Developing Performance-Centered Systems for Higher Education

The experience in developing performance-centered systems for higher education has improved significantly, and practitioners have made considerable progress in elaborating a methodology. This paper discusses the convergence of thinking among various disciplines in analysis and design methodologies, and describes the key elements of the new-emerged performance support engineering development methodology. These are important for designing web-based systems, information systems, and knowledge management systems in higher education.performance-centered systems, web-besd systems, information systems, knowledge management systems, methodology, higher education

A methodology for designing social systems in systems thinking

Bu çalışmada, deneysel idealizm felsefesi benimsenerek, sosyal sistemlerin anlaşılması ya da tasarlanması için bir sorgulama yöntemi önerilmiştir. Deneysel idealizme göre gerçeğe, deneyimin başında değil sonunda yaklaşılabilir. Bu nedenle önerilecek yöntemin aşamalı bir sorgulama yöntemi olması gerekir. Ayrıca sosyal sistemler, doğal sistemlerden farklı olarak insanlar tarafından belirlenen bir amaca göre tasarlanırlar. Amaç ya da anlamın belirlenebilmesi için de sorgulama sisteminde iletişimin kalitesi özel bir önem taşır. Çünkü davranışlarımızın koordinasyonunu ve anlamını yaratan iletişimdir. Dolayısıyla bir organizasyonun tasarımı, özünde iletişimin sağlanması demektir.In this paper, suggested an iterative inquiring methodology to understand or design a social system based on philosophy of experimental idealism. According to experimental idealism, truth could be understood at the end of the experiment not at the beginning. So inquiring methodology must be iterative. Social systems are designed to realize the purposes of stakeholders. Defining purposes or meaning and coordination of behaviors are embodied in communication. So designing a social system, in essence, is a matter of communication

Soft systems methodology: a context within a 50-year retrospective of OR/MS

Soft systems methodology (SSM) has been used in the practice of operations research and management science OR/MS) since the early 1970s. In the 1990s, it emerged as a viable academic discipline. Unfortunately, its proponents consider SSM and traditional systems thinking to be mutually exclusive. Despite the differences claimed by SSM proponents between the two, they have been complementary. An extensive sampling of the OR/MS literature over its entire lifetime demonstrates the richness with which the non-SSM literature has been addressing the very same issues as does SSM

Addressing organisational and societal concerns : an application of critical systems thinking to information systems planning in Colombia

Most current information system s (IS) planning methodologies are focused on achieving ‘successful’ plans, i.e. plans that provide competitive advantage, can be implemented in a given period of time, and that solve the problems of information needs by taking advantage of the latest technologies available. Concerns are technology and business driven, and focus on how to get the maximum profit for organisations from investing in information systems. However, this relatively narrow focus can be problematic, especially in developing countries where the social contexts of IS implementation may require a different primary focus. This chapter presents a methodology for IS planning based on critical systems thinking – an approach that encourages the critical analysis of stake holder understandings of social contexts prior to the selection and/ or design of planning methods. The methodology presented in this chapter uses a combination of the systems theories of autopoiesis and boundary critiques, which deepen our understanding of what it means to reflect on participation, values and social concerns during IS planning. In the course of applying the methodology in a project in Colombia, an issue arose of the ethics of the practitioner. To address this issue, following completion of the project, we sought to enhance critical systems thinking with Foucault ’s notions of power and ethics, which offer interesting alternatives for practitioner self-reflection. Implications for IS planning are derived from this perspective on ethics and power

Climate based facade design for business buildings with examples from central London

There is a disconnection between commercial architecture and environmental thinking, where green features can be included as part of a strategy for gaining approvals and marketing projects, but those features are not reviewed after completion and occupation of the building and knowledge is not shared. High levels of air conditioning are still considered unavoidable. Elaborate double skin façades and complex motorized shading systems are adopted; often masking an underlying lack of basic environmental thinking. This article returns (in principle) to the physics of comfort in buildings and the passive strategies which can help achieve this with a low energy and carbon footprint. Passive and active façade design strategies are outlined as the basis of a critical tool and a design methodology for new projects. A new architectural sensibility can arise based on modeling the inputs of sunlight, daylight and air temperature in time and space at the early stages of design. Early but sound strategies can be tested and refined using advanced environmental modeling techniques. Architecture and environmental thinking can proceed hand in hand through the design process

Outline of a new approach to the nature of mind

I propose a new approach to the constitutive problem of psychology ‘what is mind?’ The first section introduces modifications of the received scope, methodology, and evaluation criteria of unified theories of cognition in accordance with the requirements of evolutionary compatibility and of a mature science. The second section outlines the proposed theory. Its first part provides empirically verifiable conditions delineating the class of meaningful neural formations and modifies accordingly the traditional conceptions of meaning, concept and thinking. This analysis is part of a theory of communication in terms of inter-level systems of primitives that proposes the communication-understanding principle as a psychological invariance. It unifies a substantial amount of research by systematizing the notions of meaning, thinking, concept, belief, communication, and understanding and leads to a minimum vocabulary for this core system of mental phenomena. Its second part argues that written human language is the key characteristic of the artificially natural human mind. Overall, the theory both supports Darwin’s continuity hypothesis and proposes that the mental gap is within our own species

Complex Neuro-Cognitive Systems

Cognitive functions such as a perception, thinking and acting are based on the working of the brain, one of the most complex systems we know. The traditional scientific methodology, however, has proved to be not sufficient to understand the relation between brain and cognition. The aim of this paper is to review an alternative methodology – nonlinear dynamical analysis – and to demonstrate its benefit\ud for cognitive neuroscience in cases when the usual reductionist method fails

Marketing competition on a new product introduction - a structural analysis using systems thinking

Launching a new product on the market is a strategic activity that needs specific investments and a specific organisation. There are multiple factors that determine the success of a new product on the market but their direct effects are not often very well observable (marketing for example). With this study, we analysed the systemic structure underlying the dynamics related to the introduction of a new product on the market. In particular, we built a qualitative model based on the systems thinking methodology of causal-loop diagrams (CLDs), starting from the main structure and assumptions of the well-known Bass model. The model provides a systemic perspective on the interdependencies among various aspects that interact in important organisational areas. The presented causal-loop diagram tries to describe the systems structure which is intrinsic to the introduction and diffusion of a new product on the market, and how ultimately the related dynamics could be manage

Managing organizational change by using soft systems thinking in action research projects

Purpose – This paper aims to show how systems thinking can be incorporated in action research (AR) interventions to successfully implement organizational change. The two case studies described in this paper would be useful to managers who want to implement change in their own organizations. Design/methodology/approach – Both projects used AR as the methodology due to its flexible, responsive and emergent nature. In one project, there was a deliberate attempt to incorporate soft systems thinking whereas in the other project soft systems thinking was used as a sensemaking process while carrying out AR. As an added benefit both approaches have resulted in successful completion of doctoral research. Findings – Soft systems methodology (SSM) and AR can both help in addressing illstructured problems faced by managers, in collaboration with stakeholders using questioning and reflection. Both lead to an increased understanding about the problem situation. The difference is that SSM uses a more structured approach while AR is emergent in its application. SSM practitioners advocate that action researchers would benefit by declaring in advance an intellectual framework to guide their research. This has the additional benefit of overcoming obstacles in an academic environment where research processes are still governed based on traditional research methods. Practical implications – The ideas presented in the paper could be particularly useful to a practicebased discipline such as project management where research into its practice is in demand. Originality/value – This paper would be useful to managers interested in a rigorous methodology to implement organizational change in addressing business problems. It demonstrates ways of combining SSM and AR, resulting in a powerful research tool to carry out rigorous research. © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limite