Desi Seminar
The current work system perspective grew out of the development of the work system method (WSM), a systems analysis approach that business professionals could use for their own purposes and to support collaboration with IT professionals. Between 2003 and 2017, over 700 students or student teams (mostly MBA or Executive MBA) used those ideas to produce management briefings about recommended improvements in IT-reliant work systems (mostly in their own organizations). In 2013 the underlying ideas were formalized as work system theory (WST). The core of WST has been extended in many directions including a theory of workarounds, a service value chain framework, a theory of IT innovation, adoption, and adaptation in organizational settings, a theory of system interactions, and recent ideas related to facets of work This presentation will focus on how aspects of those ideas are potentially useful for visualizing and designing IT-reliant systems.
Bio
Steven Alter, Professor Emeritus, is a prolific, pioneering researcher and educator who has served a valuable part of USF's faculty since 1987. In addition to eight years of experience as vice president of a successful software start-up, over the course of many years of research he developed a systems analysis method for business professionals called the Work System Method. Dr. Alter is the author of seven published books and many journal articles. He teaches courses on technology-enabled innovation and systems in organizations.
Many of Dr. Alter's articles are available on researchgate.net, which summarizes basic ideas about work systems and service systems. His published work describes useful extensions related to work system principles, work system design spaces, workarounds, system interactions, and tools for establishing more effective communication between business and IT professionals.
Dr. Alter is recognized for creating an integrated conceptual basis for understanding and analyzing IT-reliant systems from a business viewpoint.