Work system concepts as the core for teaching Information Systems and Operations Management

The work system approach addresses the common core of Information Systems and Operations Management: • Both take a systems approach. • Both emphasize performance improvement for operational systems. • Both emphasize business processes and information. • Both recognize the importance of human knowledge and skills. The work system approach addresses the core of both fields by viewing all systems in organizations as work systems. (See references). This tutorial summarizes the latest developments in teaching undergraduate and MBA students about work systems. It will provide a set of class-tested templates. Topics include: • The work system approach: work system framework, work system snapshots, work system life cycle model • Template for work system snapshots • Template for learning about work system metrics • Sample student exercises in summarizing work systems and metrics based on situations in newspaper articles • Detailed template for a term paper analyzing a work system in an organization References Alter, S. (2008) “Defining information systems as work systems: implications for the IS field.” European Journal of Information Systems, 17(5), 448-469. Truex, D.P. and Alter, S. (2010) “Systems Analysis for Everyone Else: Empowering Business Professionals through a Systems Analysis Method that Meets their Needs,” ECIS 2010. Workshop Leader Information (Please attach a copy of your resume in your email submission) Name: Steven Alter Affiliation: University of San Francisco Postal Address: School of Business and Professional Studies, 2130 Fulton St., San Francisco, CA 94117, USA Telephone: 415-422-6383 Cell: Fax: Email: alter@usfca.edu Additional Workshop Presenters (copy for each one) Name: Affiliation: Postal Address: Telephone: Cell: Fax: Email: Speakers' background, description of workshop, and envisioned activities during the workshop (please provide information for each speaker) The tutorial would use a lecture format punctuated by discussions of templates that can be used in classes and by discussion of selected excerpts from student papers that would illustrate both the goals and the pitfalls of the approach. Speaker’s background: Steven Alter is Professor of Information Systems at the University of San Francisco. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. at MIT. His research for the last decade has concerned developing systems analysis concepts and methods that can be used by typical business professionals and can support communication with IT professionals. His 2006 book, The Work System Method: Connecting People, Processes, and IT for Business Results, is a distillation and extension of ideas in 1992, 1996, 1999, and 2002 editions of his information system textbook. His articles have been published in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, MIS Quarterly, IBM Systems Journal, European Journal of Information Systems, Decision Support Systems, Interfaces, Communications of the ACM, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, CIO Insight, and many conference proceedings. Special Requirements Note: Regular equipment includes a computer, projector and screen. ( ) Computers ( ) Internet Access ( ) Others, Please specify: ___Regular equipment is fine. ___________________ Audience Insert a description of likely participants: People who are interested in how to teach about work systems, especially in the context of an information system course or a course that combines information systems and operations management. Maximum number of participants:___This tutorial could work well with 5 or 50_______________ Specify the requirements for the audience such as computer, special software, and Internet access etc., in the following: No special requirements for the audience