Work systems
A notable use of the term occurred in 1977 in the first volume of MIS Quarterly in two articles by Bostrom and Heinen (1977).
Later Sumner and Ryan (1994) used it to explain problems in the adoption of CASE (computer-aided software engineering).
A number of socio-technical systems researchers such as Trist and Mumford also used the term occasionally, but seemed not to define it in detail.
Typical business organizations contain work systems that procure materials from suppliers, produce products, deliver products to customers, find customers, create financial reports, hire employees, coordinate work across departments, and perform many other functions.
Other perspectives with their own valuable concepts and terminology include decision-making, communication, coordination, control, and information processing.
Products/services are the combination of physical things, information, and services that the work system produces for its customers' benefit and use.
The term "products/services” is used because the distinction between products and services in marketing and service science (Chesbrough and Spohrer, 2006) is not important for understanding work systems even though product-like vs. service-like is the basis of a series of design dimensions for characterizing and designing the things that a work system produces (Alter, 2012).
The names of the phases were chosen to describe both computerized and non-computerized systems, and to apply regardless of whether application software is acquired, built from scratch, or not used at all.
The pictorial representation of the work system life cycle model places the four phases at the vertices of rectangle.
To encompass both planned and unplanned change, each phase has an inward facing arrow to denote unanticipated opportunities and unanticipated adaptations, thereby recognizing the importance of diffusion of innovation, experimentation, adaptation, emergent change, and path dependence.
The work system life cycle model is iterative and includes both planned and unplanned change.
That evolution occurs through a combination of defined projects and incremental changes resulting from small adaptations and experimentation.
In contrast with control-oriented versions of the SDLC, the WSLC treats unplanned changes as part of a work system's natural evolution.
At each stage, the then current version was tested by evaluating the areas of success and the difficulties experienced by MBA and EMBA students trying to use it for a practical purpose.
Ramiller (2002) reports on using a version of the work system framework within a method for “animating” the idea of business process within an undergraduate class.
In a research setting, Petrie (2004) used the work system framework as a basic analytical tool in a Ph.D. thesis examining 13 ecommerce web sites.
These briefings contained the kind of analysis that would be discussed in the initiation phase of the WSLC, as decisions were being made about which projects to pursue and how to proceed.
