The Work System Method - Department of Computer Information ...

Scoping the Work System
…the work system being analyzed should be defined as the
smallest work system that has the problems or opportunities that
launched the analysis.
The work system’s outputs are the products and services it
produces for its customers.
Those customers are often participants in other work systems that use the
products and services.
The work system’s inputs are information and other resources it
receives from other work systems and from other sources.
Some of the inputs a work system receives are not important enough to list on a
one-page summary.
Those that are important enough to include should be mentioned explicitly in the
activities listed under work practices.
For example, a sales system might start with a prospect list produced by a
different work system. In that case, the first activity listed under work practices
would be something like “salesperson contacts prospect on prospect list.”