The Theory of Socio Technological System - Essay Example

Computer-Based Learning - The Internet has revolutionized how we do day-to-day things, including learning. E-Learning or Web-based learning is beneficial for individuals as well as organizations as it has many advantages. It not only provides flexibility & ease of access but also the performances are improved & are better compared to students studying in traditional schools.

Overview

                                             Figure 1 Socio-Technical theory

Following are the essential components of a Socio-Technical System of a Course Net;

1. Hardware: A Course Net will require servers, network & storage devices.
2. Software: Soft required would operating systems, presentation & communication applications, messaging solutions, etc.
3. Physical Surroundings Data Centera to private cooling arrangements, physical access control & security, office space.
4. People: I staff, trainers, technical writers, engineers, project managers & stakeholders.
5. Procedures: IT best practices, project management principles & decision-making policies, documentation, data flow & reporting.
6. Laws & regulations: Laws as applicable such as Electonic Signatures in Global & national commerce act. Uniform electronic transactions act etc.

Analysis

Socio-Technical Analysis Of course Net:

A thorough investigation of the Course Net case requires a grasp of most of these items. Setting sight on the entire system helps to avoid the trap of finding a single point of blame. If an application is not working as desired, has bugs, fails too often it is easy to fix blame on the software programmer. However, this may not be a far-sighted approach.

There can be too many reasons for an application or a program not performing such as due to hardware constraints, not enough disk space, network glitches, so on & so forth.

Hence, it is essential to triage, diagnose, identify & troubleshoot appropriately, and fix the bugs instead of hogwash.

In an organization that does not have documented policies or procedures, it is easy to shift blame. For a project to be successful, roles & responsibilities must be clearly defined. Sufficient attention is given to various management Asperger's. Cost Management, Risk Management, Scope Management, Time Management, etc. Project Management is an approach of planning, organizing & managing resources to achieve flourishing goals & objectives of a specific project.

All these aspects define the rate of success of a project. Effective project management principles & use of IT best practices such as defined by ITIL, SOX, etc. are always helpful for the project to proceed in an organized, phased manner.

In the event of missing procedures or insufficient attention towards one of the procedures, it is difficult to be reasonable & determine the breakdown in the workflow. Those belonging to the bottom of the food chain are often held responsible for making mistakes through a decision-maker would have committed strategic or a tactical error.

The absence of necessary data points required for evaluation & lack of performance parameters can lead employees as well as managers to be subjective in analysis. d lac of data can stakeholders/managers to be over-confident as they rely on perceptions instead of performances. On the contrary, managers may like to pass off the responsibility of deciding someone else. Having second thoughts or believing that any choice that is made is predestined to fail. This is the primary cause for indecisiveness & for taking wrong decisions.