Abstract
The information systems analysis and design methodologies devised at the outbreak of the third industrial revolution shaped the systems analysis disciple and have trickled down to all systems influencing most aspects of human development. To cope with the explosion of digital technology, these methodologies had to be developed rapidly, drawing from a wide range of theoretical backgrounds, based mainly on the “hard” scientific method and the “softer” systems approach. In the run-up to industry 4.0, with multiple information systems emerging, reflection on systems’ design fundamentals is important. Intended to serve human activity and well-being, information systems are anthropocentric. Their success lies in their ability to serve human goals. Information systems analysis and design methodologies play a role in this by ensuring the best match between what is sought from systems and what they deliver in terms of the systems’ underlying final cause, or “telos”. The paper investigates the teleological orientation of four founding systems analysis and design methodologies. Using the Wood-Harper and Fitzgerald taxonomy in order to identify the conceptual origins of the four methodologies under review, it categorizes and subsequently incorporates them in an extended taxonomy, assesses whether and how they are devised to cater to the incorporation of goals and explains the inferred results based on the taxonomy. The paper posits that the founding information systems analysis and design methodologies do not have a marked teleological orientation and do not dispose of techniques for adequately incorporating systems’ goals. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-2021-02-04-09 Full Text: PDF
Highlights
The most severe failures of Information Systems (IS) are attributed to the early stages of their development, when the fundamentals of the design were conceptualized and set
The study material is gleaned from secondary scholarly sources, processed through the theoretical framework, and presented in the following structure: Section 2 presents the theoretical framework of the study; and Section 3 investigates the teleological orientation of four selected IS analysis and design methodologies using the theoretical framework for identifying their major influences
PSL/PSA is in no way equipped, as it does not have the means to even deal with needs and requirements, and it lacks any teleological orientation
Summary
The most severe failures of Information Systems (IS) are attributed to the early stages of their development, when the fundamentals of the design were conceptualized and set. This paper argues that, when analyzing or merely modelling an existing system, but foremostly when developing a new one, both spheres have to be considered to achieve a judicious blend connecting the materialist “upper structure” to the social “understructure” of the systems’ “edifice” Such a dual perspective is essential for evaluating the success of systems based on their “anchoring” to the underlying needs they are intended to serve. The paper posits that the systems teleology perspective has been marginally integrated in the IS analysis and design founding methodologies It has been sidelined at the application level due to the lack of recognition of its importance for IS analysis and design and the inherent challenges in incorporating social elements in the materialistic application processes. The study material is gleaned from secondary scholarly sources, processed through the theoretical framework, and presented in the following structure: Section 2 presents the theoretical framework of the study; and Section 3 investigates the teleological orientation of four selected IS analysis and design methodologies using the theoretical framework for identifying their major influences
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