Governance Policies in IT Service Support

IT Service support provider, whether outsourced or kept in-house, has to abide by the Service Level Agreements (SLA) that are derived from the business needs. At the heart of IT Service support provider are the human resources that are expected to resolve tickets. It is essential that the policies, which govern the tickets’ movement amongst these resources, follow the business objectives such as service availability and cost reduction. In this study, we propose an agent based model that represents an IT Service Support system. A vital component in the model is the agent ‘Governor’, which makes policy decisions based on the by reacting to changes in the environment. The paper also studies the impact of various behavioural attributes of the Governor on the service objectives

The role of learning on industrial simulation design and analysis

The capability of modeling real-world system operations has turned simulation into an indispensable problemsolving methodology for business system design and analysis. Today, simulation supports decisions ranging from sourcing to operations to finance, starting at the strategic level and proceeding towards tactical and operational levels of decision-making. In such a dynamic setting, the practice of simulation goes beyond being a static problem-solving exercise and requires integration with learning. This article discusses the role of learning in simulation design and analysis motivated by the needs of industrial problems and describes how selected tools of statistical learning can be utilized for this purpose

Simulation-Based Risk Reduction for Planning Inspections

Organizations that develop software have recognized that software process models are particularly useful for maintaining a high standard of quality. In the last decade, simulations of software processes were used in several settings and environments. This paper gives a short overview of the benefits of software process simulation and describes the development of a discrete-event model, a technique rarely used before in that field. The model introduced in this paper captures the behavior of a detailed code inspection process. It aims at reducing the risks inherent in implementing inspection processes and techniques in the overall development process. The determination of the underlying cause-effect relations using data mining techniques and empirical data is explained. Finally, the paper gives an outlook on our future work.Comment: 16 pages. The final publication is available at http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F3-540-36209-6_

Guiding Health Care Policy through Applied Public Health Modeling and Simulation

The risk of a widespread epidemic is a primary public health concern with implications for healthcare providers and organizations. Modeling and simulation techniques have been successfully applied at the national level to set governmental polices and mitigation strategies through simulation-based predictions. Existing research in this field has been non-uniform in its coverage of local systems and region-specific findings. New collaborations between on the ground providers and modeling groups are required for successful simulation-based experimentation of region-specific health systems. These proposed collaborations are expected to contribute high-quality sub-population datasets to be used in experiments at the national level and allow for the reuse of existing disease models and simulation infrastructure in support of regional predictive experimentation

Software measurement guidebook

This software Measurement Guidebook presents information on the purpose and importance of measurement. It discusses the specific procedures and activities of a measurement program and the roles of the people involved. The guidebook also clarifies the roles that measurement can and must play in the goal of continual, sustained improvement for all software production and maintenance efforts

System dynamics approach to understand the role of information technology in the evolution of next generation integrated product development systems

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-97).For the automotive industry, to be competitive in the market place has to devise many strategies. Some of the prominent strategies include and are not limited to, reduction of development costs by moving in-house work to its suppliers, reduction of PD cycle time by mimicking some of the industry's successful PD processes. Some companies are also devising some complex strategies like Zero-Prototype development using computer aided prototyping and testing, currently prevalent in the aerospace and naval industries, and more recently making a move into the Lean PD systems and processes to avoid waste and increase efficiency. However, to introduce such lean PD systems, with reduced PD cycle time, into a complex organization with many internally developed IT systems, processes and tools is a huge challenge. The organization needs to adapt to these lean environments not just structurally but also culturally. To design a lean PD organization (system) the decision makers have to foresee and understand how the system of systems may react to the change before they are implemented and/or executed. In the past couple of decades IT systems have been a primary enabler for PD work flow processes.(cont.) However, IT systems are so engraved in some PD organizations that they have turned into an engineering process mechanism. Also, some of the IT systems have served more than their life expectancy and in some cases cannot be decommissioned because these systems are so tightly coupled with the business processes. An understanding of the internal system dynamics of these deeply engraved IT systems in the PD life cycle will help the automotive industry executives (decision makers) and IT systems architects to make the right decision when designing and deploying the new PD systems or processes. This study provides an overview of how IT tools have evolved in the automotive industry. Extensive research was conducted to understand the different system dynamics tools used in industry - specifically in automotive product development and the software development areas. The study concludes with an explanation of how system dynamics tools can be used as a program planning and management tool.by Sashi K. Somavarapu.S.M

A system dynamics approach to workload management of hospital pharmacy staff: modelling the trade-off between dispensing backlog and dispensing errors

Background (or Rationale): The traditional hospital pharmacy staffing management model does not account for the complex interactions of social, technical, and environmental factors that can affect performance and safety. Conventionally, workload and dispensing errors within the hospital pharmacy system have been analysed on a factor-by-factor level, using linear and static approaches that ignore feedback mechanisms. Purpose: We aimed to explore the potential of a system dynamics approach to modelling staffing level management in a hospital pharmacy. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative system dynamics models were created to simulate dynamic aspects contributing to dispensing backlog and errors in a hospital pharmacy. A baseline scenario was tested in a “normal” condition, and three different staffing level scenarios (fixed, flexible, and equivalent-fixed) were tested in an extreme condition (hospital winter pressures). Results: During hospital winter pressures, the unintended negative effect on rework due to dispensing errors made it more challenging to deal with demand variability. Findings from the scenario-based simulations revealed that a flexible staffing level arrangement, which dynamically adjusts the number of staff to demand variability during winter pressure, is less effective in reducing the amount of rework than maintaining an equivalent-fixed staffing level. Dispensing backlog during winter pressure can be averted or substantially diminished by proactively employing an equivalent-fixed staffing level that accounts for total staff capacity needed vis-à-vis the current workload. Premature release of extra staff and delayed calling of additional staff from wards can have significant impacts on backlog. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that system dynamics can provide practical insights into staffing level management in a hospital pharmacy, by accounting for dynamic factors causing dispensing backlog and errors and presenting decision-makers with a holistic understanding of elements affecting system safety and performance

Development of a system dynamics based management flight simulator for new product development

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design & Management Program, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-153).All firms in any mature product development industry are being pressured into performing 'better, faster, and cheaper' by both customers and competitors. In short, firms are being tasked with doing more, with less, faster. This leads to product development organizations being unrealistically tasked to deliver on these programs that often lead to projects falling behind schedule, over budget, and with inadequate quality. While striving to do the right actions to survive, the management of these firms may be leading their firms to disaster through over commitment, and short-term management actions to address the quality, budget, and schedule shortfalls. An understanding of the system dynamics associated with the program management of new product development (NPD) programs is essential to reversing this trend. Several corporations are instituting system dynamics in their management and executive training curricula to affect correct policies, procedures, and behaviors that lead to success. However, because the correct policies, procedures, and behaviors as revealed by system dynamics analysis are counter-intuitive and opposite those policies currently employed in program management, a method is needed to drive the learning of system dynamics so that it becomes ingrained in the program management thought processes. A management flight simulator (MFS) of the program management of a new product development project based on system dynamics provides the hands on experience that managers can learn the consequences of non systems-thinking policies on project performance and how system dynamics based policies can lead to greater success. This thesis provides an overview of the system dynamics of project management in new product development and insight into the(cont.) correct policies, procedures, and behaviors that lead to success. Research on the role of MFSs in driving the learning of system dynamics principles is explored. A single-phase system dynamics model for a new product development program and a MFS is developed to teach the fundamental lessons of system dynamics applied to product development project management and is to be incorporated in the BP Project Academy. Insight from my own experiences in product development is incorporated in this MFS as well as in recommendations for further development.by Daniel V. MacInnis.S.M

Manager's handbook for software development, revision 1

Methods and aids for the management of software development projects are presented. The recommendations are based on analyses and experiences of the Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) with flight dynamics software development. The management aspects of the following subjects are described: organizing the project, producing a development plan, estimating costs, scheduling, staffing, preparing deliverable documents, using management tools, monitoring the project, conducting reviews, auditing, testing, and certifying

Participatory system dynamics modelling approach to safe and efficient staffing level management within hospital pharmacies

With increasingly complex safety-critical systems like healthcare being developed and managed, there is a need for a tool that allows us to understand their complexity, design better strategies and guide effective change. System dynamics (SD) has been widely used in modelling across a range of applications from socio-economic to engineering systems, but its potential has not yet been fully realised as a tool for understanding trade-off dynamics between safety and efficiency in healthcare. SD has the potential to provide balanced and trustworthy insights into strategic decision making. Participatory SD modelling and learning is particularly important in healthcare since problems in healthcare are difficult to comprehend due to complexity, involvement of multiple stakeholders in decision making and fragmented structure of delivery systems. Participatory SD modelling triangulates stakeholder expertise, data and simulation of implementation plans prior to attempting change. It provides decision-makers with an evaluation and learning tool to analyse impacts of changes and determine which input data is most likely to achieve desired outcomes. This thesis aims to examine the feasibility of applying participatory SD modelling approach to safe and efficient staffing level management within hospital pharmacies and to evaluate the utility and usability of participatory SD modelling approach as a learning method. A case study was conducted looking at trade-offs between dispensing backlog (efficiency) and dispensing errors (safety) in a hospital pharmacy dispensary in an English teaching hospital. A participatory modelling approach was employed where the stakeholders from the hospital pharmacy dispensary were engaged in developing an integrated qualitative conceptual model. The model was constructed using focus group sessions with 16 practitioners consisting of labelling and checking practitioners, the literature and hospital pharmacy databases. Based on the conceptual model, a formal quantitative simulation model was then developed using an SD simulation approach, allowing different scenarios and strategies to be identified and tested. Besides the baseline or business as usual scenario, two additional scenarios (hospital winter pressures and various staffing arrangements, interruptions and fatigue) identified by the pharmacist team were simulated and tested using a custom simulation platform (Forio: user-friendly GUI) to enable stakeholders to play out the likely consequences of the intervention scenarios. We carried out focus group-based survey of 21 participants working in the hospital pharmacy dispensaries to evaluate the applicability, utility and usability of how participatory SD enhanced group learning and building of shared vision for problems within the hospital dispensaries. Findings from the simulation illustrate the knock-on impact rework has on dispensing errors, which is often missing from the traditional linear model-based approaches. This potentially downward-spiral knock-on effect makes it more challenging to deal with demand variability, for example, due to hospital winter pressures. The results provide pharmacy management in-depth insights into potential downward-spiral knock-on effects of high workload and potential challenges in dealing with demand variability. Results and simulated scenarios reveal that it is better to have a fixed adequate staff number throughout the day to keep backlog and dispensing errors to a minimum than calling additional staff to combat growing backlog; and that whilst having a significant amount of trainees might be cost efficient, it has a detrimental effect on dispensing errors (safety) as number of rework done to correct the errors increases and contributes to the growing backlog. Finally, capacity depletion initiated by high workload (over 85% of total workload), even in short bursts, has a significant effect on the amount of rework. Evaluative feedback revealed that participatory SD modelling can help support consensus agreement, thus gaining a deeper understanding of the complex interactions in the systems they strive to manage. The model introduced an intervention to pharmacy management by changing their mental models on how hospital winter pressures, various staffing arrangements, interruptions and fatigue affect productivity and safety. Although the outcome of the process is the model as an artefact, we concluded that the main benefit is the significant mental model change on how hospital winter pressures, various staffing arrangements, interruptions and fatigue are interconnected, as derived from participants involvement and their interactions with the GUI scenarios. The research contributes to the advancement of participatory SD modelling approach within healthcare by evaluating its utility and usability as a learning method, which until recently, has been dominated by the linear reductionist approaches. Methodologically, this is one of the few studies to apply participatory SD approach as a modelling tool for understanding trade-offs dynamics between safety and efficiency in healthcare. Practically, this research provides stakeholders and managers, from pharmacists to managers the decision support tools in the form of a GUI-based platform showcasing the integrated conceptual and simulation model for staffing level management in hospital pharmacy