The Problem
‘Our JIT system works in
Germany. Why doesn’t it work
in Brazil?
It’s the same technology – so
what’s the difference?’
Automotive Manufacturing Supply Chain
‘Most of the problems that came up were
not technical.’
‘We can deal with the technical problems –
we do that every day
– it is the soft issues that are the real
problem.’
‘I’m an engineer – I wasn’t trained for that
– but it’s what I spend most of my time
doing’
• Trist and Mumford
• coal mining industry where
mechanization had actually
decreased worker
productivity
• systems have both technical
& human/social aspects that
are interconnected
• interconnections more than
individual elements
determine system
performance.
http://www.strategosinc.com/socio-technical.htm
1. A Straw Poll
• Who is designing or
managing a Software
System just now?
• How much time
today / this week was
spent on nontechnical aspects?
Why this affects e-business Systems
Extended enterprises
systems tend to be
designed in one
community, but support
communication and
interoperation among an
ever-increasing number of
other communities
Does It Matter?
Cost of misalignment
•Iraq procurement system
•Challenger
•Process Management - what ISO Standards miss
Cost –effectiveness of Synergy
Cost of Misalignment
• Challenger Iraq
procurement system
• Iraq procurement system
was deemed a success technically
• Process Management what ISO Standards
miss
What Are Socio-technical Systems?
‘Coupled’ systems where
performance depends on the
interaction of human and
technical IS.
For design and management, this
raises issues of socio-technical
Interoperability, Alignment,
Leverage, Synergy
• Cognitive and social systems are
increasingly recognised as networked
information and communication
systems in their own right
• Design and implementation strategies
can leverage both the technical and
the human systems at key interfaces
where they interact
‘the interaction of physical systems that
are deterministic with human systems
(cognitive, social, organisational,
cultural, economic or political for
example) which are less so.’
Cliff Joslyn & Luis Rocha, Los Alamos National Labs
The Difference
Dimension
Germany
Brazil
Avoidance of undefined
situations
High
Low
Approach to time-planning
Long-term and
prescriptive
Short-term
and flexible
Predominating concept of time
Linear, sequential
Synchronous, parallel
Approach to rules and
regulations
Rigid – the letter of
the law
Flexible – the spirit of
the law
Table 4.1 Dimensions of Difference
Aligning Coupled Systems
Coupled systems can
either:
• create synergy
• generate costs or risk
Adding Value in Coupled Systems
How the Book Deals with It
• The Problem
• Case Scenarios
- problem in context
- transferable strategies
• Summary of Strategies
• Some Theoretical
Context
•
•
•
•
•
Extranet - financial services
Manufacturing supply chain - automotive
Safety management systems – oil and gas
KM Intranet – financial services
Grid – based fusion of local and global
knowledge
• Digital Library
Case-based Problems &
Solutions
• for developing awareness of recurring
problems in the design or management of
socio-technical systems
• for sharing strategies for aligning social and
technical systems
Complex Systems Can Generate
Simple Patterns
• scenarios that account
for many of the
problems and
solutions
Recurring Patterns
• Same problems in
system design or
management
• Real cost to business and
individuals
• No sharing of awareness
or transferable solutions
• No training or
established wisdom
The Local: Global Case
• Software designed to
standardise safety
compliance procedures
globally, was actually
increasing risk in some
local operating sites
www.petrotechnics.com
The Problem with Global
Systems
• Safety compliance
systems increasing risk in
oil and gas
• Fixed vs variable
• Leveraging local
knowledge
• Communities are IS
Leveraging the Technical and the Human
Resource To Cut Risk
Fire is a complex, dynamic phenomenon in which small
differences in initial conditions lead to large differences
in outcome. Designing structures to reduce risk of fire in
the first place, and to facilitate rapid intervention should
it occur, are critical elements in a risk mitigation
strategy…….Such a strategy assumes that an
engineered building, with its occupants, constitutes a
socio-technical system, and that many buildings, with
their occupants, create a wider community that can
anticipate, reduce, or increase risk.
Comfort L., 2002, ‘Anticipating Fire: A Socio-technical Approach to Mitigation’
Activity 2: Aligning Systems
• Find another example like
the Global Local one
• It must leverage the
potential of global
technical systems and the
knowledge of local
social/cultural systems to
add value or cut risk
Your Examples
Leveraging the Technical and the
Human System to Mutual Advantage
The Virtual Learning Environment
Recurring Design &
Management Strategies
1. Aligning technical and human systemscoupled systems
2. Using a common platform - designing
technology around the architecture of the
cognitive or the social process
3.
Bridging the gap – human, technical or
socio-technical ‘middleware’ at the
interfaces where costs or value can be
generated
4. Creating new linkages between technical
and/or human networks
5. Mapping the social network as a context
for understanding and situated action
2. Using a Common Platform
Building systems
around the cognitive
process.
•
•
•
•
•
WebSOMs
Shneiderman
Bush
Pask
Hitchens
Building systems
around the social
process.
• UML
• SSM
• Concept Maps
Open
Social
Te
Technical
Closed
3. Bridging the Gap
middleware – technical or human systems
that transform, translate or mediate capital
between systems
Technical Middleware
• Electronic chip adds
value by mediating
information between
coupled systems
• Human ‘middleware’
• Control and capital
Harnessing the Energy of other
Systems
Software as middleware
• Software as
middleware between
technical systems
• Windows as mediator
between human users
and technological
systems
People as Middleware
• between levels and
between groups –
reinforcing shared
interpretations and
validating situated
actions
• Brokerage
• Re-use and coevolution
Learning and Knowledge as
Middleware
Through learning we re-create
ourselves. Through learning we
become able to do something
we never were able to do.
Through learning we reperceive the world and our
relationship to it. Through
learning we extend our capacity
to create, to be part of the
generative process of life. There
is within each of us a deep
hunger for this type of learning.
Senge
Pre-requisites for Knowledge
Sharing
• Shared spaces
• Shared frames of
reference
• The ‘file’ ‘programme’
analogy
Shared Frames of Reference – Time
Bloodhound
Pot Sharing
Operational
Skim
Requirements
Prototype
Re-Use
Successful
Teams
Collocate
Scale Back
Mentor
Vendor
Workshop
True Costs
Contract
Boxing
Vendor Visit
The Business
Know The
Benefits
Knock Heads
Vendor
Prototype
Time
Project Start-Up/Feasibility
Project Execution
Frames of Reference -Space
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Images
Maps
Metaphors
Patterns
Concepts
Norms
Role of feedback in
creating and reinforcing
these adaptively
Shared Frames of Reference - Problems
Context
Problem
Forces
Solutions
Volatility of a more
distributed and
increasingly userled market in
extended
enterprise makes
resource planning
difficult to forecast
and manage
effectively.
How can business
respond rapidly
and effectively to
transient user
requirements
without costs and
risks inherent in
over- and underbuild?
Maximize
response to
changing scale
and scope of user
requirements.
Share resources
Over-capacity is
costly and invokes
other costs / risks,
such as security.
Maintain reliability,
security and
flexibility of
service.
Under-capacity
can lead to loss of
business due to
poor service or
system failure.
Minimize cost of
system build
and/or design.
Share resources
dynamically
Target resources
Outsource
transient capacity
Align short-term
build with longterm planning
Metaphor – the evolutionary
solution in social IS
- I see what you mean
- Instantiation at run time
- Data-mining
- A system is like a dam
- A nippy sweetie
- A ball park figure
- Square
Phase 1 Aligning knowledge
Table 1(a)
Recurring problem
Solution
Knowledge transfer across domains requires a
shared space, a shared currency and shared
aims. However, distributed departments do not
have informal social opportunities to develop this.
Co-location of project team representing different
stakeholder groups.
Shared space online as well as on-site to support
knowledge building through dialogue and shared
experience.
Knowledge assets are not available as no
historical data of expertise on recurring problem–
solution pairs.
Create a knowledge-base of recurring problem–
solution patterns that are socio-technical.
Difficulty in understanding the full requirements
and implications of complex business processes.
Maintain a core team which has developed (a)
expertise and credibility across its members’
areas of expertise, and (b) shared frames and
terms of reference.
Alignment Adds Value
3. Building Technology Around
Social Processes
•
•
•
•
•
•
Local Scenario
Soft Systems
Catwoe
Amazon
Limewire
Brokerage
4. Using the Architecture of
Social Networks
•
•
•
•
•
Burt
Brokerage
Closure
Sense-making
Social Capital
Social Network Analysis
• Actors and their actions are viewed as interdependent
• Relational ties (linkages) between actors are channels for
transfer or "flow" of resources (either material or nonmaterial)
• The network structural environment provides opportunities for
or constraints on individual action
• Network models conceptualise structure (social, economic,
political, and so forth) as lasting patterns of relations among
actors
• The unit of analysis in network analysis is not the individual,
but an entity consisting of a collection of individuals and the
linkages among them.
Wasserman, S. and K. Faust, 1994, Social Network Analysis.
Cambridge University Press.
Cambridge:
Aligning Business & Technical
Teams in the Design Process Itself
Interviewer:
You’ve
mentioned
the
problem of requirements
‘creep’ late in the design. Can
you think of anything that
might have helped avoid
this?
Technical Manager:
‘A cluster bomb perhaps?’
The Extranet Project
• Range of recurring problems in aligning
technical and business requirements design
of an Extranet (at a more specific level)
• Solutions adopted
• Implications for design or management
Tensions
Business
Objectives
Tensions
Technical
Objectives
Scoping
problem
Web
technologies
Raised
expectations
Tensions
Tensions
Emerging
requirements
Object
technologies
No historical
data
Not Just KM
The Extranet Cases suggest that alignment
between business and technical teams was about
criteria and reward within particular communities
– not knowledge transfer
Phase 1 Aligning knowledge of design requirements
Table 1(a)
Recurring problem
Lack of shared terms. Difficulty of
coming to a common understanding.
Few opportunities for informal or face to
face exchange to build this up.
Business model is incomplete, and
requirements are based on the current
mainframe system
Knowledge of previous problems and
solutions in other projects is not
available
Difficulty of fully understanding the
requirements and implications of
complex business processes being
migrated to web-based system.
Solution
Phase 2 Aligning Competing Requirements
within Constraints
Recurring problem
Solution
Competing aims and requirements
– brain-storming becomes blamestorming
Constantly emerging requirements
(‘creep’) leading to additional costs,
risks and delays as a design is
repeatedly revised or added to.
Late changes are particularly costly
and impact greatly on other design
aspects.
An initial solution of matching
requirements with set criteria of
costs and benefits is often
overridden by lobby groups in the
senior management team who
‘move the goal posts’ and
undermine the official change
control processes.
Getting support from management
for ‘invisible’ or long-term initiatives
flagged by current problems
I think "knowledge management" is a bullshit
issue. Let me tell you why. I can give you perfect
information, I can give you perfect knowledge and
it won't change your behaviour one iota. People
choose not to change their behaviour because the
culture and the imperatives of the organization
make it too difficult to act upon the knowledge.
Knowledge is not the power. Power is power. The
ability to act on knowledge is power. Most people
in most organizations do not have the ability to act
on the knowledge they possess. End of story.
Michael Schrage
Teamwork Consultant
Knowledge Inc. Interview
Phase 3 Aligning outcomes with expectations
Recurring problem
Hyped anticipation of outcome
(‘over-promise and under-deliver’)
Cost and development time increased by
constant changes to spec.
Capturing knowledge of solutions to
recurring problems for the future
Solution
Activity 3: The Extranet Case
• Discuss some possible
solutions
• Note down other nontechnical problems
that come up in
discussion
Table 1(a)
Phase 1 Gathering knowledge of design
requirements and considering solutions
Recurring problem
Solution
Lack of shared terms. Difficulty of
coming to a common understanding.
Few opportunities for informal or face to
face exchange to build this up.
Co-location of project team representing
different stakeholder groups.
Shared space online as well as on-site
to support dialogue and shared
experience.
Business model is incomplete, and
requirements are based on the current
system mainframe system
Knowledge of previous problems and
solutions in other projects is not
available
Create a knowledge-base of recurring
problem–solution patterns that are sociotechnical.
Difficulty of fully understanding the
requirements and implications of
complex business processes being
migrated to web-based system.
Maintain a core team which has
developed
(a)
expertise and credibility across its
members’ areas of expertise
(b)
shared frames and terms of
reference
(c)
had the seniority to implement
any changes in their own team
Phase 2 Aligning objectives
Recurring problem
Solution
Competing aims and requirements.
Brain-storming – to blame-storming
Ensure a detailed business
model is in place, with criteria
agreed and enforced, before
embarking on the technical
design.
Constantly emerging requirements
(‘creep’) leading to additional costs,
risks and delays as a design is
repeatedly revised or added to.
Late changes are particularly costly
and impact greatly on other design
aspects.
An initial solution of matching
requirements with set criteria of
costs and benefits is often
overridden by lobby groups in the
senior management team who
‘move the goal posts’ and
undermine the official change
control processes.
Getting support from management
for ‘invisible’ or long-term initiatives
which may have implications for
future competitiveness.
Separate core invariant elements
from peripheral and variable
elements where possible, to limit
the cost and scale of redesign
while allowing flexibility to meet
the market requirements.
Early mock-ups and prototypes
make stakeholders more aware
of the real implications, risks and
opportunities of a new system.
Use Dreamweaver directly with
users to avoid changes in
priorities and requirements at a
later stage of build.
Show the benefits and risks with
other company examples as a
benchmark
Share resources with other
groups with shared concerns.
Phase 3 Aligning expectations
Recurring problem
Solution
Hyped anticipation of outcome
‘Under-promise’ and ‘over-deliver’ design,
and roll out discrete ‘chunks’, so the
human and technical challenges are
more manageable.
Cost and development time of prototype,
followed by changes to spec.
Collaborative prototyping of rapidly
generated mock-up.
Capturing knowledge of solutions to
recurring problems.
Matrix of organizational expertise.
Supporting Sense-making
• Building around the
cognitive system
• This requires a model
of the cognitive
process - from
(1) information to
(2) knowledge and
(3)situated action
A Definition of Knowledge
‘an adaptive interface between information and
action.’
‘information applied to achieve a goal, solve a
problem or enact a decision.’
Nicholas Shadbolt, 2001
Where?
• Locally
• Where there is scope for
interaction
• Where there is scope for
intervention
Invisible Architecture
•Biological and technical systems have
developed a range of solutions to the
problem of distributed information
processing
•When powerful systems are
‘coupled’ the interface between
them are crucial in shaping the
performance that results
Key Interfaces in Socio-technical
Systems
Information
Performance
1. Perception
• Zooming and
Scanning
• Shneiderman
• WebSOMs
2.Cognition - Making Sense of
Information
• Information is not the
problem
• Making sense of it is
• File –programme analogy
Pre-requisites for Knowledge
Sharing
• Shared spaces
• Shared frames of
reference
• The ‘file’ ‘programme’
analogy
Frames of Reference -Space
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Images
Maps
Metaphors
Patterns
Concepts
Norms
Role of feedback in
creating and reinforcing
these adaptively
Context
• Information
• Knowledge
• Context
A Grammar of Shared Contexts
• Metaphors
• Concepts
‘Once a person begins to accept a stereotype of a particular
group, that "thought" becomes an active agent,
"participating" in shaping how he or she interacts with others
in that class’
• Norms
‘Trust is regulated by norms and provides a mechanism for
optimising value in transactions and minimising risk within
groups’
Culture is persistent
Beliefs: Those things we hold to be true despite
evidence to the contrary.
J. O’Connor
The Art of Systems Thinking
3. Action
“..cybernetic systems are feedback loops which are
either negative or positive (weakening or enforcing).
They give to the system the qualities of stabilization
and renewal. In this context the organisation of
feedback processes is an important managerial task with
regard to the survival of the system.”
Drawing On Biological Systems
for Solutions
• Shaping through feedback loops (not KM
• Recurrent scenarios or patterns despite
complexity
• Reinforcement and emergence of structure
Feedback Shapes Distributed
Autonomous Networks
• Ants brains and cities
• Reinforcing behaviour
shapes the system
• At key interfaces
• Emergent structure
shapes subsequent
performance
Complex Systems Can Generate
Simple Patterns
• scenarios that account
for many of the
problems
Complex systems
theory and Chaos
theory
Actor network
and agent based
theories
Structuration
and enactment
theories.
Social Network
Analysis
SSM
Aims
• Awareness-raising
• Collection of recurring
scenarios
• Undergraduate training
• Development of tools to
map soft processes
Implications
•
•
•
•
A Starter
Collect and share recurring scenarios
For use in undergraduate training
Extend development of tools to map soft
processes
Making The Dark Matter Visible?
• Ranking
• Inclusion
unknown
explicit
tacit
Thank You
[email protected]