CHAPTER 2

UNDERSTANDING AND MODELING

ORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS

Prepared by ENGR. RYNEFEL ELOPRE

Learning Topics
• Organizations as Systems
• Depicting Systems Graphically
• Data flow diagram
• Entity-relationship model
• Use case modeling
• Levels of Management
• Organizational Culture
Overview
• Systems analysts need to comprehend the organizations they work in as
systems shaped through the interactions of three main forces:

1. Levels of management
2. Design of organizations
3. Organizational cultures

• Organizations are large systems composed of interrelated subsystems.

Overview
• The subsystems are influenced by three broad levels of management
decision makers that cut horizontally across the organizational system.

1. Operations
2. Middle management
3. Strategic management

• Organizational cultures and subcultures all influence the way people in

subsystems interrelate.
ORGANIZATIONS AS SYSTEMS
• Organizations and their members are usefully conceptualized as systems
designed to accomplish predetermined goals and objectives through
people and other resources that they employ.

• Organizations are composed of smaller, interrelated systems serving

specialized functions.
1. Departments
2. Units
3. Divisions
4. Others
ORGANIZATIONS AS SYSTEMS
• Organizations and their members are usefully conceptualized as systems
designed to accomplish predetermined goals and objectives through
people and other resources that they employ.

• Organizations are composed of smaller, interrelated systems serving

specialized functions.
1. Departments
2. Units
3. Divisions
4. Others
ORGANIZATIONS AS SYSTEMS
Interrelatedness and Independence of Systems

• All systems and subsystems are interrelated and interdependent

• All systems process inputs from their environments
• All systems are contained by boundaries separating them from their
environments
• System feedback for planning and control
• An ideal system self-corrects or self-regulates itself.
ORGANIZATIONS AS SYSTEMS
Virtual Organizations and Virtual Teams
• A virtual organization has parts of the organization in different physical
locations
• Computer networks and communications technology are used to bring
virtual teams together to work on projects

Benefits of Virtual Organizations and Teams

• Possibility of reducing costs of physical facilities
• More rapid response to customer needs
• Helping virtual employees to fulfill their familial obligations to children or
aging parents
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
• A system or subsystem as it exists within the corporate organization may
be graphically depicted in several ways.
• The various graphical models show the boundaries of the system and the
information used in the system.

1. Context-Level Data Flow Diagram

2. Entity-Relationship Model
3. Use Case Modeling
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Context-Level Data Flow Diagram
• Context-level data flow diagram also called an environmental model.
• Data flow diagrams focus on the data flowing into and out of the system
and the processing of the data.
• The context-level data flow diagram is one way to show the scope of the
system, or what is to be included in the system.
• The external entities are outside of the scope and something over which
the system has no control.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Context-Level Data Flow Diagram
• Processes transform incoming data in
to outgoing information, and the
content level has only one process,
representing the entire system.
• The entity represents any entity that
supplies or receives information from
the system but is not a part of the
system.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Context-Level Data Flow Diagram
• This entity may be a person, a group
of people, a corporate position or
department, or other systems.

• The lines that connect the external

entities to the process are called data
flows, and they represent data.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY

• In this example, the most basic

elements of an airline reservation
system are represented.
• The passenger (an entity) initiates a
travel request (data flow).
• We can also see that the passenger
reservation is sent to the airline.
• The context-level data flow diagram
serves as a good starting point for
drawing the use case diagram
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Entity-Relationship Model
• An entity may be a person, a place, or a thing, such as a passenger on
an airline, a destination, or a plane.
• An entity may be an event, such as the end of the month, a sales period,
or a machine breakdown.
• A relationship is the association that describes the interaction among the
entities.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Entity-Relationship Model
An entity-relationship diagram showing a
one-to-one relationship.
At the end of the line is marked with two
short parallel marks (| |), signifying that this
relationship is one-to-one.
The phrase on the right side of the line is
read from top to bottom as follows: “One
EMPLOYEE is assigned to one PHONE
EXTENSION.”
On the left side, as you read from bottom
to top, the arrow says, “One PHONE
EXTENSION is listed for one EMPLOYEE.”
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Entity-Relationship Model
The crow’s foot notation (>—+) is obvious
on this diagram, and this particular example
is a many-to-one example.

Read from left to right, the arrow signifies,

“Many EMPLOYEES are members of a
DEPARTMENT.”

Read from right to left, it implies, “One

DEPARTMENT contains many EMPLOYEES.”
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Examples of different types of relationships in E-R diagrams
1. “An EMPLOYEE is assigned to an OFFICE,”
is a one-to-one relationship.
2. “One CARGO AIRCRAFT will serve one or
more DISTRIBUTION CENTERs.” is a
one-to-many relationship.
3. “A SYSTEMS ANALYST may be assigned to
MANY PROJECTS,” meaning that the
analyst can be assigned to no projects,
one, or many projects.

The circle (O) indicates that none is possible in the

next relationship.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Examples of different types of relationships in E-R diagrams
4. “One or many SALESPEOPLE are assigned to
one or more CUSTOMERs.” It is the classic
many-to-many relationship.
5. “The HOME OFFICE can have one or many
EMPLOYEEs,” or “One or more EMPLOYEEs
may or may not be assigned to the HOME
OFFICE.”
6. “Many PASSENGERs are flying to many
DESTINATIONs.”
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Three different types of entities used in E-R diagrams.

An associative entity can only exist if it

is connected to at least two other
entities.

An attributive, to show data that are

completely dependent on the existence
of a fundamental entity
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
The RESERVATION is for a CONCERT/SHOW.
The CONCERT/SHOW holds the RESERVATION,
and the RESERVATION is in the name of the
PATRON.

We added an associative entity here because a

RESERVATION was created due to the
information system required to relate the
PATRON and the CONCERT/SHOW.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
We add an attributive entity to handle the
many performances of the CONCERT/SHOW.

In this case the RESERVATION is made for a

particular PERFORMANCE, and the
PERFORMANCE is one of many that belong to
a specific CONCERT/SHOW.

In turn the CONCERT/SHOW has many perform

ances, and one PERFORMANCE has a
RESERVATION that is in the name of a
particular PATRON.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Use Case Modeling
• An entity may be a person, a place, or a thing, such as a passenger on
an airline, a destination, or a plane.
• An entity may be an event, such as the end of the month, a sales period,
or a machine breakdown.
• A relationship is the association that describes the interaction among the
entities.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Use Case Symbols
• A use case diagram contains the actor and use case symbols, along with
connecting lines.
• Actors are similar to external entities; actor refers to a particular role of a
user of the system.
• An actor can be a human, another system, or a device such as a
keyboard or Web connection.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Use Case Relationships
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY
Examples of use cases and behavioral relationships for student enrollment.
DEPICTING SYSTEMS GRAPHICALLY

A use case diagram representing a system used

to plan a conference.
Levels of Management
Management in organizations exists on three horizontal levels:
1. Operational control
2. Managerial planning and control
3. Strategic management.

Each level carries its own responsibilities,

and all work toward achieving
organizational goals and objectives in
their own ways.
Organizational Culture

• Organizational culture is an established area of

research that has grown remarkably in the last
generation.
• Organizations have cultures and subcultures
• Learn from verbal and nonverbal symbolism
Organizational Culture
Verbal Symbolism
• Myths
• Metaphors
• Visions
• Humor

Non-verbal Symbolism
• Shared artifacts - Trophies, etc.
• Rites and rituals - Promotions, Birthday, etc.
• Clothing worn
• Office placement and decorations