lecture 1 : introduction

1. lecture 1 : introduction This lecture tries to answer the following questions: how different is IE from other engineering disciplines and from management? what is the relationship between IE,ORand MANAGEMENT SCIENCE? what is IE work about? who needs SYSTEMS THINKINGand why? what is SYSTEMS THINKING anyway? IE 398 - lecture 1

2. what is IE work about? • IE seeks to improve organised human activity • organised human activitytakes place in what we can perceive as organisations or human activity systems • human activity systems are social systems in the first place • all engineering work has a social context, but systems that non-IE engineers work with are mostly perceived as technical systems • technical systems are embedded in almost all human activity systems • for this reason, human activity systems can also be called socio-technical systems IE 398 - lecture 1

3. how different is IE ? • engineers are concerned with goal seeking systems that are primarily closed • this means that there is a goal the system wants to achieve • such systems can be put into a laboratory and studied in isolation from the environment • the system can thus be reducedto its parts and analysed • analysiscan provideknowledge and understandingof a closed system IE 398 - lecture 1

4. IE is concerned with purposefulsystems that are always open • a purposeful system is an organisation with goal seeking individuals • these goals can change from person to person and also from time to time • open systems do not fit into laboratories • understanding an open system will not be possiblethrough analysis only IE 398 - lecture 1

5. analysis of a system reveals its structure and how it works;its product isknowledge, not understanding • we need systemsthinking to understand human activity systems • systems thinking includes and complements analysis • this is how OR/IE is different from most engineering and from “disciplinary” science IE 398 - lecture 1

6. IE – OR – MS • OR provides the “scientific” basis of IE • the mathematical models and techniques used by IE are primarily OR models and techniques • in the past, IE was more concerned with the engineering applications of OR • IE now deals with almost all applications of OR, alongside traditional engineering • MS is another term for OR IE 398 - lecture 1

7. who needs systems thinking ? As we already said before, IE learning has dual objectives: • mastering quantitativeanalysis and mathematicalmodelling (OR, probability theory, statistics, economics etc) • building systems thinkingskills in order to put this knowledge into effective use IE 398 - lecture 1

8. what is systems thinking ? five real-life examples that need ST: • an emergency services call centre • answering, recording and checking calls • providing fast response • balancing costs and waiting times • difficulty in evaluating response rate aqueueing, orwaiting lineproblem IE 398 - lecture 1

9. vehicle scheduling • varying pick-up/delivery times • “time-windows” • labour rules • capacity and congestion restrictions • 20! = 2 432 902 000 000 000 000 least time, least distance, least cost ? IE 398 - lecture 1

10. writing a mission statement • should be relevant and meaningful • achievable and measurablegoals and targets • active cooperation and participationmust be secured • often a compromise • lengthy canvassing and negotiations needed soft OR;problem structuring IE 398 - lecture 1

11. the “Deep Cove” project • an environmentally responsible economic project to transport tail race water • no permanent residence in the sound, reduced tanker speed, rubbish removal etc. • but there will be other ecological risks: • increased salination • faster mixing of fresh and salt water • risk of spills • risk of introducing pests and poaching • etc. conflictingobjectives, MCDM IE 398 - lecture 1

12. screening for breast cancer • early tretment of growths • incidence rises with age • 95% chance of cure if detected at preinvasive phase • mammography effective 85% of the time • costs $200 000-$300 000 per machine; $50-$100 per screening etc. what is the best screening policy ? how do we balance costs and human suffering ? IE 398 - lecture 1

13. common features of these situations: • a complexproblem situation • what is the problem? • what do we mean by a solution? • incomplete information • situation conceivedas a system; meaning that a system is, • not an ontological entity (ontology is an area of metaphysics that studies the nature and existence of reality) • but it is an epistemological entity (epistemology is an area of metaphysics that studies the nature of knowledge about reality) IE 398 - lecture 1

14. situation requires systems thinking such as: • hard OR, or • soft OR • all these situations involve gaining knowledge about a human activity system and all such knowledge is heavily meaning loaded and experience based • knowledge is gained in what Checkland (1) calls the experience – action cycle: IE 398 - lecture 1

15. IE 398 - lecture 1

16. “systemsthinking is to formulate some systems relevant to aspects of perceived reality that is of interest and then to use the systems in a methodology to find out about, or gain insight to, or engineer some of the world outside” the following figure from Checkland (1) summarises the difference between the two perspectives: ------------------------------------------------------------------ (1) Checkland P.,J. Scoles Soft Systems Methodology in Action, Wiley 1990 IE 398 - lecture 1

17. IE 398 - lecture 1