Keeping Information System Alive in Social Services Department - Research Paper Example

KEEPING INFORMATION SYSTEM ALIVE IN SOCIAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT of Faculty Department Supervisor Introduction Information system can be defined as ‘the embodiment of the spirit of our times’ (Charniawska 2005). Information systems, therefore, give us a view of how different study fields have attempted to establish the relationship between humans and machines. All these studies try to establish the social behaviors of a given group or community by developing information systems ranging from management studies and computer science to sociology. This results in a difficult perspective for a researcher to come up with questions and research methods on the study of information systems. The main reasons for one to carry out a given research are important in deciding which methodology to use. Available literature reviews and the current need to address a given problem are considered. There is a need for information systems to be active and remain ‘alive’ in order to provide information about the social workers to their customers. Having a better way of data entry and management is the main reason for having this study. To be able to address information requirements and high demands from the working environment of a social worker, the researcher thinks it wise to see how information system can be set up to operate continuously and be useful to the clients or customers. I will therefore look into information systems on social services (ISSS) in Italy based on the available literature reviews and government policies available (Palumbo 2001). A study by Carli and Barneschi (2009) looked at the impact of ISSS devices, although not directly. This reason propels the researcher to set up a study in analyzing ISSS within the working context to address this pertinent questions never raised before in the Italian social services. The researcher will base the research in Venezia Giulia Region where there is data recording software for clients, which has been in operation for a long time. This research is mainly designed to look at how maintenance is carried out in a different working environment. Maintenance The part provides information about our study from different reviews. Epistemological approach which is employed in this study has two parts: the information system maintenance is an area that is partially discussed by various disciplines while literatures address this issue directly in a broad perspective. Another point is that it is important to review other methods or techniques in dealing with the study. The review in this study will also look at the users and how they interact with the information system and how they define participatory design works. Aim This study aims at understanding the aspects of maintenance of information systems to keep the system alive. The researcher intends to look at the dynamics around which information system is kept alive in the context of an organization. Research questions What is the meaning of system maintenance? How is information system maintenance accomplished in the actual working environment? What should be maintained in information system? What is the role of the users in information system maintenance? Literature review Maintenance in different disciplines Given that this is a new phenomenon, it is important to first define it. The conventional meaning of the word ‘maintenance’ is in relation to technical intervention. Maintenance is the returning of a given device into a good form for efficiency. In Italian translation the term ‘maintenance’ is manutenzione which means operations that keep condition of something. Riggs in 1994 pointed out that: “System maintenance is the activity associated with keeping operational computer systems continuously in tune with the requirements of users, data processing operations, associated clerical functions, and external demands.” Maintenance based on computer approach Post-implementation is one of the terms used in computer science to imply maintenance. This is incorporated in the software life cycle. The following are stages of system development life cycle: feasibility study, system analysis, system design, implementation, review and maintenance (Avison & Fitzgerald 2000, p. 20) Maintenance is interpreted as a set of performed punctual activities. Maintenance can be defined either as a method of enhancing system’s functionality or solving an element’s defect (Edwards 1984). The following steps are proposed by Swanson (1976) during post-implementation: 1. Corrective intervention is a modification setup to fix errors in functionalities arisen in the design process. 2. Adaptive intervention is for technical changes in the system during deployment of the system. 3. Perfective intervention is used for maintaining the system. Strategic alignment and managerial accounts Strategic alignment model Internal and external pressure is experienced by both business and infrastructure domains. It is therefore important to coordinate each on their structural configuration. The model defined by Henderson and Venkatraman makes some scenarios hypothetical where we ask ourselves which domain between business and infrastructure leads the alignment way. There are different configurations that emerge from this scenario depending on the aim, either internal or external adaptation. In this hypothesized scenario, it does not matter which direction is taken; what is important is that the need to optimize the efficiency and efficacy of information systems is utilized by looking at technological affordances at the best. The main point here is to establish if there is a link between strategy alignment management and planning in a given organization. From the SAM model presented above, it is illustrated that alignment is a painted element that is static within an organization which is becoming the popular position within the managerial community (Avision et al. 2004). There is a greater acceptance and acknowledgement of the relationship between technology and organization by management studies which have established the interdependency, whereas traditional computer science failed to do so. The dimensions of system maintenance to ensure that the system is kept alive Methodology The research methodology was selected based on the theoretical framework. Epistemology and ontology research concerns relations of the search in VIVO for developing of the phenomenon under study. The research belongs to category of case studies (Stake 1995) and ethnographic methods. The two research methods were selected with an aim of tackling shortcomings of the other technique. The methodology will be used to solve the literature review and to address the maintenance-in-use case. The research study will use the Italian welfare domain and Information Systems on Social Services (ISSS) for two reasons: this is because the domain of study is still young and there is not enough information on social assistance. Another factor is the distinction between social welfare policies and social work (Folgheraiter 2007). The study will focus on zocial service information systems which are a new field in Italian environment (Mauri 2007). This study will first focus on the present state of the Italian ISSS in relation to the national welfare system and analyzing the architecture. This study will seek to explain why ISSS is a regional matter and should be declined in plural in Italy. The Italian information system on social services (ISSS) and its regional implementations This section will present information about the welfare information system of Italy, based on the recent evolutions in the implementation domain. The historical process of the formation of Information System Social Services and its organization structure will be considered. We have mentioned that ISSS is regional; hence, the study will have a closer look at the regional level given that it is its originality. The study will now be narrowed down to a region where the researcher will look at Friuli Venezia-Giulia’s case. ISSS and the architecture of the welfare domain The acknowledgement of the information systems by the Italians came before the welfare domain given that the welfare was delayed until nineties. Therefore, the Health Information System is “much more institutionalized. However, if there are good technical reasons to distinguish it from the ‘younger’ welfare one, they could not be separated in practice. […] The distinction blurs once into the real life integration between welfare and healthcare” (Carli Sardi 2009a, T/A). Health information systems and welfare domains are important ones but distinct, hence requiring similar peculiarities. Below is the system architecture. Source: (Mauri 2007) Schedule Searching literature review Identifying the field study location Maintenance in use participation Research methodology Collecting data Data analysis Interpretation of data References Avison, D & Fitzgerald, G 2000, Information systems development: methodologies, techniques and tools, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford. Ciborra, C & Lanzara, GF 1991, ‘Designing network in action: formative contexts and post-modern system development’, in Clarke, C & Cameron, J (eds.), Managing information technology’s organizational impact (pp. 265-279), Elsevier Eds., Amsterdam. Carli Sardi, L & Barneschi, G (eds.) 2009, I sistemi informativi nei servizi sociali: qualità evalutazione, Edizioni del Cerro, Tirrenia (PI) Heeks, R 1999, ‘Information system for public management. Centralised vs. decentralised management of public information systems: a core-periphery solution,’ Working Paper 7, Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester. Henderson, A & Kyng, M 1991, ‘There is no place like home: continuing design in use’, in Greenbaum & Kyng, Design at work: cooperative design of computer systems, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, NJ. Henderson, J & Venkatramen, N 1993, ‘Strategic alignment: a model for organisational transformation,’ IBM Systems Journal, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 472-484. Hine, C 2007, ‘Multisited ethnography as a middle range methodology for contemporary STS,’ Science, Technology and Human Values, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 652-671. Hirsheim, R & Chen, W 2004, ‘A paradigmatic and methodological examination of information systems research from 1991 to 2001,’ Information Systems Journal, vol. 14, pp. 197-235. Howcroft, D & Wilson 2003, ‘Paradoxes of participatory practices: the Janus role of the system developer,’ Information & Organisation, vol. 13, pp. 1-24. Swidler, A 2001, ‘What anchors cultural practices,’ in TR Schatzki, K Knorr Cetina & E Von Savigny (eds), The practice turn in contemporary theory (pp. 74-92), London and NewYork: Routledge. Swanson, E 1976, ‘The dimension of maintenance,’ in Proceedings of the 2nd international conference on software engineering, 13-15/10 (pp. 492-7), San Francisco. Read More