Modelling and simulation of complex sociotechnical systems: envisioning and analysing work environments

Abstract

Accurate comprehension and analysis of complex sociotechnical systems is a daunting task. Empirically examining, or simply envisioning the structure and behaviour of such systems challenges traditional analytic and experimental approaches as well as our everyday cognitive capabilities. Computer-based models and simulations afford potentially useful means of accomplishing sociotechnical system design and analysis objectives. From a design perspective, they can provide a basis for a common mental model among stakeholders, thereby facilitating accurate comprehension of factors impacting system performance and potential effects of system modifications. From a research perspective, models and simulations afford the means to study aspects of sociotechnical system design and operation, including the potential impact of modifications to structural and dynamic system properties, in ways not feasible with traditional experimental approaches. This paper describes issues involved in the design and use of such models and simulations and describes a proposed path forward to their development and implementation. Practitioner Summary: The size and complexity of real-world sociotechnical systems can present significant barriers to their design, comprehension and empirical analysis. This article describes the potential advantages of computer-based models and simulations for understanding factors that impact sociotechnical system design and operation, particularly with respect to process and occupational safety.

SEIPS-based process modeling in primary care

“…Therefore, moving forward, we must examine these multi-level system interactions between distal and proximal factors (Carayon et al, 2013; Holden et al, 2013). We must develop methods for conceptualizing, describing and measuring these interactions, or the “system-ness” of the system (Carayon et al, 2013; Hettinger et al, 2015; Robertson et al, 2015). …”

“…Human factors engineering, in particular, has gained increasing recognition and can provide system design methods to address the needs and desires of stakeholders in the healthcare system and other important sociotechnical aspects of health care (Gurses, Ozok & Pronovost, 2011; Reid et al, 2005). As Walker and Carayon (2009, p. 471) note, “Human-factors engineering (HFE, the application of knowledge regarding human characteristics to the design of work systems) can provide theoretical and pragmatic guidance to process design.” It is important to shift from task-level to process-level analysis (Carayon, Hancock, et al, 2015; Hettinger et al, 2015). …”

Making Transparency Transparent: The Evolution of Observation in Management Theory

“…Although STS "remained a largely under-appreciated domain throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the sociotechnical 'movement' re-emerged in the 1980s and beyond" (Hettinger, Kirlik, Goh, & Buckle, 2015: 600; for a full review of STS, see, for example, Pasmore et al, 1982), in part through its influence on three other literatures that are becoming symbols of modern enterprise: computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), human-computer interaction (HCI), and, most recently, human-robot interaction (HRI). Each of these multidisciplinary, technologycentric literatures has become active and influential beyond its academic journal (CSCW Journal, HCI, and the Journal of Human-Robot Interaction, respectively), in part because more research on observation is being conducted in these fields than in all the other management scholarship fields combined.…”

A Proposal for a Predictive Performance Assessment Model in Complex Sociotechnical Systems Combining Fuzzy Logic and the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM)

“…While this approach might be valid in case of inanimate objects, it becomes inadequate as soon as living objects are involved [2]. The term "sociotechnical system" refers to a complex operational system, which consists of interactive social and technical components [3]. The social aspect of a sociotechnical system refers to humans as individuals or organizations.…”