COURSE NAME: BSc Top Up Computing (Information Management)

MODULE NAME: UNDERSTANDING SYSTEMS (ARUBSCL6004)

WORD COUNT: 2,954

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Executive Summary

“In the most basic sense, a system is any group of interacting, interrelated, or

interdependent parts that form a complex and unified whole that has a specific

purpose.” (Kim, 1999, p.2)

In this assignment I am going to be focusing on identifying, describing the purposes of possible

systems from our case study and analysing them using models. I will be identifying possible

stakeholders and stakeholder groups and their possible perspective. I will also be discussing the

strengths and weaknesses of the roles models play in systematic analysis.

And finally, I will compare the statements in the paper by Jotin Khisty, Soft Systems Methodology as

learning and management tool with respect to Urban planning and Transportation and determine if

they hold true for the educational establishment development and planning area.

Case Study: The Rehoboth National Private School

Rehoboth is a small town in Namibia (yes it does exist but the case study is based on a fictional school.

It is however typical of schools in the region. It has classrooms and hostel dormitories as most

students live too far away to walk to school and transport is not available.) The Rehoboth National

Private School is a publicly owned and administered School that provides school services for a

population of 200,000 people. The school reports to the Regional Education Authority. The Regional

Education Authority then reports to the National Education Service Chief Executive and the Chief

Executive reports to the Government Minister of Education. The Rehoboth National Private School is

managed by an executive board which has roles such as chief executive, finance director; education

director and Teaching director, there are also two representatives of the community.

The School has eight hostel rooms each with twenty beds; it operates a canteen for the hostel and has

a Warden and a sick bay. It has eight beds.

The School provides a full range of educational services, e.g. a library and sports facilities.

It also has a restaurant for day school attendees who do not stay in the hostel. Lunches and snacks

only are served there.

There are various groups of staff employed by the school, department heads, teachers, a nurse,

cleaners, and catering.

The budget for the School is allocated by the Government directly to the School. To stand still and to

continue providing the existing services the School budget needs to increase by 4% per annum, the

drivers for this continual increase are the increase in the population and the cost of new school

equipment and books. The Government has instructed the School to reduce its budget by 2% per

annum for the next three years.

The Government also sets the School targets in many areas which are measured and reported upon.

Examples of these targets are: admissions, new students to the School should be interviewed within

four weeks, waiting times for examination results should be no longer than six weeks.

The School has relationships with a number of suppliers of books, education equipment and staffing

agencies who provide teachers at short notice.

The School also has links and relationships with a number of community education agencies.

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1.0 IDENTIFYING THE SYSTEMS OF INTEREST TO ME IN THE CASE STUDY

Kim (1999, p.2) further states that, “The key thing to remember is that all the parts are interrelated

and interdependent in some way. Without such interdependencies, we have just a collection of parts,

not a system.”

From our case study, we find that the School has hostel rooms with beds, operates a canteen, a sick

bay and has a Warden. These are parts that are interrelated and interdependent in order to achieve a

specific purpose, which is to adequately cater for the wellbeing and safety of the students. This

creates a possible system that I will like to identify as a Student Welfare System.

As stated in the case study that due to constant rise in population and increase in the cost of school

books and equipment, the school requires an increase in its budget in order to be functional and

maintain the provision of its existing services. Also, the school receives its budget directly from the

government in order to carry out is services. The parts or elements identified in this case study are the

budget received from the government, increase in population and cost of school books and

equipment, the need for an increase in budget and the instruction from the government to reduce the

budget for the next three years. These elements are interdependent and need to be structured or put

in proper order so as to achieve a purpose, which is for the school to stay functional and maintain the

provision of its existing services. This also forms a possible system identified as a Budget System and

can also be referred to as a Budgetary planning and control System.

Seeing that the government has set targets for the school in the area of admissions and enrolment, it

creates a need for elements/activities to be organized for a purpose, which is to create an effective

admissions/enrolment process. This also creates a possible system of Admissions/Enrolment.

Based on the definition of a system (Kim, 1999, p.2), I have identified three possible systems of

interest to me from the Rehoboth National Private School case study, which are:

a. Student welfare system

b. Budgetary planning and control system

c. Admissions/enrolment system

1.1 THE PURPOSE OF THE SYSTEMS IDENTIFIED ABOVE

The purpose defines the system and the elements or parts of the system are structured in order to

deliver a specific set of goals and objectives. These goals and objectives are shaped by or derived from

the purpose of the system. In a nutshell, the purpose of a system is what it does (POSIWID) (Wikipedia,

2014).

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a. Student welfare system:

“Welfare provides assistance to individuals and families through programs such as

health care, food stamps, unemployment compensation, housing assistance and

child care assistance.” (Investopedia, 2010).

In describing the purpose of the welfare system of the school, it is important to identify the elements

or parts that will be structured together to achieve the goals and objectives of the system and

eventually fulfil the purpose of the system.

Elements of the welfare system of The Rehoboth National Private School

- The school

- Hostel rooms with beds

- Canteen for the hostel residents

- Warden

- Sickbay

- Restaurant for day school attendees

- The students

The Purpose:

The welfare system in the school is a system to provide secure and comfortable accommodation, food

and nutrition, and basic healthcare services to the students and to maintain law and order in the

hostel area.

b. Budgetary planning and control system:

It is also important to identify the elements that exist to form the budgetary planning and control

system or the budgeting system.

The elements of budgetary planning and control system are:

- Budget

- Budget planning

- Budget control

In defining the purpose of this system we will need to define the individual elements of the system

and their objectives.

The first element here is a budget. A budget is required by the school to be able to stand still.

According to (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2015), a budget is a formal

statement of the financial resources set aside for carrying out specific activities in a given period of

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time. Or ‘a quantified plan of action relating to a given period of time’ (Professional-

edu.blogspot.com, 2012). It also helps to coordinate the activities of the organization.

For the school to stand still it requires a 4% annual increase in its budget. And this is due to increase in

population and cost of new school books and equipment.

Also, the government has instructed the school to reduce its budget by 2% annually for the next three

years.

All these conditions call for budgetary planning and control system in order for the school to meet its

goals and objectives of standing still and continuing to provide the existing services.

The second element budget planning is the process of preparing detailed, short-term plans for all the

functions, departments and activities of the organisation. It is important that the short-term plans and

objectives that make up the budget are related to the long-term plan and objectives of the

organisation. The budget may be drawn up by preparing an overall budget for the organisation which

is then broken down into more detailed budgets for the different parts of the organisation [the top-

down approach] or by devising budgets for the various parts of the organisation and then bringing

them together to build up the overall budget [the bottom up approach] (Staffordshire University,

2015?). This budget plan will make provisions for the expenses that will be incurred due to the

increase in population and cost of new school books and equipment.

And the third element budget control is a system which uses budgets as a means of controlling the

activities of the organisation. It has three main aspects:- Planning, Co-ordination, and Control

(Staffordshire University, 2015?).

The purpose:

The budgetary planning and control system for the school is to plan, co-ordinate and control the

budget/resources available to the school and create a performance evaluation in order to ensure that

the school stands still and continues to provide its existing services, while maintaining a reduces

budget of 2% per annum for the next three years as per the government’s instruction. In a nutshell,

the purpose of this system is to forecast income and expenditure to make informed decisions and

monitor performance.

c. Admissions/enrolment system:

In describing the purpose the admissions/enrolment system, it is also important to identify the

elements of this system.

The key elements of the Admissions and enrolment system are:

- Student application

- Admission requirements/criteria

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- Application dead line

- Selection process and time

- The decision

- Enrolment

These elements put together or organized deliver the goals and objectives of the

admissions/enrolment system.

The purpose:

The purpose of the admissions/enrolment system of the school is to enable to school enrol the best

qualified and suitable students into the school using efficient and reliable processes.

1.2 THE WELFARE SYSTEM COMPONENTS

In this section we will describe the system components of the Welfare system identified in our case

study. These components are the properties of all systems (Cook, 2015).

The components that we will look at are: input/output, transformation, feedback, boundary,

environment, hierarchy.

Input / Output

The inputs will be:

- The school

- The hostel infrastructure

- The Students

- The Warden & hostel staff

- Financial resources

- Physical location

The outputs will be:

- Comfortable & conducive accommodation

- Safe environment

- Healthy students

- Law & Order

- Warden & hostel support staff

Transformation

The transformation process describes what the system does to the inputs in order to convert them

into outputs (Karve, 2010). Transformation process takes in the students are admitted into the hostel

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and they are provided with rules/guidelines to follow with regards to their conduct in the hostel in

order to have a comfortable and safe environment. The transformation component also takes in the

Warden and the hostel support staff and they monitor and enforce the rules/guidelines laid down by

the school to maintain order and run the welfare system effectively.

Feedback

The feedback component provides a mechanism for the effect of the outputs on the environment to

be reported back to the system. This feedback will enable the system to manage itself so that it

remains in a state of dynamic equilibrium (Cook, 2015).

In our case the feedback will be:

- Hostel standard

- Student satisfaction

- Student state of health

- Costs

Boundary

Since the boundary defines the limits of the system (Cook, 2015), we will define the boundary as

follows:

- The day students – will be outside the system as they are not catered for by the hostel

infrastructure

- The boarding students – will be inside the system

- The Warden and hostel support staff – will be inside the system

- The hostel infrastructure that supports the students will be inside the system

- The school executive board will be outside the system in the environment

- The parents will be outside the system

Environment

In this case study the environment will be defined by the school, the students, the hostel

infrastructure, the school executive board, the financial resources available, and the warden and

support staff.

Hierarchy

The student welfare system consists of the following hierarcy/sub-systems:

- Hostel Infrastructure

- Health Care system

- Monitoring system

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1.3 VISUAL MODEL OF THE STUDENT WELFARE SYSTEM

2.0 CATWOE AND A ROOT DEFINITION OF THE STUDENT WELFARE SYSTEM

According to Karve (2010), “A Root Definition is a structured description of a system. It is a clear

statement of activities which take place (or might take place) in the organisation being studied” and

that a properly structured root definition comprises three elements: what, how, why.

He further states that CATWOE is a mnemonic which helps identify and categorize all stakeholders

[people, processes, environment, entities] of the System being analysed for formulating the Root

Definition.

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CATWOE MODEL OF THE STUDENT WELFARE SYSTEM

CUSTOMERS: Students

ACTORS: The school executive board, the Warden and Hostel support staff

TRANSFORMATION: Transformation process takes in the students into the hostel and they are

provided with rules/guidelines to follow with regards to their conduct in the hostel in order to have a

comfortable and safe environment. The transformation component also takes in the Warden and the

hostel support staff to monitor and enforce the rules/guidelines laid down by the school to maintain

order and run the welfare system effectively.

WELTANSCHAUUNG or WORLD VIEW: The welfare system in the school is a system to provide secure

and comfortable accommodation, food and nutrition, and basic healthcare services to the students

and to maintain law and order in the hostel area.

OWNERS: The School’s Executive Board, Regional Education Authority

ENVIRONMENT: The financial resources available, quality standards and requirements.

A ROOT DEFINITION OF THE STUDENT WELFARE SYSTEM

The student welfare system is a system to provide secure and comfortable accommodation, food and

nutrition, and basic healthcare services to the students and to maintain law and order in the hostel

area by taking in the students into the hostel and providing them with rules/guidelines to follow with

regards to their conduct in the hostel in order to have a comfortable and safe environment, and also

taking in the Warden and the hostel support staff to monitor and enforce the rules/guidelines laid

down by the school to maintain order and run an effective welfare system to cater for the students.

3.0 POSSIBLE STAKEHOLDERS AND STAKEHOLDER GROUPS FOR THE REHOBOTH NATIONAL

PRIVATE SCHOOL AND THEIR POSSIBLE PERSPECTIVE

Government - Will have a perspective on its performance and the role it plays in the education system

Executive Board – can have perspective on the academic curriculum, the school calendar, the

teachers and support staff and students performance and the cost of running the school

Teachers – teachers can have perspective on the performance of the students

The Students – students can be happy with the academic system, or may be finding it difficult to

integrate into the system, are studying to gain knowledge for an invention or innovation.

Community representatives – will have perspective on its performance, its role in community

development, the teachers and the students.

Suppliers – will have possible perspective on the school’s financial capability.

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Staffing agencies – can have perspective on the school’s recruitment policies.

4.0 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THE ROLE MODELS PLAY IN A SYSTEMIC ANALYSIS

In this section, I will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the role models play in relation to

software development.

In the International Journal of Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies,

Shikha (2014, pp.238-240) discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the Software Development Life

Cycle Models used in software development. His discussion is detailed in the table below.

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(Shikha, 2014)

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5.0 IS A SOFT SYSTEM METHODOLOGY (SSM) APPLICABLE TO EDUCATIONAL ESTABLISHMENT

DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING?

SSM can be applied to all areas of planning, in the public or private sector, where human beings are

operating in social roles trying to take purposeful action (Checkland and Scholes, 1990 cited in Khisty,

1995, p.92).

According to Khisty (1995, p.94), like in all urban-planning problems it is almost impossible to start the

analysis by naming the system and defining its purpose. It can therefore be described as an ill-

structured problem, and SSM is an inquiry system for tackling ill-structured problems.

However, in determining if SSM is application to educational establishment development and

planning, we will need to produce a CATWOE and root definition of the system to find out if its

characteristics are similar to transportation planning situation included in the paper.

CATWOE

CUSTOMERS: Students, potential employers

ACTORS: planning committee members, tutors and support staff, students

TRANSFORMATION: Transforming students into degree holders (graduates) and employable citizens

WELTANSCHAUUNG or WORLD VIEW: A Degree is a means of giving confidence to employers that the

degree holder holds a specified standard of skills in their area of qualification.

OWNERS: Government or Governing Body

ENVIRONMENT: The financial resources available, The Prescribed Educational, Academic, Quality,

Assessment and Accreditation Standards and Requirements.

ROOT DEFINITION

The educational establishment development and planning is a system that plans, control and manage

the educational system by producing qualified graduates in line with prescribed standards to give

assurance to employers tha the students have the necessary skills and expertise in their area of

qualification.

The key thing to note from the above is that political and social entities are involved in decision

making (Khisty, 1995, p.92) and therefore SSM is applicable to educational establishment

development and planning.

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Reference List

Checkland, P.B. and Scholes, J., 1990. Soft systems methodology in action. Chichester, Eng.: John

Wiley and Sons Inc.

Cook, D., 2015. Systems Concept, ARUBSCL6004 Understanding Systems. Anglia Ruskin University,

unpublished.

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, 2015?. Chapter 4 - Budgetary control.

[online] Available at: <http://www.fao.org/docrep/w4343e/w4343e05.htm> [Accessed 11 Apr.

2015].

Investopedia, 2010. Social Welfare System Definition | Investopedia. [online] Available at:

<http://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-welfare-system.asp> [Accessed 11 Apr. 2015].

Karve, V., 2010. ROOT DEFINITION & CATWOE MODEL - Ethics Based Soft Systems Approach.

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Apr. 2015].

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<http://www.business.unr.edu/faculty/kuechler/788/softsysaslearningandmgttool .pdf>.

Kim, D., 1999. Introduction to systems thinking. Westford, Mass.: Pegasus Communications, Inc.

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Shikha, V., 2014. Analysis of Strengths and Weakness of SDLC Models. International Journal of

Advance Research in Computer Science and Management Studies, [online] 2(3), pp.238 - 240.

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Staffordshire University, 2015?. Introduction to Accounting and Finance. [online] Available at:

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<http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/488_f01_papers/Hammer/term_paper_body.htm>

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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_purpose_of_a_system_is_what_it_does> [Accessed 11 Apr.

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