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Work systems

A work system is a socio-technical arrangement in which human participants, machines, and other resources interact through processes and activities to produce products, services, or outcomes for internal or external stakeholders, often within organizational or workplace contexts.^[1]^[2] In ergonomics and human factors engineering, work systems are defined as integrated setups comprising workers, work equipment, workspaces, work environments, and tasks, aimed at optimizing human performance, safety, and well-being while achieving system goals.^[2] This perspective, formalized in standards like ISO 6385:2016, emphasizes human-centered design principles to prevent discomfort, injury, and inefficiency by aligning tasks with human capabilities throughout the system's life cycle, from conception to decommissioning.^[2] Key components include physical elements like tools and layouts, as well as organizational factors such as policies and social dynamics that influence worker behavior and productivity.^[3] From an organizational and information systems viewpoint, work systems theory, developed by Steven Alter, provides a framework for analyzing how information technology integrates with human efforts to deliver value.^[1] Alter's model identifies nine core elements: customers, products/services, processes/activities, participants, information, technologies, environment, infrastructure, and strategies, enabling systematic evaluation and improvement of IT-reliant operations.^[1] This approach has evolved since the late 1990s, drawing from sociotechnical systems research to bridge gaps between business processes and technology implementation, with applications in fields like management consulting and systems design.^[4] Work systems are foundational to modern workplaces, influencing productivity, innovation, and sustainability by addressing interactions between people, technology, and organizational structures.^[3] Their study spans disciplines including industrial engineering, where they evolved from early 20th-century scientific management to contemporary holistic designs, and occupational health, where they mitigate risks like musculoskeletal disorders through optimized workflows.^[5] Effective work system design not only enhances efficiency but also promotes equitable labor conditions, as highlighted by international bodies like the International Labour Organization.^[3]

Fundamentals

Definition and Scope

A work system is defined as a system in which human participants and/or machines perform processes and activities using information, technology, and other resources to produce products and services for internal or external customers.^[6] This conceptualization, from Steven Alter's Work System Theory (WST), positions work systems as purposeful arrangements that integrate human effort with supporting elements to accomplish organizational goals.^[1] The scope of WST centers on IT-reliant configurations, where information technology plays a pivotal role in enabling processes, but the framework applies equally to non-IT contexts involving coordinated human activities.^[6] Unlike broader systems theories, such as general systems theory, WST emphasizes practical, business-oriented analysis of purposeful human activity rather than abstract modeling or technical artifacts alone.^[6] This focus delineates work systems as sociotechnical entities in Alter's framework, aligning with earlier sociotechnical perspectives while prioritizing organizational applicability.^[7] A core assumption underlying work systems in WST is their role as natural units of analysis for evaluating and enhancing organizational performance and improvement initiatives.^[1] By framing work in this way, the approach facilitates holistic assessment of how components interact to deliver value, independent of whether IT is intensively involved.^[6]

Historical Development

The concept of work systems has roots in early 20th-century scientific management principles, which focused on optimizing workflows and efficiency, evolving through mid-20th-century sociotechnical systems theory that emphasized the interplay of social and technical factors in workplaces, as seen in Eric Trist and Ken Bamforth's 1951 study on British coal mining.^[8] Further development occurred in ergonomics and human factors from the 1940s onward, with formalization in standards like ISO 6385 (first published in 1975).^[9] Within this broader context, Steven Alter's Work System Theory (WST) emerged in the 1990s through his research on information systems, evolving from efforts to create a practical systems analysis method for business professionals that emphasized organizational contexts over purely technical aspects. This development built on earlier systems thinking, including Alter's revisions to his information systems textbook editions from 1992 onward, where he introduced work-centered analysis in 1996 to address limitations in traditional systems approaches. By 2002, Alter formalized the "work system method" in academic literature, marking a shift toward a holistic framework for understanding systems in organizations.^[10] WST drew significant influences from foundational theories, integrating elements of general systems theory as articulated by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, which provided concepts like boundaries and environmental interactions applicable to organizational settings. It also incorporated sociotechnical systems principles from Trist and Bamforth's 1951 study, emphasizing the interplay between social and technical elements in work processes. Additionally, activity theory, particularly Yrjö Engeström's expansions in the 1990s, informed the theory's focus on human activities, tools, and collaborative contexts within work systems. Key milestones include the 2006 publication of Alter's book, The Work System Method: Connecting People, Processes, and IT for Business Results, which detailed the method's application for non-technical users. In 2013, Alter's overview paper in the Journal of the Association for Information Systems synthesized core concepts, extensions, and future challenges, solidifying WST as an integrated body of knowledge. Extensions in 2014, such as notes on conceptual refinements, addressed evolving organizational needs, including service-oriented systems.^[11]^[10]^[12] As of 2024, WST has adapted to contemporary challenges, with applications in agile environments using the framework to analyze Scrum processes. Recent integrations also address artificial intelligence, using facets of work and dimensions of smartness to characterize AI's impacts on organizational systems, as explored in Alter's 2020 analysis. In 2024, Alter further extended WST by exploring linkages with pragmatism to enhance understanding and improvement of the theory. These developments, including its use in digital transformation in financial services, highlight the theory's flexibility.^[13]^[14]^[15]^[16]

Core Concepts

Key Components of a Work System

A work system is fundamentally composed of nine interrelated elements that form its foundational structure: customers, products and services, processes and activities, participants, information, technologies, environment, infrastructure, and strategies. These elements provide a comprehensive view of how work is performed within organizations or across boundaries to achieve specific outcomes. The framework, developed by Steven Alter, emphasizes that no single element operates in isolation; instead, they collectively define the system's functionality and performance.^[6] Customers are the recipients of the work system's products and services for purposes other than performing provider activities within the system, such as end-users or beneficiaries who may provide input but are not primarily performers of the work.^[1]^[6] Products and services represent the tangible or intangible outputs delivered to customers, such as manufactured goods, reports, or advisory services. The quality and relevance of these outputs serve as primary measures of the work system's success.^[6] Processes and activities refer to the sequence of tasks and actions that constitute the core operations of the work system, aimed at transforming inputs into outputs. These may range from highly structured routines, such as assembly line procedures, to more flexible, improvisational efforts involving human judgment. In essence, every work system must include at least one process or activity to qualify as such. The habitual methods, norms, and routines through which these are executed often evolve from formal procedures or informal adaptations, reflecting how work is actually performed.^[1]^[6] Participants are the individuals or groups who perform the work, including internal actors like employees and managers. Their roles, skills, and motivations directly influence the system's efficiency, with considerations for division of labor and collaboration being key.^[6]^[1] Information encompasses the data, knowledge, and documents—whether digital or physical—that are used, generated, or transformed during work activities. Examples include customer records, reports, or procedural guidelines, which must be accurate and accessible to support decision-making.^[6] Technologies include the tools, software, hardware, and automated systems employed to facilitate or automate tasks, such as computers, machinery, or communication networks. These elements enable scalability but require compatibility with human operators.^[6]^[17] Environment consists of the external contextual factors that influence the work system, including regulatory requirements, market conditions, cultural norms, and competitive pressures. These can constrain or enable operations, necessitating ongoing adaptation.^[6]^[1] Infrastructure refers to the shared resources external to the specific work system but essential for its support, such as organizational IT networks, facilities, or human resource policies. These foundational assets ensure reliability without being part of the core work flow.^[6] Strategies outline the guiding principles, goals, and policies at the organizational, departmental, or system level that shape priorities and resource allocation. Alignment between these strategies and daily operations is crucial for long-term viability.^[6]^[1] The interdependencies among these elements are central to the work system's coherence; for instance, technologies enhance processes and activities by automating repetitive tasks, but their effectiveness depends on participants' skills and training, while information flows must align with both to avoid bottlenecks. Similarly, environmental changes can necessitate strategy updates, which in turn influence infrastructure investments. Misalignments, such as outdated technologies clashing with skilled participants, can lead to inefficiencies, underscoring the need for holistic evaluation.^[6]^[1] A practical example is a customer service work system in a call center, where technologies like CRM software and telephony systems enable agents (participants) to access scripts and customer histories (information), facilitating scripted interactions and diagnostic processes (processes and activities) to resolve inquiries and deliver support (products and services) for customers. The surrounding regulatory environment on data privacy shapes strategies, while shared office infrastructure supports operations. Interdependencies are evident as agent training (participants) must match software capabilities (technologies), ensuring smooth information handling.^[17]^[6]

Work System Framework

The Work System Framework provides a systemic lens for analyzing and designing work systems as sociotechnical units, where human participants, processes, and technologies interact to produce products or services for customers. Developed by Steven Alter, this framework posits work systems as bounded entities that emerge from the interplay of internal components and external influences, enabling a holistic understanding of how inefficiencies or innovations arise from misalignments or adaptations within the system.^[10] It emphasizes that work systems are not isolated but embedded in broader organizational contexts, treating them as purposeful arrangements that transform inputs into valued outputs while accounting for emergent behaviors such as workarounds or unintended consequences.^[10] Central to the framework are boundary issues, which delineate what constitutes the work system versus its environment. The system's core is defined by its operational elements—processes, participants, information, technologies, products/services, and customers—while the environment encompasses external factors like regulations, market conditions, or cultural norms that influence but do not directly control the system's functioning. Infrastructure (shared resources such as databases or facilities) and strategies (organizational goals and policies) are positioned outside the immediate boundary but provide essential support, allowing analysts to adjust boundaries flexibly based on the scope of analysis, such as focusing on IT-reliant subsystems or broader enterprise-wide operations. This approach handles emergent properties, like performance inefficiencies from environmental pressures or participant adaptations, by viewing them as outcomes of system-environment interactions rather than isolated flaws.^[10] The theoretical underpinnings of the Work System Framework draw from systems thinking, integrating general systems theory—which views organizations as open systems exchanging matter, energy, and information with their surroundings—and sociotechnical principles that balance social and technical elements for optimal performance. This foundation explains work system performance as a function of component alignment and environmental fit, highlighting improvement opportunities through targeted interventions, such as redesigning processes to mitigate emergent bottlenecks. By prioritizing a "map-like" representation over rigid models, the framework facilitates diagnosis of dysfunctions and exploration of enhancements without assuming universality across all contexts.^[10] A key visual tool within the framework is the work system snapshot, a concise diagram or one-page summary that represents the nine elements in a structured format to capture the "as-is" or "to-be" state of a work system. The snapshot typically centers the six primary elements—processes and activities (the steps and tasks performed), participants (individuals or groups involved), information (data and knowledge used or produced), technologies (tools and automated systems), products and services (outputs delivered), and customers (recipients benefiting from the outputs)—arranged in a circular or boxed layout to illustrate their interconnections. Surrounding these are the three contextual elements: environment (external influences), infrastructure (supporting resources), and strategies (guiding objectives), depicted as an outer layer to emphasize their role in shaping system boundaries and emergence. This diagram serves as a foundational artifact for analysis, enabling stakeholders to visualize alignments and gaps without delving into dynamic processes.^[10]

Life Cycle and Processes

Work System Life Cycle Model

The Work System Life Cycle (WSLC) model, developed by Steven Alter, represents an iterative process for the evolution of work systems over time, encompassing four primary stages: initiation, development, implementation, and operation and maintenance. This cycle accommodates both planned changes, such as those driven by formal projects, and emergent changes, including adaptations, bricolage, and workarounds that arise organically during use. By viewing work systems as sociotechnical arrangements involving human participants, the model integrates elements like processes, technologies, and organizational context into a dynamic framework that evolves through multiple iterations rather than a linear progression.^[18] The primary purpose of the WSLC model is to guide the evaluation, management, and continuous improvement of work systems across their lifespan, bridging gaps between business operations and technical implementations. It provides a high-level structure for analyzing how systems respond to evolving needs, enabling stakeholders to assess performance and identify opportunities for refinement at any stage. Unlike static snapshots, this model emphasizes temporal dynamics, helping organizations anticipate and navigate transitions in work practices.^[6] Central to the WSLC are principles of adaptability and feedback-driven refinement. Adaptability ensures the model responds to shifts in the external environment, such as technological advancements or regulatory changes, by allowing flexible incorporation of both anticipated and unanticipated modifications throughout the cycle. Feedback loops, depicted as ongoing inward adjustments in the model's representation, facilitate continuous evaluation and iterative enhancements based on real-world usage and outcomes, promoting resilience and efficiency in work systems.^[12] In contrast to the traditional Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), which centers on the structured creation and deployment of software as a technical artifact with limited emphasis on post-implementation phases, the WSLC model takes a broader sociotechnical approach. It explicitly incorporates social and organizational dimensions—such as participant interactions and cultural factors—beyond IT-focused development, recognizing that work systems' effectiveness depends on holistic integration rather than isolated technical processes.^[18]

Phases of the Life Cycle

The phases of the work system life cycle provide a structured approach to evolving work systems through planned and unplanned changes, emphasizing iterative improvements across initiation, development, implementation, operation and maintenance.^[18] This model, developed by Steven Alter, distinguishes itself by encompassing socio-technical elements beyond traditional software development, focusing on how work systems adapt to organizational needs over time. In the initiation phase, the primary activities involve identifying the needs and opportunities for a new or improved work system, engaging stakeholders such as managers and executives to define goals, scope, and high-level requirements. Feasibility assessments evaluate resource availability, potential benefits, and alignment with organizational objectives, while risk assessments address uncertainties like infeasible visions or stakeholder misalignment that could derail progress.^[19] For example, this phase might uncover the need for process redesign in a customer service operation to reduce response times, ensuring buy-in from affected participants before committing resources. Emergence of unanticipated goals often occurs here, prompting adjustments to initial plans.^[6] The development phase centers on designing and building the work system's components, including processes, technologies, and participant roles, often through prototyping to test interactions among elements like information flows and tools. Activities include acquiring or configuring resources—such as software or training materials—and iterating designs based on framework elements like products/services and tasks to ensure compatibility.^[18] Testing focuses on verifying that the system supports efficient work practices, with risks mitigated by addressing integration issues early; for instance, prototyping a new inventory management tool would reveal usability gaps before full-scale production.^[19] This phase bridges technical development with business needs, incorporating feedback to refine the system. During the implementation phase, the work system is deployed organization-wide, involving training for participants to adopt new processes and technologies, alongside change management strategies to minimize resistance and ensure smooth integration. Key considerations include organizational adjustments beyond mere tool rollout, such as updating policies or workflows, with risks like non-adoption addressed through pilot testing and communication.^[6] An example is rolling out a collaborative platform in a team setting, where targeted training sessions help stakeholders transition from legacy methods, fostering acceptance and reducing workarounds.^[18] Success here depends on justifying changes to diverse stakeholders, often drawing on the work system framework to highlight impacts on performance.^[19] The operation and maintenance phase entails ongoing monitoring of the work system's performance through metrics on efficiency, output quality, and participant satisfaction, followed by incremental updates or fixes to address emerging issues. Activities include adapting to unplanned changes, such as environmental shifts or user feedback, and planning for decommissioning if the system becomes obsolete; risks involve excessive workarounds that signal deeper inefficiencies. For a manufacturing work system, this might mean regular audits to tweak automation tools, ensuring sustained productivity while preparing for eventual replacement with advanced alternatives.^[6] Maintenance emphasizes small-scale adaptations to maintain alignment with evolving goals.^[19] Transitions between phases form an iterative loop, where feedback from operation—such as performance data or stakeholder input—feeds back to initiation for major redesigns, enabling continuous evolution rather than linear progression. This interconnectedness supports both planned projects and emergent adjustments, with each phase's outputs informing the next to mitigate risks like stagnation or misalignment.^[18] For instance, implementation challenges might loop back to development for refinements, ensuring the work system remains viable over its lifecycle.

Method and Applications

Work System Method

The Work System Method (WSM), developed by Steven Alter, provides a structured, semi-formal approach for business professionals to analyze, design, and improve work systems by emphasizing their operational realities beyond just technology. It integrates systems thinking with practical tools to facilitate understanding at varying depths, enabling users to describe current systems, identify issues, and propose enhancements without requiring advanced technical expertise. This method is particularly valuable for bridging gaps between business and IT perspectives in organizational settings.^[1]^[17] At its core, WSM employs a three-level analysis framework to support progression from basic overviews to detailed evaluations. Level 1 offers high-level steps for initial scoping and broad recommendations; Level 2 introduces specific questions to probe elements systematically; and Level 3 provides advanced guidelines, checklists, and diagrams for rigorous diagnosis and refinement. This multi-level structure allows flexibility, starting with simple descriptions and advancing to deep analysis of inefficiencies and opportunities as needed. The method operates through three sequential steps: System and Opportunity (SO) for defining the system and its context; Analysis and Possibilities (AP) for examining performance and alternatives; and Recommendation and Justification (RJ) for prioritizing and rationalizing improvements. These steps can be applied iteratively to refine insights and align with broader work system life cycles.^[1]^[20] Key tools underpin the method's practicality. The work system snapshot is a concise, one-page template summarizing the system's nine core elements—customers, products/services, processes/activities, participants, information, technologies, environment, infrastructure, and strategies—while checking for internal consistency and alignment. A questionnaire consisting of targeted prompts (e.g., SO1–SO5 for scoping, AP1–AP10 for analysis, RJ1–RJ10 for recommendations) guides users through Level 2 inquiries, prompting examination of assumptions, inefficiencies, and potential changes. The method workbook serves as a comprehensive template, including briefing formats for management, "as-is" and "to-be" snapshots, and appendices for documenting findings, ensuring a traceable and reproducible process. These tools are designed for ease of use, often completed collaboratively in workshops or teams.^[1]^[17] The process centers on iterative questioning to reveal hidden assumptions, evaluate system performance, and uncover opportunities for enhancement. Participants begin by mapping the current work system via the snapshot, then use the questionnaire to identify mismatches—such as misaligned technologies or inefficient processes—that hinder effectiveness. Through facilitated discussions, teams generate improvement ideas, weighing feasibility against organizational goals. Emphasis on collaborative application fosters buy-in, as diverse stakeholders (e.g., managers, employees, IT staff) contribute to a shared diagnosis, reducing miscommunication and promoting holistic views. This dialogic approach ensures the method is adaptable to various contexts, from small operational tweaks to large-scale redesigns.^[1]^[20] Outcomes of WSM include actionable recommendations tailored to the system's needs, such as process optimizations or technology adjustments, each justified with evidence from the analysis. These deliverables, often presented in management briefings, enable targeted interventions that enhance productivity, customer value, and overall system resilience. By focusing on verifiable improvements, the method supports sustained organizational benefits without overcomplicating implementation.^[1]^[17]

Practical Applications and Extensions

In healthcare, the Work System Method (WSM) has been applied to analyze and improve electronic health records (EHR) systems by examining information exchange and workflow integration. For instance, a case study in emergency departments used WSM to implement a surge management system, identifying misfits between clinical processes and IT tools to enhance decision-making during high-volume periods.^[21] Similarly, WSM facilitated subunit-level adoption of EHRs by revealing variations in work practices across hospital units, leading to tailored interventions that reduced resistance and improved data accuracy.^[22] In business process redesign, WSM supports systematic evaluation of as-is processes to propose to-be improvements, particularly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). A positivist case study applied WSM to test theories of process redesign, demonstrating how it uncovers inefficiencies in resource allocation and workflow handoffs to streamline operations without requiring extensive technical expertise.^[23] For IT project management, WSM provides a framework to align project deliverables with organizational work practices, as seen in analyses that integrate work system elements into project planning to mitigate risks like scope creep and stakeholder misalignment.^[12] Extensions of WSM have adapted it to agile methodologies by incorporating socio-technical perspectives that emphasize iterative feedback in dynamic environments. In agile software development, WSM helps map evolving work systems to support lean principles, such as in competitive settings where rapid process adjustments are needed to maintain responsiveness.^[24] Post-2020 developments integrate AI and machine learning (ML) into work systems, using WSM to characterize AI applications as augmentations rather than standalone systems; for example, intelligent agents in decision support are analyzed for their impact on human tasks, ensuring alignment with overall system goals.^[25] For sustainability-focused work systems, WSM guides business model innovations by evaluating environmental and social impacts within process redesign, as in cases promoting circular economy practices through resource-efficient workflows.^[26] More recent applications as of 2024 include using WSM in digital transformation models to support co-creation processes in organizations, enhancing collaborative innovation.^[27] In 2025, it has been extended to halal built-in work systems for pharmaceutical supply chains, integrating ethical and compliance elements into core processes.^[28] Challenges in applying WSM include handling complexity in global organizations, where distributed work systems across cultures and time zones complicate element analysis, often requiring extensions to account for emergent behaviors like self-organization.^[6] Critiques highlight a potential overemphasis on IT in traditional applications, though WSM's design intentionally balances socio-technical elements to avoid this; however, some argue it underemphasizes predictive variables compared to other theories, limiting its use in highly quantitative modeling.^[29] Future directions emphasize ethical considerations in automated systems, such as using WSM to assess responsible AI integration by evaluating fairness in participant roles and outcomes.^[30] Empirical evidence supports WSM's effectiveness, with studies showing improved outcomes like reduced errors in supply chain systems through better visibility of interdependencies.^[1]

References

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School of Management. January 2011. The Work System Method: Systems Thinking for. Business Professionals. Steven Alter.
[2]
[PDF] INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 6385
Sep 15, 2016 · ISO 6385 is an international standard for ergonomics principles in the design of work systems, published in 2016.
[3]
Ergonomics | International Labour Organization
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[4]
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[5]
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[6]
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WST provides a perspective for understanding systems in organizations, whether or not those systems use IT intensively. WST's domain of greatest relevance is IT ...
[7]
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[8]
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[11]
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[12]
(PDF) Using Work System Theory, Facets of Work, and Dimensions ...
Dec 17, 2020 · This paper presents an approach for describing and characterizing algorithms that are discussed as though they embody artificial ...
[13]
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Oct 9, 2024 · Agile work methods are implemented as a possible response. Using Work System Theory as the underlying theoretical lens we conducted a holistic ...
[14]
"The Work System Method for Understanding ... - AIS eLibrary
The work system method includes both a static view of a current (or proposed) system in operation and a dynamic view of how a system evolves over time through ...Missing: nine components
[15]
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This article presents work system theory (WST) as a body of theory for analysis, explanation, prediction, and design and action.Missing: milestones | Show results with:milestones
[16]
Which Life Cycle--Work System, Information System, or Software?
This article presents the work system life cycle (WSLC) model, according to which a work system, an information system, or a software product passes through one ...
[17]
None
### Summary of Work System Life Cycle Model Phases (Steven Alter)
[18]
(PDF) The Work System Method for Understanding Information ...
Aug 9, 2025 · Such accounts can be positioned within Alter's (2002; perspective of a work system ... work practices lead to workarounds with negative ...
[19]
Investigating a Work System Approach to Implement an Emergency ...
Sep 15, 2025 · Investigating a Work System Approach to Implement an Emergency Department Surge Management System: Case Study ... work system method (WSM) as a ...
[20]
Understanding variation in subunit adoption of electronic health ...
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[21]
Using A Positivist Case Research Methodology To Test Three ...
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[22]
Applying Socio-technical Thinking in the Competitive, Agile, Lean ...
Apr 29, 2019 · A newer work system perspective (WSP) combines aspects of work system theory (WST), WST extensions, and the work system method (WSM). This ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[23]
[PDF] Applications of AI in sociotechnical work systems - CEUR-WS.org
Work system method (WSM). Many of the ideas in WSM were developed with the ... Several of those extensions are discussed later in relation to STSs and AI.
[24]
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Feb 10, 2023 · The work system method: systems thinking for business professionals. Bus. Anal. Inf. Syst., 32 (2011). Google Scholar. Antikainen and Valkokari ...
[25]
Response to a Research Perspective A" by Steven Alter - AIS eLibrary
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[26]
(PDF) How Could Systems Analysis Use the Idea of “Responsible ...
Jun 3, 2019 · This paper addresses that question by using a new set of ideas related to facets of work system capabilities. Its application of those ideas to ...
[27]
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