tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29446755473302786202012-02-16T19:07:49.387-08:00System ManagementThe purpose of this blog is to discuss the factors that contribute to and form the basis for an efficient and effective management system - whether we are discussing personal management systems, corporate, non-profit, political or global management solutions.About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.comBlogger81100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-91811399057003503562009-09-15T13:09:00.000-07:002009-09-15T13:29:57.070-07:00System feedback - organisation gone wrongOne of the biggest problems with businesses is their failure to develop systems to gather feedback. Some of the failures I have noticed are:1. Commonwealth Bank - A failure to communicate with customers, a failure to design systems which suit a broad range of customers (despite marketing to a certain customer base), and a failure to use the preferred communication modes of customers. Too many About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-34629361411081939722008-03-21T21:12:00.000-07:002008-03-21T21:21:57.476-07:00The impact of open source on market structuresYou might wonder what impact open source will have on the software market. Will a proprietary giant like Microsoft be replaced by a open source one. There is a number of reasons for suggesting that the ‘developer culture’ will avoid that, though I think the extent to which it does will depend on the extent to which they avoid the traditional folly of not attending to their developer needs. The About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-18962119008399766282008-03-21T21:10:00.000-07:002008-03-21T21:11:56.663-07:00The capacity of open source to address user needsSoftware development has historically been based upon corporate endeavours to solve user problems. These solutions were given new features, though they always seem somewhat constrained by their legacy systems. Corporations tend to be focused on short term goals and it tends to take years before they finally address flaws, usually as a result of a user revolt. I am reminded of my trading software About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-86412155127745134762008-03-21T20:25:00.000-07:002008-03-21T21:10:52.875-07:00The inter-operability of Open SourceOne of the benefits of inter-operable software solutions is that functionality can be shared between solutions. This operability of course depends on whether a certain language is supported, and thus success in future (as always) will depend on one language establishing itself as a standard. This is not always the language that is the most versatile just as the Beta vs VHS battle of the 1980s andAbout Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-13126766010558595492008-03-21T20:19:00.000-07:002008-03-21T20:21:46.664-07:00Open Source as a management systemThere is a belief that open source has no limits, no laws, no regulations and no monopolies – that its the wild west of software development. Actually I think that is far from the reality. My sense is that they different from proprietary software, commercially developed applications in the following sense: Commercial software: This is software developed by businesses who are pursuing About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-81590089329504128612008-03-09T20:55:00.001-07:002008-12-10T06:37:39.139-08:00Options - the universal incentive programManagement systems are designed to serve people. The question is do they serve people equally? One important element of a management system are incentive programs. Unfortunately most incentive programs are poorly structured. Mostly poorly approximate the contribution of recipients, few hold recipients accountable, and thus few serve people well, or rather, some serve some people at the expense ofAbout Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-75271827606655769942008-02-12T17:49:00.000-08:002008-02-12T18:00:39.589-08:00What is the role of a system?A system is a formalised methodology or approach for achieving a pre-defined purpose. If you dont have a purpose, then you have no way of establishing the suitability of the system. The purpose is the key value but it is not the only one. There is a whole context in which we set values, and most importantly, if we are talking about a human system, then we are talking about a hierarchy of values. About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2944675547330278620.post-52086552799687946482007-11-07T16:07:00.000-08:002007-11-07T16:08:08.231-08:00Open Source vs Proprietary SolutionsOne of the big attractions of open source is the idea of tapping into external labour markets. Afterall there is a plethora of people out there wanting to learn on the job, in an environment where they can get support, and they are willing to do it without payment. That is a compelling business model.The closed ‘commercial model’ is supported by those whom regard OS as ‘disastrous in practice’. About Andrew Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15469120006156639030noreply@blogger.com0