Work system concepts as the core for teaching Information Systems and Operations Management

The work system approach addresses the common core of Information Systems and Operations Management: Both take a systems approach. Both emphasize performance improvement for operational systems. Both emphasize business processes and information. Both recognize the importance of human knowledge and skills. The work system approach addresses the core of both fields by viewing all systems in organizations as work systems. (See references). This tutorial summarizes the latest developments in teaching undergraduate and MBA students about work systems. It will provide a set of class-tested templates. Topics include: The work system approach: work system framework, work system snapshots, work system life cycle model Template for work system snapshots Template for learning about work system metrics Sample student exercises in summarizing work systems and metrics based on situations in newspaper articles Detailed template for a term paper analyzing a work system in an organization