Systems Analysts Research Articles

Enterprise Knowledge-Based Generation of Class Model

The article presents Knowledge- Based MDA Class Model (UML notation) generation technique. Knowledge-Based MDA approach is a progressive Information Systems development method which combines the main components of traditional MDA and the best practices of Knowledge-Based Information Systems Engineering. The main advantage of such method is that problem domain knowledge acquainted at user requirements acquisition and business modelling stages are validated against formal criteria, in such way reducing empirical factors that could negatively impact the whole IS development process. The starting point of Class model generation process is a selection of particular entity from the Enterprise Model as the main class. System Analyst is able to select one of four elements types for class model generation process: Actor, Process, Information Activity and Flow. The main steps of Class model generation from Enterprise Model are presented in this article as well as Class model generation example. The final result of the generation process is the particular Class model that specifies static structure of the particular problem domain and can be used as business entities framework for developers of Information Systems. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eee.19.2.1717

A novel testability model for health management of heading attitude system

Prognostics and health management (PHM) is very important to guarantee the reliability and safety of aerospace systems, and sensing and test are the precondition of PHM. Integrating design for testability into early design stage of system early design stage is deemed as a fundamental way to improve PHM performance, and testability model is the base of testability analysis and design. This paper discusses a hierarchical model-based approach to testability modeling and analysis for heading attitude system health management. Quantified directed graph, of which the nodes represent components and tests and the directed edges represent fault propagation paths, is used to describe fault-test dependency, and quantitative testability information is assigned to nodes and directed edges. The fault dependencies between nodes can be obtained by functional fault analysis methodology that captures the physical architecture and material flows such as energy, heat, data, and so on. By incorporating physics of failure models into component, the dynamic process of a failing or degrading component can be projected onto system behavior, i.e., system symptoms. Then, the analysis of extended failure modes, mechanisms and effects is utilized to construct fault evolution-test dependency. Using this integrated model, the designers and system analysts can assess the test suite’s fault detectability, fault isolability and fault predictability. And heading attitude system application results show that the proposed model can support testability analysis and design for PHM very well.

Investigating the Antecedents of Users' Knowledge Sharing Intention

Effective knowledge sharing among members has become a competitive necessity for organizations. Thus it is essential for organizations to take steps to increase members' willingness to share knowledge. This study explores factors that may affect user intention to share knowledge in the context of information system analysis. An innovative organizational climate and interaction involvement are identified as antecedents of users' intention to share knowledge. Their effects and the relationships among these factors are studied. The results, based on data collected from 182 student analysts and 182 users, indicate that systems analysts demonstrate higher levels of interaction involvement than users, where interaction involvement is measured by responsiveness, perceptiveness and attentiveness. In addition, an innovative climate positively and directly influences users' intention to share knowledge; unexpectedly, users' interaction involvement is negatively related to their intention to share knowledge.

Cost minimization of washing unit in a paper mill using artificial bee colony technique

Due to the engineering requirements of products with better quality, the importance of designing reliable systems which normally present high availability is increasing. When the components of higher reliability are used, the associated cost of components also increases. Thus, the decision-makers have to consider both the profit and the quality requirements. The objective of this paper is to improve the design efficiency and to find the most optimal policy for MTBF (mean time between failures), MTTR (mean time to repair) and related costs. Artificial bee colony algorithm has been used to obtained the MTBF and MTTR of various components, in a cost effective manner and results are shown to be statistically significant by means of pooled t-test with other evolutionary algorithm results. The application of the proposed framework has been demonstrated through the washing unit of a paper mill situated in a northern part of India which produces approximately 200 tons of paper per day. Sensitivity analysis has also been addressed to rank the components of the system based on its performance. The system analyst or decision maker may use these optimal values to increase the performance as well as productivity of the system.

Fractal Dimension and Patchiness in Hinabian-Lawigan Watershed Southern Leyte, Philippines

Landscape metrics for analyzing landscape structures is fast developing topics in landscape ecology. This study examines fractal dimension and patchiness of the Hinabian-Lawigan watershed (Southern Leyte, Philippines), which is a habitat to different critically endangered species in the province. Three indices were used (i.e. total patch number, TPN; mean patch size, MPS; and mean patch fractal dimension, MPFD). The analysis was facilitated through the use of Geographic Information System (GIS) and patch analyst extension of ArcGIS. Land use-land cover classification system was used to identify the different patches. Results indicate that the watershed consists of patches of annual cropland, barren land, built-up areas, closed forests, pastureland, and shrubland. Closed forest patches have the largest total area (3,727.98 has) but have the highest TPN (i.e.1,700) and MPS (2.19 has). Their computed MPFD is greater than 1, which means that they are highly fragmented, and needed to be connected. Built-up areas are not prevalent in the watershed but may become a future concern if unmanaged. Of greatest concern is the presence of agricultural production areas (TPN value of 828 and MPFD of 1.52). Encroachment of agricultural production activities to forest areas may lead to further forest fragmentation. Its regular disturbance should be managed. Keywords - landscape ecology, patch, fractal dimension, fragmentation, landscape,landscape metrics, Geographic Information System, Hinabian-Lawigan Watershed, Southern Leyte, Philippines

Aligning organizational values in systems development projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents and implications of aligning the organizational values embedded in a systems development approach (e.g. agile) with the organizational values of project team members.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative case study approach is used to examine systems development project teams at three organizations, each using a development approach that incorporates different organizational value dimensions. Interviews were conducted with developers, systems analysts, and managers regarding their systems development experiences. A structured coding of the interview transcripts was then completed to enable analysis of value dimensions.FindingsBy comparing the dominant values between the project teams and their development approach, varying degrees of alignment were identified. Where alignment is high, perceptions of the systems development process are associated with satisfaction and enthusiasm; where alignment is low, perceptions focus on frustration and discontent.Research limitations/implicationsBased on the study's findings, four propositions pertaining to the antecedents and implications of IS values alignment are outlined for examination in future research.Practical implicationsThe findings from this study can aid managers who are considering the use of a new systems development approach or evaluating the effectiveness of their current approach. By determining the degree of information systems (IS) values alignment, organizations may be able to customize their development approach to be more consistent with the team's values, in order to minimize negative development process perceptions and increase project performance.Originality/valueThis research extends past studies of organizational values and alignment by introducing the concept of IS values alignment.

New APA Web Site Offers Valuable Features, More Options

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Association NewsFull AccessNew APA Web Site Offers Valuable Features, More OptionsJonathan WolfeJonathan WolfeSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:4 May 2012https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.47.9.psychnews_47_9_9-aAbstractAPA unveiled a new Web site last month—an online repository of all things psychiatric that features a fresh look and feel along with a streamlined menu system, improved search and multimedia functions, and new integrated discussion-board capabilities.The new APA Web site also has a new Web address: www.psychiatry.org.In redesigning APA’s online presence, a team of Web site development experts spent more than a year collaborating with APA members and staff to refine the organization and usability of the site’s massive quantity and variety of content.Those behind the creation of Psychiatry. org conducted extensive studies focused on making the site more user friendly, relying on feedback and input gathered through focus-group meetings, phone calls with individual APA members, and the posting of early design layouts on LinkedIn.According to Michael Gritz, APA’s business system analyst and corporate technology trainer, the development team paid special attention to ensuring that the information visitors are seeking is easy to locate, accessible through just one or two clicks of the mouse.“The old APA Web site was organized as something that made sense internally to staff, but didn’t necessarily offer the most valuable user experience,” said Gritz. “Accordingly, we designed the new site based on extensive analysis of who is coming to the site and what their particular needs are.”Among the features of the new site are a dedicated publications database and an enhanced member directory, both of which are searchable from the Psychiatry.org homepage. And in addition to being able to navigate the site by user type, visitors have the option of accessing a wealth of information through four basic Web site “channels”—Learn, Practice, Network, and Join & Participate.The homepage also features the latest APA news and information, as well as highlights from and a direct link to Psychiatric News. ISSUES NewArchived

The Role of Knowledge Sharing in Raising the Task Innovativeness of Systems Analysts

This study examines the relationship between creativity and innovation at the individual level and how knowledge sharing mediates the relationship between these two constructs. A survey was conducted that measured individual creativity, innovativeness, and four types of knowledge sharing: explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (e.g., experience, know-how, and expertise) sharing. It was postulated that the type of knowledge mediates the relationship between creativity and the innovativeness of task performance among systems analysts. The results show that creativity was positively related to task innovativeness. This relationship was mediated negatively by explicit knowledge sharing but positively mediated by tacit knowledge sharing based on know-how among project team members. These results have implications for system development and implementation projects.

Challenges and opportunities in building health research capacity in Tanzania: a case of the National Institute for Medical Research.

Capacity building is considered a priority for health research institutions in developing countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. However, in many countries including Tanzania, much emphasis has been directed towards human resources for health with the total exclusion of human resources for health research. The objective of this study was to systematically investigate the capacity building process for the Tanzanian National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) over a 30-year period and identify the challenges and opportunities in creating a critical mass of multi-disciplinary research scientists that is required for achieving the intended health benefits. A desk review of personnel database was conducted for information covering 1980-2009 on academic qualifications, training, research experience and research output. The current staff curriculum vitae (CV) were reviewed to gather information on researchers' employment record, training, training support, area of expertise and scientific output. Interviews were conducted with a cross section of researchers on capacity development aspects using a self-administered questionnaire. In-depth interviews were also conducted with the current and former NIMR Management to seek information on capacity development challenges. A review was also done on staff personal files, annual reports, strategic plans and other occasional documents. A total of 163 CV were assessed; of these, 76.7% (125) were for Research Scientists (RS), 20.9% (34) Laboratory Technologists (LT) and 2.4% (4) for System Analysts. The Institute had 13 research scientists upon its establishment. Since 1980, NIMR has recruited a total of 185 Research Scientists. By 2009, NIMR had a total scientific workforce of 170 staff (RS= 82.4%; LT= 17.6%). Of the 140 RSs, 37 (26.4%), were first degree; 77 (55.5%) second degree while 26 (18.6%) were PhD degree holders. Of the total of 78 researchers interviewed, 55 (70.5%) indicated to have accessed postgraduate training through their personal efforts and 23 through institutional arrangement. Sixty (77%) respondents were satisfied with their tenure at NIMR. Seventy (89%) indicated that they had not at any point considered leaving NIMR. Most (79%) research scientists were recruited while holding a first degree, a few (17%) with second degree while only one (0.7%) holding a PhD degree. NIMR has experienced a research scientist attrition rate of 17.5%. Staff retention factors included availability of training opportunities; passion for conducting research; and good career prospects. Despite having a training programme, the institute has never at any moment been able to hold its own training resources. Being a public research institution, NIMR receives its core funding from the government of the United Republic of Tanzania. The bulk of the funding appears to be spent on personnel emoluments that take up to 85% (mean = 66%) of the allocated budget. In conclusion, the current NIMR's research capacity building is dependent mainly on foreign funding and personal initiatives. There is an urgent need to increase local funding for capacity building and conduct of research. A programme should be put in place to ensure sustainability of the capacity building process.

Soft skills requirements in software development jobs: a cross‐cultural empirical study

PurposeMost of the studies carried out on human factor in software development concentrate primarily on personality traits. However, soft skills which largely help in determining personality traits have been given comparatively little attention by researchers. The purpose of this paper is to find out whether employers' soft skills requirements, as advertised in job postings, within different roles of software development, are similar across different cultures.Design/methodology/approachThe authors review the literature relating to soft skills before describing a study based on 500 job advertisements posted on well‐known recruitment sites from a range of geographical locations, including North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The study makes use of nine defined soft skills to assess the level of demand for each of these skills related to individual job roles within the software industry.FindingsIt was found that in the cases of designer, programmer and tester, substantial similarity exists for the requirements of soft skills, whereas only in the case of system analyst is dissimilarity present across different cultures. It was concluded that cultural difference does not have a major impact on the choice of soft skills requirements in hiring new employee in the case of the software development profession.Originality/valueSpecific studies concerning soft skills and software development have been sporadic and often incidental, which highlights the originality of this work. Moreover, no concrete work has been reported in the area of soft skills and their demand as a part of job requirement sets in diverse cultures, which increases the value of this paper.

An Improved Coefficient Calculator for the California Energy Commission 6 Parameter Photovoltaic Module Model

This paper describes an improved algorithm for calculating the six parameters required by the California Energy Commission (CEC) photovoltaic (PV) Calculator module model. Rebate applications in California require results from the CEC PV model, and thus depend on an up-to-date database of module characteristics. Currently, adding new modules to the database requires calculating operational coefficients using a general purpose equation solver—a cumbersome process for the 300+ modules added on average every month. The combination of empirical regressions and heuristic methods presented herein achieve automated convergence for 99.87% of the 5487 modules in the CEC database and greatly enhance the accuracy and efficiency by which new modules can be characterized and approved for use. The added robustness also permits general purpose use of the CEC/6 parameter module model by modelers and system analysts when standard module specifications are known, even if the module does not exist in a preprocessed database.

Process Model Consistency Measurement

In software development, managers increasingly focus on process improvement which in turn has increased the demand for software metrics. To turn the business application of a software project to system specification is a big challenge in business environment. Since business analysts and system analysts have their own perspective, the modeling of business process is necessary to facilitate both the perspectives and for a better coordination. An attempt is made to resolve inconsistencies and to develop model that verifies process consistency described in Petri net graph. From this model it has been confirmed that the consistency ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. In addition to the above Support Vector Machines (SVM) usage is helpful to improve consistency with greater confidence to evaluate behavioral and structural consistency. Keywords: behavioral profiles, behavioral equivalence, change propagation, consistency checking, process model.

Six Scenarios of Exploiting an Ontology Based, Mobilized Learning Environment

In this article, six different exploitation possibilities of an educational ontology based, mobilized learning management system are presented. The focal point of this system is the educational ontology model. The first version of this educational ontology model serves as a foundation for curriculum development and adaptive knowledge testing. The extended educational ontology model is the foundation of a personnel selection and training system, developed by the OntoHR project. This system reveals the candidates’ competence gap and the missing learning outcomes of their qualifications in the light of a particular job role (Information System Analyst). Within the frame of the Contsens project, the educational ontology model supports a context sensitive and location based learning content delivery. The results of these projects can be combined in an educational ontology based, mobilized selection and learning management system, built on transparent content and location dependent curricula.

Impacting Student Perceptions about Careers in Information Systems

A shortage of graduates prepared to fill the available jobs in Information Systems remains. Previous studies have verified the shortage and attempted to explain why students do not major in Information Technology related fields. Since prior studies identified lack of awareness regarding the discipline as a major reason in ignoring the major, the purpose of this study is to determine if reading an article about the work of a requirements analyst would positively impact the perceptions of student respondents about careers in Information Systems. It was found that perceptions about careers in Information Systems related fields can be improved by exposing students to the work-life activities of Information Systems professionals. Using a pretest/posttest experimental design, perceptions regarding careers in IS were collected before and after students read Karl Wiegers’ article “So You Want to be a Requirements Analyst?” Posttest findings indicate statistically significant positive changes in participant’s perceptions about careers in Information Systems related fields, especially related to Systems Analysts roles.

Usefulness of acceptance testing information for component-based system maintenance

Component-based system (CBS) development usually involves adapting best-matched components and writing integration code to handle the mismatches between system-to-be needs and available components. CBS presents unique maintenance challenges as a system analyst focuses on integrating existing components to build a software application. The lack of detailed individual component specification has been a key area of concern in CBS development because of its impact on the maintenance phase of a CBS development life cycle. Recent research suggests that the framework for integrated test (Fit) helps to better comprehend systems. In this work, the author presents a study to investigate the usefulness of acceptance test cases (Fit tables) information, when used as a functional specification, during the maintenance process. The mean correct implementation percentage with and without Fit tables were 86.19 and 83.52, respectively. Similarly, the mean times for the Fit tables and without Fit tables were 46.5 and 45.73, respectively. The results show that acceptance test cases help improve the functional correctness of changes with a little more effort during the maintenance process of a CBS.

IMPROVING SOFTWARE SYSTEMS BY FLOW CONTROL ANALYSIS

Using agile methods during the implementation of the system that meets mission critical requirements can be a real challenge. The change in the system built of dozens or even hundreds of specialized devices with embedded software requires the cooperation of a large group of engineers. This article presents a solution that supports parallel work of groups of system analysts and software developers. Deployment of formal rules to the requirements written in natural language enables using formal analysis of artifacts being a bridge between software and system requirements. Formalism and textual form of requirements allowed the automatic generation of message flow graph for the (sub) system, called the “big-picture-model”. Flow diagram analysis helped to avoid a large number of defects whose repair cost in extreme cases could undermine the legitimacy of agile methods in projects of this scale. Retrospectively, a reduction of technical debt was observed. Continuous analysis of the “big picture model” improves the control of the quality parameters of the software architecture. The article also tries to explain why the commercial platform based on UML modeling language may not be sufficient in projects of this complexity.

An innovative ontology-driven system supporting personnel selection: the OntoHR case

This paper describes the initial development of an HRM system that aims to decrease the gap between higher vocational education and the labour market for a specific job in the ICT sector. This paper focuses specifically on the delineation of a process model and the selection of a suitable job role (information system analyst) that is valid across organisational and cultural boundaries. The process model implies various applied uses of this ontology-based system, including mapping qualifications in vocational education to current and valid job roles, testing and evaluating the student applicant on the basis of labour market driven competencies, and providing ad-hoc support to educational institutions by elucidating the weaknesses of particular VET curricula.

Pétur

Pétur Olivia Clare (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Ash fell from the wind. She began to take long walks. Before breakfast, after lunch, she walked the weed-pocked path to the lake. White ash turned the lake’s surface to desert and the tops of fjalls invisible. By the third morning, ash from Eyjafjallajökull coated the porch, the porch rail, the seats of the porch chairs, and the rented station wagon. The hrossagaukur had disappeared, and the cabin’s weathervane creak had stopped. Laura told Adam, again, she was going out. He was her son. She tied a gauze scarf around her nose and mouth. “I look like a robber,” she said. “No one will see you.” He opened the door for her into the otherworldly weather. She was garish in the ash in her flannel green coat. At the cabin window, he watched her diminish, and like a little boric flame a quarter mile out, her back rose on the path, then shrank and went out. [End Page 63] This dale in Iceland had a permanent population of eighty-six. They had seen almost no one … once or twice, until nine or ten at night, they’d heard shouting children. Icebabies, Laura called them. You can’t ever see them, of course. They’re made only of sound. Adam was a data systems analyst. He was thirty-six. He lived in a onebedroom apartment in Palo Alto. Laura also lived in Palo Alto, in a house she’d once shared with Adam’s father on the other side of town. Iceland for two weeks had been her idea for her birthday. She’d just turned sixty-one, and she’d told Adam she didn’t believe it, and he shouldn’t, either. You look in the mirror and acknowledge you’re as old as you like, she'd said. She felt nineteen, mostly. She looked fifty. She returned from her walk late enough that Adam had made soup. The cabin had five rooms, floors of dull old wood, a kitchen and dining area adjoining the living room. There was a woodstove, a coffee table with a fan of women’s fashion magazines, an expensive guitar on its stand, a box of black rocks and cockles from the lake and elsewhere, a striped sofa, a cushion ripped, all owned by the family they rented from. “On the news they’re saying don’t go out at all,” he said. “But no one’s said anything like that to me.” She untied her scarf. Bits of ash stuck to the silvering blonde roots of her hair. She was tall, too slim. She wore blue jeans and tall boots. “On TV, Mother.” He put a roll and a bowl in front of her, soup with halibut and celery from the store in town. “Well, people are out there,” she said. “I talked to some people.” “Who’s out there? Rangers?” “I think it’s coming down most at the lake,” she said. “Right now it’s like the moon. It’s not dangerous on the moon.” She put her scarf on the small dining room table. “Come with me, come to the lake. There isn’t much ash.” “It’s unhealthy.” She picked up a chunk of fish in her spoon. “What does anti-matter mean?” “What?” “What’s anti-matter?” “Anti-matter?” Adam wiped his mouth with his napkin. He liked when she asked questions he could answer. “Sure, it’s like a mirror image, a negative image of matter, like matter’s twin. And there are anti-protons. Anti-electrons—” “What happened to all the fish?” she said. “In the lake? All dead, from the ash.” “I don’t think they feel anything.” [End Page 64] She walked in, waking Adam from a Nap in a chair beside the fire in the woodstove. It had been two days. Her scarf was tangled around her neck. Her green coat off, a rip in her shirt at the elbow. She held her arm to her chest: a bright red cut was visible within the rip. She went into the bathroom with a sleepwalker’s involuntary smile and...

Same business same system?: A critique of organization and the information systems process

In trying to understand any aspect surrounding the success and failure of information systems (IS) practice, concepts of organizational analysis become increasingly important. Many issues arise and must be dealt with when an information system is to be developed and implemented. In order to avoid information system failures, information system analysts should adopt an approach that exploits the intrinsic and contextually dependent characteristics of organizational activities. Such an exploitation acknowledges the uniqueness inherent in individual organizations and may inform the adoption of appropriate technologies that can then be innovatively employed for competitive advantage. In order to facilitate successful future organizational change practices and to lay the base for supporting overall information system effectiveness, there is a need to employ both in theory and in practice, ideas of organizational learning and (critically informed) interpretivist information system analysis, design and implementation.

Neural Network Modelling and Dynamical System Theory

Recent studies have explored the organization of player movements in team sports using a range of statistical tools. However, the factors that best explain the performance of association football teams remain elusive. Arguably, this is due to the high-dimensional behavioural outputs that illustrate the complex, evolving configurations typical of team games. According to dynamical system analysts, movement patterns in team sports exhibit nonlinear self-organizing features. Nonlinear processing tools (i.e. Artificial Neural Networks; ANNs) are becoming increasingly popular to investigate the coordination of participants in sports competitions. ANNs are well suited to describing high-dimensional data sets with nonlinear attributes, however, limited information concerning the processes required to apply ANNs exists. This review investigates the relative value of various ANN learning approaches used in sports performance analysis of team sports focusing on potential applications for association football. Sixty-two research sources were summarized and reviewed from electronic literature search engines such as SPORTDiscus, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, Scirus, ScienceDirect and Elsevier. Typical ANN learning algorithms can be adapted to perform pattern recognition and pattern classification. Particularly, dimensionality reduction by a Kohonen feature map (KFM) can compress chaotic high-dimensional datasets into low-dimensional relevant information. Such information would be useful for developing effective training drills that should enhance self-organizing coordination among players. We conclude that ANN-based qualitative analysis is a promising approach to understand the dynamical attributes of association football players.