Comparison of Business Systems Analysis and Design Methodologies

This report provides a comprehensive review and comparison of hard and soft business systems analysis and design methodologies. It begins with a summary of the key concepts of hard and soft system thinking, differentiating between goal-seeking and learning-oriented approaches. The report then delves into the application of various project methodologies, including Scrum, Agile, and Six Sigma, outlining their strengths and weaknesses and the scenarios in which they are most effective. A case study involving a clinical healthcare IT development project is analyzed, with a recommendation for the most suitable methodology. The report further examines the importance of change management in healthcare organizations, highlighting the need for innovation and technological advancements to address challenges. Finally, it draws conclusions based on the analysis and provides a comparison of the project management approaches, emphasizing the suitability of the Agile methodology for the case study. The report also references the seven stages of the soft system methodology and its application.

Assessment Task 2: Paper review and reflection - Comparison of Hard and Soft
Business Systems Analysis and Design Methodologies
1

Table of Contents
1. Read and summarize the key points of the following paper...........................................3
2. You should summarizing methodologies........................................................................3
3. Critique each of these business systems analysis and design methodologies in the
context of an evolving organizational environments.............................................................3
a. Provide a brief summary of what hard and soft system thinking means, and how to
define hard and soft system problems/issues;....................................................................4
b. Discuss how each methodology relates to solving hard or soft system problems/issues.
To do this, you need to firstly read all relevant learning materials, then conduct a search
to identify some relevant papers. You should list strengths and weaknesses of each
methodology and discuss in which kind of situations these methodologies can be
adopted...............................................................................................................................5
c. You should link to the case we used in assignments 1 & 3 and discuss which
methodology or methodologies are best suited for the case situation................................6
d. You should also link back to the above paper, the points made in the paper and
provide some of your thoughts...........................................................................................8
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................9
References............................................................................................................................10
2

1. Read and summarize the key points of the following paper.
This report will be giving more highlight on the hard and soft thinking where hard system
thinking is an approach whose orientation is goal seeking whereas soft system thinking is
generally oriented with thinking. Moreover, the seven stages of the soft system thinking will
also be discussed in detail. The project methodology which can solve hard and soft system
problems will also be analysed which includes six sigma methodology, lean methodology,
scrum methodology. This report will also make review of the case study and analyse the
issues regarding it. The change management will also be discussed which is based on IT
development. Finally, all the project management has be compared and the right
methodology is used which is suited in this case study which is found to be Agile
methodology.
2. You should summarizing methodologies
This assignment will be discussing regarding the various hard and soft business system
thinking. It will also have an in-depth explanation of the various methodologies such as six
sigma methodology, scrum methodology and agile methodology. This paper will further
explain the suitability of this methodology in different types of the projects. This paper will
then deal with the case study which is regarding the IT development software of the clinical
healthcare Inc. this paper will analyse the case and make a recommendation that which
project methodology will be best suited in this case and thus, in-depth research will be made.
In this particular essay, focus has been mainly on analysing the various hard and soft business
system thinking that revolves around the concept of IT development.
3. Critique each of these business systems analysis and design methodologies in the
context of an evolving organizational environments.
3

a. Provide a brief summary of what hard and soft system thinking means, and how to
define hard and soft system problems/issues;
There are two types of system thinking explicitly hard and soft which can be utilised in
solving the problems. Peter Checkland in1981 stated that hard systems thinking is an
approach whose orientation is related to the goal seeking (Schwaber & Beedle, 2002). It
looks for an efficient means in a greater depth which assumes every system to be
disaggregated into various numerous subsystems. Hard system thinking review the system
has a clear reason and well-defined goals which is useful in designing the solution and also
achieving the goal. It searches for the efficient ways or means of achieving the defined and
known ends and also assumes that models are the models of real world. It generally ignores
subjectivity and is opposite of soft system thinking. On the other hand, Soft system thinking
is oriented with learning and it helps in acknowledging both the multiple perception of reality
and the multiple mostly conflicting objectives (Mathiassen & Pries-Heje, 2006). The soft
system thinking generally doesn’t assume that the issues are out in the world but take it in a
real sense. It reveals that the social world is a creative construct of human beings (Bednar &
Sadok, 2003). Soft system methodology (SSM) is a strategy which analyse the complex
issues situations and identifies the possible improvement which could be applied for that very
situations. Its aim is to generate improvement to the system.
There are 7 stages of soft system methodology which includes:
Stage 1: The problem situation: unstructured: It mainly deals with the concept of
depicting the problems prior to initiating the project in terms of the methodology used. In this
regard, the problem in this problem in this project is mostly unstructured.
Stage 2: The problem situation: expressed: The problem situation here is expressed
comprehensively based on the requirement of the essay.
Stage 3: Root definitions of relevant systems: This stage includes defining the problem of
the research based on the selected models or topics in concern.
Stage 4: Conceptual models: Conceptual model mainly refers to the framework that could
be used in the process of structuring the research altogether
Stage 5: Compare the Model and The Real World to Gain Insights: This section mainly
comprises of comparing the various models considered
4

Stage 6: Develop desirable and feasible interventions: This section mainly comprises of
the various aspects linked with the various intervention that are visible and desirable as per
the key objectives of the study altogether.
Stage 7: Action to improve the situations: This section of the study mainly comprises of
the various goals that the research intends to consider and at the same time depict certain
actions that can improve the situations at large.
Each of the stages above is further linked with various goals and objectives of the research
that further links with how the project can be executed and the overall outcomes can be
ensured positively.
b. Discuss how each methodology relates to solving hard or soft system problems/issues.
To do this, you need to firstly read all relevant learning materials, then conduct a search
to identify some relevant papers. You should list strengths and weaknesses of each
methodology and discuss in which kind of situations these methodologies can be
adopted.
Project Methodology
There are various types of system methodology and models which solves the hard and soft
system problems. Some of them are scrum methodology, agile methodology, six sigma
methodology, lean methodology, etc. they are described in detail below.
Scrum Methodology
Scrum methodology possesses five values which include courage, focus, commitment,
respect and openness. The main motive of this methodology is to create, sustain and offer
difficult products with the usage of iterative, association and accountability progress. It
makes a use of different artefacts and roles while operating the projects. There are altogether
three different types of team role which can be played in the scrums which includes product
owner, scrum master and development team (Palmer, Dunford & Akin, 2008). Scrum
artefacts has been of different types where one is the product backlog where the whole
requirement is needed in order to have a viable product which tends to jotted down as per the
main concern. This methodology is mainly used for those projects which has less number of
5

people and demands a flexible method in order to deliver products. However, this
methodology is not useful for the larger organisation and fails to deliver the products.
Agile Methodology
On the other hand, agile methodology is one of the best and renowned project management
methodologies which are useful for those projects which is iterative and incremental as well
as highly collaborative and very robust than the traditional projects. This method requires
demands and solutions which take place with the help of collaborative efforts which is made
by self-organising teams as well as the customers. It mainly focuses on the reduction of the
lead and also the cycle time and develops trust (Cockburn, 2001). Agile methodology is not
the answer for all the hard and soft issues, but it increases the uncertainty of the solution. It is
the manifesto which implies emphasis and not the exclusion. It mostly deals with software
projects where it offers clear and measurable structures. The main objective of this
methodology is to create software in order to stimulate development, change management
and team cohension. It is mostly used for the delivery of the complex projects. Agile
methodology uses six deliverables in order to monitor the progress which includes product
backlog, products vision statement, sprint backlog, release plan, increment and product
roadmap (Schwaber & Beedle, 2002).
Six Sigma Methodology
Furthermore, six sigmas is a data-driven, regulated and improved process methodology which
is designed and generated in order to summarise the whole management approach in small
sheet. This method helps in improving the processes by removing the defects which most is
known as product’s peculiarity. This helps in understanding the customer’s requirement in a
proper way and also eradicates defects and wastage. An individual should have a proper
knowledge about the statistics, engineering and project management in order to underline the
system and process (Lee & Xia, 2010). It is used in all types of business sectors and its main
objective is to advance the products and services of the organisation across various
disciplines such as marketing, production, finance and administration.
c. You should link to the case we used in assignments 1 & 3 and discuss which
methodology or methodologies are best suited for the case situation.
6

Below is the overview of the case study where Brett Michalak who came in top position at
clinical healthcare Inc, found that there are various unexpected issues where green screen
application as well as various home-grown software’s which is not touched or used since the
company was founded. This is a case study of a clinical healthcare where lots of issues where
present and also no importance was given to the Information Technology. There is lots of IT
requirement in the field of health care. This healthcare mainly involved the medication of the
patients using chemotherapy, antibiotics, pain management medication and many more. The
medication as well as the administration was complicated as well as expensive. It was noted
that organisation provided services in home to those patients who are not able to come in
hospital. Moreover, all the patients’ data are organised by the nurse so when nurse leaves the
organisation to visit patients at home, organisation lose contact with her. Now, the entry of
the data was only possible after the return of the nurse in hospital which brought about large
delay in the whole process. After the working of Michalak in clinical healthcare INC, he
applied the home-grown pharmacy management system which supported all the important
business process. After reviewing this case study, it can be seen that scrum is a methodology
which is used in small scale projects but since health care is a larger organisation and
includes large number of people, so implementation of this methodology is not possible. On
the other hand, six sigma methodologies are mostly used on those projects which require
change in the service quality and efficiency. Although, clinical healthcare Inc require change
in service but since it is specially focused on the software development, so this is not an
appropriate methodology. Furthermore, agile methodology is the methodology which is used
for the development of the software by offering measurable and clear structure which
includes team cohesion, change management and stimulate development (Haux, 2006). It can
thus be said that agile methodology can be used in this case and is best fitted.
Change Management
Healthcare organisation have to face lots of challenges which force them for the changes
which includes increase in pressure on budgets, tightening of the increased job market as well
as growing demand of care. The diversity and magnitude of the challenges seen in the
healthcare cannot be changed with small adjustments but requires radical change in the shape
of innovation and technology (Heeks, 2006). Innovation usually brings about greater change
in an organisation wherein change doesn’t come easily but needed the deliberate help of the
change management. The innovation projects of health care must ensure the support of
7

management, way to allow emergence and also self-efficacy. Taking the perspective of
software development as per the case study, the so-called agile method is particularly tailored
for the projects which involve uncertain outcomes and need user-involvement.
d. You should also link back to the above paper, the points made in the paper and
provide some of your thoughts.
Agile In Healthcare IT Development
Agile methodology has a major role in the healthcare IT development. It is important to note
that if an organisation has poor development process then neither the end-users, nor the
patients and development team will be properly served. In the development of the software,
agile method has come up with a rapid rise (Haux, 2006). This method approach helps in
development of the projects of software in an exploratory, interactive and also iterative
fashion. This approach is iterative where the new working functionality is generated in
iteration where each delivers small increments (Cockburn, 2001). Agile approach is
interactive as the customers representatives gets involved actively in the evaluation of the
previous iteration and also in planning the next iteration’s contents. This approach is
explorative in nature as full specification is only emerged after the consequences of planned
iterations. It is reviewed that agile techniques are very appropriate from the usability point of
view in clinical application as it separates developers from the users and also test the products
against the theoretical assurance models (Swinburne University, 2018). Agile approach is
considered as an improvement as well as evaluation over traditional plan-driven approach.
The main goal of the agile methodology is to eradicate the waste by generating an
organisation which focus on discovering the needs of the customers and also meet the needs
in a quicker method and also affordably. The implementation of the Agile helps in providing
the competitive advantages which is adaptable for the usage in the healthcare It environment.
This methodology helps in giving satisfaction to the customers by providing rapid serves with
the use of software’s and also welcome the required change (Heeks, 2006). Agile manifesto
supports the sustainable development and helps in making close co-operation in between the
business people and developers. The projects which is developed and monitored by the agile
methodology is highly effective thus, it is used in the case of clinical healthcare Inc.
8

Conclusion
It is thus said that hard system thinking seeks the efficient means to achieve the defined ends
and also assumes models and real world whereas soft system thinking is oriented to learning
and acknowledge both multiple objective and perception of reality. It assumes that social
world is a creative build of the human beings. Moreover, this report utilised agile
methodology which is flexible approach in order to manage the large software projects with
the motive of making it flexible, efficient and faster as per the required change.
9

References
Bednar, P. & Sadok, M. 2003. A Socio-technical toolbox for business systems analysis and
design. Socio-Technical Perspective in IS development, 20-31.
Cockburn, A., 2001. Agile Software Development. Addison-Wesley, Reading
Haux, P., 2006. “Health information systems - past, present, future”. International Journal of
Medical Informatics, Vol. 75, no. 3-4, pp. 268-281
Heeks, R., 2006. "Health information systems: failure, success and improvisation".
International journal of medical informatics, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 125-137.
Lee, G. & Xia, W. 2010. "Toward Agile: an Integrated Analysis of Quantitative and
Qualitative Field Data on Software Development Agility". MIS Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1, pp.
87-114.
Mathiassen, L. & Pries-Heje, J., 2006. Business agility and diffusion of information
technology. European Journal of Information Systems, Vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 116-119.
Palmer, I., Dunford, R. & Akin, G. 2008. Managing organizational change: a multiple
perspectives approach, 2nd edn, McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, NY.
Schwaber, K. & Beedle, M. 2002. Agile software development with Scrum, Pearson
international edn, Pearson Education International, Upper Saddle River, N.J.
Swinburne University. 2018. Modernising Legacy Systems at Clinical Healthcare INC.
Assignment Case, 4-18.
10