bugs Inadequate performance Inability to build common sense into information systems

Inattention by participants
Data theft Failure to follow procedures Inadequate training

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Systems Analysis

Systems Analysis is different for the business professional than from the system builder. Technical vs. non-technical. Think of what will happen in the future when systems building tools become more effective for non-programmers.

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Steps in systems analysis for business professionals

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Defining the Problem

Identify the purpose of the analysis and scope of the work system. Tradeoffs - broad vs. narrow. Constraints priorities system snapshots

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Using the WCA for a System Snapshot

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Definitions of Topics in a System Snapshot

CUSTOMER
Product used by: Internal or external customers who use or receive direct benefit from the product

Other stakeholders: People who have a significant stake in the work system or its product even though they do not use the product directly and do not participate directly in the work system
Infrastructure requirements: Infrastructure the customer should have to use the product effectively

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Definitions of Topics in a System Snapshot

PRODUCT
Information content: The aspects of the product that consist of information Physical content: The aspects of the product that consist of physical things Service content: The aspects of the product that consist of services performed for specific customers

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Definitions of Topics in a System Snapshot

BUSINESS PROCESS
Major steps: Listing the major steps in this business process Rationale: The overriding idea or approach that determined the process would be performed using the current approach rather than another Processes providing inputs: External processes outside the work system that produce inputs of information, physical things, or services needed in order for this business process to operate Processes receiving the product: The customers processes that receive and use the product of this work system

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Definitions of Topics in a System Snapshot

PARTICIPANTS
People who perform the work Shared human infrastructure

INFORMATION
Created or modified within this system

TECHNOLOGY
Technology within the system

Received from other work system

Shared technology infrastructure

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Summary: Value of WVA Basic Ideas to Understanding work systems and information systems:
Six Elements of WCA Five Perspectives Four-Step General Systems Analysis Approach

Combined = WCA Method

organizing principles to build systems business & IT professionals communicate and collaborate in building systems. IT professional make sure they understand the business situation.
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The 10 Issues in the Work-Centered Analysis Method

Systems analysis step 1. Define the problem 2. Describe the current work system in enough depth and 3. Design potential improvements Corresponding issues for thinking about a system Issue 1: Problem Definition Issue 2: Improvements Issue 3: Improvements Issue 4: Improvements Issue 5: Improvements Issue 6: Improvements Issue 7: Improvements Issue 8: Improvements Issue 9: Improvements from product changes from process changes related to work system participants from better information from better technology from shared infrastructure related to the business context from risk reduction

4.Decide what to do

Issue 10: Recommendation

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Common Systems Analysis Pitfalls Related to Elements of the WCA Framework

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Common Pitfalls - WCA Elements

Customer
ignore customer and the fact that the customer should evaluate the product. Treating managers as customers even though they dont use the product directly.

Product
forget that the purpose is to produce a product or service for a customer. Forget that the product of a work system is often not the product of the organization.

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Common Pitfalls - WCA Elements

Business Process
Define process so narrowly that improvement is of little consequence. Define process to widely that it is too complex. Confuse business process measures(consistency and productivity) with product measures (cost to the customer and quality perceived by customer). Think of business process as theory and ignore its support by participants, information, and technology

Participants
ignore incentives and other pressures focus on users rather than participants.
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Common Pitfalls - WCA Elements

Information
assume better information generates better results. Ignoring the importance of soft information not captured by formal systems.

Technology
assume better technology generates better results. Focus on the technology without thinking about whether it makes a difference in the work system.

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Common Pitfalls - Five Perspectives

Architecture over emphasis on architectural details confusion related to peoples roles Performance Tendency to ignore performance tendency to exaggerate the scope of work system performance. Infrastructure Tendency to ignore infrastructure issues

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Common Pitfalls - Five Perspectives

Context
tendency to ignore incentives, organizational culture, and non-participant stakeholders when designing systems.

Risks
tendency to assume system will operate as planned.

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