systems analysis

1. The study of an activity or procedure to determine the desired end and the most efficient method of obtaining this end.
2. The act, process, or profession of systems analysis.

For more information on systems analysis, visit Britannica.com.

The application of mathematical methods to the study of complex human physical systems. A system is an arrangement or collection of objects that operate together for a common purpose. The objects may include machines (mechanical, electronic, or robotic), humans (individuals, organizations, or societal groups), and physical and biological entities. Everything excluded from a system is considered to be part of the system's environment. A system functions within its environment. Examples of systems include the solar system, a regional ecosystem, a nation's highway system, a corporation's production system, an area's hospital system, and a missile's guidance system. A system is analyzed so as to better understand the relationships and interactions between the objects that compose it and, where possible, to develop and test strategies for managing the system and for improving its outcomes.

The term “systems analysis” is reserved for the study of systems that include the human element and behavioral relationships between the system's human element and its physical and mechanical components, if any. Examples of public policy systems are the federal government's welfare system, a state's criminal justice system, a county's educational system, a city's public safety system, and an area's waste management system. Examples of industrial systems are a manufacturer's production distribution system and an oil company's exploration, production, refining, and marketing system. Examples with physical environmental components are the atmospheric system and a water supply system. The direct transfer of systems engineering concepts to the study of a system in which the human element must be considered is restricted by limitations in the ability to comprehend and quantify human interactions. (Operations research, a related field of study, is directed toward the analysis of components of such systems. Public policy analysis is the term used for a system study of a governmental problem area.) See also Decision theory; Operations research; Systems engineering.

Systems comprise interrelated objects, with the objects having a number of measurable attributes. A mathematical model of a system attempts to quantify the attributes and to relate the objects mathematically. The resultant model can then be used to study how the real-world system would behave as initial conditions, attribute values, and relationships are varied systematically. See also Model theory.

The systems analysis process is an iterative one that cycles repeatedly through the following interrelated and somewhat indistinct phases: (1) problem statement, in which the system is defined in terms of its environment, goals, objectives, constraints, criteria, actors (decision makers, participants in the system, impacted constituency), and other objects and their attributes; (2) alternative designs, in which solutions are identified; (3) mathematical formulation, in which a mathematical description of the system is developed, tested, and validated; (4) evaluation of alternatives, in which the mathematical model is used to evaluate and rank the possible alternative designs by means of the criteria; and (5) selection and implementation of the most preferred solution. The process includes feedback loops in which the outcomes of each phase are reconsidered based on the analyses and outcomes of the other phases. For example, during the implementation phase, constraints may be uncovered that hinder the solution's implementation and thus cause the mathematical model to be reformulated. The analysis process continues until there is evidence that the mathematical structure is suitable; that is, it has enough validity to yield answers that are of value to the system designers or the decision maker. See also Optimization; Simulation.

As originally developed, systems analysis studies have been applied to those areas that are “hard” in that they are well defined and well structured in terms of objectives and feasible alternative systems (for example, blood-bank design, and integrated production and inventory processes). The aim of hard systems analysis is to select the best feasible alternative. In contrast, soft systems are concerned with problem areas that involve ill-defined and unstructured situations, especially those that have strong political, social, and human components. These generally involve public and private organizations (for example, design of a welfare system, and structure and impact of a corporate mission statement). The objectives of soft systems and the means to accomplish them are problematical and, in fact, a systemic view of the problem area is not assumed. The aim of soft systems analysis is to find a plan of action that accommodates the different interests of its human actors.

There is also need for further study of large-scale systems, which by definition are most complex. It is important to find ways to describe mathematically the systems that represent the totality of an industrial organization, the pollution concerns of a country and a continent, or the worldwide agricultural system. These are multicriteria problems with the solutions conflicting across criteria, individuals, and countries. The possibility that such systems may be studied in a computer-based laboratory is very promising. But this challenge must be approached cautiously, with the awareness that the methods and models employed are only abstractions to be used with due consideration of the goals of the individual and society. See also Large systems control theory; Linear system analysis.

The analysis of problems and processes in a logical manner, particularly through the use of mathematical models and formulas and with the aid of computers and other data processing equipment.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Systems theory takes the political or social system as the proper unit of analysis. It was introduced to sociology and politics principally by Talcott Parsons (The Structure of Social Action, 1937; Parsons and Shils, Toward a General Theory of Social Action, 1951), and by David Easton (The Political System, 1953). Parsons, for instance, spoke of a social system as containing four subsystems, devoted to ‘adaptivity’, ‘goal-seeking’, ‘integration’, and ‘latency’, which relate respectively to the economy, politics, society, and the family. Both Parsons and Easton were influenced by biologists' models of ecological systems.

Except for its cousin world systems analysis, systems analysis is no longer taken seriously. Its terms were too vaguely defined and its relationship with empirical evidence was too haphazard; it was never clear what would count as a test, still less a falsification, of systems theory. However, systems theory did stress, however obscurely, some truths that have been periodically rediscovered since Aristotle: especially that taking the individual as the unit of analysis misses interactions which can only be explained by reference to ‘society’. Not many individualists are so extreme as to believe that ‘there is no such thing as society’ in the reported phrase of Baroness Thatcher.

This article is about the interdisciplinary field. For the analysis of systems in electrical engineering, see system analysis.

Systems analysis is the interdisciplinary part of science, dealing with analysis of sets of interacting entities, the systems, often prior to their automation as computer systems, and the interactions within those systems. This field is closely related to operations research. It is also "an explicit formal inquiry carried out to help someone, referred to as the decision maker, identify a better course of action and make a better decision than he might have otherwise made."^[1]

Contents 1 Overview 2 Information technology 3 Practitioners 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Overview

The terms analysis and synthesis come from classical Greek where they mean respectively "to take apart" and "to put together". According to Tom Ritchey (1991) "these terms are used within most modern scientific disciplines -- from mathematics and logic to economy and psychology -- to denote similar investigative procedures. In general, analysis is defined as the procedure by which we break down an intellectual or substantial whole into parts or components. Synthesis is defined as the opposite procedure: to combine separate elements or components in order to form a coherent whole"^[2].

The systems discussed within systems analysis can be within any field such as: industrial processes, management, decision making processes, environmental protection processes, etc. The brothers Howard T. Odum and Eugene Odum began applying a systems view to ecology in 1953, building on the work of Raymond Lindeman (1942) and Arthur Tansley (1935).

Systems analysis researchers apply mathematical methodology to the analysis of the systems involved trying to form a detailed overall picture.

Information technology

The development of a computer-based information system often comprises the use of a systems analyst. When a computer-based information system is developed, systems analysis (according to the Waterfall model) would constitute the following steps:

• The development of a feasibility study, involving determining whether a project is economically, socially, technologically and organisationally feasible.
• Conducting fact-finding measures, designed to ascertain the requirements of the system's end-users. These typically span interviews, questionnaires, or visual observations of work on the existing system.
• Gauging how the end-users would operate the system (in terms of general experience in using computer hardware/software), what the system would be used for etc.

Practitioners

Practitioners of systems analysis are often called up to dissect systems that have grown haphazardly to determine the current components of the system. This was shown during the year 2000 re-engineering effort as business and manufacturing processes were examined and simplified as part of the Y2K automation upgrades. Current employment titles utilizing systems analysis include, but are not limited to, systems analyst, business analyst, manufacturing engineer, enterprise architect, etc.

While practitioners of systems analysis can be called upon to create entirely new systems their skills are more often used to modify, expand or document existing systems (processes, procedures and methods).

See also

Types of Systems analysis Accident Analysis Business analysis Morphological analysis Software prototyping Spiral model Waterfall model

Related topics Cybernetics Process architecture Program designer Systems analyst Systems design Systems thinking Policy analysis

Systems thinkers Gregory Bateson Stewart Brand Buckminster Fuller Robert S. McNamara Stafford Beer Gordon Pask Ludwig von Bertalanffy

References

1. ^ SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
2. ^ Tom Ritchey, Analysis and Synthesis, 1991.

External links

Look up systems analysis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Systems Analysis, Modelling and Prediction (SAMP), University of Oxford
• Introduction to Social Macrodynamics
• A useful set of guides and a case study about the practical application of business and systems analysis methods
• Complete online tutorial for system analysis and design

v • d • e Systems engineering Fields Biological systems engineering • Configuration management • Earth systems engineering and management • Enterprise systems engineering • Performance engineering • Reliability engineering • Safety engineering • Space Systems Engineering Processes Requirements analysis • Functional specification • System integration • Verification and validation Concepts Business process • System • Systems engineering process • System lifecycle • Systems Development Life Cycle Languages Systems Modeling Language • IDEF Tools Decision making • Functional modelling • Optimization • Planning • Reliable analysis • Statistical analysis • Systems analysis • System dynamics • Systems modeling • V-Model • Work breakdown structure Systems engineers Wernher von Braun • Harold Chestnut • Arthur David Hall III • Derek Hitchins • Robert E. Machol • Simon Ramo • Joseph Francis Shea • John N. Warfield Related fields Control engineering • Computer engineering • Industrial engineering • Operations research • Project management • Quality management • Software engineering

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)