CSCI 308 Systems Analysis

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Systems AnalysisCSCI 308

• Instructor Stan Schuyler
• Lecture 4
• Projects Problems So what is the
• Problem?

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Topic Outline

• Problem? What Problem?
• Preliminary Investigation - Situation Analysis
• Project Planning and Project Constraints
• Team formation considerations
• Impact on Projects
• Interpersonal Profile Role
• Structured Team Formation Task
• The Assignment 5C Charge

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Project Plan Development Keep looking!
Project ID
1st Pass Business Case and Review
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What is the Projects Problem?

• What is problem recognition ?
• Define the term problem.
• What criteria would you use to judge that you
  have a problem definition?
• What does a problem definition (statement) look
  like?
• What does problem decomposition mean?

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Problem Recognition and Definition

• You cannot solve the problem if you do not know
  what the real problem is.
• Do different disciplines approach problem
  identification the same way?
• How do Scientists approach problems?
• How do Systems Analysts approach problems?
• How do Engineers approach problems?
• How do politicians approach problems?

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Preliminary Investigation - Situation Analysis

• Each situation is different in the same ways
• The data and observables are diverse
• Some aspects are unknown or unobserved
• There is usually significant levels of ambiguity
• Knowledge within the participants varies by role
  and degree
• Your knowledge varies by experience and degree
• Each analysis is the same in different ways
• Your approach to gathering data and observables
  is limited to your learning and experience which
  tends to stabilize into a pattern
• To control ambiguity and reduce it you need a
  stable framework to perform an analysis

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Questions Find ltInterpretationsgt

• Key Questions
• What is produced?
• Why produced?
• Who or what is in action?
• Where is the action occurring?
• How is production done?
• When is the action occurring?
• What is the data?
• How represented?
• How presented?
• What is the information?
• What is the knowledge?
• What level of Quality Control?

• Find ltinterpretationgt
• (Artifacts, Performance)
• (Problem, Purpose)
• (Actor/Agent)
• (Place, Situation/context)
• (Methodology)
• (Time, Sequence)
• (Symbols, Language)
• (alphabet, grammar)
• (Conveyed, transmitted)
• (Meaning in symbols)
• (Why How of meaning)
• (Feedback)

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What is the Situation?

• Bell Labs RD Laboratory Organization
• One Director
• Two Departments
• Micro-Electronics Engineering Dept. (MED)
• Design Engineering Dept. (DED)
• One Mission Produce High Quality Circuits on
  Silicon Chips (Very Large Scale Integrated
  Circuits VLSI)
• Internal Relationship
• MED designs and produces the chips
• DED designs tools to design chips, delivers and
  supports the MED.
• Situation MED is an unhappy customer of DED

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So What is the Problem?

• What is problem recognition and problem
  definition?
• Explain the differences between problems and
  symptoms

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Problems versus Symptoms

• Problem
• A difference between things as desired and things
  as perceived (Cause Weinberg, 1990)
• One persons problem can be another persons
  opportunity

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Problems versus Symptoms

• Symptom
• An outward or physical manifestation of a problem
  that becomes noticeable as some variance from the
  norm
• A symptom is evidence of a problem, not
  necessarily (and not usually) the problem itself

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Problem Recognition and Definition

• You cannot solve the problem if you do not know
  what the real problem is.
• Scientists
• Observe a phenomenon
• Formulate a hypothesis
• Conduct an experiment
• Systems Analysts
• Recognize a variance
• Investigate
• Propose a solution

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Constraints on Systems Development Projects
System in Development
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6 Constraints on Systems Development
?
Project /System
Quality
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Sorted by Cost-Time-Scope
What is going on here?
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Project Quality, Cost and Delivery

• Cost
• Cost?Time
• Cost?Time?Scope
• Cost?Time?Scope?Architecture
• Cost?Time?Scope?Architecture?Quality
• Cost?Time?Scope?Architecture?Quality?Process
• Cost?Time?Scope?Architecture?Quality?Process?Team

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Forming Project Teams

• On What basis?
• Using Which Procedures?

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Some considerations mentioned were

• Who wants to be the leader in charge?
• How many want to be the leader in charge?
• Who is easy to work with?
• Who do I like? (Why do I like?)
• Who likes to be of service (follower)?
• Who appears to know what they are doing?
• Who is a loner?
• Who is independent and reliable?
• Who else wants an A?
• etc.

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How did I become this way?

• To a certain extent you are wired genetically!
• Dispositions
• Aptitudes
• To a certain extent you are socialized
• The value system and care abouts of your
  family
• The value systems of engaged social institutions
• The culture of your native environment

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Dimensions of Culture

• PDI - Power Distance Index
• Beliefs about Power Distribution
  (centralized/distributed)
• IND Individualism Index
• Role of Individuals in Society (individualism/coll
  ectivism)
• MAS - Masculinity Index
• Gender Role Expectations (differentiated/shared)
• UAI - Uncertainty Avoidance Index
• Tolerance for Risk
• LTO Long Term Orientation
• Time Orientation (long/short term)

Hofstede, Geert., Hofstede, Gert Jan.
(2005). Cultures and Organizations - Software of
the Mind. New York McGraw-Hill.
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• Cultural Impacts of
• Power Distance
• compared with
• Individualism
• By country of origin
• Source
• Hofstede and Hofstede,
• Cultures Organizations
• Software of the Mind,
• McGraw Hill, 2005.

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So What?

• We are all different and bring different values,
  skills, and care abouts to the Teams table.
• For a project team to deliver efficiently and
  effectively the individuals in the team have to?
• Mesh!
• Can we identify personal attributes usefully OR
  is this all B ST ?

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And your Personal Attributes Are?

• What are the Personal Preference Factors that
  matter the most in project teams?
• What was the profile attempting to measure?
• Guess what you already have indicated your
  preferences! ?

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Forming your next Analysis Team

• First Step, see if you can identify your profile
• Try to find yourself from the data presented
• Decide anonymously who you would like to work
  with based on the preference factors you see
• Form a new Team by (explained in class)
• The new team will be formed and charged after
  your team zero reports are delivered in Class
  5.
• You will have selected your anonymous member
  preferences in class today.

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Homework See Syllabus

• Assignment 5B
• A reminder about the Charge for Assignment 5C
  (the Team Zero Assignment).