Engineering Complex Human-Technological Work Systems: A Sensemaking Approach; Conference paper

摘要

This paper explores two underlying philosophical traditions that are relevant to the design and analysis of complex human-technological work systems - i.e., organizations of people and technology that deal with complex problem spaces in today's society. The first tradition (classical/positivist) dominates the design of information system technology. The second tradition (sensemaking/constructivist) enjoys a prominent place in the scientific study of human behavior at the individual and social level. These two traditions reflect radically different views of data, information, tacit knowledge, shared knowledge, and so forth. This paper explores these two traditions and summarizes their implications, many of the core constructs that must be considered by the systems engineer. By adopting the latter tradition, the systems engineer is able to gain further insight into the nature and functioning of complex human-technological work systems.