1. Information Management Systems Planning Using a Synthesis of Modelling
Techniques
A Discussion Paper
Contents
1. Using Modelling in the Management Planning Process 2
2. Enterprise Architecture Modelling 3
3. Viable Systems Modelling 9
4. Soft Systems Modelling 15
5. A Synthesis of Modelling Techniques 19
6. Analysis and Conclusions 24
Tony Toole
February 2013
1

2. 1. Using Modelling in the Management Planning Process
1.1 Overview
The purpose of management modelling is to encourage and contribute to a systematic and
structured approach to management systems planning. It aids the planning process by
presenting existing and proposed management systems in an easily assimilated way. The
models are designed to assist systems thinking by providing routes through the planning
process that generate consistency and lead to realistic and achievable solutions.
This paper describes the use of three different modelling approaches applied to the student
information management system at Swansea Metropolitan. Each has a different focus and
collectively they provide a much richer picture for planning purposes than they would
individually.
The Enterprise Architecture view is presented at the business process level and identifies
where process inconsistencies and inefficient practices exist. The Viable Systems view
examines the communications and control capacities of the business processes and
determines whether they are adequate. The Soft Systems view ensures that management
process improvements recognise and accommodate the real world of human activity
systems.
1.2 Context
Swansea Metropolitan University merged with University of Wales Trinity Saint David during
2012 and a significant programme of management systems integration and redesign for the
new institution continues at the time of writing.
The merger took place midway through the Jisc-funded Smudie (Swansea Metropolitan
University Data Integration Exercise) project. The project had the objective of evaluating the
existing student information management system at Swansea Metropolitan (as it is now
called), identifying areas for potential improvement, and using modelling techniques to
design those improvements into a more effective information management system.
The outcomes of the project are now available as an additional resource for the university
managers responsible for the merger process. It is also hoped that the approach will be of
interest and value to the wider community of practice engaged in information systems
design and the use of management modelling tools.
1.3 Process
The student information management system modelling process began with an evaluation
phase that involved interviews with all system stakeholders. This comprehensive body of
information was used to build an ‘as is’ Enterprise Architecture model of the existing
systems and processes.
The second phase involved analysing the ‘as is’ model and identifying areas for process and
performance improvement with the goal of designing a more effective and efficient ‘to be’
EA model. This was then coupled with an assessment of system control and communications
capacity using Viable Systems modelling. Finally, the real world view of Soft Systems
modelling was added to create practical and achievable solutions.
Each of the modelling systems is now described and the paper concludes with the synthesis
of their application in designing student information system improvements.
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3. 2. Enterprise Architecture Modelling
2.1 Overview
The key benefit delivered by Enterprise Architecture (EA) modelling1 is its ability to support
decision making during periods of institutional change and restructure. Specifically; it brings
together business systems (processes, procedures, structures) and the technical systems
(applications, technical infrastructure) that support them. It presents a visual representation
of the management system components for the purpose of aiding conversations about
improvement and optimisation.
It is particularly effective for information systems design and management as it was
originally developed for that purpose2. It is a high level, strategic technique to achieve
beneficial organisational change by creating a roadmap between the current ‘as is’ system
state to a target ‘to be’ state that implements identified improvements.
Enterprise Architecture modelling of management systems involves:
Capturing the stakeholder viewpoints;
Identifying and documenting concerns, barriers and problems;
Creating models of the existing system that indicate the source of problems;
Creating models of improved systems that address the problems;
Using the models to assist strategic and change management processes.
The ArchiMate EA modelling language is used to create visual representations of systems
based on the stakeholder viewpoints. It identifies where system inadequacies or
inconsistencies exist and informs the design of improved systems that address these issues.
The Archi modelling tool3 developed by Jisc-Cetis is an open source application that uses the
Archimate modelling language. It was used by the Smudie project to create ‘as is’ EA models
of the student information system components and, following analysis, ‘to be’ models of the
same components. Examples of the ‘as is’ models are shown below.
2.2 Enterprise Architecture Models:
The structure of the EA models that follow were constructed following a series of interviews
conducted with the stakeholders involved with the management of student information at
the university. The purpose of each model was to stimulate and inform a discussion about
the management processes involved with a view to identifying opportunities for
improvement.
Only a selection of models is shown, but they illustrate the EA technique and its benefits. It
will be seen that the models represent a series of linked information management sub-
systems. The boundaries of each sub-system were chosen to illustrate particular
management issues that may benefit from improved systems and procedures.
A summary of the issues are presented with each model, indicating the considerations to be
addressed to achieve an improved’ to be’ information management system. It will be seen
that existing good practice was also identified by the exercise and this is highlighted,
particularly in the first two models shown.
1
Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, David Robertson (2006) Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution
(Cambridge Ms. Harvard Business Press)
2
US Department of Defense (1996). Technical Architecture Framework for Information Management. Vol. 1. April 1996
3
http://archi.cetis.ac.uk/
3

4. 1. The Student Application Process
University applications in the UK are predominantly carried out through UCAS. A business
process level representation is shown below:
The applications process is managed through the UCAS website by both the student and by
Registry who are responsible for making conditional and confirmed offers. Overall, the
system is reported to work well, despite bottlenecks at the time of ‘A’ level results and
application deadlines. Improvements here relate to pragmatic decisions about staffing and
cost to deal with peaks in demand. A process and system review with that goal would be
sensible.
2. The Student Enrolment Process
Students self-enrol online at Swansea Metropolitan. This establishes their identity as a
student and there are multiple outcomes of the process including the setting up of their
library, Moodle and finance accounts, their record on the student information system, and
their student file in the Faculty office.
The representation below shows both the business process and system application layers:
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5. The student self-enrolment process is an example of good and effective practice in the
current system for two reasons. The first is the fact that it applies the principle that the data
manager is the data owner and is fully responsible for the process. The second is that, being
online, enrolment can be undertaken from anywhere there is access to the system, thus
greatly speeding up the process, as well as making it more accessible.
3. Student Attendance Monitoring
Student attendance monitoring has two main purposes in the university: the first being the
key information it contributes to the assessment of student progress and hence their
academic and personal support needs; the other relating to both internal and external
reporting requirements, the UKBA requirements for overseas student attendance reporting
being an obvious example.
Attendance is through a register system at the university that is both paper-based and
recorded using spreadsheets. The process of creating of registers varies:
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6. The EA model shows the inconsistencies in the current student attendance register creation
process. There are three different stakeholders who create the registers, two different
record systems used for the student information, and two different ways of presenting the
attendance information. Furthermore, there is inconsistency in the way the attendance
information is gathered and shared:
The overall picture is that the student attendance monitoring system is not institutionally
managed. Programme directors and tutors are aware of the requirement for attendance
recording, but are largely left to devise their own methods for doing so. The systems range
from paper registers retained locally by individual module tutors to sophisticated
spreadsheets in shared folders online available for programme team and faculty
management discussions.
Good and effective practice, particularly with shared online register spreadsheets, can be
readily identified. It would not be difficult, in principle; to create a consistent process that all
programme teams could apply to their courses.
Some work needs to be done, however, on the way the data is gathered. The most common
method is on paper registers, completed by the tutors or by the students themselves, which
are later transcribed onto spreadsheets. Clearly the need for transcription is inefficient and
the university has experimented with proximity card recording and the use of proprietary
attendance monitoring software.
4. Student Suspensions, Transfer and Withdrawals
A consequence of poor attendance or academic progress by students is the triggering of
institutional processes to redeem the situation. The first option is always increased and
problem specific support, but if this is not successful then the processes for programme
change are triggered:
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7. These procedures have an important impact on the way the institution presents its
performance and quality statistics. Student completion rates are a key yardstick of
institutional quality and hence in the way it is perceives externally in the media, by
government and by potential future students.
It is clearly necessary, therefore, that the institution both maximises the use it makes of
information to support students and, where programme change is inevitable, it is carried
out in a way that is consistent across the institution, optimally supports the student, and is
seen that way externally as a component of quality provision.
There are process inconsistencies between and within the faculties at present and a goal will
be to use the EA models as resources in management discussions to address that
inconsistency.
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8. 2.3 Conclusions
It became clear, during the development of the ‘as is’ model of the student information
management system at Swansea Metropolitan, that it was a system of interconnected parts
that together represented the totality of the information about each student at the
institution. Each component of the system was managed by a particular stakeholder group
for a particular purpose in the management of the institution and for the support of
students.
In that respect it would not be unreasonable to describe the different information
management sub-systems as representing ‘data silos’ where the information was used
independently for a particular management purpose. The existence of data silos is generally
regarded as evidence of poor information management practice, but this is only the case if
core data is not shared.
As noted later in this paper when looking at Soft Systems Modelling, It is a reality of
management systems that different stakeholders have different information requirements
to carry out their roles and that this is typically a mix of core data and role specific data.
The role specific data is created, recorded and used locally and does not need to be shared
with other stakeholders, beyond any management reporting requirements. This is the local
data silo and is appropriate and reduces data management complexity.
The core data, however, does need to be shared across all stakeholder sub-systems for the
system as a whole to be efficient and maintain data consistency and accuracy. Student core
data, of course, including; name, student ID, course ID, etc.
An analysis of the data requirements for a particular management sub-system then would
specifically identify core and local data and would seek to ensure that they were available
for the management purpose involved. This can be achieved by an examination of the
Enterprise Architecture models of the ‘as is’ student information system and ensuring that
the system in place makes them available. A key feature of a planned ‘to be’ model would
be the linking of core data across all sub-systems and a clear management strategy for the
maintenance and sharing of that core data.
The advantage of the Enterprise Architecture model is that it specifically links the intended
information management business processes to the supporting technical infrastructure and
hence presents a clear picture of how that infrastructure ensures the effective and efficient
sharing of core data across the whole system.
The technique of Viable Systems modelling recognises the independent worlds of
stakeholder information sub-systems and brings added value to the re-design of the
information system and its infrastructure by specifically addressing the issues of control and
communications capacity in the system and ensuring that requisite variety is in place. The
VSM approach is described in the next section.
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9. 3. Viable Systems Modelling
3.1 Overview
The use of Viable Systems Modelling (VSM) recognises that management systems are built
up of self managing sub-systems that interact with the wider organisational systems that
surround them. The key success factor for any management sub-system is that it should be
viable in its own right and able to self-manage, given appropriate support services and
resources.
The value of the VSM approach is that it specifically addresses the issues of communications
and control capacity in the management system. It seeks to balance the high and low
complexity components of the system through structures that ensure requisite variety. It is
for this reason that it falls within the scope of the trans-disciplinary approach of cybernetics.
What this means in practice is that the low capacity and complexity of management has to
be amplified to meet the control and communications requirements of the system being
managed. Equally, the high complexity of the information being received by managers about
the system operations needs to be attenuated for them to be able to absorb that
information and respond in an effective way.
The benefit of modelling the management system in this way is that in easily identifies
communications and control problems that impact on management effectiveness. A typical
example would be communications and control bottlenecks that prevent organisational
goals being met in a timely and cost-effective way.
The VSM model is recursive, in that each sub-system has the same general management
structure with the communications and control capacity to successfully perform its
management role. This is represented diagrammatically in the student information
management systems shown in the examples below with the Viable System on the right
hand side and the management Environment with which it interacts on the left.
3.2 Viable Systems Models:
The Student Application, Enrolment and Registration Processes
The structure of the VSM models that follow, as with the EA models, are derived from the
series of interviews conducted with the stakeholders involved with the management
activities concerned.
The focus in the models in this case is on communications and control capacity. The
questions to be asked are:
Are the requisite communications and control channels in place?
Do the channels have the capacity to deliver their intended outcomes?
Does the system balance the differential complexities effectively?
The comments following each management process representation shown below address
these issues.
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10. Comments:
Process: The application process is managed by the potential student and carried out
with assistance (when needed) from institutional advisers and UCAS guidelines;
Management: The process represents a self-contained management activity
controlled by the prospective student;
Requirements: An intuitive interface and process for non-technical users with clear
feedback on successful completion and process outcomes/results;
Current System: The current system is provided by UCAS with information and
application management by the institution. The student applies and receives a
decision through the UCAS website;
Areas for Improvement: The present system is reported to work effectively and
efficiently from the student point of view. Bottlenecks occur when examination
results are published, particularly national A level results.
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11. Comments:
Process: The application process is managed by the potential student and carried out
either online or by submitting an application form by post;
Management: The process involves the manual transcription of all application data
onto the institutional system by registry staff;
Requirements: The system accommodates both online and postal applications and
caters primarily for part-time and overseas students;
Current System: Both online and postal applications are received in registry by either
the UK admissions or overseas admissions sections and are manually uploaded to the
institutional applications database;
Areas for Improvement: An online applications system that does not require manual
transcription of information would be a significant improvement.
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12. Comments:
Process: The enrolment process is managed by the potential student and carried out
with assistance (when needed) from institutional advisers;
Management: The process represents a self-contained management activity
controlled by the prospective student;
Requirements: An intuitive interface and process for non-technical users with clear
feedback on successful completion and process outcomes/results;
Current System: The current online system for self-enrolment by students is
reported to work effectively and efficiently;
Areas for Improvement: No specific system improvements identified. It is
recommended that the system be used for all student enrolment modes including
part-time and international students.
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13. Comments:
Process: Student registration occurs when the enrolment process is completed and
approved;
Management: Upon verification, a series of follow-on processes are triggered which
lead to the student support services being set up;
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14. Requirements: A complete and consistent semi-automated system that ensures the
sharing of all core student data, the inclusion and verification of additional service
data, and confirmation of successful completion to both management and students;
Current System: All the student registration systems stem from the completion of
the enrolment process by the student/staff and the verification of that enrolment.
The enrolment is either completed online by the student (mainly full-time students)
or is carried out by staff (mainly part-time and overseas students);
Areas for Improvement: A fully online student based enrolment process that, once
verified by the institution, leads to the sharing of core student data with all
information sub-systems. This would range from the physical issuing of student
identity cards to the creation of their Moodle learning accounts.
3.3 Conclusions:
The various components of the student information management system become
populated following student enrolment and registration. It is at this stage that core data is
distributed to each of the support systems and students are registered on the various
information management sub-systems and identity cards are issued.
The VSM models of these processes are presented here as representations of current
management practice and are designed to assist an analysis of the extent to which they fulfil
their purpose. It is hoped that they will contribute to discussions about improved systems
and practice as the institution progresses with its merger process.
The key point being made by these models is that each management sub-system needs to
be independently viable in its own right to optimally contribute to the management system
as a whole. A clear implication from an optimisation point of view is that each sub-system
needs to be designed in a consistent way and that all sub-systems are viewed as both
independently viable and as components of the overall management information system.
This is not the way things necessarily happen in practice. Often, local management sub-
systems, though effective for local management needs, do not integrate well with the
corporate system. This is typically because the local systems were not designed as a
component of the larger system and, in the absence of corporate direction, were created by
the local management team (sometimes just a single individual) to meet their information
processing responsibilities. This is the sub-optimal, non-communicative, data silo scenario
mentioned earlier.
The application, enrolment and registration systems considered in this report already
integrate reasonably well. Other systems, such as student attainment reporting and
attendance monitoring are less consistent across the institution. VSM representation of
these systems, together with the EA modelling, can be expected to assist conversations
about improvement in the way the different stakeholder systems share core data.
A third consideration, when seeking to improve information management systems, is to
take full account of the fact that it is a human activity system that is being designed and that
there are People related issues that need to be built into any systems model.
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15. 4. Soft Systems Modelling
4.1 Overview
The Soft Systems Modelling approach4 encourages constant reflection on how things
happen in real world situations. It doesn’t so much describe how the information
management system actually works, but how the stakeholders think it works, how they
think it should work and how they would personally like it to work. This exactly describes the
nature of the qualitative messages that came from the stakeholder interviews carried out in
the first phase of the Smudie project.
A further consideration when dealing with a student information system is what value each
stakeholder sees in a specific piece of information and how the information is used in their
particular organisational role. This is important because the same information is often used
for different purposes by the different stakeholders.
Student assessment outcomes, for example, are used by:
The student to judge attainment against learning objectives and to adjust their effort
if not meeting their personal objectives and aspirations;
The teacher to judge both the effectiveness of their teaching approach and the levels
of support needed by individual students;
The programme director to monitor the performance of the course against agreed
attainment and quality targets set by the faculty;
The institutional management to maintain the best possible institutional quality
profile when reporting to HESA and other external agencies.
This demonstrates that the management and use of such basic pieces of student
information in the system are not the sole responsibility of particular stakeholders, but have
a ripple-through effect where the student performance is responded to by the teacher, the
teacher by the programme director, the programme by the faculty and so on.
The common goal of maximising performance is evident for each role, but the example
emphasises how success for the entire system relies on a contribution to optimising student
support and attainment at each level of management.
4.2 How it works in practice
The EA ‘as is’ models and the VSM analysis5 have shown how the University institutional
information management system is made up of recursive self-managing sub-systems. Each
sub-system has a contribution to make to the whole, but in general, operates as an
independent entity. The key to institutional success with such an arrangement is the
effectiveness with which the sub-systems communicate with each other and are supported
by their operational environment.
A common complaint in organisations is that different parts of the organisation manage
their information needs in isolation and create information ‘silos’ that do not inter-
communicate effectively or efficiently. There is a general view that a centrally managed
enterprise-wide information system is the solution to this problem. However, this view does
not necessarily recognise the realities of how large organisations operate in practice.
4
Checkland, Peter B. & Poulter, J. (2006) Learning for Action: A short definitive account of Soft Systems Methodology and its use for
Practitioners, teachers and Students, Wiley, Chichester.
5
http://smudieprojectblog.blogspot.co.uk/
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16. The fact is that individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups do operate in isolation from
other parts of the organisation because they have different job functions and information
management responsibilities. A lot of the locally managed information is used for that
management function only and is not relevant or used elsewhere. Managing locally where
appropriate reduces the complexity of the central system and can add benefit.
There are two areas, however, where centralised student information management is
needed. The first relates to core data that is used by multiple sub-systems. Typically this
would include the student name, student ID, Course code etc., which are shared in the
records of registry, the faculties and by student support services. For core student data to
be managed efficiently it needs well defined management on a central database where the
core data fields are available to all sub-systems that use them. This is both efficient and
ensures consistency of both content and format across the institution.
The second area is where central management requires access to specific data from
multiple sub-systems. This would mainly be for formal periodic central management
processes and for external reporting. A typical student information system would have
customised reporting options that are set up to draw from the core data and from the
various sub-systems concerned. The Smudie project evaluation exercise has shown that
there are varying degrees of effectiveness and efficiency in achieving this.
A further central management requirement of the system, that is more difficult to satisfy, is
when non-standard reporting is requested to satisfy the needs of a specific current
management issue. A database set up to satisfy the needs of the standard information
management requirements may not be so effective in synthesising data for one-off reports.
The student information management system has to support the needs of multiple
institutional management sub-systems of varying degrees of complexity with both core and
functionally specific data. It has to interface with other information management systems
both internally and externally. The degree to which it is designed to meet all possible
requirements is a management decision that balances functionality with cost.
It was recently commented, rather prosaically, that the most cost-effective interface
between two information systems might actually be a junior clerk with a calculator.
4.3 The Soft Systems approach
Management modelling techniques have developed in an academic environment and tend
to have a formulaic approach that can mask the value of the thinking behind it. Checkland’s
SSM6 has been adopted by the systems design and operational research communities and
has led to many, sometimes rather opaque, academic publications.
However, Checkland himself makes the point7 that SSM is primarily an approach for tackling
problematical, messy situations of all kinds. It is an action-oriented process of inquiry into
problematic situations in which users learn their way from finding out about the situation, to
taking action to improve it.
The key is to define what the problem is from the point of view of the stakeholder who
perceives the problem. Only then can a pragmatic solution be found that addresses that
problem. The solution finder, however, must learn about the problem from the viewpoint of
6
Checkland, Peter B. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1981
7
http://www.crawfordev.anu.edu.au/public_policy_community/content/doc/2010_Checkland_Soft_systems_methodology.pdf
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17. all system stakeholders for collective improvements to be actioned. It is not so much
formulaic as adaptive.
This is exactly the approach the first phase of the Smudie project adopted. Each of the
stakeholder interview records described their viewpoint of the student information
management system. As well as providing a rich picture of the systems in place, which were
represented visually with EA models, the process identified some of the problems with
those systems that needed addressing to improve performance.
The soft systems approach to be used in the Smudie project will not formally apply the
modelling techniques that have developed from the methodology. More it will be used as a
reality check when considering the potential improvements suggested by the EA and VSM
analyses.
4.4 Defining the problem
The Enterprise Architecture representations of the student information management
systems show the processes and procedures that make up current practice and identify
where uncoordinated variations occur that reduce consistency and reliability. They point
towards potential improvements in systems design, management and technical
infrastructure.
The soft systems approach brings this picture much closer to how the users view the system,
how well (or otherwise) it works for them and what improvements would make their job
easier. In other words, it involves defining the problem from their point of view that needs
addressing.
An example would be the academic member of staff who is reporting student assessment
outcomes. With the current system this involves accessing the reporting software online
and entering the information in the prescribed way. In principle it couldn’t be simpler. In
practice there are a number of barriers to be overcome and different coping strategies have
been adopted by staff.
The issues, from the viewpoint of the academic member of staff, include:
The fact that they access the system infrequently, typically twice per year when
assignments are submitted and exams undertaken at the end of semesters. As a
result, they forget how the system works and the workflows involved in accessing
student records and correctly entering data;
The reality that many staff are non-experienced computer users, are often anxious
about their ability to cope with the system, and find the process stressful;
Reports that the system is non-intuitive, even for the relatively computer literate,
and has several frustrating characteristics such as momentary delays after entering
each item of data and the need to navigate through several screens to complete
procedures.
The coping strategies include:
Requesting help from colleagues. Typically these will include their immediate
academic colleagues, their Faculty MIO, and IS staff with a part remit for academic
support/history of helping staff out;
Relying on others to enter the data, either in the Faculty office or others in the
Programme team.
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18. The problem in this example, then, is that a significant number of academic staff, through
lack of familiarity and confident developed IT skills, find the online assessment reporting
system difficult to use. The perception is that this is exacerbated by the system software
being non user friendly.
The problem definition once discussed and agreed makes it possible to identify potential
changes that are desirable and feasible.
4.5 Defining the solution
The way the problem above is described is as a conceptual model of how the system works
as perceived by the stakeholder(s). Aspects of that perception may not accurately represent
the way the system is intended to work and rectifying that conceptual miss-match may be
part of the solution.
SSM functions as a learning system because it facilitates a greater understanding of the
problem situation on the part of all the stakeholders involved. The solutions that result can
range from the complete disappearance of the problem by reconciling a soft conceptual and
actual miss-match by discussion, through to the re-structuring of the system to solve the
problem through a defined hard redesign process.
In all cases the solutions are people solutions for people problems. The technical
infrastructure for a student information management system is only successful if it meets
the needs of the users and in doing so recognises their technical, occupational and cultural
diversity.
4.6 Conclusions
Referring back to the introduction; the soft systems methodology doesn’t so much describe
how an information management system actually works, but how the stakeholders think it
works, how they think it should work and how they would personally like it to work.
Clearly, the closer these four views of the system are together, the closer the system will be
to an optimal configuration. The objective with SSM is to gain, through consultation with the
stakeholders, a picture of these different viewpoints so that conversations about reconciling
the differences are fully informed.
In the development of an EA ‘to be’ model for the student information system and
constituent sub-systems, SSM will be included as part of the methodology, as will VSM. Each
will bring added value to the eventual outcomes, including a healthy dose of realism in what
will always be a difficult consensus to reach between stakeholders with different and often
conflicting viewpoints and interests.
The final section of this paper outlines how the synthesis of these modelling approaches can
bring collective added value in the design of an institutional student information
management system.
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19. 5. A Synthesis of Modelling Techniques
5.1 Overview
Both the Enterprise Architecture and the Viable Systems models of the existing student
information management system at Swansea Metropolitan University showed that it
operated as a number of semi-independent sub-systems managed by different stakeholder
groups with different information management roles and objectives.
There is a view that such sub-systems should be fully integrated and centralised, thus
making all information available to any manager who needs to make use of it. However, this
does not necessarily recognise the realities of how organisations operate in practice.
It is suggested here that semi-independent information sub-systems are not only inevitable
but are essential for the efficient and effective management of a complex organisation. The
key to successful central management is in ensuring that the local information needs of
each functional area are met, whilst information flows into and out of those areas optimally
support them and the needs of the organisation as a whole.
The design of such a system, then, would naturally begin with an analysis of each sub-
system to ensure that it was operating optimally as a functional unit. In other words, the
process would begin with Viable Systems modelling. Having identified how information
should best be managed both within the functional area and in the way it communicates
with its operating environment, Enterprise Architecture can then be brought in to design
the appropriate processes, procedures and supporting infrastructure.
There is a step to be taken before all this starts, however. Soft Systems modelling shows
how, in the design of a new system, there needs to be an overall concept of what that
system will look like and what its operational boundaries are. It begins with the formulation
of what it calls a Root Definition.
Soft Systems modelling would also operate in the background of the subsequent
development with periodic reflections on how proposed systems are likely to work within
the prevailing institutional culture. Soft Systems considerations would guide the change
management processes needed for the introduction of any new system to be successful.
Improved system designs do not come from models. They come from the conceptual ideas
of systems designers who use structured modelling techniques to aid them in arriving at
their design goals. Furthermore, modelling methods do not guarantee efficiency and
effectiveness in new systems design, but they do provide a structured way of examining just
how effective and efficient a new system is likely to be.
5.2 Student Attendance Monitoring: a case study
It has been identified that the student attendance monitoring system is inconsistent across
the institution and is in the process of being evaluated with a view to improving data
capture, consistency and accuracy of reporting. It was therefore chosen as a case study to
evaluate the effectiveness of synthesising the modelling methods in information systems
design.
The basic components of the student attendance monitoring system will be determined by
the objective of the exercise: to record who should be present at a given session; to record
who was actually present at the session; and to record any variations in terms of attendance
pattern flexibility, location, timing and individual participation plans.
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20. It will also depend on the purpose of the exercise: to record student participation in
scheduled learning activities; to identify potential student problems requiring additional
support; and to meet the reporting requirements of internal quality systems and external
agencies.
In general, there will be a basic register of students in a particular cohort. An attendance
register will be created for each learning session and a method agreed regarding the
recording of attendance. Current methods for achieving this have been shown to be
inconsistent across the institution. Responsibilities for the process are often unclear and
methods vary from the individual creation of paper registers held locally, through the use of
bespoke year group spreadsheets available on line, to the use of proprietary timetabling and
recording software and hardware.
As far as the design of a student attendance monitoring system is concerned, then, we need
to begin with a conceptual idea. This will derive a lot of its information from the analysis of
the existing system(s), an assessment of strengths and weaknesses, and the identification of
options that would minimise weaknesses and maximise strengths.
It begins, however, with the consideration of the process as a sub-system. In VSM terms it
needs to be a self-managing sub-system that achieves its functional purpose internally,
when supplied with the resources it needs from its operating environment. It also needs to
consistently deliver the planned information and outputs of the required quality back to
that operating environment.
5.3 The root definition
The purpose of a root definition is to articulate the problem being addressed in a structured
way to aid the development of a solution.
A root definition of the student attendance monitoring system might be:
The creation and implementation of an information management system that accurately
and consistently records and reports on the participation of students in planned learning
activities.
This definition immediately focuses the system designers mind on where in the organisation
this happens and what it might look like. In other words it is the beginning of a conceptual
model.
5.4 The conceptual model
The conceptual model makes an outline statement about what the system is intended to do
and how it will do it.
Key to the conceptual model will be a view of the system boundaries and who is responsible
for managing it (module tutor, year tutor, programme director). Equally important will be an
idea of how flexible the model needs to be to support all curriculum areas and how
responsive it needs to be to meet the needs of institutional management.
A basic conceptual model of the student attendance monitoring system might be:
1. A data capture system that records individual student attendance at scheduled, location
specific, learning activities;
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21. 2. An online information management application that receives attendance data and
presents it for management use at module, course, faculty and institutional levels;
3. The management of data capture being the responsibility of the individual session tutor
and that automatically populates the online management application;
4. The student attendance information being used at tutor and course team level to trigger
student support actions where problems are indicated;
5. The student attendance information being available to appropriate levels of management
for internal and external performance reporting.
The conceptual model indicates what is to be done without stating how it is to be
implemented. Having said that, it does need to be based on achievable goals, and typically
makes assumptions about system features. In this case, for example, the conceptual model
implies that the data capture is electronic and can directly populate the online information
management application.
This is a major departure from the current paper based systems in use at Swansea Met and
would represent a significant strategic decision. However, it also makes a statement of
intent to exploit the use of technology in improving information management effectiveness
and efficiency.
The conceptual model can now be used to construct a viable management model that
delivers its intended outcomes. This is still at a level of abstraction from the practical
implementation, but it does begin to consider the actors involved and the way the
processes are managed through adequate communications and control channels.
5.5 The Viable Systems model
The first decision that needs to be made when modelling a sub-system is the level of
recursion involved. As far as student attendance monitoring is concerned, this can vary from
the individual tutor as a data capture and management agent, up to the full institutional
information management system. As with the conceptual model, the decision made here
already makes some assumptions about how the system should work.
The fact that the recursion level here is taken to be at year tutor level implies that this is the
key level of management for the system and around which the whole data capture and
management process is organised. The important thing for Swansea Met is that such a
decision needs to be made in order to create a consistently managed institutional system.
The VSM schematic below shows how the student attendance monitoring system operates
independently of its programme management environment, but interacts with it; relying on
the provision of data capture and recording systems and feeding back attendance data and
issues.
The key features are that:
The system is managed by the year tutor who sets up and monitors all the individual
module registers;
The attendance recording system is electronic and online;
The data capture system is electronic, feeds directly into the record system and is
managed by the individual module tutors;
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22. The record system is set up to flag attendance issues for action by the programme
team;
The local system, managed by the year tutor, is entirely self-managing and viable
given appropriate resources from its operating environment. It therefore is designed
to have adequate control and communications capacity to carry out this function
and it is also replicable across the institution.
Several assumptions have been made in this model which now needs to be turned into
practical reality. Enterprise Architecture techniques can be used for this purpose.
5.6 The Enterprise Architecture model
Section 2 of this paper presented EA models of how student attendance monitoring was
currently carried out at Swansea Metropolitan. It showed the variations in systems across
the institution and how this resulted in lack of consistency and confidence in data integrity.
The VSM model above was based on evidence of good practice that did exist and was
worthy of exploring as the basis for an institutionally managed system. An Enterprise
Architecture version will now be presented as an example of how the method can help
design a practical solution from the conceptual model.
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23. The assumptions made for the creation of the model are that:
All the students for the year group are enrolled, the modules they are taking are
known and the cohorts and delivery patterns have been agreed by the programme
team;
The online attendance recording system is spreadsheet based and each cohort has a
separate worksheet with a matrix of names and scheduled learning activities8;
The year tutor is responsible for verifying the completeness of the cohort attendance
recording system at the beginning of the session and for managing student
attendance issues9;
Each module tutor will be responsible for monitoring the capture of attendance data
at each scheduled learning activity session10;
It can be seen how the EA model effectively presents a design brief. It has adopted the
proximity card reader as the most pragmatic way of capturing attendance data
electronically and makes the assumption that a client application will be in place to
automatically populate the attendance spreadsheet with this data. It also assumes that the
module tutor will have access to Moodle during the session and that this will link to the
spreadsheet for monitoring purposes.
8
This could be either an institutionally developed shared spreadsheet solution, the present system used by
Humanities being a particularly good example, or a commercial application such as CelCat.
9
This will be determined by the learning schedule and attendance patterns. Escalation of non-attendance
issues would be in consultation with the module tutor.
10
Electronic data capture is assumed.
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24. The system will, of course, need to be adapted for non-conventional attendance patterns
but, because it is module and year tutor managed, local data capture arrangements can be
agreed.
6. Analysis and Conclusions
This discussion paper has explored how modelling techniques can be used in systems design
as a structured way of analysing the system design objectives, forming ideas about potential
solutions and moving towards practical implementation.
As has been emphasised throughout, the purpose of creating visual and descriptive systems
models is to guide and assist design discussions. The approach taken here has been to
recognise that there is more than one way of doing this and that different modelling
methods address different aspects of the design process.
The approach has accommodated the fuzzy realities of human activity systems through soft
systems considerations, recognised the existence of semi-independent management sub-
systems and planned for the practical infrastructure requirements. It is felt that by
combining these three methods, a richer picture of the proposed management system
improvements can be achieved.
The final case study analysed the student attendance monitoring system and it is not
difficult to see how this is a sub-system with a specific purpose. It uses core student data, of
course, but it also generates and uses data that is not used outside the sub-system and
hence there is no need arrange for it to be available elsewhere in the information
management system. This is typical of other sub-systems in the institution.
It is suggested that a full analysis of the student information management system at any
institution should recognise the realities of independent sub-systems that need specific
management considerations. It should also apply the techniques demonstrated here to
ensure that adequate communications channels are provided to their operating
environment, as well as providing sufficient resources for their operation.
The overall conclusions arising from this work can be summarised as follows:
1. The student information system in a typical institution serves the needs of a number
of functional areas and each area uses a combination of core student data and
functionally specific data;
2. The system needs to ensure the appropriate sharing of core data, but that
functionally specific data should be locally managed;
3. The local variations in student activity, particularly between different curriculum
areas, assessment methods and attendance patterns need to be optimally
supported. A one-size-fits-all information management model is unlikely to work;
4. The three stage modelling method demonstrated in this paper shows that, by taking
into account the need for flexibility, recognising the sub-system structure and using
this to design a practical management solution, consistent and pragmatic designs
can be achieved;
Tony Toole
February 2013
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