UK CSCW SIG Master Class, 29 Nov: Thinking in Systems, Working on

Colston Sanger (colston@gid.co.uk)
Wed, 9 Nov 94 19:36:49 GMT

UK Computer Supported Cooperative Work Special Interest Group (UK CSCW SIG)
and
The Department of Trade & Industry and Engineering & Physical Sciences
Research Council (EPSRC) CSCW Awareness Programme

THE UK CSCW SIG DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER PROGRAMME

'Thinking in Systems, Working on Process'
Dr John Norrie (Tetra-Main Limited)

9.30 a.m., Tuesday, 29 November, 1994
Department of Trade & Industry, Kingsgate House,
66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1

The third workshop in the CSCW Distinguished Speaker Programme
will be given by Dr John Norrie of Tetra-Main Ltd. Dr Norrie is
an engineer with practical experience from petro-chemicals to
CAD systems and is internationally recognised as an authority
on the concepts of quality improvement. With his Tetra-Main
colleagues he specialises in the development and delivery of
the interventions required for organisational transformation.
He is a frequent conference speaker whose presentation style
is both entertaining and informative. Dr Norrie is a leading
member of the British Deming Association, a Visiting Fellow
of the University of Southampton and an Associate of the
Supplier Development Centre of the Manchester School of
Management.

Many organisations throughout the Western world have embarked
on corporate improvement initiatives. An alarmingly high percentage
of them have deemed the initiative to have failed or, at least,
to have yielded disappointing results. This has happened with
TQM, Continuous Improvement and other Quality-orientated programmes.
There is no reason to believe that the same phenomenon will not
be observed again with the new corporate 'band-aids' (such as BPR)
currently being propounded.

To spend time and energy, not to mention building a reputation,
on arguing the finer points of where one classification ends and
another begins, what is included under one heading but not under
another, seems futile if not counter-productive. The point of any
improvement initiative is improvement. That means we need to know
the difference between different and better. In other words, we
need fundamentally to understand what we do, so as to understand
how, and when, to improve it. This has huge consequences at both
the strategic and operational level.

This workshop is designed to look at the first step of fundamental
understanding of an organisation: the ability to view the organisation
as a system that includes customers, suppliers and ourselves. The
workshop will include a participative simulation, and will be a
mixture of listening, questioning, doing and discussing.

The aim is to:

o explore how we can model the organisation as a system;

o learn some valuable lessons from a simulation;

o introduce the underlying concepts of process improvement;

o have fun!

This workshop is aimed at anyone from any organisation where the
work gets done via process or processes.

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*For security reasons pre-registration is essential and early
bookingis advised.

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PROGRAMME

09.30-10.00 Registration and coffee

10.00-10.45 The organisation as a system

10.45-11.00 Introducing the K8 project

11.00-11.15 Coffee

11.15-12.30 The K8 project: a process simulation

12.30-13.00 Feedback, debrief and links with theory

13.00-14.00 Lunch

14.00 End of programme

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REGISTRATION FORM

UK Computer Supported Cooperative Work Special Interest Group
(UK CSCW SIG)
Supported by the Department of Trade & Industry and Engineering
& Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Awareness Programme

'Thinking in Systems, Working on Process'

9.30 a.m., Tuesday, 29 November, 1994
Department of Trade & Industry,, Kingsgate House,
66-74 Victoria Street, London SW1

Please reserve a place for me at the UK CSCW SIG Distinguished Speaker
workshop on 'Thinking in Systems, Working on Process' I understand
that my place will be confirmed on receipt of the registration fee
of #50 covering registration, refreshments and a light buffet lunch.
Please make cheques payable to 'CSCW-SIG'. (A 50% discount is
available for bona fide research students. Please provide a confirmation
of your student status signed by your supervisor.)

Please tick opposite if you prefer a vegetarian food. [ ]

Name: .............................................

Organisation: .....................................

Address: ..........................................

Tel./Fax. ............ E-mail: .....................

REGISTRATION

For security reasons pre-registration is essential and early
booking is advised. Please complete and return the attached
registration form to:

Patrick Holligan, LUTCHI Research Centre,
Department of Computer Studies,
Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough LE11 3TU
Tel. 01509 222 694 (direct line) Fax: 01509 211 586
E-mail: P.J.Holligan@lut.ac.uk

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BACKGROUND

The UK Computer Supported Cooperative Work
Special Interest Group (UK CSCW SIG)

Supported by
The Department of Trade & Industry and Engineering & Physical
Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Awareness Programme

The UK CSCW SIG was formed by the UK Joint Framework for
Information Technology (JFIT) Human Interface and Communications
and Distributed Systems Clubs in 1990 as a special interest
group supported by, but separate from the Department of Trade
and Industry. The SIG is run by a small committee convened by
Dr Dan Diaper of the University of Liverpool. Membership is
free and open to anyone interested in CSCW. The current mailing
list comprises over 1,800 people, divided between commerce/
industry and academia.

UK CSCW SIG and the DTI/EPSRC CSCW Initiative
The SIG has taken an active role in support of the pre-programme
phase of the DTI/EPSRC CSCW Initiative. As the Initiative gets
under way the SIG plans to consolidate and continue its support by:

o organising seminars and other events for Initiative-specific
purposes and awareness;

o continuing to provide communication links between the
Initiative, its funded projects and SIG members;

o providing advice and expertise where appropriate.

Forthcoming Events
The SIG runs an active public seminar programme, of which
the current event is part. Forthcoming events include:

December 1994
'The Learning Organisation'

March 1995
'CSCW in Fashion and Graphic Design'

Working Groups
The CSCW SIG also has two working groups, one dealing with
seminars and publications (convened by Dan Diaper and Colston
Sanger), the other dealing with interdisciplinary issues and
research (convened by Mike Sharples of the University of Sussex).
A further working group on computer-mediated collaborative
learning (convened by Christine Steeples of the Centre for
Studies in Advanced Learning Technology, University of Lancaster)
has recently been formed.

UK CSCW SIG/BCS CSCW Book Series
In association with the British Computer Society, the UK CSCW SIG/BCS
CSCW book series, published by Springer-Verlag, was launched in
February 1993. The first five titles have been published, further
titles are in press and several more are at earlier stages of
preparation. The Series Editors are Dan Diaper (University of
Liverpool) and Colston Sanger (GID Ltd).

Electronic Mail and Conferencing Facilities
As part of its support of the DTI/EPSRC CSCW Initiative, the SIG
has further developed its electronic mail and conferencing facilities
(in association with HICOM). We are grateful to the DTI for the
limited financial support that has enabled us to do this.

Membership of the UK CSCW SIG
Membership of the SIG is free and entitles you to receive mailings
about our regular programme of meetings at the DTI in London.
(Research students receive 50% discount for registration at SIG
meetings, which includes a buffet lunch and refreshments). To
obtain a membership form please contact:

CSCW Programme, EED4
Department of Trade & Industry
151 Buckingham Palace Road
LONDON SW1W 9SS

or the SIG Administrator:

Patrick Holligan, LUTCHI Research Centre,
Department of Computer Studies,
Loughborough University of Technology, Loughborough,
Leicestershire, LE11 3TU
o Tel: 01509 222 694 o Fax: 01509 211 586
o E-mail: P.J.Holligan@lut.ac.uk

ENDS/

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