This lesson builds on the introduction to spatial system development from the previous lesson. Specifically, this lesson provides a more detailed look at the phases that are collectively called systems analysis. This analysis process reinforces the information system building blocks that were developed previously. Included is a look at the requirements gathering, and analysis concepts, tools, and methods. Whitten addresses the seven common fact-finding methods (Sampling, Research, Observation, Questionnaires, Interviews, Prototyping, Joint Requirements Planning) which are introduced as a means to discover requirements.
If you have any questions now or at any point during this lesson, please feel free to post them to the Threaded Discussion Forum. (That forum can be accessed at any time by clicking on the Communicate tab, above, and then scrolling down to the Discussion Forum section.)
To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions.
Step | Activity | Access/Directions |
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1 | Read the lesson Overview and Checklist. | You are in the Lesson 8 online content now. The Overview page is previous to this page, and you are on the Checklist page right now. |
2 | Effective SDI Leadership: The Antithesis of Good Management Practice? [1] (Read) Keen, Information Systems and Organizational Change (Read) [2] |
There are three different styles of reading that are referred to in the lessons:
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3 | View the Lesson Overview. | You are in the Lesson 8 online content now. Click on the "Next Page" link to access the Lecture/Discussion. PowerPoint. [3] |
4 | Geospatial Think-Piece (Template) [4] |
Using Word (or a word processing program compatible with Microsoft®), identify and briefly discuss (<300 words total for both questions): (1) An experience with social inertia, resistance or counterimplementation to an information technology. (2) Why include the Keen reading in this course when it is over 30 years old? Name your file Lsn8_YourName.doc. Please turn-in your document the Lesson 8 Dropbox in ANGEL. What is a “Think Piece”? A “think piece” is a form of writing that is less polished than a formal paper or presentation but more fully developed than an entry in a personal journal. Think pieces are written to discover what an individual is thinking about a particular topic. Within this course, the writing of think pieces is a way of helping learners connect with the subject matter. Within this context, think pieces reduce the grading risk associated with an “all or nothing” term paper and allow the instructor to communicate with learners throughout the semester, to see the evolution of thinking, and to suggest resources that can further the learners’ understanding. What does a Think Piece look like? The starting point for a think piece for this course lie in the author’s immediate past experience. Because think pieces are as much a reflection of one’s ideas, there is no standard or uniform format for a think piece. In other words, each of us is writing from personal experience. We are not claiming to be objective not are we offering prescriptive, how-to, formulas or guidelines. |
5 | Read lesson Summary. | You are in the Lesson 8 online content now. Click on the "Next Page" link to access the Summary. |
While the growth of and increase in the capabilities of geospatial applications has been explosive, the extent to which we satisfy a customer is still dependent on a number of other factors including employee education, training, the material and cultural work environments, job satisfaction, compensation, growth opportunity, the effectiveness of business processes, as well as the very structure of the organizations in which it all functions. Without a doubt, inspired, effective people remain one of the principal factors in any business. It is people that envision and implement strategy, interpret information into products and services; master business processes and create value for customers and shareholders alike. It should seem obvious that technology in general, and geospatial technologies more specifically, are affected by organizational factors.
Why then are we not more aware of the importance of the organizational framework in which we implement a geospatial technology? There are several possible reasons. First, the topic of the organizational structures seldom appears on the radar screen of the geospatial professional. The geospatial professional is typically so preoccupied with the technical and analytical challenges of day-to-day operations that the opportunity to study the social and the related organizational aspects is often lost. Second, the prevailing ideas of organizational, and therefore the related social, structure are institutionalized in our traditional management hierarchies of layered control and decision making. These multiple layers of management structure are the result of the same kind of functional orientation also present in models of mass production and military-like command and control organizations.
Keen’s 1981 article is a classic in the field of information systems. The age of the article notwithstanding, it is highly relevant today and in the realm of geospatial technology. The point here is that geospatial technology failures are commonly the result of non-technical defects; so a geospatial technology failure is more often to be a social outcome.
This lesson taught the tools and techniques of systems analysis and provided a look at the requirements gathering and analysis activities. Reading both Whitten and Tomlinson provided a broad perspective of spatial and nonspatial aspects. The lesson built on the introduction to system development in the previous lesson and provided a more detailed look at the phases that are collectively called systems analysis. This systems analysis process reinforces the information system building blocks that were developed in the previous lesson. Whitten’s “The Framework for the Application of System Techniques” is included to illustrate the implementation of a systems analysis process with a current paradigm which might include structured analysis, information engineering, object-oriented analysis, and accelerated development. The second part of this lesson introduced concepts, tools, and methods, which are used by today’s systems analysts to discover requirements. A requirement was defined and common fact-finding methods (Sampling, Research, Observation, Questionnaires, Interviews, Prototyping, Joint Requirements Planning) were introduced as a means to discover requirements. Each method has advantages and disadvantages, and some guidelines were provided for their use.
Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/NEW_Lesson_8/Effective%20SDI%20Leadership.pdf
[2] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/keen.pdf
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/file/Lesson_3/Fact_finding2_new.pptx
[4] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/Misc/Think-Piece%20Template.docx