SYSTEMS APPROACH IN PROBLEM SOLVING RESEARCH

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SYSTEMS APPROACH IN PROBLEM SOLVING RESEARCH

• Meaning
• Application
• By Halim Dogrusöz
• 13 December 2002

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1. ENABLING LIGHT

• Jamshid Gharajedaghi
• a multidisciplinary team cannot produce a
  meaningful perception of the whole.
• Think of the blind men trying to identify an
  elephant.
• The story narrated by Mevlana
• A group of men encounter a strange object in
  complete darkness.
• Efforts to identify the subject by touching it
  prove fruitless, until someone arrives with a
  light.
• The lightenables them to see the whole.
• ENABLING LIGHT for systems thinking
• to be knowledgeable about systems concept and
  systemic properties and
• a methodology.

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2. TWO DEVELOPMENTS

• OPERATIONAL RESEARCH (OR)
• RADAR OPERATIONAL RESEARCH TEAM (Blacketts
  Circus)
• 3 Physiologists
• 2 Mathematical physicists
• 1 Astrophysist
• 1 Army officer
• 1 Surveyor
• 1 General physisit
• 2 Mathematicians
• first OR team by P. M. S. Blackett in 1940
• Established basic principles.
• 1. systems approach
• 2. interdisciplinary team
• 3. appication of scientific method

• GENERAL SYSTEM THEORY (GST)
• by Ludwig von Bertalanffy in
• Charles Morris philosophy seminar (1937).
• problem is Analytical procedures in science.
• a meta theory of science
• skeleton of science
• Society for General Systems Research 1954
• von Bertalanffy, Boulding, Gerard, Rapoport
• 1. Investigate the isomorphy of concepts
• 2. Encourage theoretical models
• 3. Minimize the duplication of effort
• 4. Promote the unity of science
• growth, equilibrium, centralisation competition,
  teleology etc.

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3. HYSTORY dialectic analysis

• DIALECTIC OF SYSTEMS THINKING
• by ?
• 1. Holism (thesis)
• Aristotles dictum
• Whole is more than the sum of its parts.
• 2. Analiticism (antithesis of holism)
• analyse the whole into its parts, investigate
  each, than synthesise to understand the whole.
  1700 -1900 science.
• Renaissance
• 3. Systemism (synthesis of the two)

• DIALECTIC OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY
• by C. W. Churchman
• 1. Rationalism (thesis)
• Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Descartes
• 2. Empiricism (antithesis)
• Locke and J. S. Mill
• 3. Criticism (synthesis)
• Kant laws and facts are interdependent.
• 4. Relativism (antithesis of criticism)
• complete expression in pragmatism all truth is
  relative answers in the absolute sense do not
  exist.
• 5. Experimentalism (synthesis of all)

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3. BASIC ELEMENTARY CONCEPTS AND PROPERTIES

• A definition
• A system is a set of two or more elements that
  satisfies the following thee conditions.
• 1. Behaviour of each element has an effect on
  the behaviour of the whole
• 2. The behaviour of the elements and their
  effects on the whole are interdependent.
• 3. However subgroups of the elements are
  formed, each has an effect on the whole and none
  has an independent effect on it. R. L. Ackoff.
• For every system there is a larger system
  containing it.
• The system has a function which defines its role
  in the containing system.

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3. BASIC ELEMENTARY CONCEPTS AND PROPERTIES
(continued)

• Properties of a system is made up by the proper
  organisation of its parts.
• Interactions among the parts of the system
  determine the properties of the system.
• A system cannot be understood by analytic
  procedures.
• A part loses its basic properties when it is
  taken out.
• A part cannot be understood independently of the
  containing system.
• Every natural system has an environment, with
  which it interacts.

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4. CLASSIFICATION

• CLASSIFICATION OF SYSTEMS according to points of
  view.
• 1. Natural system. 2. Artificial system
• 1. Open system 2. Closed system
• 1. Object system 2. Conceptual system
• 1. Abstract system 2. Concrete system
• 1. Physical system 2. Biological system
• 1. Hard system 2. Soft system
• 1. Social system 2. Sociotechnical system
• 3. Socioeconomic systems
• 1. Natural mechanical system 2. Functional
• system (Ackoff and Emery)

• CLASSIFICATION OF FUNCTIONAL SYSTEMS according to
  capability of choice in
• action
• outcome
• 1. Passive functional systems
• 2. Passive multifunctional ,,
• 3. Reactive functional ,,
  (servomechanisms)
• 4. Reactive multifunctional ,, (industrial
  robots)
• 5. Active functional ,,
  (goal-seeking)
• 6. Active multifunctional ,,
  (multi-goalseeking)
• 7. Active multifunctional and environmentally
  independent (purposeful) systems

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5. METHODOLOGY

• BASIC ELEMENTS
• analysis
• Tansels algorithm
• 1. Conceive an understanding of the whole.
• 2. Analyse (conceptually) system whole into its
  parts.
• 3. Investigate the properties of the parts.
• 4. Synthesise the findings and go back to 1.
• Model
• Model is the system which represents the system
  under investigation.
• Defining
• conceptual defining
• operational defining
• measurement
• nominal scale
• ordinal scale
• interval scale
• ratio scale

• methodology of problem solving research
• decision ? implementation ? solution
• Steps Of The Research
• 1. Diagnosis and formulation of the problem
• 2. Construction of the model
• 3. Deriving a solution from the model
• 4. Testing the model and the solution
• 5. Implementing the solution
• 6. Controlling the solution

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6. DIAGNOSIS AND FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM
Diagnosis

• FORMULATION OF THE PROBLEM
• decision maker
• objectives of the decision maker
• alternative courses of action
• the context
• cause effect, and
• producer Product
• relations.
• Cause is both necessary and sufficient for the
  effect, but
• producer is necessary but insufficient for the
  product.

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7. SYSTEM OF OBJECTIVES

• INTERACTIONS BETWEEN OBJECTIVES
• EXAMPLE Objectives system of EUREKA
• Objective a
  contributes to
• 
  objective b
• Objectives a
  b contribute
• each
  other
• Objectives a
  b are in
• 
  conflict

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ALTERNATIVE COURSES OF ACTION

• Alternative choices.
• A system of actions.
• A system of decision variables.
• May be represented by a graph.

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8. THE CONTEXT OF THE PROBLEM

• The system, its containing system and its
  environment constitutes the context.
• Analysis of the context
• 1. Identify the containing system of the
  system and its role in the containing system.
• 2. Check the consistency of the objectives
  with this role.
• 3. Identify the relevant alternative
  courses of action.
• 4. Determine the interactions among all
  elements of the context.
• 5. Construct a conceptual model of the
  context (representing the elements and
  interactions among them)

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9. TECHNICS OF SYSTEM ANALYSIS

• Observation on the context.
• Model is the best instrument for understanding
  the system. Therefor construct a model in any
  form possible.
• Organisation and interactions among elements are
  crucial.
• Measurements on system components provide
  precision in understanding the system.
• Graph representation for modelling in problem
  formulation stage is most practical.
• Network flows analysis for
• 1. Material flow
• 2. Cash flow and
• 3. Information flow
• provides a convenience for a complete coverage of
  the context.

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10. PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS

• An available model of an artificial system
  (design documents, blueprints etc.) give
  considerable convenience.
• Attempt to cover the system in all details is
  impossible, and actually is not necessary.
• Take your time to discover the necessary.
• Leverage.
• Small changes can produce big results but the
  areas of highest leverage are least obvious.
  (Peter M. Senge)

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11. SYSTEM OF PROBLEMSMess Management

• Problems do not come one at a time.
• In real life we live through many problems at a
  time, and they are interacting.
• Ackoff calls such a system of problems a MESS.
• Hence we face a situation of Mess Management.
• He suggests that such problems can be
• resolved or
• solved or
• dissolved.
• We suggest to design Management Systems
  continually to asses such situations and solve
  the problems simultaneously, taking into account
  the interactions among them.
• Call such systems Learning Management Systems or
• Arastiran Yönetim Sistemleri.

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12. SYSTEM DESIGN PROBLEM

• The containing system and the system to be
  designed are both subject to the analysis.
• The function of the system to be designed (its
  role in the containing system) is to be
  specified.
• Its structure and properties are determined to
  make it capable to perform the function.

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13. ASSOSIATES OF SYSTEMS APPROACH

• Two important associates of SYSTEMS APPROACH
• Democracy and
• Interdisciplinary team.
• These interact in performing SYSTEMS APPROACH.
• These are the corner stones of
• Learning Management Systems or
• Arastiran Yönetim Sistemleri.

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14. PERSONALITY OF THE ANALYST

• Some people are born system thinkers.
• Some people are inclined to deep down concentrate
  on a subject and become a specialist.
• But specialists play important role in
  Interdisciplinary teams.