Research Topics: Systems Thinking

System Availability Management

System Availability Management for Small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong     Introduction             Today’s era is characterized as he information age in which people depend greatly on the faculty of information management technologies in order o perform duties and responsibilities as well as communicate with each other beyond the boundaries of time and geographic locations. Information technology systems improved the functionality of organizations in order to efficiently deliver products as well as services to the people thus, resulting to the progressive development of daily operations through the more productive input of staff and employees. Information technology has been recognized as the major catalyst of change and innovation and served as the vital connection between the digital electronics systems and the communication technologies. Electronic transformation initiatives have been also acknowledged as the foundation of information technology systems as it connects data, users, software, organizations and the environment where they exist.    The advances in technology and the fast modernization has enable commercial industries in the private sector to keep up with the inevitable changes that has been revolutionizing the way people do things. Organizations in the public sector have been likewise initiating change in delivering services to the people as new management approaches were utilized to reform the traditional civil service practices. Change in both the private and public sectors made it possible to meet the expectations of end-users as well as clients of different organizations. At present, most commercial firms and companies have been long using information technology systems while a number of government organizations and public agencies are beginning to initiate similar electronic transformation through the implementation and use of the Internet and the computerization of transactions and other organizational operations.       The Reasons for Change Organizations operate in environments that are directly and indirectly influenced by conflicting demands from all the parties they are involved in such as the customers, the suppliers, the forms of authorities and the members of the personnel within the organization. Contradictory forces and competing demands highlights the initiatives of organizations to implement change and innovation along with the set performance goals envisioned by the organization. Conner (1994) emphasized that the reasons behind most organizations’ initiative towards change include factors and considerations brought about by trends of globalization and the performance evaluation of the innovative capacity of organizations. Change in this regard was made evident through structural reforms among organizations, business transformation plans for sustainable long-term success, implementation of technological systems and infrastructures, and new customer and employee management approaches (Conner, 1994).     Meanwhile, other experts believe that it is expected among organizations to continuously reform is business practices as well as management approaches to reflect the organizational setting and culture that characterize its surroundings. Since bench marking processes are continuously presented to set standards, organizations are usually confronted with decisions to innovate. In this regard, change serves as a major determinant of the success and failure among organizations (Hardy & Clegg, 19996). As a result, organizations expand in terms of depth and scope, job descriptions are more defined, measure and systems of standards improve, and professional functions become highly distinguished. However, integration and transition states are unfortunately never simple procedures particularly when it involves intensive reforms and restructuring and when it involves a large organization.   The drive towards gaining competitive advantage among business organizations at present is mostly grounded on issues and concerns regarding customer satisfaction.  Businesses at present are finding means of creating added value to products and services that are being delivered to the consumers. Management executives carefully plan strategies that will increase the loyalty of consumers along with business reengineering processes within the company to enhance the efficiency of operations. Companies likewise continue to extend and widen the reach marketing and sales plans in order to increase the market base within local as well as international markets. With the trends towards globalization and outsourcing practices, management and business communication approaches of business organizations underwent complete reformulation and restructuring to meet the current market demands. As barriers of entry continued to be crossed by new and aspiring business firms offering innovative business processes, competition becomes increasingly aggressive.   According to Karp and Schlesinger (2002), effective execution of business plans and strategies is only possible if the management is aware of the available resources of the company. By familiarizing with the strengths of the company, formulation of strategic plans is realizable since assessment and evaluation of the capabilities of the entire company is taken into account. Examining the extensive ways of utilizing the available resources of the company will enable decision-makers to construct profitable business ventures that will contribute to the success of the business organization. Such business practice will also clearly define the characteristics of the business and the market environment that surrounds it thereby opening opportunities to assess and evaluate the inherent risks and issues that are challenging the competitiveness of the business organization ( 2002). All these enable the management to take full control of the existence of the business organization.     The Shipping Industry             According to Brooks (1996) the restructuring of the ocean transportation of general cargo began the advent of containerization. This led to the formation of container shipping lines and ocean carriers specializing in the transport of containers. Twenty-six percent of the world transporting capacity was recorded to be controlled by the twenty largest container shipping lines as ranked by ship twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEE). Fifteen years later in 1995, fifty percent of the world transporting capacity was already in the control of the largest shipping lines. Among the leading shipping lines are the Asian operators which compose 49 percent followed by the European operators at 33 percent, the United States with 14 percent and the remaining shipping line operators accounting for 4 percent.   Dow (1998) indicated that two years later in 1997, the twenty largest shipping lines ranked by Teas transported recorded 78.2 percent of the hundred largest shipping lines. The top three shipping lines were the Sea-Land, the Evergreen, and the Mares which accounted for 33.2 percent of the Teas transported. The other ten top-ranked lines serve the transpacific trades while the Sea-Land, Evergreen, and Mares serve global networks, including the transpacific, transatlantic, and Mediterranean and Middle East trades. However, financial issues challenged the industry as one of the implications of the increase in the concentration in the container shipping line industry. In 1996, approximately 1 million was the collective loses among container shipping lines with business operation and transactions in the   transpacific, transatlantic, and Europe/Far Asia trades (Porter, 1996). This is reflective of imbalance between market supply and demand as exhibited by the surplus ship capacity among the members of the industry as well as the decreasing rates in the transportation.     Since it was difficult for the container shipping lines to increase their service rates, cost-reducing means of operating the business were opted by the owners. This was realized by forming alliances along with mergers and acquisitions between and among the members of the industry and investing in more cost-efficient ships. New formed alliances decided to share the resources and assets of the company to their operation partners including the vessels and terminals in order to reduce operational expenditures. By sharing these resources, container shipping lines, operators, and owners were able to retain and sustain the demands of the services without sacrificing their independence. Reducing the number of port calls made it possible to save ship capacity and improve the transit lines and schedules (Talley, 2000).          According to Waster (1997) the new found alliances predicted and expected a yearly cost savings ranging from 0 million to 0 million. However, the years that followed proved that such savings can only be realized in a long-term business partnership condition and interdependence between and among companies.  This resulted to mergers among container shipping lines. In 1997, P&O (a British carrier) and Nedlloyd (a Dutch carrier) decided merged        creating the world’s largest container shipping line in the maritime industry projecting an annual cost savings of 0 million. Such savings was anticipated to be composed of eliminating duplicated overhead accounting for a total percentage of 65 percent (Waster, 1997; Trischwell, 1997).     Pace of Technological Change The best suppliers continuously update and upgrade their service deliveries in order to answer the demands of their customers. Customers have the ever-increasing demand on getting their hands into the products which can lead to change in supplier if expectations are not met. This is the reason why suppliers who are also industry leaders trend toward more reliable delivery services across their customers (Cohen & Moore, 2000). Today most companies find that it impossible to create any kind of sustainable competitive advantage based on product alone. It is common knowledge that every one of the successful companies sought and found a precise understanding of how it could create advantage in the operations system and delivery options of the business organization (2001).   Every business person is determined to know what kind of work they would and would not do for their customers and, in turn, they carefully learn how to fulfill the needs of each kind of customer in their target markets (2000). The inception of technological advancements in the production processes and logistics within the recreational mega-yacht industry led to continuous development within its different business sectors. With mega-yachts being transient sea craft that frequently sail from port to port, technological advancement in the industry particularly in the procurement and logistics of efficiently delivering boat parts has been the priority of suppliers to create value and customer satisfaction to the products and services they offer. Strong technological capabilities are paramount to the current pace of modernization and technological adaptation is inevitable among the members and key players of the industry to stay competitive and successful.       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

System Availability Management

System Availability Management for Small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong Introduction Today’s e...

Sample System Availability Management for small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong Essay

System Availability Management for Small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong     Introduction             Today’s era is characterized as he information age in which people depend greatly on the faculty of information management technologies in order o perform duties and responsibilities as well as communicate with each other beyond the boundaries of time and geographic locations. Information technology systems improved the functionality of organizations in order to efficiently deliver products as well as services to the people thus, resulting to the progressive development of daily operations through the more productive input of staff and employees. Information technology has been recognized as the major catalyst of change and innovation and served as the vital connection between the digital electronics systems and the communication technologies. Electronic transformation initiatives have been also acknowledged as the foundation of information technology systems as it connects data, users, software, organizations and the environment where they exist.    The advances in technology and the fast modernization has enable commercial industries in the private sector to keep up with the inevitable changes that has been revolutionizing the way people do things. Organizations in the public sector have been likewise initiating change in delivering services to the people as new management approaches were utilized to reform the traditional civil service practices. Change in both the private and public sectors made it possible to meet the expectations of end-users as well as clients of different organizations. At present, most commercial firms and companies have been long using information technology systems while a number of government organizations and public agencies are beginning to initiate similar electronic transformation through the implementation and use of the Internet and the computerization of transactions and other organizational operations.       The Reasons for Change Organizations operate in environments that are directly and indirectly influenced by conflicting demands from all the parties they are involved in such as the customers, the suppliers, the forms of authorities and the members of the personnel within the organization. Contradictory forces and competing demands highlights the initiatives of organizations to implement change and innovation along with the set performance goals envisioned by the organization. Conner (1994) emphasized that the reasons behind most organizations’ initiative towards change include factors and considerations brought about by trends of globalization and the performance evaluation of the innovative capacity of organizations. Change in this regard was made evident through structural reforms among organizations, business transformation plans for sustainable long-term success, implementation of technological systems and infrastructures, and new customer and employee management approaches (Conner, 1994).     Meanwhile, other experts believe that it is expected among organizations to continuously reform is business practices as well as management approaches to reflect the organizational setting and culture that characterize its surroundings. Since bench marking processes are continuously presented to set standards, organizations are usually confronted with decisions to innovate. In this regard, change serves as a major determinant of the success and failure among organizations (Hardy & Clegg, 19996). As a result, organizations expand in terms of depth and scope, job descriptions are more defined, measure and systems of standards improve, and professional functions become highly distinguished. However, integration and transition states are unfortunately never simple procedures particularly when it involves intensive reforms and restructuring and when it involves a large organization.   The drive towards gaining competitive advantage among business organizations at present is mostly grounded on issues and concerns regarding customer satisfaction.  Businesses at present are finding means of creating added value to products and services that are being delivered to the consumers. Management executives carefully plan strategies that will increase the loyalty of consumers along with business reengineering processes within the company to enhance the efficiency of operations. Companies likewise continue to extend and widen the reach marketing and sales plans in order to increase the market base within local as well as international markets. With the trends towards globalization and outsourcing practices, management and business communication approaches of business organizations underwent complete reformulation and restructuring to meet the current market demands. As barriers of entry continued to be crossed by new and aspiring business firms offering innovative business processes, competition becomes increasingly aggressive.   According to Karp and Schlesinger (2002), effective execution of business plans and strategies is only possible if the management is aware of the available resources of the company. By familiarizing with the strengths of the company, formulation of strategic plans is realizable since assessment and evaluation of the capabilities of the entire company is taken into account. Examining the extensive ways of utilizing the available resources of the company will enable decision-makers to construct profitable business ventures that will contribute to the success of the business organization. Such business practice will also clearly define the characteristics of the business and the market environment that surrounds it thereby opening opportunities to assess and evaluate the inherent risks and issues that are challenging the competitiveness of the business organization ( 2002). All these enable the management to take full control of the existence of the business organization.     The Shipping Industry             According to Brooks (1996) the restructuring of the ocean transportation of general cargo began the advent of containerization. This led to the formation of container shipping lines and ocean carriers specializing in the transport of containers. Twenty-six percent of the world transporting capacity was recorded to be controlled by the twenty largest container shipping lines as ranked by ship twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEE). Fifteen years later in 1995, fifty percent of the world transporting capacity was already in the control of the largest shipping lines. Among the leading shipping lines are the Asian operators which compose 49 percent followed by the European operators at 33 percent, the United States with 14 percent and the remaining shipping line operators accounting for 4 percent.   Dow (1998) indicated that two years later in 1997, the twenty largest shipping lines ranked by Teas transported recorded 78.2 percent of the hundred largest shipping lines. The top three shipping lines were the Sea-Land, the Evergreen, and the Mares which accounted for 33.2 percent of the Teas transported. The other ten top-ranked lines serve the transpacific trades while the Sea-Land, Evergreen, and Mares serve global networks, including the transpacific, transatlantic, and Mediterranean and Middle East trades. However, financial issues challenged the industry as one of the implications of the increase in the concentration in the container shipping line industry. In 1996, approximately 1 million was the collective loses among container shipping lines with business operation and transactions in the   transpacific, transatlantic, and Europe/Far Asia trades (Porter, 1996). This is reflective of imbalance between market supply and demand as exhibited by the surplus ship capacity among the members of the industry as well as the decreasing rates in the transportation.     Since it was difficult for the container shipping lines to increase their service rates, cost-reducing means of operating the business were opted by the owners. This was realized by forming alliances along with mergers and acquisitions between and among the members of the industry and investing in more cost-efficient ships. New formed alliances decided to share the resources and assets of the company to their operation partners including the vessels and terminals in order to reduce operational expenditures. By sharing these resources, container shipping lines, operators, and owners were able to retain and sustain the demands of the services without sacrificing their independence. Reducing the number of port calls made it possible to save ship capacity and improve the transit lines and schedules (Talley, 2000).          According to Waster (1997) the new found alliances predicted and expected a yearly cost savings ranging from 0 million to 0 million. However, the years that followed proved that such savings can only be realized in a long-term business partnership condition and interdependence between and among companies.  This resulted to mergers among container shipping lines. In 1997, P&O (a British carrier) and Nedlloyd (a Dutch carrier) decided merged        creating the world’s largest container shipping line in the maritime industry projecting an annual cost savings of 0 million. Such savings was anticipated to be composed of eliminating duplicated overhead accounting for a total percentage of 65 percent (Waster, 1997; Trischwell, 1997).     Pace of Technological Change The best suppliers continuously update and upgrade their service deliveries in order to answer the demands of their customers. Customers have the ever-increasing demand on getting their hands into the products which can lead to change in supplier if expectations are not met. This is the reason why suppliers who are also industry leaders trend toward more reliable delivery services across their customers (Cohen & Moore, 2000). Today most companies find that it impossible to create any kind of sustainable competitive advantage based on product alone. It is common knowledge that every one of the successful companies sought and found a precise understanding of how it could create advantage in the operations system and delivery options of the business organization (Cook, Debreu & Feruled, 2001).   Every business person is determined to know what kind of work they would and would not do for their customers and, in turn, they carefully learn how to fulfill the needs of each kind of customer in their target markets (Cohen & Moore, 2000). The inception of technological advancements in the production processes and logistics within the recreational mega-yacht industry led to continuous development within its different business sectors. With mega-yachts being transient sea craft that frequently sail from port to port, technological advancement in the industry particularly in the procurement and logistics of efficiently delivering boat parts has been the priority of suppliers to create value and customer satisfaction to the products and services they offer. Strong technological capabilities are paramount to the current pace of modernization and technological adaptation is inevitable among the members and key players of the industry to stay competitive and successful.         Among the reported advantages of project management for development efforts by any firms include control, innovativeness, adaptation, and less disruption (Sayles, 1989). Rationally, project management plays an important role in the process of the project because it is the only way to organize the activity process within the project effectively. Managing projects put the manager into a difficult position because of the weight of responsibility associated with the task. Based on existing studies, the rate of project failure is high (Cecil, 1997).   In this light, the success of a project would most likely depend, one way or another, on how the project manager addresses the lifecycle. It mainly includes the management of information, technology and people. Perhaps, due to the reason to specify what are the specific important factors that should be considered within those three variables, researchers have identified several success factors in project management. For instance, Shinar and Diver (1996) identified several critical success factors such as: project mission; project planning; project control; top management support; and customer involvement.   Almost similarly, Lester (1998) identified five critical factors for success in new product development projects, which include: the commitment of senior management acting through a culture that gives importance to innovative and entrepreneurial individuals; organizational structure and processes that supports cross-functional teams and provide guidelines for their operation; encouraging new product ideas to be generated; providing effective venture teams and leaders; and a tactical planning process for innovative projects. Kenny (2003) adds that project managers should also give importance to learning and innovation to ensure the success of the project.   Other non-technical issues aside with the issue among the task performers are the scheduling and cost of the project. Basically, these should be defined firsthand in the planning stage, or in the investigation stage. These non-technical issues are basically intertwined with the technical requirements for the project such as the software and hardware needed. The project manager should know where to allocate the less expensive but effective technical tools. Of course, this also concerns handling the problems of scheduling i.e. acquiring the needed item on time, doing certain tasks on schedule, etc.   Basically, projects are unique undertakings which involve a degree of uncertainty and are inherently risky (Mac et al., 1998; PHI, 2000; Cauchy & Basin, 2003). Risk in projects can be defined as the chance of an event occurring that is likely to have a negative impact on project objectives and is measured in terms of likelihood and consequence (2004). For instance, over-budget can be a risk factor as the expenses waged in the project might not compensate the return of investment perceived. Furthermore, the slow-paced work of the team responsible for the project might also be a risk factor in meeting the target deadline of the project. This might also involve the risk in acquiring the technologies needed for the project. In addition, risk can also appear from the design, coding and implementation of the project.   Thus, decision based on investigation should be critical in intertwining the technical and non-technical factors for the benefit of having an effective project. However, risk is just one example of how managers handle the lifecycle of the project. Others basically focus on control, quality, and fractal issues (Longman & Mullins, 2004). All these should be taken into consideration for a more effective implementation of change and change processes. Only through sensitive identification and evaluation of the step by step procedures of the project’s entirety will make possible the success of systems integration of companies particularly those in the shipping industry were computer is vital in creating competitiveness within the industry. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Sample System Availability Management for small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong Essay

System Availability Management for Small to Medium Sized Marine Shipping Companies in Hong Kong Introduction Today’s e...

THE MILLENNIUM BUG

Introduction             The paper is basically a project which is the application of what have learned about systems thinking. It is organized as follows: the choice of mess; the planning phase which involves the 4 phases of analysis cycle; the analysis which is the main part of the study; the summary; and the conclusion or what have learned from the study. The Choice of Mess             The Millennium Bug Case File of GCD Security is a good choice of mess, with the problems brought about by the Millennium Bug as the complex situation faced by GCD Security.   A case study of a company that addressed and solved issues on the Millennium Bug is a good way of presenting the application and importance of systems thinking.  Issues on the millennium bug affect the internal and external environment of a business and may have immediate solutions that may worsen the situation. The complexity of these issues made a case study on the millennium bug an interesting topic where systems thinking is evident. It is a mess where all the ideas on systems thinking can be integrated to be able to formulate possible solutions on the problems or simplify the complexity of the situation. An organization is a complex system itself, and was even made more complex because of its external environment, which is composed of the competitors, the customers and the uncontrollable factors such as politics, economy, society, technology and disasters. That is an immediate solution to the problem may cause even bigger problems. This implies that most companies have complex systems thus they are usually in complex situations.   The Plan Concepts The general plan in analyzing the issues in millennium bug is to use leadership as the main concept since the writer will pretend to be the manager of the company in the case study. The ability of the company’s leader to manage the interactions of employees and the company’s interaction with the external environment despite the disaster caused by the bug will be discussed. In relation with the leadership concept, risk management will also be discussed. Defining risk management, it is the intention of improving project performance through early risk identification, mitigation, and project life cycle management, focused on the ideas that risk must be anticipated and planned for; risk and its consequences must be easily displayed; and active management of shared risks by stakeholders will result in better on-time within budget performance ( 2006). The goal of risk management is to is to obtain understanding by all parties involved and create agreement around the real nature of the risks and how they will be managed (, 2006). When the nature of the risks is identified, the conflicts involved in the issues are also revealed.             Under leadership, the concept of decision-making and stakeholder participation are unavoidable to be discussed. After the risks are assessed, the control and mitigation of risks need careful decision-making by the leader with agreement on the involved parties. The concepts involved with the analysis will be best described using a Concept Map where the relationships between all the concepts involved are clearly presented:                     Figure 1: Concept Map of the Millennium Bug Mess   Use of the Phases of the Analysis The first step to be done to accomplish the plan is to perform the sensing phase. Sensing phase involves the identification of problems and collection of information needed to establish a clear understanding of the issues. In the Case File: Millennium Bug, most of the necessary materials needed are already provided such as the case study of the GCD Security, GCD documents, backgrounder on millennium bug, and article and newspaper clippings about the millennium bug. Other necessary information that will be needed along the analysis process will come from the internet which has various sources about the main topic and other related topics.   In the understanding phase, all the information collected in the sensing phase will be assessed and classified according to their relevance on the main issue. This is the phase where the purpose behind the analysis of the millennium bug will be discussed whether it is discussed to determine the importance of risk management to systems thinking or the importance or for any other purposes. The main and related issues will be discussed in details. The Spray Diagram will be useful in identifying the arguments in the millennium bug issues while the Influence Diagram will be used in determining the relationships among the parties involved in the case study.   The deciding phase will be basically the part where conclusions are made. The decisions needed to address the issues are taken at this point. On the acting phase, the lessons learned will be summarized, and is where recommended actions are provided. The primary focus of the study will be on the aspect of how companies anticipated and dealt with disaster such as the millennium bug.             In general, and in other studies, the four phases of analysis is the same as the five basic activities in analysis that can serve as a framework for a discussion of the methodology of system analysis ( 2003). These activities are: Formulation, Search, Explain, Evaluate, and Interpret (, 2003) that has been contained in the four phases of cycle of inquiry mentioned in T205. The relationship of these activities with the four phases of analysis can be best explained using a diagram:                                         Figure 2: Four Phases of Analysis   Analysis The Sensing Phase Background             When the age of computer came, many large and even small businesses took the opportunity and the advantages brought about by the utilization of personal computers in their businesses. GCD Security, a small company in Berkshire, started in 1974 and is providing services security systems such CCTV, intruder alarms, remote sensing and others to the residential and commercial sectors. GCD, having most of its system automated, utilized PCs and considered them as one of its most important physical resources. The company’s human resources include skilled engineers that provide installations and services including follow-ups and maintenance. The company’s major clients include the   aside from other businesses within the area and other commercial clients.               GCD, although a small company, has established a well-structured organization. The company’s human resources include skilled engineers that provide installations and services including follow-ups and maintenance. GCD has a good working relationship with its suppliers as well as with its clients.    Statement of the Problem             The Millennium bug issue emerged in 1996 and GCD became aware of it in 1997. The company became concern of the issue since it used PC based solutions for its internal tasks such as accounting, word processing and client contact management. This meant that there was a great possibility of inoperativeness with its internal systems aside from the fact that its products are automated electronic systems that have a great possibility of being inoperative too. Because of these, the millennium bug posed threat to the business operations of GCD and the company needed to face related issues such as how the company should deal with Millennium bug, how they will approach and explain the issues to the customers and how the company, together with the suppliers, will approach the issue.                                                                                                                           Figure 3: The Relationship of the Primary Problem and the Relevant Factors Relevant Factors             In the diagram above, there are several relevant factors mentioned such as miscommunications of staff, poor services and operations of the internal IT system and others. These are the results or risks of the millennium bug; it is necessary that GCD consider all these factors in order to look the situation as a whole and not at millennium bug alone. For example, if the company focused too much on solving millennium bug to be able to maintain its information system and continue servicing the clients, it may overlook the suppliers. That is, GCD may have the solution for millennium bug but its suppliers may have none, then the suppliers can not be able to provide GCD with the products they needed. GCD in effect will have to look for other suppliers causing delay for the company’s business operation. This requires systems thinking and a good system analysis. Data Search             To analyze the probability of these issues, the manager of GCD should search and collect relevant data about the millennium bug. These data may come from news and articles. All relevant materials that can be found are analyzed carefully to determine what more other issues can millennium bug cause. Other materials that will be helpful are case studies of other companies that had coped up with disasters and crisis not necessarily millennium bug but any other crisis. Materials about technological forecasting and changes in the society may also be classified as relevant data.             In search for data, the company may conduct interviews about risk management on established large and complex companies from which GCD may get some idea on managing risks. The company can also coordinate with the other companies within the alarm industries; together the industry can provide advice, risks management strategies, alternatives, and customer information services. Coordination with government agencies is also useful, for they conduct in-depth research about different disasters and crisis; government agencies employ experts and can provide the companies advices, strategies and precautionary measures as well as update the company with the development on the technologies that may address such the issues on millennium bug. The Understanding Phase             The understanding phase is the central phase of analysis. This is where theories are developed to support the explanations. The Millennium Bug             The Millennium Bug which is also referred to as the Year 2000 or Y2K bug is a computer problem, more specifically a problem with the dates in the computer. The problem can be traced back to the earlier computing days, about 1950s, when computer programmers, as result of saving amount and space in the memory of the software they created, they only represented the year in a date with only two digits; 1999 is represented as 99, 1978 as 78, 1982 as 82 and so on.  During those times, the idea was convenient and effective, not until when the new millennium was approaching and the software made by IBM, Microsoft and others became popular resulting to long lives of software. Computer users then realized the possible effects of the dating method, that at the turn of the millennium, year 2000 will be presented as 00 but can be perceived by the computer as 1900. This problem implicated risks, effecting many applications on PCs and on mainframes especially those that had embedded date functions. The following are the applications that can be affected by the Y2K Problem (, 1997): <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Software calendar utility functions in commercial spreadsheets such as Lotus, Excel, and others used commonly in financial applications; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Calendar applications embedded in personal information managers (PIM and handheld devices; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Software on commercial planes, military aircraft, weapon systems and satellites; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Computer Operating Systems (OS) utilizing calendar and clock routines;</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Production control systems containing embedded systems such as heating and temperature controllers of industrial and chemical plants; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Software of telephone switching systems and other telecommunication services;</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Software of time-based systems such as security and alarm systems used in residential and commercial buildings and other establishments.</li> </ul>   For some businesses, the immediate solution was to replace their computers. But for some, this was a risky move for there were organizations that have used computers for its internal operations such as in the supply chain and as strategy for maintaining service to customers.             The business operations of the transportation industry were also affected by the bug. In 1998, , a train service company, cancelled 44 computer projects which include an integrated asset-management system, which was due to create a database of ’s stock across the rail network ( 1998). The airline industry is also affected by the bug. The British Airways (BA) invested on upgrading its computer which involves replacement of equipment in aircraft where there are embedded chips that cannot be reprogrammed (1998). BA also coordinated with other airlines, international organizations and governments to ensure the safety and security of its passengers and employees by the year 2000 (, 1998). These moves had cost the company to spend about £100 million, £32 million of that went to engine maintenance.             The energy sector was also affected by Y2K for if the bug persisted, it may cause electricity failure. In the UK, the Electricity Association, the UK industry representative body confirmed that electricity companies were spending more than 200 million pounds on fixing the millennium bug ( 1999). It has also formed a task force to promote to promote readiness.             Furthermore, the government played an important role for the awareness and prevention of the millennium bug since it has a great effect on the economy of a country. In the UK, the economy is heavily dependent on the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which generated over 1/3 of the country’s GDP. With over 1.3 million SMEs in UK, each employed about less than 250 staff.             In 1996, the UK government set up the Taskforce 2000 to address the Y2K issue. In 1997, it was a new program called Action 2000 was launched which promoted intensive awareness on Y2K with the support of business organizations and professional institutions to provide advice to businesses in dealing with the problem, especially the SMEs which was found out by a survey that it was the sector that was unprepared the most of the Millennium Bug.             Action 2000 constructed a comprehensive model of the industrial and other processes. The model was used to identify critical interdependencies; that is failure of one utility could cause serious problems for others. These utilities which serve as essential services to businesses and also what comprised the national infrastructure of UK include electricity, gas, water and finance. By the end of the program, it was announced that the UK infrastructure was Millennium-ready. Action 2000 also promoted public information campaign to reassure the public that the problem was under control to preventing panic.              A diagram will further describe the interconnections of industries affected by the bug to show how largely could be the damage of such bug in the business sector especially when there are critical interdependencies among the different industries. The diagram below shows the interdependency of the major industry on the essential utilities such as electricity, water, gas and finance.             It is very noticeable that in diagram, a lost or damage to an essential utility has a significant effect on the other. For example, when the water utility was interrupted by the Y2K, the service and the manufacturing industries will be directly affected and interrupted as well as the transportation and the individual household. Figure 4: Interdependencies of Different Industries on Each other and on the Essential Utilities Risk Management             Due to the above risks brought about by the Millennium bug, it is important for companies especially the SMEs to learn how to manage such risks. Unlike large companies, which have the ability to spend additional expenses and has the experiences on dealing with risks and disasters, SMEs needed further education on managing risk.             Risk management is also a step by step process. The first step to risk management is Risk Planning when the company decides on how risk will be treated (I2006). In SMEs, it is the responsibility of the manager to identify and articulate the risk and its possible impacts to the company. Risk Identification follows Risk Planning. At this point, the risk is explicitly identified, involving the identification of potential sources of risks, potential risk events and when research and interviews can be conducted. Risk analysis is the next step. It is the process of anticipating and identifying probable impacts on a project, reviewing assumptions, and taking action to prevent a negative impact or to take advantage of other opportunity ( 2006). The probability of the risk is also determined at this stage as well as the potential consequence of its occurrence ( 2006). Risk Mitigation then follows; this involves techniques used to control or transfer risk. Some of the most common techniques are budget management to mitigate cost risk, parallel development and prototyping to mitigate technical risk. Risk Mitigation is followed by Risk Control. At this point, the risk can be considered managed or restrained already. Figure 5: Risk Management Process The Deciding/ Acting Phase             With all the necessary information sated above, GCD can now evaluate on the probable approach on the Millennium bug. It is noticeable that the millennium bug is not a problem within a company only rather it is a global problem which needed to be approached with systems thinking, that is GCD will manage the risk with systems approach.             To do this, GCD should weigh the vulnerability of all the stakeholders involved. First to be done is to assess the vulnerability of the company to its information system since many of its operations are interdependent on its information system (see figure 3). Then understand the vulnerability of the suppliers to the millennium bug because it is from the suppliers that GCD’s products came from and without the products, there will be no point of continuing the business as well as the vulnerability of the clients.             It is important for GCD to coordinate with government agencies such as the Action 2000. Because of interdependency of UK’s economy to SMEs like GCD, the government will be much willing to help GCD overcome the risk. As noted above, the British Airways coordinated with other airlines. GCD can do the same; it should also coordinate with other alarm companies to be able to acquire ideas on how to mitigate the millennium bug risks.             The diagram below shows the stakeholders of GCD and the sectors that have significance in the mitigation of the Y2K bug.   Figure 6: Sectors Involved in GCD’s Mitigation of the Millennium Bug             After evaluation, GCD decided to take the following course of actions: RISK PLANNING: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Form a committee responsible for the Millennium Bug headed by the manager</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Be sure that the company’s organization is well-structured and is ready for changes that might be brought about by the actions necessary to manage the risk</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Review and documentation of all the hardware and software use by GCD</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Investigation of systems used by the company that can probably be affected by the Y2K bug such as the equipments and the telephone system</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Identification and documentation of the products that are possible to be affected by the Y2K bug ( this can bed done with the coordination form the suppliers)</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Review government regulations</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Formulate strategies on how to mitigate the risks</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Set a timetable for proper scheduling and set a target date when the risks are expected to be mitigated</li> </ul>   RISK IDENTIFICATION: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Conduct research study about the millennium bug</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Consult IT professionals to assist the company all through out the risk management process</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Coordinate with the industry and government agencies such as Action 2000</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Coordinate with the suppliers and know their actions about the bug</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Determine the reactions and perceptions of the clients by coordinating with each of them and reassuring that the company is taking actions </li> </ul> RISK ANALYSIS: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Evaluate the overall risks cause by the millennium bug and evaluate each risk on how vulnerable the company to these risks</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Evaluate which products and the corresponding the supplier are vulnerable to which risks</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Determine the possible occurrence of each risk and their corresponding consequences. Rating each risk depending on its impact is necessary for effective evaluation and scheduling</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Schedule each risk and assess the possible solutions and prevention for it</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Determine the costs that are accompanied by the prevention of each risk</li> </ul> RISK MITIGATION: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Determine the resources needed (Financial, human resources, physical resources) and the resources that are affordable to GCD. This might be very expensive for the company so there should be alternatives.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">  Determine which method is suitable for the mitigation of the millennium bug. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Since the millennium bug is technical in nature, parallel development or prototyping method can be used. Mentioned earlier, BA reprogrammed some of its PCs; GCD may do the same depending on the evaluation of IT professionals. The suppliers will be responsible on updating or reprogramming of their products while the clients of the company who have availed products and services from GCD can have their installed products reprogrammed with the cooperation of the respective suppliers. If reprogramming of installed products is not possible (as specified by the supplier and tested by GCD), GCD may replace the product depending on the negotiations with the supplier. There may also be some government regulations that correspond to this case which can be the bases of the actions of GCD. Each product should be specified, tested and evaluated. </li> </ul>   RISK CONTROL: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Continuous and periodical review of the risk is important to be updated on the possible outcome of the actions taken by GCD. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The committee who “debug” the risk should also be the responsible for monitoring since there may be some associated risks with the actions taken </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Assess the changes that has brought about by the actions taken</li> </ul>   It is important to weigh the vulnerability of each stakeholder involved. That is, for every actions taken by the company, each stakeholder are taken to consideration to determine if the action can damage a stakeholder or damage the structure of the company’s business system (e.g. lose a supplier or a loyal customer). Summary             This study is basically an application of what has learned about systems thinking. The study chose issues on the Millennium Bug with the aid of a case study where systems thinking is applied. There are currently many problems and complex situations encountered especially in organizations where problems do not only affect an individual but systems of individuals and an apparent immediate solution to problems may lead to even bigger problems. The paper then focuses on the importance and applications of systems thinking. With this study, a step by step analysis and the processes that can be used in systems thinking are involved, discussed and put into applications.             The case study of GCD Security on how the company dealt with the millennium bug was chosen for this study for several reasons. First, with the use of a company whose system is a complex one will cover areas on systems thinking. Secondly, a small enterprise like GCD, unlike larger companies, still has no enough experience dealing with risks such as the millennium bug. Therefore, a study on how an SME like GCD managed risks is an interesting study. Also, by using a case study of a company, there are other relevant topics that can also be discussed such as risk management.             The planning part involves diagrams to make the discussion more easily to be comprehended. The planning part serves as the outline on what the analysis part is all about. The analysis section has 4 phases: the sensing phase, the understanding phase, and the deciding and action phase. In the sensing phase, the background of the case study is presented; the problems and issues are presented; and using a diagram, the relevant issues associated with the Millennium bug with respect to the company’s operation are identified.             The understanding phase discusses about the data that were gathered for the study. These data gave an overview of what GCD can do to manage the risks brought about by the millennium bug like the possibility reprogramming and coordination with other companies within the industry that are learned form the British Airways. The understanding phase also gave GCD the overview on what the government can help for the company. This phase also provided a step by step process on how to manage risks in a company systematically.             The deciding phase is the evaluation of the how to start risk management. It was learned that weighing the vulnerabilities of each stakeholder in the GCD business system is necessary to be sure the steps that are taken can not bring damage or much problem to all the parties involved. Conclusions             Generally, the study is helpful in managing complex situations specifically overcoming risk in a complex system. It is learned that in a system where a move to overcome risks or problems can be damaging to a part of the system or to the system as a whole. Therefore careful risk management is necessary. It is learned that risk management is not a task that can be done right ahead that whatever obvious possible solution can help an organization overcome risks. Risk management involves step by step process, each step carefully evaluated and executed, avoiding not to interfere with the other member of the system. Also, risks are also done looking at the system as a whole. Like in the case study, GCD considered the help of people and organizations outside the company since GCD is generally part of the economic system of UK. GCD is part of the system of the alarm industry, that any damage to GCD is may have effect on the entire industry. Therefore the primary objective of the study is to expose the significance of systems thinking as well as the relationship of systems thinking to risk management. It is also noticeable that systems thinking is also applicable in understanding other topics such as sustainable development where the environment is taken as part of the systems of organizations; in change management where the vulnerability of each the department in a company are weighed to determine the effect of the change to each department for the company’s system to be effective; and in economics and politics where country will be affected on the actions of the government. References: Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

THE MILLENNIUM BUG

Introduction The paper is basically a project which is the application of what have learned about systems thinking. It is organ...

System analysis

Introduction This report tackles the proposed voucher system by the Gloucester branch of the Home in your Heart charity which aims to enhance and hasten the sponsoring scheme program by the said charity.  The reporter taking the part of a system analyst would provide advises as to whether the structure of the voucher system would be effective and suitable.   Included in this report is a discussion over some issues of long and short-term costs, economic and social benefits, technical or practical implications and the information that would be invaluable prior to the drafting of the final recommendations that would encompass the perspectives of the stakeholders such as the participating outlets, the sanctuary and the valued supporters or customers.   The Charity: Home in your Heart             The Home in your Heart is founded by the Topping sisters, namely and who resided in the Wigan Area sometime in the 1920’s.  When their parents died, the sisters decided to sell some of their valuable properties that have been invested by their parents in exchange for modest simple living.  The beginning of the organization starts from the sisters adopting stray cats and the rest is history.  They go from adopting stray cats, to the adoption of dogs, horses and donkeys but since then refused to adopt other animals except one that is of a parrot named Anita.  Home in your Heart charity is unique since it seeks to adopt animal in which not everyone would be interested in especially in investing something to an animal organization.  However, the organization seemingly gets through that difficulty specifically in the monetary matters and continually managed to sustain and maintain the organization.  Among the organizations source of income are financed by charitable donations both from individual and corporations, proceeds of fund raising events in which the animals are used in the event, sales from pet foods that is manufacture based from the personal recipe of one of the Topping sisters, the admission charges from the sanctuary and the sponsorship scheme.  Indeed, the Home in your Heart is a charity with a sense of a business style of some sort.  Task 1 With the increasing cost in the maintenance of the Home in your Heart charity, it is apparent that they seek alternative means to find other sources of income to cope with the rising costs incurring in the three sanctuaries.  With the aim to make full use and maximize the traditional sponsoring scheme, one of the caretakers being that of an Information Communication Technology (ICT) student introduces the concept of incorporating the traditional card system used in the adoption process of the animals into a website, like making the sponsorship scheme to be commercialized. Not only the ICT student makes use of his or her knowledge but he or she was able to help the organization and revitalize the options for increasing their earnings.  Moreover, the Gloucester branch came up with another alternative to increase earnings via the vouchers system.  long and short-term costs             The participating shops point of perspective it would not prove to be costly for them, both long and short-term costs.  Not costly in a sense that only a small portion of the accrued customers earnings is being ask of them and yet they would benefit from the voucher system such that they can subtlety advertise and groom an image to their shop.  Further, it is would not cost a fuzz on them since the sanctuary would be the one to provide the device in the automatic update every time the card would be used.             Sanctuary, on the other hand, may at first allocate money in the implementation stage of the voucher system, however, with the fruitful benefits it can bring to the sanctuary; it is a sure thing that they can get their investments back from the voucher system.  Thus in the long-term cost would be minimized in the long run.             The supporter and customers would surely be delighted to see the benefits it could bring to the sanctuary.  Not only they can help, the supporters and customers can express concern to the animals in their own special way and that their money would be worth it.  In the long-term costs it may be costly especially of the changing economic trends but making them see where their money goes, they would likely allocate money for it.             economic and social benefits             Economic and social benefits would be beneficial to all the stakeholders provided that the management would stay committed and true to their dedication in adopting the animals seeking refuge and protecting them from harm.  The voucher system would be able to contribute economically such that they would be able to preserve these beautiful neglected animals and saves them from danger.  Socially, the voucher system would create and foster awareness in taking care of the animals that in spite of them, being just animals, they do have the right to live.   technical or practical implications             If there would be one area that the voucher system would pose a problem it would be in the technical.  The incorporation of technology is proven to be costly at first, without the appropriate technical expertise to look after the voucher system, it may hamper the effective functioning of the voucher system.  Although, this potential problem may be closely looked by concerned computer professionals, thus, it can still be very suitable.  Practicality wise, the voucher system is not that practical choice, though, with the proven effectiveness of the use of technology, it surely deserves a shot at it.   information you will need before a final recommendation can be made.             The use of technology can surely generate finances and would be able to ensure the existence of Home in your Heart charity.  As a matter of fact, it is admirable as to how the organization continues to blossom wherein in spite of it being infamous.  In the future, the voucher system would certainly be of great help to the organization.  Therefore, it is recommendable and suitable for the expansion of the charity such that they would be able to extend more help to the needy animals.     Task 2 : Context diagram of the Voucher System   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

System analysis

Introduction This report tackles the proposed voucher system by the Gloucester branch of the Home in your Heart charity which aims to enh...

IS for decision-making

1. What are some of the risks associated with a purchased package solution when it comes to maintenance?             Companies to be able to fully cost-optimize in expenditures, purchasing a software package solution can be seen as an alternative rather than hire a team of information technologists that proves to be costly.  However, associated in opting to purchase a software package solution there are some risks attached to it.  For example, risk in the security aspect wherein, a company tends to have little knowledge of.  Another risk would be unfamiliarity, especially in the software’s limitation or loopholes.  Obviously, software vendors would not explicit on this one and presumably, detection of software’s package limitation is not noticeable.   2. Briefly describe the three phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC). There are four basic popular models commonly used by software development firms namely, prototyping model, rapid application development model, component assembly model and the software development life cycle (SDLC) model, which is also known as classic life cycle model, linear sequential model or the waterfall model.  In SLDC, it primarily involves three phases.  First, is the design upon which it is produced from the requirements phase and wherein pertinent details as to how the system will work.  Second, is the implementation, considered to be the longest phase in the SDLC such that it produces from the deliverables of the design phase.  Third, is the testing, wherein the whole package will be put into test as to how it addresses in solving the relevant needs that have been gathered prior to the design phase. 3. What are the two major advantages for an organization that purchases software rather than develops its own using its own skilled IS personnel?             One advantage of purchasing software is that it gives organizations a sense of security such that software vendors included warranty on their purchase, if in case, things would go wrong.  The additional services and assistance being offered by software vendors may contribute to motivate organization in terms of their purchasing power and is tantamount to cost-optimization for the organization.  Second advantage is the time that can be save of the organization since, although, hiring IT personnel can develop a certain software, it also entails time for them to come up with the software compared with just readily purchasing it via a software vendor. 4. List the main steps of each of the three SDLC phases.             The three SDLC phases are accompanied with main certain steps.  In the design phase, it follows the steps of information engineering and modeling, software requirements analysis.  The second phase, which is the implementation phase, also follows the steps of system analysis and design, code generations.  The testing phase, as the last phase includes testing and maintenance. 5. Discuss the steps involved in using a Prototype Life Cycle as an alternative for systems projects             The prototyping life cycle (PLC) model is being considered as the first system and can still be used when there is the existence of a difficulty in the establishment of a detailed system specification.  A PLC model has three steps, one, is the requirements gathering.  In requirements gathering, both the developer and the customers, is set to define the necessary objectives, identify the known requirements and outline the specific areas where definition is mandatory to be able to come up with a win-win solution and ensures that both sides’ needs are meet.  Second, is the quick design step which puts emphasis in the representation of all the aspects of the software and be made salient to the customers or the users.  Third, is the customer evaluation, which proves to be the most vital in the PLC model steps because it is invaluable such that the customer evaluation can be used in further assessing the whole software and prompts software developers to redefine and improve on some aspects, if necessary, in the long-run results to satisfying customer’s needs and at the same time it enables developer to be constantly challenge in his or her craft. 6. You run a small business. You have no IS specialists on your staff and plan to purchase all of your software. What might be your three most important concerns?               Basically, the three major concerns will be in the security, maintenance and in the implementation.  In every organization, even if there are IS specialist, security concerns are evident such that there will always be a need to protect the entire system from unauthorized access.  The hackers or intruders, will always find a way to uncover the precautionary measures, thereby, there will always be a need also to update and implement protection means to secure the system from plausible interference.  Maintenance and implementation, on one hand, also are major concerns because without IS specialist, nobody would be available to constantly monitor and re-evaluate the efficiency of the whole system.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

IS for decision-making

1. What are some of the risks associated with a purchased package solution when it comes to maintenance? Companies to be a...