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CHAPTER 2
Understanding and Modeling
Organizational Systems
Learning Objectives
Once you have mastered the material in this chapter you will be able to:
1. Understand that organizations and their members are systems and that analysts need to
take a systems perspective.
2. Depict systems graphically, using context-level data flow diagrams, entity-relationship
models, use cases, and use case scenarios.
3. Recognize that different levels of management require different systems.
4. Comprehend that organizational culture impacts the design of information systems.
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To analyze and design appropriate information systems, systems ana-
lysts need to comprehend the organizations they work in as systems
shaped through the interactions of three main forces: the levels of man-
agement, design of organizations, and organizational cultures.
Organizations are large systems composed of interrelated subsystems.
The subsystems are influenced by three broad levels of management
decision makers—operations, middle management, and strategic man-
agement—that cut horizontally across the organizational system. Organizational cultures
and subcultures influence the way people in subsystems interrelate. These topics and their
implications for information systems development are considered in this chapter.
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