Week 4 (2) 2008IS33 ISD - SSM 1 COMP3470 IS33 People-Centred Information Systems Development Week 4 : Lecture 2 ISD Approaches: Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) School of Computing FACULTY OF Engineering

IS33 ISD - SSM2 Week 4 (2) 2008 The General Systems Theory It has widespread influence in IS Characteristics of a system:  Has a boundary and everything else is its environment  Input-process-output (input and output are the interactions with the environment)  Consists of a set of interrelated elements (or subsystems) See organisations as ‘open’ systems Hard versus soft approaches

IS33 ISD - SSM3 Week 4 (2) 2008 Checkland’s SSM Mode 1 (fig 24.1 in Avison & Fitzgerald)  A 7-stage methodology  Still the version most commonly referred to Mode 2 (fig 24.3 in Avison & Fitzgerald)  Sees Mode 1 as just one option of a more general approach  Has 2 strands of enquiry – ‘logic-driven stream’ and ‘cultural stream’  More of a framework of ideas for exploration rather than a methodology

IS33 ISD - SSM4 Week 4 (2) 2008 SSM Mode 1 Finding out about the problem situation (1 & 2)  Use Rich Picture Analyst at work (3 & 4)  “A root definition is a concise, tightly constructed description of a human activity system which states what the system is”  Use CATWOE criteria Decision time (5 & 6) Action (7)

IS33 ISD - SSM5 Week 4 (2) 2008 CATWOE C = Client /customer (the beneficiary or victim) A = Actor (the change agent, who carries out the transformation process) T = Transformation (the core of the root definition – i.e. the ‘what’ to be changed) W = Weltanschauung (the world view, the assumption taken for granted in the context) O = Owner (the sponsor or controller) E = Environment (the wider system of which the problem situation is a part) In Avison & Fitzgerald pp

IS33 ISD - SSM6 Week 4 (2) 2008 An exercise Problem situation: SOC cannot seem to get good quality student feedback on its teaching Apply Rich Picture and CATWOE to understand the problem situation

IS33 ISD - SSM7 Week 4 (2) 2008 Pros & Cons of SSM

IS33 ISD - SSM8 Week 4 (2) 2008 For next lecture Read Montealegre R & Keil M, De- escalating Information Technology Projects: Lessons from the Denver International Airport, MIS Quarterly, Vol 24, No. 3, Sept 2000, pp (available via Library’s electronic journals).