INCLUSION OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS IN ACADEMIC
COMPUTER SCIENCE PROGRAMS
INTRODUCTION
The various needs, uses, and consequences of information in organizational contexts including organizational types and characteristics, functional areas and business processes, information-based products and services, the use of and redefining role of information technology, the changing character of work life and organizational practices, socio-technical structures, and the rise and transformation of information-based industries are slowly finding their own niche in the academic literature of both information technology and organizational analysis. An interest in the study of what makes systems usable for various people, groups and organizations have gained increasing popularity, so much that the Organisational Informatics field surfaced, whose specialisation lies in the study & development of new uses for computer systems through a close study of the particular organisation that the system will be designed for.
According to (1993), ‘Computer Science (CS) graduates need some skills in analyzing human organizations to help develop appropriate systems requirements since they are trying to develop high performance computing applications that effectively support higher performance human organizations’. It is in this statement that the central theme of this paper revolves around. This analysis attempts to discuss ’s statement and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of including human-centred studies in academic computer science programs to determine if such inclusion would be useful in the actual workplace setting.
ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATICS
The integration of organisational analysis into the core of computer science programs in the academe is still subject to numerous debates and discussions about its pros and cons. It is suffice to say, though, that the wealth of existing literature giving evidence that an understanding of the human aspect of an organisation paves way for better systems implementation within that environment cannot be overemphasized. (1993) observed that the academic world of CS is reluctant to wholly accept the concept of studying social relationships within an organisation or the systematic studies of human behavior as part of the CS program because they still cling to the tried and tested tools of applied mathematics and other modes of inquiry which seem to yield concise, crisp and concrete results. Therefore few CS graduates have developed an adequate conceptual basis for understanding when information systems will actually improve organizational performance. Consequently, many of them are prone to recommend systems-based solutions whose structure or implementation within organizations would be problematic, as most, if not all conceptual perspectives are limited and distort ‘reality’ ( 1993).
When Organizational Informatics researchers systematically examine the design practices in particular organizations, how specific groups develop computer systems, or how various people and groups use computerized systems, they find an enormous range of fascinating and important human behaviour which lies outside the predictive frame of Systems Rationalism (1980). It is the large amount of involvement of the human aspect as part of the consideration in the formulation and design of effective systems that mainly drives the need to take account of organisational analysis as a core element of studying CS programs.
ADVANTAGES OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS INCLUSION
‘Computing the Future’ report cited in (1993) claimed that without a disciplined skill in analyzing human organizations, CS’ claims about the usability and social value of specific technologies is mere opinion, and bears a significant risk of being misleading. On the other hand, CS studies done on the basis of human behaviour observation has been widely criticised in the field because of claims of subjectivity and lack of hard, solid evidence characteristic of applied mathematics most often employed in systems design. This paradox will be somewhat amended if the recognition that both the study of human behaviour and an application of mathematical computations will be incorporated in the process of system design so as to produce an optimal result which one or the other, in itself, will fail to achieve.
(1993) argued that mathematical formulations give limited insights into understanding why and when some computer systems are more usable than others, as one can’t rely on mathematics alone to assess how well networks, relations, or object-entities serve as representations for the data stored, for example, in an airline reservation system. In this lies the greatest advantage of the inclusion of human-centred studies in academic CS programs. Broadening of the scope that the CS study encompasses brings in fresh and potentially useful ideas from the field of human organisational analysis, which CS graduates could apply in the workplace, as they would be dealing with actual people and not mere theories coming out from textbooks.
Again from (1993), an understanding of the diversity and character of interfaces, that are required to make many systems usable, rests in an understanding the way that people and groups organize their work and expertise with computing. Therefore preparing CS graduates by teaching them the mechanisms and processes of human behaviour in organisations equips them with the necessary knowledge essential to produce and design systems which would hugely benefit the organisation they are making it for, as usability cannot generally be determined without considering how computer systems are shaped by and also alter interdependencies in groups and organizations.
The advantages of the addition of the particular field of study extend not only to the CS students in themselves, but on a wider scope, the organisation in which the graduates will work for. Having been provided by their respective schools with the necessary theoretical and, hopefully, real-life knowledge about the workings of human behaviour in the context of an organisation, the graduates could then proceed to the proper application of what they have learned in their chosen workplace. report went far beyond the focus on usable interface designs to claims that computerized systems will improve the performance of organizations (1993). These claims, backed up by systematic evidence and numerous examples where computer-based systems provided value to people and organizations, stress the advantage of including human organizational analysis as a part of CS programs.
DISADVANTAGES OF ORGANISATIONAL ANALYSIS INCLUSION
The disadvantages enumerated in ’s work does not pertain to the inclusion of human-centred studies in the CS programs per se, but focus more on the question of whether high performance computing automatically translates into cost-effective improvements in organizational performance, specifically because not all presumably appropriate computer applications fit a person or group’s work practices ( 1993). There is one disadvantage that stands out, though, and that is the difficulty of quantifying for the uses and social value of most computerized systems from precise statements of their basic design principles and social purposes alone. But that disadvantage curiously leads to a stronger need for including the study of human behaviour in organisations, as (1993) believed that the systems must be analyzed within the social contexts in which they will be used.
However, (1993) provided for defensible alternatives to his belief that CS students should be given the essential human-centred studies in the course of the CS program. The manner in which he stated these alternatives only served to underline the logic of his stand in the issue. As implied from his statements, reluctance, or worse, refusal to add the study of human behaviour in organisations in CS programs would require extra effort and would project a closed-minded image for the CS profession and even the report of Hartmanis and Lin’s supported that this view would be self-defeating even if it would be internally consistent and have a distinctive integrity.
CONCLUSION
(1993) had asserted that the uses and social value of most computerized systems can not be effectively ascertained from precise statements of their basic design principles and social purposes and must be analyzed within the social contexts in which they will be used. Hence the inclusion of human-centred studies in CS programs, to serve as the groundwork to which CS graduates could utilise to the fullest, for personal and organisational growth. in 1992 agreed that effective social analyses go beyond accounting for formal tasks and purposes to include informal social behaviour, available resources, and the interdependencies between key groups (as cited in 1993). In this view, (1993) asserted that the support systems for the focal computing system are integral to the effective operation of the technology. It must be importantly noted that the design of systems within an organisation is, in the words of (1993), ‘context-dependent’, meaning that organisational behaviour varies from one another and CS graduates must keep in mind that particular innate characteristic in the process of system design. A well-designed system, therefore, is one that is adaptable to the needs of diverse work groups, or at least one that is capable of being controlled to suit the needs of the intended users. Inclusion of human-centred studies, therefore, would result to optimal organizational value of efforts and allow for CS graduates to develop systems that perform above the standards in organizational terms. It would also result to effective systems implementation of procedures and could potentially be very productive. Limiting the CS field to mathematical theories will be closing avenues of growth for their students in this highly demanding and fiercely competitive world of work.
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