T205B – SYSTEMS’ THINKING THEORY & PRACTICE

ARAB OPEN UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF BUSINESS STUDIES
T205B – SYSTEMS’ THINKING THEORY & PRACTICE
2016-2017 – Fall 2016 - SEMESTER I

T205 B - TMA – fall 2016

Please read these instructions carefully, and contact your tutor if you require any further clarifications. You should submit your completed assignment to your tutor to arrive no later than the cut-off Date (December, 2016)

Please use standard A4 size paper for submitting the hard copy of your TMA. Your name, personal identifier, course and assignment numbers must appear at the top of each sheet. A soft copy of your TMA must be uploaded to the university moodle within the indicated cut-off date. The hard & soft copies must be identical. Please leave wide margins and space at the end of each sheet for tutor comments. It is better to use double spacing so that you can easily handwrite corrections to your drafts and tutors have space to include their feedback on the script. Start each question in the assignment on a new page. Any extended text should ideally be word-processed, but, diagrams and accompanying notes may be hand drawn and hand written and on an A4 paper.

Completing and sending your assignments
When you have completed your TMA, you must fill in the assignment form (PT3), taking care to fill all information correctly including your personal identifier, course code, section & tutor, and assignment number. Each TMA and its PT3 form should be uploaded on the AOU branch moodle within the cut-off date. Late submissions require approval from the branch course coordinator and will be subject to grade deductions. All assignments are treated in strict confidence.
If you feel that you are unable to meet the cut-off date of the TMA because of unusual circumstances, please contact your tutor as soon as possible to discuss a possible extension to the cut-off date.

Plagiarism
University Definitions of cheating and plagiarism
According to the Arab Open University By-laws,
“the following acts represent cases of cheating and plagiarism:
• Verbatim copying of printed material and submitting them as part of TMAs without proper academic acknowledgement and documentation.
• Verbatim copying of material from the Internet, including tables and graphics.
• Copying other students’ notes or reports.
• Using paid or unpaid material prepared for the student by individuals or firms.
• Utilization of, or proceeding to utilize, contraband materials or devices in examinations.”

Penalty on plagiarism:
The following is the standard plagiarism penalty applied across branches as per Article 11 of the university by-laws:
1) Awarding of zero for a TMA wherein more than 20% of the content is plagiarized.
2) Documentation of warning in student record.
3) Failure in the course to dismissal from the University.
All University programs are required to apply penalties that are consistent with the University by laws.

Examples of Plagiarism

Copying from a single or multiple sources, this is where the student uses one or more of the following as the basis for the whole, or a good part, of the assignment:
1. Published or unpublished books, articles or reports
2. The Internet
3. The media (e.g.TV programmes, radio programmes or newspaper articles)
4. An essay from an essay bank
5. A piece of work previously submitted by another student
6. Copying from a text which is about to be submitted for the same assignment

Introduction
This TMA has one question with three parts. You should answer them all. The questions in this assignment are all about different aspects of the process of exploring a complex situation: drawing different kinds of maps of it, recognizing how complex it is, identifying the different perspectives it can be viewed from, and stepping back to reflect on this whole process of exploration to see the strengths and weaknesses of the approach you have adopted, and how you might do it better.

Question 01 (100 % marks)
a) Read through the attached case study “Creating world class performance in a Jaguar assembly plant”. As you read through the case, create one multiple cause diagram to identify the factors/sources which can lead to the creation to a high performance at Jaguar. It is advised that students submit hand drawn diagrams as opposed to computer generated ones. Photocopies of diagrams should not be accepted. Reflect on your diagram in more than 200 words. (15% marks).
b) Based on what you learned in T205B concept file 04 section II “Control”, and taking the “creation of high performance” as your goal, draw one closed loop control model to show the inputs’, processes, and control that can lead to achieving that systems goal. Reflect on your diagram in more than 200 words (15% marks).
c) Using an essay format of no more than 2000 words, and based on what you learned in T205B concept file 04 tackle the following:

1- Describe what is meant by organizational goals and the role of goal unity on goal achievement and organizational performance. Assess the existence of goal unity at Jaguar, and its impact on performance. Word Count 350 words (10 % marks).

2- Analyze the impact of using performance related pay, and job redesign on organizational effectiveness over the long term and briefly discuss the alternatives to the scientific management approach. Assess which approach is applied at Jaguar and analyze its effectiveness using examples from the case. Word Count 650 words (20 % Marks).

3- Assess the role of organizational structure on effectiveness and performance analyzing how adopting the wrong structure can lead to failure. Assess how this can affect the success of implementing a change program. Justify your work based on concepts covered in T205B concept file 04, section III structure, and section IV Development. Word count 300 (15 % Marks)

4- Discuss the role of organizational culture in shaping organizational performance and assess the role of Jaguar’s organizational culture on performance. Word Count 350 Words. (15 % Marks).

5- Discuss the importance of investing in people for organizational effectiveness. Word Count 350 word. (10% marks)

(2000 words) (70 marks) (Please see guidance below)


General Mark’s deductions of 20% as follows

• PT3 Form (failure to use the PT3 completely filled) (deduct up to 5% marks)
• TMA Presentation and Structure, and word count (untidy, work way below or above the word count, no display of word count) (deduct up to 5% marks)
• Referencing and in-text citation (poor referencing and in-text citation, without plagiarism, (deduct up to 10% marks).


Guidance to Question 01

For this question you need to read the assigned article carefully and to reflect back on concept file 04 and 05 for the theoretical assessment.

(a) At this stage of the course you are expected to have developed good understanding of the purpose of drawing multiple cause diagrams as part of applying the SUDA process for solving a messy situation. A multiple cause diagram is the third type of diagram drawn in the understanding phase of the SUDA process of mess analysis, in order to identify the multiple causes and effects of a situation or an event. Please pay attention to the conventions and make sure that the identified causes and their effects are relevant, and do make sense to the reader. Go back to T552 (Diagramming) the appendix to refresh your memory about the conventions.

(b) This is your first attempt at drawing control model diagram. The task should not be challenging though. Refer to Concept file 04 section II “Control”. You need to draw a control model diagram to show how the selected inputs can reach the stated goal. You also need to illustrate clear, relevant, and non-overlapping inputs, clear and accurate transformation process and an output which is consistent with the goal. You also need to specify which organizational entity is in charge of assuming the role of each of the elements/components of the control model (i.e. actuator, sensor, and comparator). The parties in charge of performing each task within the control mechanism should be clearly identified. It is very important that your diagram is specific rather than generic.

(c) Here you need to practice your analytical skills to assess what is required. Remember to start with a good introduction in which you define the assessed topic before moving on to explaining your plan for working on the TMA. In the body you should move on to develop each section of the essay by relying on both theoretical principles and practical examples from the case.

END OF T205B TMA QUESTIONS