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2nd Annual Sociotechnical Lecture Series at the University of
Westminster

11th Oct 2000
"HUMAN PROBLEMS": THE CONTINUING OBSTACLE TO SUCCESS IN INFORMATION
SYSTEMS DESIGN?

J.B. (Brian) HOPKINS
School of Design and Communication Systems, Anglia Polytechnic
University,

ABSTRACT

It has become something of a truism to state that our advances in the
technical aspects of information systems (IS) development leave the
human or social factors as the major remaining barrier to success.
Equally common now is the assertion that IS developers are far more
sensitive to these issues and are being trained to address them.
Paralleling these statements is the uncomfortable fact that clients of
the systems continue to express dissatisfaction.  Why does this apparent
paradox persist?  If we explore the philosophical roots of IS/Computing
we discover a set of principles and practices born of the Enlightenment
and fashioned by scientific and engineering method.  Alongside the
undoubted technical progress achieved we have to set the associated
inherent belief systems which are based on rationality, goal orientation
and a reductionist, serial systematic approach to the solution of
problems (the definition of which is susceptible to precise
definition).  Contrast this worldview with the typical organisational
context within which IS are developed and implemented where the
relatively ordered and controlled world of the laboratory or the design
team is often replaced by the conflictual, politically-charged
non-unitary environment with which so many people identify.  Yet, IS do
have the potential to bridge this paradox.  Instead of seeing the
project as essentially one to which engineering principles apply (and in
which people - other than "the experts" - play a subsidiary role) an
alternative is available which accords people an equal role in
development.  This scenario acknowledges the inevitably "messy" nature
of the process and attempts to mediate that through the ingenuity and
creativity of the people involved with the aim of then translating the
proposed solution into a technically effective IS.  Such an approach
combines the strongest elements of both human and technical factors in a
way which optimises both the self-esteem of the users and developers and
the potential of the IT; a combination which perhaps will enable us to
advance beyond the technocratic paradigm and also increase client
approval.


15th Nov 2000  Lisl Klein  Bayswater Institute
Unresolved dilemmas in the sociotechnical approach

13th Dec 2000  Peter Jagodzinski University of Plymouth
Naturalistic studies in Engineering Design Teams

Feb 2001  Richard Holti  Tavistock Institute

Venue: Westminster Business School, Marylebone Road (opp. Baker Street
tube)
Lecture Theatre 2 - Luxborough Block

Time: 6pm - 7.30pm (approx)
Cost: Free.  All welcome!

Further details email Elayne Coakes - [log in to unmask]


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