Understanding Systems Assignment

Question 1  

1. Select an industry, market sector or area of life that really interests you. It does not matter what you choose – as long as you are genuinely interested in it. It could be from any area of commercial life, the charity and voluntary sector, sport, leisure and hobbies or some aspect of government or public service. Document why you have picked a particular area – is it because you work in that sector? Is your hobby linked to that sector? Are you seeking to enter employment in that sector? Etc. Justify the selection.  

2. Within your chosen area or sector, select ONE real-world organization – it could be a profit-seeking private company, a charity or voluntary group, a sporting team or a public-sector agency like some aspect of the emergency services or a local or central government department or agency. Again, explain why you have chosen it.

3. Write a brief description of this chosen organization. What do they do? Where are they based? What products, services and markets are they involved with? 

4. Provide the web address of this organization so that the marker can follow it up and, to add visual appeal, include a screenshot of their home page.

  Question 2

(a) Identify and describe as many distinct sub-systems of your chosen case study as you can. For ANY TWO of your identified sub-systems, describe the following system components:

• The goal or objective of the system
• The stakeholders of the system
• The inputs/outputs of the system
• The associated feedback
• The transformations involved
• The system boundary
• The environment of the system
• The hierarchy of sub-systems within the system

 Question 3

Explain the meaning of the terms CATWOE and Root Definition. Apply such concepts to ONE of your identified sub-systems.

Question 4

There are a wide range of models available in the design and analysis of systems and their sub-systems. Explain the following terms, supported by suitable example diagrams – which should be based on your own chosen case study:

• Rich Pictures
• Systems Maps
• Activity Sequence Diagrams
• Mind Maps

 Question 5

Explain the terms hard and soft systems. With respect to your chosen case study, critically evaluate where each could be suitably applied, supporting your discussion with specific examples and/or diagrams.