COM332

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COM332 SA3

• ETHICS Methodology

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• ETHICS methodology developed by Enid Mumford
• Effective Technical and Human Implementation of
  Computer-based Systems,
• Ensures the non-technical aspects of the system
  design are handled efficiently without stress.

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• Objectives
• Legitimise a value position in which the users of
  the future computer systems play a major part in
  the design
• People should be able to influence the design of
  their own work situation.
• This kind of intervention helps to achieve both
  job satisfaction and efficiency gain.
• Job satisfaction gains
• Members of the group whose job is going to be
  affected by the system change are the best people
  to diagnose their job satisfaction
• Efficiency gains
• This group will have an excellent knowledge about
  the day-to-day information needs and work
  problems and can make useful contribution.
• Also the group will be committed to work
  efficiently a system which they themselves partly
  designed.

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• Enable the group concerned with the system design
  to set specific job satisfaction levels in
  addition to the usual technical and operational
  objectives.
• To avoid undesirable human consequences such as a
  routinisation and de-skilling of work.
• To avoid negative responds
• Refusing to operate the system or ensuring the
  system runs at low efficiency.
• Third objective is to ensure that any new system
  is surrounded by a compatible, well-functioning,
  organisational system

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• ETHICS methodology
• Believes user involvement, clear job satisfaction
  objectives and recognition of organisational
  factors will greatly assists the successful
  planning, design and implementation of computer
  based information system.
• Enables everyone involved with the system
  development to consider the human as well as
  technical factors thought out the analysis and
  design of any new system

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• ETHICS method
• Is a set of logical and sequential steps.
• Allows considering the business and human needs
  at each stage.
• Allow the users to identify their needs and
  problems.
• Set efficiency, effectiveness and job
  satisfaction objectives
• Examine alternative organisational and technical
  design strategies and select the ones that best
  fit the priority objectives for implementation.

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• ETHICS methodology incorporates the joint
  philosophies of participative and socio-technical
  design.
• The philosophy is explicitly stated.

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• Participative system design
• Important feature of ETHICS is the participation
  of users in the system design process.
• A process in which two or more parties influence
  each other in making plans, policies or
  decisions. It is restricted to decisions that
  have future effects on all those asking the
  decisions or on those represented by them
  Mumford (1995).

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• the socio-technical approach
• A successful system will only arise where the
  social and organisational needs of the work group
  are given equal weight with the technical aspect
• A socio-technical approach is one which
  recognises the interaction of technology and
  people and produces work systems which are both
  technically efficient and have social
  characteristics which lead to high job
  satisfaction.
• (Enid Mumford)

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• Socio-technical principles
• The work system is the basic unit, not the
  operations making it up.
• The work group is the primary social unit, not
  the individual job holder.
• Internal regulation is by the work group itself.
• Because the basic unit is the work group,
  individual jobs can be multi-skilled.
• Emphasis is placed on the discretionary elements
  of jobs, not the prescribed parts
• Work organisation aims to increase variety of
  work, not decrease it.
• People are complementary to machines, not
  subservient to them.

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• Design of a new system is considered as a
  four-step change process
• Set objectives.
• Foster adaptation
• Integration
• Stabilisation.

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• Setting and attainment of system objectives
• Traditionally system objectives are set by senior
  management and computer technologists
• In Each design group member should list the
  efficiency effectiveness and job satisfaction
  objectives most important to the group whose
  interests they represent.
• They should allocate priorities to all these
  objectives

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• Adaptation
• Adaptation concerned with moving from one
  technical and organisational structure and state
  to another smoothly and successfully.
• implementation of new system.
• Adaptation requires re-conciliation of different
  interests.
• Integration
• Action taken, once the system has been designed
  and is being implemented, to ensure a new
  situation reaches a state of equilibrium.
• Involve bringing the different components of
  task, technology, people and organisational
  environment together into a viable and stable
  relationship.

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Tasks (which require
motivation and competence)
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• The relationship between the four variables
  should be stable, but not static.
• Organisation must be able to respond to new
  pressures from their environment.
• The introduction of a new technical system is
  likely to disturb each variable.
• New level of technology bring new man-machine
  relationship incorporation both opportunities and
  constraints.
• Tasks are influenced by the technology, the task
  structure of functions or departments using the
  system will be altered.
• New tasks means new demands are made of people
  and this affect the job satisfaction positively
  or negatively.

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• Stabilisation
• Once the integration has been achieved it has to
  be maintained.
• New patterns of relationship must be stabilised
  so as to meet the values and interests of groups
  involved a period of time.
• Successful relationship between the four variable
  for one group may make it difficult for another
  group to achieve similar relationship.

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• Job satisfaction
• The attainment of a good fit between what the
  employee is seeking from his work his job
  needs, expectation and aspirations and what he
  is required to do in his job the organisational
  job requirements which mould his experience
• Mumford and Weir (1979)

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• A frame work for measuring the job satisfaction
  was developed by Parsons and Shills (1951).
• In order to ascertain how good this fit is, a
  theory for measuring the satisfaction has been
  developed and integrated into this framework
• This identified five areas of measurement

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The employees job needs The employees job experience
The employee A good fit exists when the employee
The KNOWLEDGE fit Want the personal skills and knowledge to be used and developed Believes personal skills and knowledge are being well used and developed
The PSYCHOLOGICAL fit Seeks to further personal interests, e.g to have sense of achievement, recognition, responsibility, status Believes that the personal interests are being successfully catered for.
The EFFICIENCY fit Seeks and equitable effort-reward bargain and controls including supervisory ones which are acceptable. Seeks efficient support service such as information, technical aids and supervisory help Believes that financial rewards are fair and other control systems acceptable. Believes that support services are efficient and adequate.
The TASK STRUCTURE fit Seeks a set of tasks which meets requirements for task differentiation, e.g which incorporate variety, interests, targets, feedback, task identity and autonomy Has a set of tasks and duties, which meet needs for task differentiation.
The ETHICAL (social value) fit Seeks to work for an employer whose values do not contravene with personal values Believes that the philosophy and values of the employee do not contravene personal value.
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• ETHICS has 15 steps
• Why change?
• The first meeting of the design group considers
  this fundamental question and addresses the
  current problem and opportunities.
• The result should be a convincing statement of
  the need for change.
• System boundaries.
• Design group identifies the boundaries of the
  system and the interfaces with other systems.
• Four areas are considered
• Business activities affected (sales, finance,
  personnel)
• Existing technology affected
• Parts of the organisation affected (departments
  and sections)
• Parts of the organisational environment affected
  (suppliers and customers)

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• Description of existing system.
• This is to educate the design group as to how the
  existing system works.
• Horizontal input/output analysis is described
• Inputs on the left, activities in the middle and
  outputs on the right.
• Vertical analysis of design area activities is
  made at five different levels
• Operating activities
• Problem prevention/solution activities
• Co-ordination activities
• Development activities
• Control activities

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• 4-6.Key objectives and tasks.
• Three questions are asked
• Why do a particular area Exists, what is their
  Role and purpose?
• What should be their Responsibilities and
  functions?
• How far do their Present activities match what
  they should be doing?

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• Diagnosis of efficiency needs.
• Weak links in the existing system are identified
  and documented.
• Variance form the desired or expected norm or
  standards
• Diagnosis of job satisfaction needs.
• This step measures the job satisfaction needs.
  Achieved by use of a standard questionnaire
  provided in the ETHICS methodology.
• The results are discussed democratically and the
  underlying reason established for any areas where
  poor job satisfaction fits.
• In addition formulations for improving the
  situation in the new design are made.
• Future analysis.
• An attempt is made to identify the future changes
  that may occur and to build a certain amount of
  flexibility into the new system

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• Specifying and weighting efficiency and job
  satisfaction needs and objectives.
• Key step in the whole methodology.
• Achievement of an agreed and ranked set of
  objectives can be very difficult.
• Often objectives conflicts and the priorities may
  be very different.
• The differences may not be always resolved, but
  using ETHICS methodology these differences are
  aired.
• Ultimately a list of priority and secondary
  objectives is produced.
• At this stage some iterations are recommended.

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• The organisational design of a new system.
• If possible should be performed in parallel with
  technical design.
• The organisational changes that are needed to
  meet the efficiency and job satisfaction
  objectives are specified.
• Technical options.
• Various technical options that might be
  appropriate including the hardware, software, HCI
  are specified.
• Each option is evaluate against job satisfaction,
  efficiency and future change objectives.
• The organisational and technical options are
  merged to ensure compatibility and evaluated
  against primary objectives.

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• The preparation of a detailed work design.
• The selected system is designed in detail.
• The data flows, tasks, groups, individuals,
  responsibilities and relationships are defined.
• Also ensures the detailed design meets the
  objectives.
• Implementation.
• Design group applies itself to ensuring the
  successful implementation of the design.
• Involves planning the implementation process in
  detail.

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• Evaluation.
• The implemented system is checked to ensure that
  it is meeting its objectives, particularly in
  relation to efficiency and job satisfaction
• Uses the techniques of variance analysis and
  measures of job satisfaction.
• If it is not meeting the objectives
• Corrective action is taken.
• The cycle repeats