Understanding Systems and Information Systems

Introduction to Systems and Information Systems (IS)

• The objectives are to understand system concepts and apply them to real-world situations.
• The content covers what a system is, system decomposition, and system grouping.

What is a System?

• The origin of the word "system" comes from the Latin term "systema", describing the relationship among working elements.
• A system is a set of procedures, processes, methods, techniques, or components organized as a unified whole.
• A system is a set of items, equipment, processes, and/or people, jointly working to achieve a common goal.
• It is an organized collection of integrated parts or subsystems that accomplish an overall objective.

Classification of Systems

• Systems are classified by their openness (interaction with the environment) or closeness (lack of interaction).
• An open system interacts with its environment, such as business, transport, and social systems.
• A closed system does not interact with the environment; events within the system do not impact the environment, and vice versa.

System Examples

• A computer system includes hardware and software for data processing and management, enabling user interaction to solve problems.
• A school is a system comprising educators, learners, curriculum, and administrative support for education in technology and related fields.

System Characteristics

• The key parts of a system include inputs, processes, and outputs, all within an environment and having components and a boundary
• Interfaces allow the transmission of data and actions between components or other systems.
• Interrelationships are how elements affect one another.

The Systems Model

• Inputs are items used by the processes to achieve the system's goal, including things like individuals, finances, equipment, facilities, supplies, ideas, and time.
• Inputs can also be major forces like laws and regulations that affect the organization and its products/services.
• Processes are the internal operations or activities that convert inputs into outputs.
• Outputs are the tangible results produced by the system, like products, services, and reports.
• Feedback is a mechanism for the system to receive information about its outputs, allowing adjustment of inputs or processes and can be positive or negative.
  • Positive feedback amplifies deviations or results as in the example of a company increasing production of a popular product.
  • Negative feedback corrects deviations to maintain stability, like a thermostat adjusting temperature.

Business System Example

• Inputs include raw materials, human resources, capital, technology, and information.
• The transformation process involves employees' work, management, technology, and operations methods.
• Outputs are things like products/services, financial results, and information.

Coffee Machine as System

• Inputs include water, coffee beans, and electricity.
• Processes encompass grinding, heating water, and brewing.
• The output is a hot cup of coffee.
• Feedback includes detecting when the water runs out, which stops the brewing.

Computer Systems as System

• Inputs are keyboard/mouse input and software commands etc.
• The processes include data calculation and software usage.
• Outputs are displayed results on a monitor, audio files, etc.
• Security notifications and error messages are examples of feedback.

System Decomposition

• System decomposition is the process of breaking down the overall system into manageable parts, such as subsystems and components.

Decomposition Criteria

• Purpose: Defines the system’s overall mission or goal to explain why it exists, such as moving people or goods in a transportation system.
• Major Functions/Activities: Signifies the system’s key operations that fulfills its purpose; identifying these informs how related activities are grouped into subsystems, such as teaching, research, and administration in a school system.
• History: Identifies the events of shared history that form the system, such as a company's IT system including older technologies due to its historical growth.
• Level of Organization: Breaking down the system at appropriate levels helps explain how the structure and layers within the system, and is the hierarchical structure, with direction, departments and services..
• Structure: Arranging of system components and their interconnections, showing relationships and dependencies between them, with a car containing an engine, chassis and electrical system.
• Life Cycle: A system that goes through stages i.e. inception through to disposal, like software development with requirements, design, implementation, testing, deployment and maintenance.

System Grouping

• Decomposition increases the amount of interfaces.
• The number of interconnections is calculated using: N(N-1)/2 (N= Number of subsystems).
• Interfaces can be reciprocal subsystems that are grouped.
• Defining one flow can be between collections and other subsystems.

Grouping Criteria

• By Specialty: Expertise and efficiency is improved by centralising specialised functions, with hospital departments are grouped by specialties (cardiology, neurology).
• By Product: Processes being streamlined by products or services, with a manufacturing company groups producing cars and motorbikes are grouped separately..
• By Time: Operations based on time e.g phases, such as preparation, analysis etc in event planning.
• By Clientele: Customisation for enhancing satisfaction by consumer type in business or enterprise.
• By Geographic Basis: Grouping by location for multinational corporations (Europe, Asia, Africa).

Company Case Study

• A company can be viewed as a combination of interacting systems, including sales & order entry, production, and accounting & control.
• Personnel and payroll can also be viewed as parts inside a system, including salaried payroll processing, data validation, and hourly payroll processing.

Practical Exercise

• An activity is to practice defining a new system, by identifying its purpose, key components and diagram components.

Conclusion

• Systems contains interconnected and dynamic elements.
• Analyzing functions of systems improves understanding, drives decisionmaking and optimizes performance to achieve objectives effectively.