Análisis de un sistema de información usando metodologías participativas SSM - Caso de aplicación compañía Forsa S.A.

Abstract

This document discusses how Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) could be applied within the context of a Colombian Company called, Forsa S.A, so that opportunities to enhanceits current information system (IS)can be identified. By means of developing participative workshops with key users of the IS, the PSM employed allowed us to make a diagnosis of the company’s current IS and propose actions to improve the system so that it can support the business operations, its departments and main competitive strategy. The PSM workshops worked as vehicles to debate the IS’s main strengths and weaknesses, as well as any improvements that key users considered were important or required here. In this regards, the document focuses on discussing the literature on problem structuring methods (PSMs), particularlySSM (Soft Systems Methodology), and how it can facilitate structuring complex organizational problems in general. Then, the particular benefits that SSM can offer to model complex IS technologies are discussed. Finally, we explore how SSM could facilitate the interaction with organizational teams so they can structure and solve complex organizational problems in a participative and consensual fashion, and what benefits does this mean for the organization. Results show that SSM seems to facilitate the integration of different people’s views. The SSM methodology was implemented via workshops with the key users, who were mainly representatives from the following organizational areas: purchasing, billing, accounting, treasury, costs and logistics. They identified the weaknesses of the current information system and proposed changes and action plans to overcome them in the future. The main objective of the changes proposed was to make the IS a tool that is able to provide useful information to better support the business operations and thus have reliable information for decision-making.