Interference between propagating changes and its effect on system failure

Computer-based, socio-technical systems projects are frequently failures. In particular, computer-based information systems often fail to live up to their promise. Part of the problem lies in the uncertainty of the effect of combining the subsystems that comprise the complete system; i.e. the system's emergent behaviour cannot be predicted from a knowledge of the subsystems. This paper suggests uncertainty management is a fundamental unifying concept in analysis and design of complex systems and goes on to indicate that this is due to the co-evolutionary nature of the requirements and implementation of socio-technical systems. The paper shows a model of the propagation of a system change that indicates that the introduction of two or more changes over time can cause chaotic emergent behaviour.

Emergent temporal behaviour and collaborative work

Although collaboration manifestly takes place in time, the role of time in shaping the behaviour of collaborations, and collaborative systems, is not well understood. Time is more than clock-time or the subjective experience of time; its effects on systems include differential rates of change of system elements, temporally non-linear behaviour and phenomena such as entrainment and synchronization. As a system driver, it generates emergent effects shaping systems and their behaviour. In the paper we present a systems view of time, and consider the implications of such a view through the case of collaborative development of a new university timetabling system. Teasing out the key temporal phenomena using the notion of temporal trajectories helps us understand the emergent temporal behaviour and suggests a means for improving outcomes.

The co-evolutionary dynamics of IS engagement

In this paper we consider the co-evolutionary dynamics of IS engagement where episodic change of implementation increasingly occurs within the context of linkages and interdependencies between systems and processes within and across organisations. Although there are many theories that interpret the various motors of change be it lifecycle, teleological, dialectic or evolutionary, our paper attempts to move towards a unifying view of change by studying co-evolutionary dynamics from a complex systems perspective. To understand how systems and organisations co-evolve in practice and how order emerges, or fails to emerge, we adopt complex adaptive systems theory to incorporate evolutionary and teleological motors, and actor-network theory to incorporate dialectic motors. We illustrate this through the analysis of the implementation of a novel academic scheduling system at a large research-intensive Australian university.

Wear-type rail corrugation prediction: Field study

Rail corrugation consists of undesirable periodic fluctuations in wear on railway track and costs the railway industry substantially for it's removal by regrinding. Much research has been performed on this problem, particularly over the past two decades, however, a reliable cure remains elusive for wear-type corrugations. Recently the growth behaviour of wear-type rail corrugation-has been investigated using theoretical and experimental models as part of the RailCRC Project (#18). A critical part of this work is the tuning and validation of these models via an extensive field testing program. Rail corrugations have been monitored for 2 years on sites throughout Australia. Measured rail surface profiles are used to determine corrugation growth rates on each site. Growth rates and other characteristics are compared with theoretical predictions from a computer model for validation. The results from several pertinent sites are presented and discussed.