2.2.3 'Emergence and hierarchy' and 'Communication and control' 30 2.2.4 The influence of metaphors and models of organization on systems. 172 10.4.3 A systems approach to understand the context of the university The learning systems operating within the university 174.
LIST OF ACRONYMS
Senge's (1990) work led to the discovery of Argyris and Schon (1978) and from there to the broader systems thinking field and literature. Although it is only a theory and a way of looking at the world, systems thinking has helped me examine problems on a deeper level.
CHAPTER ONE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM AND PROBLEM CONTEXT
Ensure that adequate resources have been devoted to training and user documentation "(p.77-78)
Related to the change management issues is that the actual verses potential use of the Banner system. At the end of March 1993, following the recommendation of the SIMS action group, the university head made a decision to purchase Banner.
CHAPTER TWO: SYSTEMS THINKING
Everything can be explained by cause and effect" (p.3)
- The Influence of Metaphors and Models of Organisation on
A system never seems to be more than the observer's perception of the situation being observed. It is important to include this section in the systems thinking component, as the concept of organizational metaphor, I would argue, comes to play a key role in the understanding that the research participants present to the problem situation.
CHAPTER THREE: ORGANISATIONAL LEARNING
- Start with a Question
- Types of Organisations
- Organisational Learning - Argyris and Schon
- Single Loop, Double Loop and Deutro-Leaming
Argyris and Schon (1978) make an interesting point regarding organizational learning and the construction of personal images of the organization. A number of consistent themes or areas of focus emerge from the works of Argyris and Schon (1978).
If an organization can't double-loop learning because of the learning system in place, then there's no way it can even begin to learn how to duplicate itself. Coming to the next type of learning, double-loop learning, we begin to examine the core guiding values of the organization.
Systems are set up to ensure that the learning is moved to those parts of the organization which need it
Learning is valued and rewarded in the organization
The organization is seen to continuously transform itself through the application of its learning, led by the attitudes and behaviour of
Once the futures are developed, the organization then evaluates the current business idea to see how it would survive within the different futures. In fact, it helps the organization to re-examine the theory used within the organization and confront it through the different futures that have been developed. This allows an organization to prepare for a future that only exists within the walls of the organization.
An organization is unlikely to challenge the basic assumptions it is working with if these basic assumptions fit the only possible future within the organization. The opposite of this would be that the organization is deeply committed to the development of the future, accepts it as possible and valid and can therefore be used as a catalyst for change.
CHAPTER FOUR: CHANGE
- Moss Kanter, Stein and Jick Model of Change
- Coordination changes: Again this aligns itself to the second type of motion
- Change Strategists: These are the people concerned with the relationship between the organisation and the environment. They are called upon to
- Change Implementors: This action role is generally associated with middle management that is given the responsibility of implementing the change
- Appreciate the difference inherent in other 'changemakers' viewpoints
- Respect - but challenge - the ten commandments and their applicability
- Ensure that the dialogue and communication among the various
This role is often linked to the 'bottom' of the organization and the people who have little influence on the effects of the change process. At this stage, change leaders must begin developing processes and structures that reward alignment with the change process. Kanter, Stein, and Jick (1992) argue that these commandments provide good, common sense advice regarding the dynamics of change.
This rule of the road offers another very useful challenge to the change process and especially the ten commandments. In conclusion, Kanter, Stein and Jick (1992) present a paradox that emerges from the ten commandments.
Consolidating Gains and Producing More Change 8. Anchoring New Approaches in the Culture
This coalition is not only the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the organization, but has the real power within the organization. If the organization is not aligned with the new vision, and this is manifested in structures and behaviors (especially of people in management), the masses will generally not support the change (Kotter, 1996). If the organization declares victory in the change initiative too early in the process, all can be lost.
Until the behavior of the organization changes so that it is aligned with the new vision, there has not really been a change. As we saw in the description of the error above, complacency is a major threat to the success of organizational change.
COMPLACENCY
- Expertise: Make sure that you have the necessary expertise from a variety of areas within the organisation so that decisions taken with regards to
- Credibility: Is the make-up of your group credible enough throughout all sectors of the organisation? Will this coalition be respected by the
- Leadership: Have you selected a group of people that have proven leadership, who will be able to lead and drive this change process?
- Because the culture exerts itself through the actions of hundreds or thousands of people
- Because all of this happens without much conscious intent and thus is difficult to challenge or even discuss
With the result that all feedback was generated internally and nothing external to the organization got through (Kotter, 1996). Adding to the already complex system presented here is the special ability of humans to deny and discard any information that does not meet their expectations. This particular statement bears considerable similarity to the Model O-l Learning System as described by Argyris and Schon (1978) earlier in this article.
Will this coalition be respected by the organization as a whole to the point that the work gets done. The main argument here is that most people would need to grapple with the personal and organizational issues that come to the fore through the change process.
According to Dawson (1994), the substance of change refers to the type and scale of change. The politics of change are referred to as the processes of consultation, conflict and resistance. The context of change refers to both the internal and external environments of the organization.
It is worth noting that Dawson refers in particular to the fact that the operating practices become the norm within the wider context of continuous processes of change (Dawson, 1994). It is important to be aware and maintain an overview of the dynamic and long-term process of change.
CHAPTER FIVE: AN INTRODUCTION TO LEARNING HISTORIES - EXPLAINING THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Planning: Determining the boundaries
- Reflective research: Interviews and data gathering
- Writing: Production of a transactional object
- Validation: Reflective feedback
- Learning takes place from experience, but collective learning from
- Organisations "know" what they need to hear but lack the capacity to
- The Alternative to two columns: The Staggered Format
A learning history document is intended to help organizations become more aware of the learning that takes place within their boundaries. In essence, a learning history aims to tell the story through the voices of the people involved in the transformation program. The argument is that it would then simply collect dust among the rest of the useless pre-learning history reports.
Rather, the learning story is presented to the organization interactively in a series of carefully designed workshops. In a full-scale history of learning project, historians of learning strive to create the most accurate picture of 'whole' history.
CHAPTER SIX: THE BANNER IMPLEMENTATION - A LEARNING HISTORY
How the university came to the point of choosing Banner as the most suitable system for the University of Natal. We were abie | to say is this 'system which wart' you should go with and [the answer was yes, this was the system. Some people, quoted above, are of the opinion that this was never done before the decision to take Banner.
It was noted that there was some inconsistency in the information used to make the Banner decision. This chapter provided some insight into the processes that led to the decision to acquire Banner.
CHAPTER SEVEN: THEME TWO: WIDER BANNER SYSTEM
Managing the Banner system implementation project seems to have drawn different responses from different people. The Banner Office was originally created as a place on campus to house the BIT. It then became home to support staff after the Banner Implementation was completed.
It's an interesting part of the Banner system and worth investigating at this point. Any -inefficiencies, j -carne' -en .phone and .f'iil in an application form and .. can very easily be blamed .. exams and things like that, but I! was never developed the way it should have been, I just didn't work that way because you wanted me to. to get any information out of it, the Banner Office did not have the capacity to write -fife:reports to j the time you got it, the information was not for us '3 to notify you !ting., list,.pHon;e them on I . in six weeks, sorry, we don't have time to touch Thai yet.
BANNER OFFICE
DEPENDENCY CREATED
The system created by the creation of the Banner Office had a number of emergent properties that were unexpected and inefficient, such as dependency and lack of data integrity. In addition, I would argue that the name of the support agency as the. Expanding on this point, I think it would be difficult for the people in the Banner Office to take ownership of the new system when so much of their identity is wrapped up in a particular product.
In terms of integration, the issue was certainly in the spotlight at the time of the decision for Banner. This chapter gave an overview of the complexity and size of what I have called the Wider Banner System.
CHAPTER EIGHT: THEME THREE - TRAINING
The first is the dependence on the Banner Office, and the second is the informal network. Both users and Banner Office maintained a system of dependency on Banner Office, which seemed to be a result of the training offered. The point that is being overlooked is that the Banner Office responded to the emergent property of the system created by the training model used.
This chapter provides an overview of the field of training and its implications for the Banner System. The investigation found that a number of bottlenecks existed within the training system, which increased the complexity of the Banner system.
CHAPTER NINE: THEME FOUR - INFORMATION
The research conducted for this study showed that Banner was mainly used for student administration at the university. In addition, most participants indicated that non-standard reports were difficult to obtain and depended more on the Banner Office's response than other factors. This chapter presents an overview of the types of information that were accessible from Banner and the key actors involved in the processing of information on Banner.
The research showed that Banner was mostly used as a student registration system that tracked students from entrance to exit at the university. In addition, the research has shown that management information about Banner was difficult to obtain and poorly developed at the time of the decision to move away from Banner.
CHAPTER TEN: CONCLUSION
- Project Management
- Banner Office
- Reasons for a New System
- The role of technology within the university
- A systems approach to understanding the context of the
- The learning systems operating within the university
- The relationship between workplace operating systems and new
- Decision making within higher education institutions
- The role of information technology and information systems in decision
- The role technology has to play in streamlining workplace procedures
The first is the complexity of the system and the second is the question of what exactly the Banner system was. The research indicates that a clear information technology/information systems strategy did not exist within the University at the time of the Banner implementation. This point is made with reference to the brief overview of the information systems literature.
I suggest that this type of information can provide insight into the wider discussion of the role of technology in the university. I found that the learning history methodology lends itself very well to the analysis of the interview transcripts.
