Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-22dnz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T08:37:58.723Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS AND DESIGN OF DYNAMIC AD HOC SOCIO-TECHNICAL SYSTEMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 June 2023

Sergey Tozik  and
Yoram Reich
Sergey Tozik*
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
Yoram Reich
Affiliation:
Tel Aviv University
*
Tozik, Sergey Tel Aviv University, Israel, stozik@sciofint.com

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Ad-hoc systems are socio-technical systems emerging in response to dynamic problematic situations. These systems form when situation systems interact with respondent systems organized by human agents using elements available in the situation and assets brought in from outside the situation. The immediacy of formation, fast evolution, and short lifecycles of ad-hoc systems intertwine design, implementation, and operation activities in complex ways not addressed by current approaches to Systems Engineering focusing on more sedate environments. The proposed framework presents a language for classifying fundamental building blocks of ad-hoc systems – single-agent intervention, staging, readiness, and development systems. Further classification according to the physical location of agents and assets relative to situations generates 16 system classes on the 4x4 matrix of Ad-hoc Systems Gameboard, which is a helpful tool for managing the evolution of system portfolios. Combining the Gameboard with mapping the systems onto the PSI matrix reveals additional relationships and evolution patterns, opening up promising directions to address the challenge of designing, planning, and implementing interventions in complex situations.

Keywords

Systems Engineering (SE)Design methodologyMulti- / Cross- / Trans-disciplinary processesSocio-Technical SystemsPSI methodology
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 3: ICED23 , July 2023 , pp. 151 - 160
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

Boy, G.A. (2015) 'On the Complexity of Situation Awareness', in 19th Triennial Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, pp. 9–14.Google Scholar
Frans, D. and Tien, E. (1990). 'Classical socio-technical systems design: the socio-technical design paradigm of organizations', MERIT Research Memorandum, 90–005. Available at: https://pure.tue.nl/ws/files/173577355/332748.pdf.Google Scholar
Hadida, A.L. and Tarvainen, W. (2015). 'Organizational Improvisation: A Consolidating Review and Framework,' International Journal of Management Reviews, 17(4), pp. 437–459. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12047.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Law, J. (1992) 'Notes on the Theory of the Actor-Network: Ordering, Strategy, and Heterogeneity,' Systems Practice, 5(4), pp. 379–393. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2307/750541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawson, H. (2010). A Journey Through the Systems Landscape. College Publications. Available at: https://doi.org/9781848900103.Google Scholar
Orlikowski, W. (2007). 'Sociomaterial Practices: Exploring Technology at Work,' Organization Studies, 28(9), pp. 1435–1448. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840607081138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pentland, B.T. et al. (2012) ‘Dynamics of Organizational Routines: A Generative Model’, Journal of Management Studies, 49(8), pp. 1484–1508. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01064.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reich, Y. & Subrahmanian, E. (2019). 'The PSI network model for studying diverse, complex design scenarios,' Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED, 2019-August(AUGUST), pp. 1283–1292. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/dsi.2019.134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reich, Y. & Subrahmanian, E. (2022). 'The PSI Framework and Theory of Design,' IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 69(4), pp. 1037–1049. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2020.2973238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutcliffe, A.G. (2000). 'Requirements analysis for socio-technical system design,' Information Systems, 25(3), pp. 213–233. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-4379(00)00016-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutcliffe, A.G. & Minocha, S. (1999). 'Linking business modelling to socio-technical system design,' Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 1626, pp. 73–87. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48738-7_7.Google Scholar
Trist, , E, . (1981). 'The Evolution of socio-technical systems,' Conference on Organizational Design and Performance, pp. 1–67. Available at: https://doi.org/0-7743-6286-3.Google Scholar
Whiteside, J., Marca, D., Shearer, R., Force, K. (1991) ‘An Ontological Approach to Socio-technical Systems’, in Frese, B., Kasten, M., Skarpelis, C., Zang-Scheucher, C. (ed.) Software für die Arbeit von morgen. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.CrossRefGoogle Scholar