In this discussion, we will focus on the way to build process models and discuss

Question

In this discussion, we will focus on the way to build process models and discuss their technical aspects. Give an example of how process modeling might be beneficial, whether specifically for an IT system development project or not. How are logical process modeling techniques used in detailed systems requirements analysis? Give an example of your own.

Okay, class. Last week, we worked on some one-to-many data modeling problems. We learned that the foreign key always goes into the child table.
Now how can you recognize the child table in a word problem?

Explanation / Answer

Software process networks can be viewed as representing multiple interconnected task chains (Kling 1982, Garg 1989). Task chains represent a non-linear sequence of actions that structure and transform available computational objects (resources) into intermediate or finished products. Non-linearity implies that the sequence of actions may be non-deterministic, iterative, accommodate multiple/parallel alternatives, as well as partially ordered to account for incremental progress. Task actions in turn can be viewed a non-linear sequences of primitive actions which denote atomic units of computing work, such as a user's selection of a command or menu entry using a mouse or keyboard. Winograd and others have referred to these units of cooperative work between people and computers as "structured discourses of work" (Winograd 1986), while task chains have become popularized under the name of "workflow" (Bolcer 1998). Task chains can be employed to characterize either prescriptive or descriptive action sequences. Prescriptive task chains are idealized plans of what actions should be accomplished, and in what order. For example, a task chain for the activity of object-oriented software design might include the following task actions: Develop an informal narrative specification of the system. Identify the objects and their attributes. Identify the operations on the objects. Identify the interfaces between objects, attributes, or operations. Implement the operations. Clearly, this sequence of actions could entail multiple iterations and non-procedural primitive action invocations in the course of incrementally progressing toward an object-oriented software design. Task chains join or split into other task chains resulting in an overall production network or web (Kling 1982). The production web represents the "organizational production system" that transforms raw computational, cognitive, and other organizational resources into assembled, integrated and usable software systems. The production lattice therefore structures how a software system is developed, used, and maintained. However, prescriptive task chains and actions cannot be formally guaranteed to anticipate all possible circumstances or idiosyncratic
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foul-ups that can emerge in the real world of software development (Bendifallah 1989, Mi 1990). Thus, any software production web will in some way realize only an approximate or incomplete description of software development. Articulation work is a kind of unanticipated task that is performed when a planned task chain is inadequate or breaks down. It is work that represents an open-ended non-deterministic sequence of actions taken to restore progress on the disarticulated task chain, or else to shift the flow of productive work onto some other task chain (Bendifallah 1987, Grinter 1996, Mi 1990, Mi 1996, Scacchi and Mi 1997). Thus, descriptive task chains are employed to characterize the observed course of events and situations that emerge when people try to follow a planned task sequence. Articulation work in the context of software evolution includes actions people take that entail either their accommodation to the contingent or anomalous behavior of a software system, or negotiation with others who may be able to affect a system modification or otherwise alter current circumstances (Bendifallah 1987, Grinter 1996, Mi 1990, Mi 1996, Scacchi and Mi 1997). This notion of articulation work has also been referred to as software process dynamism.

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