© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved 02/17/10 Overview of work system analysis paper –Template for paper –Topics –Choose teams

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Work system analysis paper Due on Mar. 10 Hard copy Electronic copy Presentation 3-4 people per team

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Your paper Identify a work system with a problem or opportunity Analyze the work system in relation to the problems or opportunities Provide and justify actionable recommendations about changes in the work system being analyzed Include a required Appendix Use aspects of the work system method –Follow a template –Other aspects for more thorough analysis not mentioned in template

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Assumptions for the work system analysis You are doing a preliminary analysis. Your recommendation will go to a management committee that will decide whether to start a project to fulfill your recommendations. Background: pertinent aspects of the situation needed to understand the analysis Analysis: Clear problem definition followed by problem- related facts, conclusions, and logic. Recommendation: Your view of what actions should be taken to address the problem. –Be specific because the reader sees little value in vague recommendations.

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Teamwork expectations Self-managed team Make and meet commitments to each other Evaluate teammate efforts Teammate evaluations may affect grades (up or down)

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Basis of the grade clarity and completeness of the analysis (including meaningful use of metrics), extent to which the recommendations are supported, quality of writing. In general, more ambitious papers will receive higher grades than less ambitious papers of similar quality.

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Common pitfalls Is the topic really a work system? Is this work system worth analyzing? Is there a chance for innovation? Does the recommendation make sense? Is the paper convincing? Is the paper repetitious, inconsistent, etc. because no one proofread it as a whole?

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Typical work systems analyzed by students at Georgia State Renewing insurance policiesDetermining salary increases Operating an engineering call center Timekeeping for field technicians for a public utility Scheduling and tracking health service appointments Determining govt. incentives for providing employee training Receiving materials at a large warehouse Planning/dispatching trucking services Finding and serving sales consulting clients Controlling marketing expenses Administering budgets for grants Invoicing for construction work Performing pre-employment background checks Collection/ reporting of sales data for a wholesaler Performing financial planning for wealthy individuals Approving real estate loan applications Purchasing advertising services Acknowledging gifts at a charity organization

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Possible topics from secondary sources (not as good as using primary sources) Airline passenger screening Controlling traffic on roads ChoicePoint – controlling access to information Air traffic controlMoving packages (FedEx, UPS) Insurance sales systems IRS information system Kaiser Permanente’s new medical records system Controlling cargo in ports Trading in stocks or bonds Use of CAD (computer aided design) in surgery Vendor managed inventory FBI’s Virtual case fileIndustrial sales systemsNetflix

© Steven Alter, 2010, all rights reserved Tell me about your team and topic Assignment 5.0 because I forgot to put it in the Syllabus As soon as possible, send an to me: –Brief summary of the work system and why it is worth analyzing. –Team members