Formal System Design Research Articles

SISTEM INFORMASI AKUNTANSI FORMAL-KULTURAL: STUDI CRITICAL ACTION RESEARCH

Research Purpose. This study aims to design an accounting information system by integrating formal structure and cultural system in a book publishing business. Research Methods. The research was conducted with a critical action research approach which includes planning, action, critical observation, and critical reflection and redesign. Research Result and Findings. Based on the research results, the researcher proposes two things in the design of formal information systems, namely: (1) the use of Open Monograph Press (OMP) in the operational process; and (2) rearranging the flowchart according to the OMP-based operational system so that all functions become clearer and do not overlap. The cultural information system is designed based on family values and trust which turns out to have more important contribution than the formal accounting information system.

The Impacts of Human Resource Management in Knowledge Management in Small Companies

This study untangles role of Knowledge management in human resource practices. Human resource management deals with the design of formal systems in an organization to ensure the effective and efficient use of human talent to accomplish organizational goals. Knowledge itself is increasingly claimed to be key critical resource and source competitive advantage in the modern global economy, especially with the rise of the service economy, the growth in the number of knowledge workers in increasingly rapid flow of global information, and the growing recognition of the importance in intellectual capital and intellectual property rights. The aim of the study is to obtain new insight into the phenomenon of knowledge management in modern day organizations and the role Human resources may play in facilitating access to knowledge and the talent that knowledge management provide for human resource practices become more efficient and effective. This paper looks at some of the ways in which HR can revise its own systems and practices to ensure that they have a knowledge focus and reinforce the organization's overall knowledge management goals.

Enabling formal MCS design and use: a meta-synthesis of qualitative research

Purpose This study aims to synthesize qualitative research in the accounting and management literature that builds on the concept of enabling formalization. The framework for the meta-synthesis integrates formal management control system (MCS) design applying the package typology and two modes of MCS use, namely, diagnostic and interactive. Design/methodology/approach The meta-synthesis is based on 34 case studies gathered by a systematic literature search. Qualitative research mining software (Leximancer) was used to facilitate an initial analysis, upon which an in-depth manual analysis was conducted. Findings The findings indicate that the generic features of enabling formalization – specifically, flexibility and repair – help employees better deal with inevitable contingencies in their daily work through continuous self-improvement. In many circumstances, there is a need to change common organizational practices, which sometimes requires realignment to direct employee behavior toward goal congruence. The (temporary) coercion of employees does not seem to cause dysfunctional behavior or resistance as long as the broader MCS package follows the design features of enabling formalization – specifically, transparency. The interactive use of personnel/cultural controls appears to play a crucial role within the whole MCS package in balancing tensions between coercion and enabling formalization. Originality/value This study adds to the understanding of formal MCS design characteristics perceived by managers and employees as enabling. Furthermore, it shows how managers of these organizations use formal MCS under enabling formalization.

Modeling and Simulation of Dynamic Applications Using Scenario-Aware Dataflow

The tradeoff between analyzability and expressiveness is a key factor when choosing a suitable dataflow model of computation (MoC) for designing, modeling, and simulating applications considering a formal base. A large number of techniques and analysis tools exist for static dataflow models, such as synchronous dataflow. However, they cannot express the dynamic behavior required for more dynamic applications in signal streaming or to model runtime reconfigurable systems. On the other hand, dynamic dataflow models like Kahn process networks sacrifice analyzability for expressiveness. Scenario-aware dataflow (SADF) is an excellent tradeoff providing sufficient expressiveness for dynamic systems, while still giving access to powerful analysis methods. In spite of an increasing interest in SADF methods, there is a lack of formally-defined functional models for describing and simulating SADF systems. This article overcomes the current situation by introducing a functional model for the SADF MoC, as well as a set of abstract operations for simulating it. We present the first modeling and simulation tool for SADF so far, implemented as an open source library in the functional framework ForSyDe. We demonstrate the capabilities of the functional model through a comprehensive tutorial-style example of a RISC processor described as an SADF application, and a traditional streaming application where we model an MPEG-4 simple profile decoder. We also present a couple of alternative approaches for functionally modeling SADF on different languages and paradigms. One of such approaches is used in a performance comparison with our functional model using the MPEG-4 simple profile decoder as a test case. As a result, our proposed model presented a good tradeoff between execution time and implementation succinctness. Finally, we discuss the potential of our formal model as a frontend for formal system design flows regarding dynamic applications.

Multiple Social Networks in Grassroots Governance in Rural China

Existing research on grassroots rural governance in China adopts a network perspective to explore the role of traditional social vehicles including clans, clan clusters and popular beliefs in improving village governance. However, most of this research has concentrated on analyzing the way in which horizontal network relationships lead to effective village governance. It has thus to some extent neglected the basic reality of the overlapping interconnections between the “top-down” administrative system and the informal structure of village governance. In fact, an analysis that proceeds from the features of the government’s own organizational network, the social structure of the village itself and the position of its elites in order to focus on modes of interaction within the village under the intermixture of (formal) system design and (informal) social relations, shows that differences in the composition of the government’s promotional networks resulting from the traits of key officials affect the speed of policy dissemination as well as the government’s mode of interaction with the village elites. Moreover, differences in these modes of interaction further influence the subsequent operation of self-organization based on social traditions (“filial piety” or “morality”). At the same time, structural elements, including the economic and social relations of the village itself, determine whether self-organization will improve the quality of governance in the long term. This finding can serve as a reflection on and critique of the theories of “strong government” and “tradition” current in academia.

Cycle Detection in Computation Tree Logic

Temporal logic is a very powerful formalism deeply investigated and used in formal system design and verification. Its application usually reduces to solving specific decision problems such as model checking and satisfiability. In these kind of problems, the solution often requires detecting some specific properties over cycles. For instance, this happens when using classic techniques based on automata, game-theory, SCC decomposition, and the like. Surprisingly, no temporal logics have been considered so far with the explicit ability of talking about cycles. In this paper we introduce Cycle-CTL*, an extension of the classical branching-time temporal logic CTL* along with cycle quantifications in order to predicate over cycles. This logic turns out to be very expressive. Indeed, we prove that it strictly extends CTL* and is orthogonal to mu-calculus. We also give an evidence of its usefulness by providing few examples involving non-regular properties. We investigate the model checking problem for Cycle-CTL* and show that it is PSPACE-Complete as for CTL*. We also study the satisfiability problem for the existential-cycle fragment of the logic and show that it is solvable in 2ExpTime. This result makes use of an automata-theoretic approach along with novel ad-hoc definitions of bisimulation and tree-like unwinding.

An extensible modeling methodology for embedded and cyber-physical system design

Abstract models are important tools to manage the increasing complexity of system design. The choice of a modeling language for constructing models governs what types of systems can be modeled, and which subsequent design activities can be performed. This is especially true for the area of embedded electronic and cyber-physical system design, which poses several challenging requirements of modeling and design methodologies. This article argues that the Formal System Design (ForSyDe) methodology with the necessary presented extensions fulfills these requirements, and thus qualifies for the design of tomorrow’s systems. Based on the theory of models of computation and the concept of process constructors, heterogeneous models are captured in ForSyDe with formal semantics. A refined layer of the formalism is introduced to make its denotational-style semantics easy to implement on top of commonly used imperative languages, and an open-source realization on top of the IEEE standard language SystemC is presented. The introspection mechanism is introduced to automatically export an intermediate representation of the constructed models for further analysis/synthesis by external tools. Flexibility and extensibility of ForSyDe is emphasized by integrating a new timed model of computation without central synchronization, and by providing mechanisms for integrating foreign models, parallel and distributed simulation, modeling adaptive, data-parallel, and non-deterministic systems. A set of ForSyDe features is demonstrated in practice, and compared with similar approaches using a running example and two relevant case studies.

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SURVEYORS AND THE GEO-SPATIAL SOCIETY

Abstract. For many years FIG, the International Association of Surveyors, has been trying to bridge the gap between surveyors and the geospatial society as a whole, with the geospatial industries in particular. Traditionally the surveying profession contributed to the good of society by creating and maintaining highly precise and accurate geospatial data bases, based on an in-depth knowledge of spatial reference frameworks. Furthermore in many countries surveyors may be entitled to make decisions about land divisions and boundaries. By managing information spatially surveyors today develop into the role of geo-data managers, the longer the more. Job assignments in this context include data entry management, data and process quality management, design of formal and informal systems, information management, consultancy, land management, all that in close cooperation with many different stakeholders. Future tasks will include the integration of geospatial information into e-government and e-commerce systems. The list of professional tasks underpins the capabilities of surveyors to contribute to a high quality geospatial data and information management. In that way modern surveyors support the needs of a geo-spatial society. The paper discusses several approaches to define the role of the surveyor within the modern geospatial society.

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SURVEYORS AND THE GEO-SPATIAL SOCIETY

For many years FIG, the International Association of Surveyors, has been trying to bridge the gap between surveyors and the geospatial society as a whole, with the geospatial industries in particular. Traditionally the surveying profession contributed to the good of society by creating and maintaining highly precise and accurate geospatial data bases, based on an in-depth knowledge of spatial reference frameworks. Furthermore in many countries surveyors may be entitled to make decisions about land divisions and boundaries. By managing information spatially surveyors today develop into the role of geo-data managers, the longer the more. Job assignments in this context include data entry management, data and process quality management, design of formal and informal systems, information management, consultancy, land management, all that in close cooperation with many different stakeholders. Future tasks will include the integration of geospatial information into e-government and e-commerce systems. The list of professional tasks underpins the capabilities of surveyors to contribute to a high quality geospatial data and information management. In that way modern surveyors support the needs of a geo-spatial society. The paper discusses several approaches to define the role of the surveyor within the modern geospatial society.

An Axiomatic Design of a Multiagent Reconfigurable Mechatronic System Architecture

In recent years, the fields of reconfigurable manufacturing systems, holonic manufacturing systems, and multiagent systems have made technological advances to support the ready reconfiguration of automated manufacturing systems. While these technological advances have demonstrated robust operation and been qualitatively successful in achieving reconfigurability, their ultimate industrial adoption remains limited. Among the barriers to adoption has been the relative absence of formal and quantitative multiagent system design methodologies based on reconfigurability measurement. Hence, it is not clear that the degree to which these designs have achieved their intended level of reconfigurability, which systems are indeed quantitatively more reconfigurable, and how these designs may overcome their design limitations to achieve greater reconfigurability in subsequent design iterations. To our knowledge, this paper is the first multiagent system reference architecture for reconfigurable manufacturing systems driven by a quantitative and formal design approach. It is rooted in an established engineering design methodology called axiomatic design for large flexible engineering systems and draws upon design principles distilled from prior works on reconfigurability measurement. The resulting architecture is written in terms of the mathematical description used in reconfigurability measurement, which straightforwardly allows instantiation for system-specific application.

Continuous KAOS, ASM, and formal control system design across the continuous/discrete modeling interface: a simple train stopping application

Abstract A very simple model for train stopping is used as a vehicle for investigating how the development of a control system, initially designed in the continuous domain and subsequently discretized, can be captured within a formal development process compatible with standard model based refinement methodologies. Starting with a formalized requirements analysis using KAOS, an abstract model of the continuous system is created in the ASM formalism. This requires extensions of the KAOS and ASM formalisms, capable of dealing with quantities evolving continuously over real time, which are developed. After considering how the continuous system, described as a continuous control system in the state space framework, can be discretized, a discrete control system is created in the state space framework. This is re-expressed in the ASM formalism. The rigorous results on the relationship between continuous and discrete control system models that are needed to establish provable properties of the discretization, then become the ingredients of a retrenchment between continuous and discrete ASM models, and are thus fully integrated into the formal development. The discrete ASM model can then be further refined towards implementation.

How formal performance evaluation affects trust between superior and subordinate managers

An important question in the control literature concerns the role of interpersonal trust in the design and functioning of formal control systems for collaborative settings. In this paper, we argue that subordinate’s trust in the superior depends on the formality of the performance evaluation procedure and that this relationship is mediated by managerial perceptions of justice and feedback. The findings confirm our predictions. Furthermore, we find that formality matters more for trust formation for those managers that are in functions with less contractible outputs.

How Formal Performance Evaluation Affects Trust between Superior and Subordinate Managers

An important question in the control literature concerns the role of interpersonal trust in the design and functioning of formal control systems for collaborative settings. Although some studies regard trust and formal controls as independent phenomena, recently studies have explored how formal controls affect interpersonal trust. These studies provide mixed results, as they show both positive and negative effects of formal control on trust. This suggests that our understanding of the mechanisms through which, and the conditions under which, formal control affects trust is important, but still limited. In this paper we aim to enhance our understanding of this relationship by investigating the relationship between formal control and interpersonal trust for the collaborative setting of superiors and subordinates. We argue that subordinate's trust in the superior depends on the formality of the performance evaluation procedure, that this relationship is mediated by managerial perceptions of justice and feedback, and that these effects differ across managerial functions. We test our expectations using survey data from a sample of 160 managers in 11 commercial banks. Overall, we find that formal performance evaluation affects trust, and that this relationship is mediated by managerial perceptions of justice and feedback. Furthermore, we find that formality matters more for managers in functions with less contractible outputs. The paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the antecedents of trust in a performance evaluation setting. Furthermore, it provides additional evidence of positive effects of controls on trust, yet shows that these positive effects are contingent on the exact managerial setting.

Monotonic hybrid systems

Many physical events assume values that can be represented with functions that are monotonic with respect to time passing. This paper defines the class of Monotonic Hybrid Systems, namely Hybrid Systems where activities and assignments are monotonic functions. On the basis that, among Hybrid Systems, Integrator Systems (which are Hybrid Systems equipped with stopwatches) are the most expressive of the classes with a linear evolution law, and that Timed Systems (which are Hybrid Systems equipped with clocks) enjoy most of the decidable properties required, we compare Monotonic Hybrid Systems with the above classes, with respect to decidability, expressiveness and succinctness. We show that a subclass of Monotonic Hybrid Systems is equivalent to Integrator Systems and Timed Systems with discrete time assumption, but that it strictly contains them when assuming dense time. This has practical consequences both in the discrete and dense context when symbolic verification is not possible. We also show that Monotonic Hybrid Systems allow more succinct descriptions than those of Integrator and Timed Systems. This result shows that not only hierarchy, non-determinism and communication, as already noticed in Alur et al. (Proceedings of the HSCC 00, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, Berlin, 2000, pp. 6–19) and Grosu and Stauner (Formal Methods System Design) 21 (2002) 5), have an impact on succinctness, but also the shape of functions used in descriptions does. For a subclass of Monotonic Hybrid Systems for which reachability is decidable if the functions used are computable, we consider both the problem of verifying properties written in a suitable logic and also the relationship between dense time and discrete time assumptions in the framework of verification. The formalism and the results are illustrated by some examples.

System Modeling and Transformational Design Refinement in ForSyDe

The scope of the formal system design (ForSyDe) methodology is high-level modeling and refinement of systems-on-a-chip and embedded systems. Starting with a formal specification model, that captures the functionality of the system at a high abstraction level, it provides formal design-transformation methods for a transparent refinement process of the system model into an implementation model that is optimized for synthesis. The main contribution of this paper is the ForSyDe modeling technique and the formal treatment of transformational design refinement. We introduce process constructors, that cleanly separate the computation part of a process from the synchronization and communication part. We develop the characteristic function for each process type and use it to define semantic preserving and design decision transformations. In a study of a digital equalizer example, we illustrate the modeling and refinement process and focus in particular on refinement of the clock domain, communication refinement, and resource sharing.

Development and application of design transformations in ForSyDe

The formal system design (ForSyDe) methodology has been developed for system level design. Starting with a formal specification model, which captures the functionality of the system at a high level of abstraction, it provides formal design transformation methods for a transparent refinement process of the specification model into an implementation model which is optimised for synthesis. The formal treatment of transformational design refinement is the central contribution of this article. Using the formal semantics of ForSyDe processes we introduce the term characteristic function to be able to define and classify transformations as either semantic preserving or design decision. We also illustrate how we can incorporate classical synthesis techniques that have traditionally been used with control/data-flow graphs as ForSyDe transformations. This approach avoids discontinuities as it moves design refinement into the domain of the specification model.

Skin vs. Guts: Introducing Design Patterns in the MIS Curriculum

Introduction System development is a crucial function the modern organization. Likewise, an introductory course Systems Analysis and Design remains a critical component a Management Information System (MIS) degree program. (Most MIS programs also include these components: Fundamental Concepts of Information and Computer Technology, Computer Hardware and Software, Project Management, Database Design, Telecommunications and Networking, Introductory Programming, and Information Systems Management.) Broadly speaking, the Analysis and Design course involves techniques from four skill categories: interpersonal skills, technical skills, analytical skills, and communication skills (Misic and Russo, 1999). Detailed content analysis, for twenty-nine of the leading textbooks this area, is provided by Misic and Russo (2000). An old saying suggests that in theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but practice there is ... Like Woratschek (1999), academicians who spend a little time the trenche s often learn that formal system analysis and design techniques are sparsely used many organizations. This gap between tasks, tools, activities and approaches that are taught the MIS curriculum and those that are used, or viewed as useful, by practitioners has been documented (Misic and Russo, 1999). There are many valid reasons why gaps like these exist. Educators know that activities used to learn a process are often different from those required to do the process. They realize that instruction should involve fo rmative (best practices) as opposed to normative (usual practices). Educators also often feel responsible for leading the change preparing future systems analysts. Nowhere, however, does the gap between education and industry seem more profound and inexplicable than the teaching of object-oriented (OO) principles. The OO approach offers clear advantages of reusability, extendibility, and portability. On the one hand, we see the Internet driving the future and with it the demand for OO information technology skills such as proficiency the OO programming language Java (Brandel, 2000; Enticknap, 2001; Watson, 2000). In some firms, staff increases up to 40% are expected for people with knowledge of OO methodologies and UML (Goff, 1998). Object-oriented development has moved into the mainstream with the widespread adoption of the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), Microsoft's .NET Initiative, and Sun's Enterprise Java (J2EE) (Langley, 2001; Sullivan, 2001). On the other hand, OO analysis and design seems to play a minor role the current MIS curriculum. Misic and Russo (2000) indicate that of 29 systems analysis and design textbooks studied, 26 (or 90%) of them devoted less than 5% of the text to OO analysis and design techniques. McLeod (1996) indicates that instructors tend to favor the traditional process-oriented methodologies over the more recently developed ones that emphasize data and objects...decisions strongly influenced by the instructor's experience. This paper focuses on an object-oriented technique commonly used software design, namely the identification and application of design patterns. We discuss the introduction of design patterns the System Analysis and Design course, providing a concrete example involving two patterns, the Decorator pattern (the skin) and the Strategy pattern (the guts). Design Patterns and Software Frameworks Few complex software systems today are built from scratch using the so-called Greenfield engineering strategy (Bruegge and Dutoit, 2000). Many more projects are evolutionary, involving the redesign and re-implementation of an existing system and/or its interface, triggered by new technology or new information. Reusable program modules are beginning to be recognized as having tremendous strategic value as managers face re-engineering failures at a rate as high as 70% (Fayed, 2000). …

Children's use of the Yahooligans! Web search engine: II. Cognitive and physical behaviors on research tasks

This study reports the results of Part II of a research project that investigated the cognitive and physical behaviors of middle school students in using Yahooligans! Seventeen students in the seventh grade searched Yahooligans! to locate relevant information for an assigned research task. Sixty-nine percent partially succeeded, while 31% failed. Children had difficulty completing the task mainly because they lacked adequate level of research skills and approached the task by seeking specific answers. Children's cognitive and physical behaviors varied by success levels. Similarities and differences in children's cognitive and physical behaviors were found between the research task and the fact-based task they performed in the previous study. The present study considers the impact of prior experience in using the Web, domain knowledge, topic knowledge, and reading ability on children's success. It reports the overall patterns of children's behaviors, including searching and browsing moves, backtracking and looping moves, and navigational styles, as well as the time taken to complete the research task. Children expressed their information needs and provided recommendations for improving the interface design of Yahooligans! Implications for formal Web training and system design improvements are discussed.

Box-structured requirements determination methods

Requirements determination is an iterative process of eliciting, gathering, modeling, specifying, and analyzing system requirements information. It is the most critical, yet least understood, phase of systems development. This paper presents a rigorous approach for performing requirements determination with box-structured methods. By capturing requirements information in black box transactions and transaction hierarchies, intellectual control is maintained over large amounts of requirements information. The results of the box-structured requirements determination methods provide the basis for formal system design techniques. A concise example of box-structured requirements determination is included in an appendix.

An engineering approach to formal digital system design

This paper describes a first attempt at building design tools that amalgamate theorem proving and engineering methods. To gain acceptance such a tool must focus on the engineering task and proof steps must be hidden. From these ideas a prototype system based on the HOL proof assistant has bee designed. The key features of this system are threefold. First, we use window reasoning for modelling the design process; Second, we have defined a set of application specific derived inference rules that implement common design tasks; Third, we have extended the design representation in logic with annotations to support efficient algorithmic reasoning.