An Holistic Approach to the Management of Information Systems Development—A View Using a Soft Systems Approach and Multiple Viewpoints

This paper argues that only a systems-based approach to information systems development is likely to cover all the recognized problem issues reported in the literature. It is then shown that software development can be characterized by the structure of the Soft Systems Methodology, so that this methodology acts as a metaphor for the process of information systems development. The structure of this methodology can be seen at lower levels of the development process, and so the model generated here is seen as recursive. Further, information systems development is seen as an unstructured business problem that can be characterized by the Multiple Viewpoint approach. The connections between this approach and the methodology are identified. Finally, the unifying link between these approaches and all forms of action research is identified.     

Conflict analysis approaches for investigating attitudes and misperceptions in the War of 1812

Formal systems engineering approaches to modeling misperceptions and attitudes are employed within the framework of the graph model for conflict resolution to systematically study the War of 1812 between the United States of America and Great Britain in order to provide enhanced insights into the causes of the war. More specifically, relational definitions for preferences, movements and stability concepts are defined for describing the attitudes and associated behavior of decision makers involved in a conflict. To capture misperceptions of decision makers in the War of 1812, attitudes are studied within the structure of a hypergame. Combining attitudes and misperceptions within the paradigm of the graph model furnishes the flexible analytical tool which demonstrates that misunderstanding of attitudes by Great Britain and the United States may have contributed to the outbreak of this nasty war.     

系统科学视域中的突发公共事件及对策分析

突发公共事件的突发性、动态性、复杂性和不可预测性迫切需要用系统科学的方法对其进行研究。文章采用系统科学的视角,把突发公共事件看作一个复杂性系统,从事件的产生过程分析事件的成因、特点,根据事件的成因过程提出政府要担当主导事件的序参量,把握事件发展趋向。为此,政府要注意事件和时间流逝的内在关系,降低事件发展的不确定性;打破主客二元关系,获得有效消息;重视信息反馈,输出合目的性信息,此外,政府还要重视细节,避免因细小因素对社会系统进化过程中造成的重大扰动。     

Systems Language for e-Democracy: Personal Resource Systems Management (PRSM), a Model and Action Research

In ancient Athens, the Agora was a place for collective decision making about personal and community issues. New Agoras, most recently Internet-enabled ones, now propose to enliven participatory democracy and establish systems by which our institutions can serve us and we can govern ourselves (B. H. Banathy, Guided Evolution of Society: A Systems View, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press, New York, 2000). Effective participation in such activity will require a language and consciousness not currently in evidence, and learning beyond current parameters. In this article, high school students from Stephanie Williams' Child Development classes at McDowell High School, Millcreek Township School District, demonstrate use of a new paradigm. This model of Personal Resource Systems Management provides systems language for Agora discourse enabling effective participatory democracy.     

基于ITS环境的公共汽车交通换乘时间最短调度问题研究

基于智能交通运输系统的背景，研究提供公共交通信息的条件下公交换乘时间最短的调度问题，提出线性规划模型，并用界例进行了演示。其研究成果对于改善城市的公共汽车交通，发展先进的公共汽车交通系统具有重要的理论意义和实用价值。     

Systems Thinking and Management Epistemology

Epistemology, or the theory of knowledge, is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, its presuppositions and basis, and the general reliability of claims to knowledge. Since its birth, Social Systems Sciences (S3) has been critical of positivist epistemology in the discipline of management. The epistemological foundations of management theory have evolved with the development of three paradigms—the idea of social science, the unity of science movement, and the behavioral science revolution. Examining the epistemological foundations of maangement theory, this paper reflects on the role of positivism as a dominant ideological construct (or a grand-narrative) in management and organizational studies.     

Revitalizing the Public Sphere: The Current System of Discourse and the Need for the Participative Design of Social Action

Public discourse in Western democracies, particularly in the United States, is far from the Habermasian ideal of citizens engaging in a rational discussion of public affairs. Rather than providing an arena for informed deliberation, the growing expertise of the media, lobbyists, and politicians has sub-optimized the current system of discourse to focus on emotional manipulation and the creation of polarized interests, each competing with each other for dominance. Avoiding a potentially disastrous outcome from this unbalancing of public discourse requires a revitalization of the public sphere and a return of the citizen voice in public decision making. To that end, systems thinkers have a tremendous opportunity and can play an important role. This article will explore the current challenges facing public discourse and outline that potential role.     

A monitoring system for the social development program in Colombia

This paper describes and analyzes “the Social Solidarity Network” (SSN), which is an agency of the Office of the President of the national government of Colombia. Its purpose is to promote self-development programs in the poorest communities in the country, as well as to improve their local public decision-making and other organizational mechanisms. The workings of the “monitoring system” used by the SSN, whose design has been inspired by Beer's ideas of monitoring and control, are introduced and discussed (Beer, 1979/1981a,b; Espejo and Harnden, 1989). The paper also offers a brief analysis of the structural mechanisms currently in use for communicating among local government agencies and the other departmental, regional, and national levels of government. This analysis indicates that the national authorities design and supervise the local planning and control mechanisms too closely and often ignore the existence and views of the intermediate recursions of government and the priorities of the local communities. The paper concludes with an assessment of the multi-university-based monitoring system used to follow up the activities and results of the SSN.     

How Local Participation in National Planning Creates New Development Opportunities

This study looks into the role of participation in influencing the adaptation of national policies to generate local economic development opportunities. The main question put forward is: What are the preconditions for creating new local development opportunities in a national state’s government planning process? The subject of the study is a planning process for the designation of a national park in the southwestern part of Norway. The analysis looks into three factors from the perspective of power: the mobilization and power base development of local stakeholders, the planning authority’s intention and structure for participation and change, and how conflicts are handled in the dialogue arenas. The conclusion with respect to regional innovation literature is that local stakeholders could make a difference by articulating both power over and power with and that conflicts may be useful if the planning authority takes the participants’ claims seriously by showing compromise or allowing integration of interests. From such preconditions new local economic opportunities could be created by collaboration.     

基于模块化控件的汽车空调系统仿真软件的开发

主要介绍了汽车空调系统仿真软件的设计思想和实现过程。对组成汽车空调系统的零部件进行了子类划分，并采用控件技术开发了一些可重复使用的零部件模块，以此可组合成各种汽车空调系统模型。开发的仿真软件主要具有如下的功能：系统仿真计算、性能分析以及匹配和优化，能为汽车空调系统的开发提供帮助。软件提供了开放的接口，允许用户加入新的控件模块，具有界面友好，组建系统方便，计算速度快、精度高等优点。     

Opportunity Initiated Systems Design: A Case Study

The field of Instructional Systems Design (ISD) provides models from which instructional changes can be designed and implemented. In ISD programs, students develop skills in the application of this process and apply these skills in a variety of settings. Although our models also provide a framework from which program change can proceed, few examples exist of the application of ISD to the design of an educational system (Squire, 1999). In this paper we describe the application of Opportunity Initiated Systems Design, apractitioner-based ISD model, in light of our own formative evaluation and program revision of the Instructional Design and Technology program at the University of Iowa. In this case study, we found that the communication of shared definitions was critical and that the probabilistic nature of the model was not a limitation but rather a prompt for further opportunities.     

Revealing Community Perceptions for Ecological Restoration Using a Soft System Methodology

Human perceptions under unstructured forms contain valuable information for ecological restoration (ER). To aid in ER, this paper introduces a working process to analyze the unstructured information for the case study of black bear restoration (BBR) in East Texas where understanding of the perceptions of stakeholders at a community level is needed. We identified the current situation, revealed stakeholders and their interactions, and developed actions for change for BBR. Our techniques included recording discussions in meetings, Soft Systems Methodology, and stakeholder analysis. Results indicated the current situation of BBR with human-bear and human-human conflicts. We figured out that information exchange was interrupted in the public, a potential cause for conflicts. Through a systemization, results showed various roles of key stakeholders and constraints for BBR. We found that local state agencies and local residents (particularly landowners) are the key decision-makers for BBR success. Their collaboration can result in a small portion of success (1/9) that can be increased by more cooperation. The SSM framework introduced in this study can be used for modeling community perceptions in ecological restoration.

     

基于多阶段转换学习的群体研讨文本言语行为分类

在群体支持系统(Group Support Systems,GSS)的环境下,群体能够在很短时间内产生大量研讨文本,远远超过了人们对信息处理的能力。因此,迫切需要一种能够自动分析和处理群体研讨文本的方法,言语行为分类就是这类方法中有可能实现并且具有应用价值的一个。在分析Zeno研讨模型的基础上,提出了适合群体研讨语料的言语行为分类体系。采用基于转换学习的办法,通过引入多阶段转换学习的概念,初步解决了群体研讨文本言语行为分类的问题,并且在议题类别和一些表达主张的类别(如支持和反对)上取得了较好的识别效果。研究群体研讨文本的言语行为分类对于拓展GSS,进而研究和开发自动主持人系统具有重要意义。同时,也为在中文环境下解决其他类型研讨(如网络聊天室、即时聊天工具等)文本的言语行为分类问题提供了参考依据。     

poCDIO: A Methodological Proposal for Promoting Active Participation in Social Engineering Projects

Currently, both public and private organizations, as well as the academic milieu are developing social projects in order to strengthen and improve the quality of life. This is the case of Engineers Without Borders Colombia (ISFCOL for its Spanish acronym), an organization formed by engineering teachers and students from Los Andes University and the Minuto de Dios University Corporation that develops engineering projects within communities in order to solve environmental and social problems. However, based in the group’s experience, a problem has been identified regarding the absence of a methodology that promotes the active and effective participation of all the parties involved, which can prevent the accomplishment of otherwise technically viable, socially responsible, and sustainable projects. Looking to address this issue, this paper presents a methodological proposal for promoting the active participation of all the parties involved in engineering projects that have a social impact. The proposal is structured following the stages of the oCDIO context (Observe, Conceive, Design, Implement and Operate), and is successfully applied during the development of an ISFCOL project in which the participation of all the parties involved becomes a key element for the effective accomplishment of the engineering proposal and for the generation of socially responsible impacts. Namely, the project “Fortalecimiento Negocios Verdes Comunitarios Provincia del Guavio” (Community Green Businesses Strengthening in the Guavio Province) whose main goal was to strengthen the innovation and the entrepreneurship in the Guavio region communities, consolidating thus an active participation network of 400 members made up by small entrepreneurs and students from rural communities close to the city of Bogota and from higher education institutions.     

斑杂破碎的世界还是系统层次的世界——简评新经验主义和简述系统实在论（一）

本文对英美科学哲学中的以南茜.卡特赖特为代表的史坦福学派新经验主义（斯坦福学派是一个强调从哲学上来研究实际的科学实践,否定科学统一或科学整合可能性的新经验主义的松散联盟,成员包括John Dupré,Ian Hacking（哈金）,Margaret Morrison（莫里森）,Peter Galison（艾莉森）和Nancy Cartwright等人,其中以南茜的观点最为激进。Nancy Cartwright（1944-）伦敦经济学院哲学系教授,前任美国科学哲学学会主席。英国科学院院士。曾经任教于许多大学包括美国斯坦福大学。）提出批评、剖析和讨论,认为南茜否定基本物理定律的普遍性的观点以及她的＂斑杂破碎的世界＂是对一般科学方法论和系统科学方法论的一种颠覆性的论证。清华大学吴彤教授根据新经验主义提出的《破碎的系统观》是我国系统哲学的一种新见解,也是很有启发性和颠覆性的,无论你赞成还是反对面对,都值得我们认真研究和讨论。本文认为系统科学的发展实际上已经正面解决了＂南茜的质疑＂。系统科学哲学研究的关键问题在于采取跨学科研究方法,具体地研究不同类型的系统。当今的主攻方向是要研究复杂系统的普遍规律及其突现行为,并用于解决我国开放改革遇到的各种全局性和局域性问题。世界是有系统的和有规律性的而不是斑杂破碎和无规的。     

The Emergent Properties of SSM in Use: A Symposium by Reflective Practitioners

Two careers, in industry and in university teaching at postgraduate level, have led to the development of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) in a 30-year program of action research. The most cogent comments on SSM come from reflective practitioners, and in this symposium I have asked eight such users of SSM to reflect on their experience and to address the question of what it is that happens when the approach is used in real-world problem situations. Their responses reflect their different backgrounds, experience, and ways of working, but a broad general picture emerges. This suggests that SSM (whose process does not necessarily have to be made explicit to participants in a study) can engender a process of on-going (cyclic) coherent structured learning which feels natural, and which can surface previously unexamined assumptions, thus creating an arena in which accommodations can emerge which enable and motivate "action to improve" to be taken.     

The Role of Formalisation, Participation and Context in the Success of Public Involvement Mechanisms in Resource Management

In the face of complex and uncertain issues, one important goal of public participation in resource management and research is to foster communication and the inclusion of non-expert knowledge—thus the effective flow of information between project organisers and stakeholders. We compare different methods (instruments, tools) that were employed in the German–Austrian ‘PartizipA’ project to structure information flows in participatory processes. Depending on their goals and context, more or less ‘formalised’ and ‘participatory’ methods were applied, the most important being guided interviews, focus groups, agent-based modelling, nutrient modelling, cognitive mapping and group model building as well as the development of a common document. Two regional case studies, both concerned with European-induced institutional change, are portrayed in which the specific participatory methods were embedded. The Austrian case study involved the analysis and modelling of agricultural land use in the region of St. Pölten against the background of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, while the implementation of recent European water policy was the issue in the German agricultural region north of Osnabrück. Presenting both cases in their regional context, the applied methods are first described according to the logic of the entire respective process. Subsequently, the specific methods are systematically analysed and compared according to their objective, context and degrees of participation and formalisation. Finally, we evaluate all methods regarding their effectiveness in terms of goal attainment and their potential generalisation, seeking to respond to the question of when a particular method might best be used.     

Rapid Institutional Appraisal

A week-long intensive process of staff development and induction called Rapid Institutional Appraisal (RIA) was conducted in November 2000 in the Systems Discipline, Centre for Complexity and Change (CCC), at the Open University. We report the systemic roots and characteristics of the RIA as designed from traditions of soft systems methodology and rapid rural appraisal. Our experiences arising from our own use of RIA are described and the wider implications for organizational learning in a complex organization discussed. While acknowledging limitations with this RIA event, we argue that RIA offers a potential model for staff development for adaptive use in different contexts and on varying scales. The process builds on principles of "conversation" and "multiple perspectives" as the touchstone for establishing a purposeful community of practice.     

Opportunity Initiated Systems Design

This paper proposes a design theory of how opportunities might be used to facilitate change within a system, particularly an educational system. Opportunity Initiated Systems Design (OISD) is a system design model that retains the values and goals of Idealized Systems Design (ISD) yet incorporates other models of systemic change to form a simpler, more practical theory of systems design. Traditional barriers to ISD are discussed, used as the basis for describing suggest an alternative theory of systems design. The paper articulates the values and goals of OISD and outlines a theory of OISD. The six phases of OISD are presented, including specific guidelines for implementing OISD. Limitations of OISD and implications for further research are discussed.     

知识经济时代的过程系统工程——面临的挑战与发展的趋势

对过程系统工程这门学科面向 2 1世纪所面临的挑战及发展方向做了综合性评述 .首先对新世纪过程工程系统发展的特点及其对系统工程的需求进行了综合介绍 .在此基础上 ,从五个方面论述了本学科的发展方向 :1 )研究对象“过程系统”从传统的中观点系统向两头延伸 :一方向的产品设计为代表的微观世纪延伸 ;一方面向以供应链管理及全球环境化学为代表的超大规模系统延伸 ;2 )“过程”涵义自制造过程延伸到经营管理业务决策过程 ;3 )考虑环境影响的绿色过程系统工程 ;4)动态过程系统工程 ;5 )过程集成 .