The Work Centered Analysis Framework

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• The Work Centered Analysis Framework

Information Systems Introduction
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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.

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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 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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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 Received from other work system
TECHNOLOGY Technology within the system Shared
technology infrastructure
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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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• 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 Main
tenance Retirement PRODUCT Components Information
content Physical Content Service content
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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

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Architecture, Perspective 1
PARTICIPANTS Formal and informal
organization Job responsibility Organization
chart
INFORMATION Major data files in the
database Data organization and access
TECHNOLOGY Major components Hardware Software
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Performance, Perspective 2
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Performance, Perspective 2
CUSTOMER Customer Satisfaction PRODUCT Cost Quali
ty Responsiveness Reliability Conformance to
standards and regulations
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Performance, Perspective 2
BUSINESS PROCESS Rate of output Consistency Produ
ctivity Cycle time Flexibility Security
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Performance, Perspective 2
PARTICIPANTS Skills Involvement Commitment Job
satisfaction
INFORMATION Quality Accessibility Presentation Pr
evention of unauthorized access
TECHNOLOGY Functional capabilities Ease of
use Compatibility Maintainability
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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 Inf
rastructure 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 Infrastruct
ure 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

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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 Inattention by participants Failure to
follow procedures Inadequate training
INFORMATION Data errors Fraudulent data Data
theft
TECHNOLOGY Equipment failure Software
bugs Inadequate performance Inability to build
common sense into information systems
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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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End of Lecture