SECTION. Systems Engineering 2001 FACULTY OF T ECHNOLOGY, P OLICY AND M ANAGEMENT

Transcription

1 SECTION Systems Engineering 2001 FACULTY OF T ECHNOLOGY, P OLICY AND M ANAGEMENT

2 ANNUAL REPORT 2001 SECTION SYSTEMS ENGINEERING

3 ACADEMIC PROFILE TABLE OF CONTENTS The Section of Systems Engineering focuses on the design of effective organizations. Research in the department emphasizes theories and design approaches to improve the quality and efficiency of organizational work through better coordination, control, and support of organizational processes and (virtual) work spaces. 1 THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GROUP SYSTEMS ENGINEERING A BUSINESS SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PERSPECTIVE MODEL BUILDING, SIMULATION, AND ANIMATION GROUP SUPPORT SYSTEMS A BROAD APPLICATION DOMAIN SYSTEMS ON MICRO, MESO AND MACRO LEVEL INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING JOBS AFTER GRADUATION 9 2 RESEARCH THE SPECIALTY OF THE GROUP OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING THE RESEARCH PROFILE OF THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GROUP DITSE FOCUS OF RESEARCH ON SERVICE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PAST PERFORMANCE OF THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GROUP CURRENT PROJECTS BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A NUMBER OF PROJECTS 17 3 SYSTEMS ENGINEERING STAFF OVERVIEW OF DECEMBER AWARDS IN BACKGROUND OF THE STAFF OF THE GROUP OF SYSTEMS ENGINEERING 30 CONTACT DETAILS MAIL: P.O. BOX GA DELFT THE NETHERLANDS VISITORS: JAFFALAAN 5, DELFT PHONE: + 31 (0) FAX: + 31 (0) EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES COURSES FOR FULL-TIME AND PART-TIME STUDENTS GRADUATES IN GRADUATES BEFORE SCIENTIFIC OUTPUT DISSERTATIONS SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS VOCATIONAL PUBLICATIONS ABSTRACTS S.RODRIGUES@TBM.TUDELFT.NL 3

4 1 THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GROUP 1.1 Systems engineering The systems engineering group deals with the analysis, design, use and control of systems. A system is defined as a coherent whole that contains different actors, objects and processes of which a number of aspects can be identified: 1. people, 2. data, 3. equipment, 4. software, 5. procedures, such as laws, rules and work instructions, 6. materials, 7. energy, 8. physical and/or chemical quantities. 1.2 A business systems engineering perspective A system can be divided into subsystems and/or aspect systems by considering a subset of components or a subset of aspects of the system. Examples are to look at the human aspects (as in sociology and psychology), the financial aspects (as in economics and accountancy), legal aspects and power structures (as in legal and political sciences), or the information and communication technology (as in computer science and electrical engineering). Also a subdivision by geography (Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as a subsystem of worldwide aviation-infrastructure), hierarchical position (the air traffic control as the managing part of the air traffic), or by function (freight transport as a subsystem of total air traffic) is possible. Any part of the real world can be viewed from a systems perspective. Systems engineering could therefore deal in theory with any existing or thinkable (sub)system. In practice, the Systems Engineering group addresses systems in which human and technological aspects dominate, which we call business systems. The focus is on systems that involve public and private business processes within or between public and private organizations. The business systems and the associated business processes are viewed at different levels, ranging from interorganizational network structures and primary processes to 4 5

5 workplaces of individual workers. Both operation and control of the business processes are considered. The research of the systems engineering group contributes to supporting problem owners in re-engineering their business systems and processes by formulating adequate engineering approaches and developing effective support tools. This is often referred to as business system engineering. Re-engineering involves activities that are aimed at improving business systems and processes, including planning, control and coordination processes. Examples are the re-engineering of luggage handling at an airport, long term personnel planning for large professional organizations, the reorganization of a part of an police organization and the design of a control system of an underground automated transport system. The Ph.D. and graduate projects in the group of systems engineering are mainly focused on designing control processes and developing (collaborative) re-engineering approaches. Major research clusters within the group include the application of computer simulation (dynamic modeling) and computer-supported collaborative group work to support systems design and systems engineering. In terms of of application domains, the group gives special attention to the opportunities for improving processes through new information and communication technologies in logistic and financial systems. In most cases, students are involved in the research projects. Student projects are design-oriented, i.e., the projects aim to go beyond analysis and evaluation to well-grounded designs for improving the (organizational or interorganizational, public and/or private) system that is studied. 1.3 Model building, simulation, and animation The process of mapping and later solving a supposed problem needs access to structured common sense and for that a number of methods and techniques are used. As in many fields of science and technology model building and simulation can play a major role in this process. An advantage is that the effect of possible redesign of business processes can be evaluated before the actual implementation of changes which may require expensive investments, and changes of work patterns. Of course, an executable model in itself is also a system that has to be developed (user demands, functionality, implementation, testing and validation) and is used by running different scenarios in a way that meaningful information can be generated concerning the possible changes in the process. Because of the fact that dynamics have great influence on many business processes and systems, the group of systems engineering uses a number of standard simulation tools in its projects. Most of the tools are able to produce an animation of the systems in addition to the numerical output of the simulation. By showing the animation to people involved in the process, so called experts, one can judge more carefully whether the simulation presents an accurate and realistic picture of the processes: the validation of the (dynamic) model. The use of animation also gives more insight in the situation and therefore it makes it easier to come up with alternatives for changing the business process. 1.4 Group Support Systems Another tool often used by the systems engineering group is the Group Decision Room (GDR), in which a collection of methods and computer supported techniques are used for efficient group deliberation and communication. The GDR is used as a supporting tool in group meetings for operational and strategic decisions in any kind of business process and for (re)designing business processes. The group uses the two fixed GDR facilities in the faculty building, and a mobile facility that can be set-up within an hour at any location. A number of impressions of sessions with the fixed and the mobile GDR facilities are shown in figure 1. Different from the other groups within the faculty, the Group Support Systems (GSS) in the GDR are not only tools to be used in research and external service activities, but the GSS itself is also an object of study. The goal of these studies is to understand the acceptance, adoption, and diffusion of this technology and use this understanding to develop more effective electronic collaboration in terms of facilitation, meeting techniques, and technology. Besides studies on experiences with GSS, we study collaborative systems engineering techniques, with which people can work together on different times in different places. 1.5 A broad application domain The systems engineering approach is not restricted to a single application domain. This makes it possible to quickly deploy the approach within diverse application areas. Examples are interorganizational coordination in the port of Rotterdam, personnel 6 7

6 logistics using simulation models within a major military organization, the dynamic modeling of the administrative workflow in business processes of e.g. an insurance company, capacity planning within certain organizations, the design of transport chains and the assigning of gates at the airport Schiphol, the exploration of the possible role of telematics within organizations, the use of group support systems on governmental policy development. This enumeration, which is far from complete, illustrates the generic character of systems engineering. 1.7 Interesting and challenging jobs after graduation. Experience has shown that graduates and PhDs of the group of systems engineering are able to find exciting and challenging positions. Many work in a consulting position within a consulting firm or a staff department in a large company. The consultancy is focussed on general organization, improvement of business processes, information providing, information and communication technology and logistic aspects. 1.6 Systems on micro, meso and macro level A number of different levels of view can be chosen when modeling organizational processes. Individual support engineering on the micro level to support the individual worker in his/her activities that are placed in the network of relations with clients and colleagues, is one level that can be chosen. Another level is that of the intraorganizational engineering, also called the meso level. This level is focused on the behavior of a single organization, which can be viewed as a system that consists of persons and machines. The third level is the level where we look at multiple organizations, called interorganizational engineering or the macro level. The purpose of this view is to make a joint effort in improving the processes between organizations. FIGURE 1 IMPRESSIONS OF GROUP DECISION ROOM FACILITIES Companies or organizations are part of a system, and can contain several subsystems at the same time. Their services are offered through subsystems. Think of a network that transports electricity or gas to the end user, or the transport of packages, containers, people or materials, where the bank plays a role with functions such as payments by means of credit card, chip card, bankcard and homebanking. An organizational subsystem is involved to provide these services efficiently and effectively. In order to provide the services with a certain quality, the organizations use systems such as workflow management systems, decision support systems, information systems, coordinating systems, and quality control systems. In addition to the services, one often can recognize a certain infrastructure that is used to bring the services or goods from the supplier to the end-user. A distinction can be made between physical and virtual infrastructures. Examples of infrastructures are road, sea, air and train networks, communication networks with satellites, the electricity infrastructure, and pipeline networks to transport oil or gas. 8 9

7 2 RESEARCH 2.1 The specialty of the group of Systems Engineering The society in which we live is becoming more and more complex and dynamic. Distances lose their meaning. New technologies increase the possibility to do more work in ever less time. Whether it is about production or supplying services, about hospitals, transportation companies, police forces or universities, all of these organization are looking for ways to achieve their goals more efficiently and effectively within these dynamic surroundings. More often this requires cooperation, where a great diversity of activities have to be tuned across the boundaries of organizations and countries. The increasing dynamics, enabled by transport and information technology, sets higher demands for the capability of an organization to anticipate and respond flexibly on developments. The same technologies are used to develop new models of information intensive organizations that work dispersed in time and location. The group of systems engineering focuses on the subject of designing efficient network organizations. The search for ways to improve the quality and efficiency of the performance of (groups of) people by means of better coordination, structuring and improved support in the working space is one of the key issues. In practice this requires the integration of technical, organizational, communicative, informational and decision-making aspects in an actual design of a system. The group makes a contribution both to the development of theory and of practice by developing and empirically validating models, methods and tools used in interdisciplinary analysis and design of administrative, information intense processes and systems. 2.2 The research profile of the systems engineering group The systems engineering group carries out research on complex processes within and between organizations. The problems connected to those processes are approached from a collaborative systems engineering point of view. The field of research of the group can be structured into domains, tools or support environments and theory development and methodology as illustrated in the overview of figure

8 FIGURE 2 SUPPORT ENVIRONMENT (distributed) simulation & animation change management tools THE RESEARCH DOMAIN OF THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING GROUP Group Support Systems service engineering building blocks and clearinghouses THEORY DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGIES APPLICATION DOMAINS logistic services telematics services interorganizational engineering organizational engineering public/private services collaborative systems engineering MACRO MESO MICRO 2.3 DITSE The faculties of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) and Information Technology and Systems (ITS) and a number of private and public partners have combined their knowledge and skills to form DITSE, a new institute that addresses ICT and service-related issues. DITSE stands for Delft Institute for Information Technology in Service Engineering. The interdisciplinary approach of the DITSE research guarantees the interaction between scientific theory on the one hand and practical experience and knowledge on the other. The interfaculty institute offers a program, addressing issues in practice as well as generic research questions, paying attention to: Service engineering in the Information Society (Computer Supported Collaborative Work, Visual Simulation Environments, Business Engineering). Personal Productivity and ICT Based Services (re-usable and configurable telematics applications and building blocks, privacy, security). Business Innovation and Services (electronic commerce, multichannel management, intelligent agents). Application domains: The domains refer to reality. A large part of the research can be placed within the three application domains that are distinguished within the Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management education. A number of research projects connect different domains, for example: traffic telematics where systems engineering research is performed on the boundaries of ICT and Transport and Logistics. Support environments: The support environments refer to the tools that support the complex problem solving process. Within the group of systems engineering, the main focus has been on simulation and animation and on Group Support Systems (GSS). Recently, more attention has been paid to tools for component libraries and building blocks as well. Theory development and methodology: Within theory development, the starting point is the inductive hypothetic modelcycle, in which the use of models and a problem solving view are the key. The DITSE research program takes practical problems in real-life business environments as point of departure. DITSE provides new theories, methodologies and tools to support new services and enable change processes towards service-oriented organizations. Several of the research projects of the systems engineering group contribute to the DITSE research program. 2.4 Focus of research on Service Systems Engineering Within the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, the research activities are clustered into several research programs. The systems engineering group carries out research in the program Service Systems Engineering that depart from the need for innovation of business processes, especially networked business. The main focus of the research activities in the area of Service Systems Engineering is on designing, developing, and evaluating services and service processes. For example, this may involve the engineering of organizational processes that have to create a service for the organization s clients or the evaluation of coordination mechanisms for channel management in Electronic Commerce situations. In 12 13

9 general, the research comprises the combination of soft knowledge (e.g. focus on managerial perspective, different perspectives among organizations, and strategic behavior during business re-engineering projects) and hard knowledge (e.g. designing information systems, developing state-of-the-art simulations, and modeling logistic processes). The activities within the program are synergetic with the other three research programs, which focus on process management, infrastructures, and supporting methods and techniques. 2.5 Past performance of the Systems Engineering group 2.6 Current projects FIGURE 3 Within the systems engineering group, a number of research projects are currently being carried out. The projects can be placed in the framework of figure 2, both in the support environment and the application domain parts. The resulting overview is depicted in figures 3 and 4. THE RESEARCH PROJECTS IN RELATION TO THE TOOLS USED In the six years the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management has existed, the research of the group of systems engineering has resulted in 16 finished PhD theses. Four projects have resulted in finished dissertations in Undergr. Logistic System (distributed) simulation & animation Public Transport Airport Models Group Support Systems Longitud. GSS THE FINISHED DISSERTATIONS OF ALL PHD PROJECTS HAVE THE FOLLOWING TITLES: 2001 Wieke Bockstael-Blok; Chains and Networks in Multimodal Passenger Transport 2001 Marijn F.W.H.A. Janssen; Designing Electronic inter mediaries: an agent-based approach for the designing interorganizational coordination mechansms 2001 Hans de Graaff; Developing interactive systems a perspective on supporting ill-structured work 2001 Regina Vroom; Zicht op Product en Procesontwikkelingsinformatie 1999 Mariëlle den Hengst-Bruggeling; Interorganizational coordination in container transport; a chain management design 1999 Fred A.B. Lohman; The effectiveness of management information: a design approach to contribute to organizational control 1999 Rabson J.S. Mgaya; Adoption and diffusion of Group Support Systems in Tanzania 1998 Daan H. van Egeraat; Een Herculische opgave; de implementatie van telematica in de verkeer- en vervoersector als inter-organisatorisch veranderingsproces 1998 Kees-Wim van den Herik; Group Support for Policy Making 1998 Joost Klep; Arithmeticus; Simulatie van wiskundige bekwaamheid 1997 Jaap J.M. Uijlenbroek; Designing electronic document infrastructures Ruurd R. Meinsma; Decision Support in Business Environments Martijn Babeliowsky; Designing interorganizational logistic networks; A simulation based interdisciplinary approach Daniel T.T. van Eijck; Designing organizational coordination Gert-Jan de Vreede; Facilitating organizational change; the participative application of dynamic modelling Jeroen W. van Meel; The dynamics of business engineering; reflections on two case studies within the Amsterdam municipal police force. Navy Personnel Harbour E-Commerce Agents BETADE Total Airport Simulation Library change management tools service engineering building blocks and clearinghouses Insurance Asynchronous Public Services Mobile Services Police Finance 14 15

10 FIGURE 4 THE RESEARCH PROJECTS IN RELATION TO THE APPLICATION DOMAINS logistic services Gaming Building Airport Models Airport Library Public Transport Navy OLS OLS FTAM Harbor telematics services E-Commerce Agents BETADE Mobile Services Insurance Finance public / private services Asynch Governm Police GSS MACRO MESO MICRO 2.7 Brief description of a number of projects Customization in public service delivery Many organizations are reengineering their internal organization around customer focused processes to deliver value to their customers by delivering customized services. New requirements and needs of customers have to be met and new possibilities for organizations are within reach. Also in the public service delivery there are developments as a result of new requirements of citizens in their role as customers and new possibilities to met these requirements by (re)engineering the service delivery process. Citizens are being approached as customers by public administration more and more. Information and communication technology (ICT) enables these reengineering activities. In the Netherlands there is a program called Public Service Counter 2000, that has the main goal to realize integrated public service delivery around customer focused processes. The starting point is formed by question-patterns of citizens and the customers of public administration are approached by means of target groups. The reason behind the integrated public service delivery is adding to the responsiveness of public organizations and the effectiveness of public policy. After a literature research about developments in service delivery in the financial sector it could be concluded that even the target groups approach is out of date. The individual and the delivery of customized products and services are becoming important in new service delivery concepts more and more. The expectations are that also public administration has to go along with this trend. By thinking about target groups the starting point is that requirements and needs of customers can be predicted in advance. At the same time this approach takes products and services of public administration as a starting point and not problems of customers for what solutions have to be found. This means that public service delivery is still defined by the way public administration is organized. In summary public administration is confronted with unpredictable and unstructured problems of individual customers who desire customized services instead of delivering products and services to predictable and defined target groups in advance. This leads to the following research question: In what way the public service delivery process can be (re)engineered with ICT as an enabling technology so that it is possible for public service organizations to offer a range of possible solutions to customers in case of an individual problem? Main researcher: drs. Arjan van Venrooij

11 Business Models for Vision Support Studios Organizations must innovate to stay in business. Business modeling methods are frequently used to support organizations with designing their organizational structures, processes and technologies: detailed dynamic and static models are build to support the decision making process. In innovative, vision-like processes, however detailed knowledge and information about the processes are often lacking and time to fill the gap is not available. The research focuses on the added value of business models in especially these situations. A pilot business model was developed and tested. Based on this a detailed research design was prepared. The study will result in insights on the effectiveness and efficiency of different levels of detail of business models. Main researcher: dr.ir. Mariëlle den Hengst Business Modeling for Non-Modeling Experts Business modeling is increasingly being used as supporting tool in taking important decisions, sometimes even at a frequent base. This requires on the one hand that non-modeling experts are able to work with the model. Most static and dynamic modeling methods, however, are too complex for non-modeling experts to work with. Interfaces were designed and will be refined to allow non-modeling experts to work with the models without going into much detail. The models and interfaces need to be flexible and powerful enough to deal with different situations, but simple enough to be handled by non-modeling experts. Main researcher: dr.ir. Mariëlle den Hengst Visualization of Vision Two important aspects of business modeling are the visualization of the performances of an organizational system and the visualization of the dynamic behavior of the system (animation). A lot of research in the area of dynamic modeling has focused on animation. This study has looked at the added value of animation in the visualization of visions on the organizational system and at the added value of the static performance indicators when visualizing a vision on the organizational system. A research design was prepared and a pilot case was carried out as start-up for a case study. Main researcher: dr.ir. Mariëlle den Hengst Managing container chains in the port of Rotterdam Container transport must be managed at a strategic and an operational level. The strategic level concentrates on settling arrangements before the containers are transported, while the operational level focuses on the exchange of documents during container transport. Currently, much attention is paid to supporting the operational level with ICT. The strategic level is not supported yet with ICT. The PhD research of Mariëlle den Hengst points out that many advantages can be gained when the strategic level is also supported with ICT. The ICT based system for chain management that was designed during the forementioned PhD research is used as a basis and has been implemented at a large forwarder in the port of Rotterdam. Main researcher: dr.ir. Mariëlle den Hengst Designing multi-modal passenger transportation services This research project is concerned with the development of a design approach to support organizations involved in improving multi-modal passenger transport systems. The project is conducted partly in cooperation with Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. An object-oriented modeling framework and some design guidelines have been developed to describe and (re)design multi-modal passenger transport systems from a chain perspective. A process-orientation on decision making is adopted in the design approach to deal with the inter-organizational setting in which improving multi-modal transport systems and services takes place. A case study on passenger group transport to and from Schiphol Airport ( ) and a gaming-simulation to explore the design approach in a simulated real life context (2000) have been performed with the scope of this research. The research resulted in a dissertation in Main researcher: dr.ir. Wieke Bockstael-Blok. Airport Development Center for Decision Support at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol Amsterdam Airport Schiphol has to rethink her business concept and infrastructure very often. The result of this tedious process of exploring and evaluating concepts is a masterplan and several subplans. This process takes a lot of time and lacks support. Delft University of Technology develops in cooperation with the airport an environment in which the management team can explore and review business concepts for the airport. Simulation is one of the tools to be used in this environment. Main researchers: ir. Rachid Maghnouji, dr.ir. Alexander Verbraeck, ing. Edwin Valentin, dipl.-ing U. Kohse

12 Adoption and Diffusion of Group Support Systems in Africa In order to investigate the added value of Group Support Systems (GSS) for Capacity Building efforts in East and South Africa, various electronic meetings were organized and executed. These meetings took place in various organizations in Tanzania and South Africa. Based on the experiences with these meetings, theories and meeting guidelines have been developed with respect to the successful application of GSS in East and South Africa. Main researchers: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, dr. Rabson J.S. Mgaya (University of Dar es Salaam) Satisfaction in problem solving meetings In 1997 a causal model (theory) was developed describing what makes participants satisfied in creative problem solving meetings. Based on this model, a satisfaction questionnaire was designed that could be filled in by meeting participants after a meeting. In 1999, this model has been validated by collecting over 1000 questionnaires from the Netherlands and the United States. Also, a test was conducted to examine the effect of the questionnaire design on validity measures. In 2001, further literature research was conducted, more questionnaires were collected in the Netherlands and Tanzania, and fine-tuning of the instrument was carried out. Main researcher: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, dr. Robert O. Briggs (University of Arizona) Adoption and Diffusion of Group Support Systems Ongoing research at Nationale-Nederlanden Insurances (part of the ING Group) has focused on collecting data about the application and diffusion of GSS in this organization. Variables such as meeting participant satisfaction, perceived efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity have been measured. In 2001, similar research efforts were carried out at British Petroleum in Tanzania, at the Tanzania Bureau of Standards, and at EADS in Germany. The results of these investigations are compared to similar research that was carried out at IBM in the United States a decade ago to study the effects of socioeconomical context, participant culture, and perceived GSS usefulness over time. Main researcher: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, ms. Gwendolyn Kolfschoten, mr. Jeroen Wien, mr. Deogratias Fuli (University of Dar es Salaam) Participant Perceptions on Facilitation in Electronic Meetings A lot of research in the area of Group Support Systems has focused on facilitation. This research has looked at the tasks of a facilitators and the effects of particular interventions. This study is looking at facilitation from the participant s perspective. It is important to understand what a participant perceives as (in)effective facilitation, since this perception was found to explain up to 60% of participants satisfaction with electronic meetings. A research design was prepared and pilot questionnaire instruments were developed and tested. Also, a number of interviews with electronic meeting participants were conducted, transcribed and analyzed. The study resulted in insights on effective and ineffective facilitation approaches that inform the training of facilitator and the preparation and moderation of electronic meetings. Main researchers: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, ir. Ilse Paarlberg, ms. Jessica Boonstra, dr. Fred Niederman (St. Louis University) thinklets: Building blocks for concerted collaboration Over the past decade, Group Support Systems (GSS) has shown that, under certain circumstances, teams using GSS can be far more productive than teams who do not use GSS. However, research results are not unequivocal; they have been ambiguous, and sometimes conflicting, which makes it difficult for GSS research to inform GSS practice. One cause of the conflict and ambiguity in GSS research results may be the result of focusing on a less-than-useful level of abstraction: GSS itself. In this research project, the thinklet concept is introduced as a more useful unit of comparison than the GSS. A thinklet encapsulates three components of a GSS stimulus: The tool, its configuration, and the script. Field experience shows that thinklets may be used to create repeatable, predictable patterns of thinking among people making an effort toward a goal. To date about 50 thinklets have been documented that map to five basic patterns of thinking: Diverge, Converge, Organize, Evaluate, and Build Consensus. Each thinklet creates some unique variation on its basic pattern. ThinkLets will provide the building blocks for facilitators to prepare and moderate concerted collaborative efforts. Main researcher: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, dr. Robert O. Briggs (University of Arizona) Various meetings in the Group Decision Room (GDR) At the request of various (international) organizations and institutions, about fifty meetings were prepared and facilitated in the GDR. These 20 21

13 projects with a short life span were aimed at facilitating a particular activity or phase from the problem solving process that the organizations were going through. Execution: dr.ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede, ir. Rachid Maghnouji, ir. Joeri van Laere, ir. Jeroen Schuuring, drs. Wouter van Diggelen, drs.ing. Jürgen van Grinsven Multi-channel Coordination in the Financial Services Industry Under increasing pressure of rapidly changing circumstances in their environment, businesses increasingly search for new and improved ways to reach their customers. In this, an increasing number of electronic channels are used, since the traditional, physical channels often have insufficient possibilities in a highly competitive market, with ever more demanding customers. These distribution channels are of strategic importance, since they have the potential fundamentally to influence the relationship between businesses and customers as well as the structure of sectors and demand chains. It is therefore of crucial importance that the internal organization is optimally adjusted to support the use of multiple distribution channels. Putting electronic distribution channels into use implies much more than simply adding a new distribution channel. The new distribution channel with related processes needs to be properly integrated in the existing organization, to guarantee uniformity of service provision over distribution channels. This research is therefore focused on the coordination of distribution channels and related processes. In particular, the research will be focused on the effects of new distribution channels on division of labor. The addition of electronic distribution channels has important implications for the division of tasks and responsibilities among and the coordination between individuals, groups, divisions and technologies, and, as a result, for the organization structure. This influence is of major importance, since the turbulent developments in the environment demand continuous adaptations in the internal organization to be able to anticipate the rapidly changing circumstances. The objective of the research is to develop a theory to enforce practical multi-channel coordination, in particular in financial institutions. The main question to be answered is: What are the implications of new (electronic) distribution channels for the division of labor and the need for (new forms of) coordination in financial institutions, and how can these new forms of coordination be designed? Main researcher: drs. Tonja van Diepen. Coordinating services in distribution networks The goal of this research project is to develop a business engineering methodology to design and develop coordinating services in distribution networks. The methodology should be able to cope with a number of problems, such as security, quality of service, access to product and price information, synchronization issues, flexibility, and conflict handling. Business engineering can be described as the stepwise development of the design of the organization and the technical infrastructure. The methodology is mainly aimed at providing insight into distribution networks, the conceptualization of coordinating services using building blocks, and at showing the possible implications of design choices. In the design process, the views of different actors will be taken into account. Furthermore, the critical success factors of the business engineering process will be studied. For testing purposes, several coordinating mechanisms have been implemented as agents in the Java based simulation extension Silk. Main researcher: dr.ir. Marijn Janssen. Long-term personnel planning for the Royal Dutch Navy Every organization needs a staff appropriate for its tasks in order to accomplish its business objectives, both now and in the future. To gain insight into the quality and numbers of staff needed in the future, human resource forecasting models are being used. This research project is aimed at the design, development, and testing of a simulation model for human resource forecasting, which is being developed for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The aim is to build a simulation model that provides insight into the dynamics of organizational processes. An important additional requirement in the design of the simulation model is that maintenance to keep it up to date with organizational changes should be possible without much effort. The planning model is divided into three parts: personnel, functions, and matching. The matching takes place based on competencies of the personnel and the required competencies of the functions. The implementation of the decision support system is done in the simulation language MODSIM III. Main researchers: drs. Wilfred Geerlings, dr.ir. Alexander Verbraeck. Supporting intra-organisational distributed coordination The central theme of our study is to find out how organisations can improve the coordination between distributed groups and actors within an already existing organisational context. This research 22 23

14 contrbutes to the CSCW field and delivers solutions for the problems that arise in distributed co-ordination because of the complex interaction between organisational, behavioural and technical factors. We aim to provide for an integral framework that enables us to guide coordination improvements (instead of only describing them). In 1998 we entered the Amsterdam Police Force and described the intraorganisational coordination problems as part of our inductive research strategy. In 1999 a simulation game has been developed to enable police officers of the Amsterdam Police Force to experience the benefits as well as drawbacks of new ways of coordinating. During the second half of 2000 and in 2001 the framework and the game approach have been applied to another collaboration process where dispersed groups and actors have to coordinate their actions. The research findings are currently being incorporated into the dissertation. Main researcher: ir. Joeri van Laere Developing and Designing Business Models for Cross Border Bank Services The banking industry, along with nearly every other industry, has become increasingly global over the past decade. As businesses of all sorts discover the need to address a global market, this globalization is reflected in the banking services businesses require. Bank customers have also become increasingly demanding regarding the speed and accessibility of services. Competitiveness in the banking market now depends less upon regional expertise and more on global information management and customer service. This research aims to determine methods for globalization of specific banking services. Each financial institution wishes to expand its services to be more accessible to global and individual clients, for example, through facilitating financial transactions across national borders. Two of the central problems in this expansion are the dispersal of client account information among different national networks and the different procedures for performing transactions in different countries. Increased centralization of information and procedures would result in a mutually beneficial improvement in bank-customer relations, providing improved services for the customer and improved information access for the bank s management. This research identifies the obstacles to increased globalization, such as differences in national tax codes, and examines ways of handling these obstacles in the globalization of transaction processes. Main researcher: ir. Nadia Ayad Design approach for mobile internet services This research project is concerned with the development of a design approach for mobile internet services. Telecommunications, media and IT companies leverage the flexibility of digital technology to offer services that go beyond traditional sectors and target markets. The blurring boundaries between telecommunications, IT and media industries are further overcome by the emergence of new players leveraging the full potential of the Internet to deliver content, access and services. Mobile Internet Services are an exponent of this development. The objective of this research is to develop a support environment for the design of mobile internet services which create wins for providers and intermediaries. In 2001 the researcher participated in two research projects of the Telematica Institute: PLACE (Physical Presence and Location Aspects of Electronic Commerce Environments) and MOBUS (acronym for MObile BUSiness engineering). Results of these projects are incorporated in this PhD project. Main researcher: drs. Els van de Kar 24 25

15 3 SYSTEMS ENGINEERING STAFF Overview of December 2001 Function Name Tel nr Room nr Full professor Prof. Dr. H.G. Sol (Henk) Associate Drs. W.G. van den Berg (Wander) Professor Dr. Ir. A. Verbraeck (Alexander) Dr. Ir. G.J. de Vreede (Gert-Jan) Assistant Mrs. Dr.Ir. W. Bockstael-Blok (Wieke) Professor Mrs. Dr. Ir. M. den Hengst-Bruggeling (Mariëlle) Mrs. Drs. E.A.M. v.d. Kar (Els) Researcher Ms. Ir. N. Ayad (Nadia) Ms. Drs. A.M. van Diepen (Tonja) Drs. W. van Diggelen (Wouter) Drs. W.S.J. Geerlings (Wilfred) Drs.Ing. J. van Grinsven (Jürgen) Ms. Dipl.-Ing. U. Kohse (Uta) Ir. J. van Laere (Joeri) Ir. R. Maghnouji (Rachid) Ir. Y.A. Saanen (Yvo) Ir. J.C. Schuuring (Jeroen) Ir. T. Tewoldeberhan (Tamrat) Ing. E. Valentin (Edwin) Ir. C. Versteegt (Corné) Guest Drs. A. van Venrooij (Arjen) Ir. L.J. Lapré (Laurens) Secretary Ms. S. Ramos Rodrigues (Sabrina) Fax Changes The group of systems engineering has welcomed the following people in the year 2001: Dipl.-Ing. Uta Kohse Drs.ing. Jürgen van Grinsven Ir. Tamrat Tewoldeberhan The following people have left the group of systems engineering in the year 2001: Dr.Ir. Marijn Janssen joined the ICT group at the Faculty as an assistant professor after completing his dissertation. Dr. Dorien de Tombe terminated her affiliation in September

16 Versteegt Verbraeck Valentin OLS Geerlings Navy Den Hengst Harbour E-C agents (distributed) simulation & animation Sol Ayad Saanen Schuuring Valentin Van Diepen Verbraeck Betade Bockstael Public Transport Digital Airport Maghnouji Kohse Airport Models Tewoldeberhan Sol Verbraeck Valentin management change Maghnouji tools service engineering building blocks and clearinghouses Insurance Group Support Systems Van Venrooij Lapré Async Government Mobile Services De Vreede Van Grinsven GSS Van Laere Van Diggelen Schuuring Police Van Diepen Finance Saanen Kohse Maghnouji Airport Valentin Public Bockstael Geerlings Tewoldeberhan Verbraeck Versteegt Den Hengst Janssen Ayad Saanen Schuuring Sol Valentin Van de Kar Van Diepen Verbraeck Van de Kar Maghnouji Van Diepen Lapré Van Venrooij Van Laere Schuuring Van Grinsven De Vreede MACRO MESO MICRO Other changes: From January 2002, Dr.Ir. Alexander Verbraeck also has an appointment as research professor in the R.H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland in the Logistics, Business, and Public Policy Department. In September, Dr.Ir. Gert-Jan de Vreede became acting department chair. FIGURE 5 RESEARCHERS AND THEIR PROJECTS, PLACED IN THE SUPPORT ENVIRONMENTS 28 Janssen Van de Kar FIGURE 6 RESEARCHERS AND THEIR PROJECTS, PLACED IN THE APPLICATION DOMAINS logistic services telematics services public / private services 29

17 3.2 Awards in 2001 DRS. TONJA VAN DIEPEN - Outstanding paper award at the 14th Bled Electronic Commerce Conference, Bled, Slovenia, 2001 DR. IR. MARIËLLE DEN HENGST - Best paper award at Harbour, Maritime and Multimodal Logistics Modeling and Simulation HMS, Marseille, 2001 DR. IR. GERT-JAN DE VREEDE - Best paper award at the Hawaiian International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, Background of the staff of the group of systems engineering The permanent staff of the systems engineering group DRS. WANDER VAN DEN BERG holds a master degree in Physics from Leiden University (1969) and since then worked at Delft University in computer architecture and digital design (Dept. of Electrical Engineering), in software engineering and information system planning and development (Dept. of Applied Mathematics and Informatics), and now at SEPA. Among his interests are evaluation of (transnational) information systems, software engineering standardization, and quality assurance systems. Wander chairs the Netherlands Standardization Committee on Software Engineering. DR. IR. WIEKE BOCKSTAEL-BLOK has studied Applied Physics at the Delft University of Technology (1989). She completed a two-year post-doctoral course for technical designer of logistic systems in 1991 and has worked for two years on logistic projects at a manufacturer of packaging systems. She started at TPM in 1993 on a research project on designing multi-modal passenger transport systems from a chain perspective, which resulted in a dissertation in A case study on passenger ground transportation to and from Schiphol Airport and a gaming-simulation to explore the design approach in a simulated real life context have been performed within the scope of this research. She was appointed as assistant professor in 1998 and is involved in courses on simulation and system design and engineering. DR. IR. MARIËLLE DEN HENGST-BRUGGELING has an MSc in Information Systems (cum laude 1994) and received her PhD in 1999 on chain management as a way to support interorganizational coordination, both from Delft University of Technology. Her current research focuses on the development, application and evaluation of methods to support the innovation of organizational systems (Vision Support Studio). The method combines group support with (dynamic) business modelling to support organizations in aligning their organizational structure, processes and technologies with the future needs. She is an assistant professor at the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology. DRS. E.A.M. VAN DE KAR studied Business Administration at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. She graduated in Strategic Management in After graduating she worked at KPN Telecom for 8 years where she developed Telecom and Internet services. In 1998 she started her own consulting company in strategic internet marketing. In October 1999 she joined the section of system engineering as a part-time assistance professor. She has assisted master s students with the completion of their final year theses and she has taught the elective course e-business and the experimental advanced course e-business. Her thesis research project is concerned with the development of a design approach for mobile internet services. In 2001, Els participated in two research projects of the Telematica Institute: PLACE and MOBUS. PROF. DR. HENK G. SOL, born in 1951, graduated in 1974 from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, with an MSc in Operations Research and Information Systems. He obtained a PhD from the University of Groningen on the subject of Simulation in Information Systems Development in In 1992 Prof. Sol was appointed as chaired professor of Systems Engineering. He is founding dean of the new School for Technology, Policy and Management. Dr. Sol became a chaired professor of Information Systems Development at Delft University of Technology in 1984, where he developed the Department of Information Systems to one of the leading Information Engineering Schools in Europe. He was involved in the development and control of a Masters Programme in Information Systems within the School of Economics and Management Science of the University of Groningen from 1974 to His research focuses on information resource management, design methodologies and workbenches, management information systems, decision support systems and telematics. Currently his research 30 31

18 interests shift towards designing information-intensive, innovative organizations. He is well-known author with a few hundreds publications in these fields. Under his responsibility nearly 40 PhD dissertations were finished. Dr. Sol is a member of the editorial board of Information and Management, Decision Support Systems, European Journal of Information Systems and International Journal of Information Systems. He has acted as a management consultant for a large range of national and international organizations since He is chairman/member of the Board of Directors of several companies. DR. IR. ALEXANDER VERBRAECK has an MSc in mathematics (cum laude, 1987) and a PhD in computer science (1991) from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He worked as assistant professor in information systems until 1995, when he was appointed associate professor in the systems engineering group of the faculty of Technology, Policy and Management (TPM) of TU Delft. Current research focuses on complex distributed systems such as supply chains,real-time control and emulation of equipment using simulation, and on the development of generic, object oriented simulation libraries. Alexander has been the chair of the European Board of the Society for Computer Simulation International for five years. In 2001, Alexander Verbraeck was the department chair of the Information, Communication and Systems department and he served on the Faculty Board. From January 2002, Alexander also has an appointment as research professor in the R.H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland in the Logistics, Business, and Public Policy Department. DR. IR. GERT-JAN DE VREEDE studied Information Systems in Delft (1991) and got his PhD in 1995 on the participative analysis and design of organizational coordination using dynamic modeling and group support technologies. His current research is focused on (1) the development, application, and evaluation of group support technologies in business engineering projects, (2) the (multi-cultural) adoption and diffusion of electronic meeting support, and (3) the design of collaboration processes. Gert-Jan was chairman of IFIP Working Group 8.4 on Telecooperation. He is founder and associate editor of the Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries, and associate editor of the European Journal on Information Systems and of Group Decision & Negotiation. The temporary staff of the systems engineering group consists of the following people working on their dissertations. IR. NADIA AYAD graduated in 1994 from the University of Science and Technology in Algeria, with a degree in software engineering. After her graduation she worked at an industrial engineering company in Algeria for 3 years where she developed several applications. In 1997 she moved to the Netherlands. She worked at Syntegra Groep B.V. for 2 years as information system consultant, where she was involved in development and implementation of information systems within organisations in the private and the public sector. In 2000 she joined the Systems Engineering group. Her research focuses on global bank services and aims at developing and designing business models for cross border services. DRS. TONJA VAN DIEPEN studied economics at the Free University in Amsterdam. Her research is focused on electronic distribution channels in the financial services sector and aims at developing a theory to enforce practical multi-channel coordination. DRS. WOUTER VAN DIGGELEN acquired a bachelor degree in Electrotechnical engineering and a master degree in Work and Organizational Psychology at the Tilburg University. As a Ph.D. student he focuses on policy issues and the actors that are involved in the process of solving these issues. The aim of the research project is to support the actors that operate in a policy network to formulate, implement or evaluate a policy in such a setting. DRS. WILFRED GEERLINGS has an MSc in Sociology of the University of Groningen (1996). In his study his focus was on research methodology and simulation in the field of labor and organizations. Currently he is working as a Ph.D. Student at the systems engineering group of the faculty of technology, policy and management of Delft University of Technology. The subject of his Ph.D. research is to develop simulation models to support strategic human resource forecasting processes in organizations. Research results so far have been presented at several international conferences. DRS. ING. JÜRGEN VAN GRINSVEN acquired a bachelor s degree in both electrical engineering and technology management. After this, he studied Policy, Communication & Organizational science 32 33

19 at the free University in Amsterdam (VU). His master thesis ( Collaborative Engineering Managing the Product Creation Process on a Global scale) focused on Collaborative Engineering at PHILIPS. Currently, he pursues his PhD at Delft University of Technology where his focus will be on Distributed Collaboration in the risk management process, supported by Collaborative Technologies. IR. MARIJN JANSSEN studied at the graduation school of Industrial Engineering and Management Science in Eindhoven, and graduated in His master s project was about the use of information and communication technology in the distribution processes of De Lage Landen Vendorlease, Eindhoven. His research is focused on the design and development of interorganizational coordination mechanisms, enabled by electronic commerce technologies, in distribution networks. DIPL.-ING. UTA KOHSE has an education in software engineering (1990) and a degree in architecture (2000) of the University of Aachen (RWTH Aachen) in Germany. After her first degree she worked three years in a full time and six year in a part time position at the software company INFORM GmbH (Institute for Operation Research and Management) in Aachen. There she was involved in the development of software systems for operational planning and real-time control of staff and equipment for industrial plants and airports. During her architecture study she was also involved in a couple of projects for airport master planning and terminal planning at the ARC (Airport Research Center) in Aachen. Currently she is pursuing her PhD at the Systems Engineering group. She is also involved in projects of the DADC (Delft Airport Development Center) of Delft University of Technology. The subject of her PhD research is to develop methods to support and facilitate the design and re-design of airport systems. IR. JOERI VAN LAERE studied Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences at the Eindhoven University of Technology (1997). His current PhD research focusses on supporting coordination between dispersed working groups with information- and communication technologies. From 1998 until 2001 two case studies and two action research studies have been carried out at the Amsterdam Police Force. The main deliverables are a framework and a game approach that guide coordination improvements in distributed settings. The research findings are currently being incorporated into the dissertation. IR. RACHID MAGHNOUJI obtained his Masters degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences from the Eindhoven University of Technology (1997). His research is about the development of an approach for Collaborative Business Engineering. Two important pillars in the approach are simulation for shared quantitative insights and support of groupwork. This approach is mainly developed in an airport environment. IR. YVO SAANEN studied at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. With two partners, he started his own consultancy company Technisch Bestuurskundige Adviesgroep in 1998 for solving complex logistical problems. His research focuses on visualization, simulation, and e-commerce chains. The research takes place within DITSE. IR. JEROEN SCHUURING studied at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management of Delft University of Technology. After his master thesis project at the CSIR in South Africa he started his PhD research. The objective of this research is to develop a design approach for distributed mobile organizations. His research has mainly focused on police organizations. IR. TAMRAT WOLDU TEWOLDEBERHAN received his BSc degree (with Distinction) in Physics from the University of Asmara in After working as a graduate assistant for two years in the Computer Science Department of the University of Asmara, he pursued his MSc degree in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis and Management at Delft University of Technology. In 2001, he finished his MSc and started his PhD research in the Systems Engineering group. His PhD research focuses on modeling dynamic and complex networks of organizations. ING. EDWIN VALENTIN studied Logistics and Economics at the HES (Hogeschool voor Economische Studies) in Rotterdam (1997). His first job was at the logistics consultancy form Incontrol, where he was involved in several simulation projects, addressing topics such as the storage of oil, the evaluation of railnetworks, the control of autonomous guided vehicles, and passenger movements at an airport. He started his PhD research at TPM in 2000 on simulation using building blocks. IR. CORNÉ VERSTEEGT studied at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management specializing in logistical organizations. After 34 35

20 his master thesis project at TNO Inro department of logistics he started his Ph. D. research. The objective of his research is to specify concepts for interorganizational coordination in the context of intermodal transport chain services. Last but certainly not least ms. Sabrina Ramos Rodrigues supports the group of Systems Engineering with their work as secretaries. 4 EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES This section contains an overview of the courses given by the staff of the group of Systems Engineering. For a description of the courses please refer to the Study Guides and TU Guides 2000/2001 and 2001/ Courses for full-time and part-time students Course code Course name Course name (English) FIRST YEAR COURSES tb112 Analyse van Bedrijfsystemen Business Systems Analysis tb112d Analyse Bedrijfssystemen DT Business Systems Analysis part-time tb141 Domeinmodule ICT, 1e jaar Domain module ICT tb197d Management en sturing Management and control SECOND YEAR COURSES tb232 Discrete modellen Discrete models tb291 Vaardigheden 2e jaar Business Systems skills tb292 Project discrete modellen Project discrete models tb293d Continue en discrete modellen Continuous en discrete models part-time THIRD YEAR COURSES tb311 TB Ontwerpen Systems and Process Design tb311d TB Ontwerpen DT Systems and Process Design part-time tb391 Intern project besluitvorming Internal project decision making tb391d Intern proj besluitvorming DT Internal project decision making part-time tb3-p Vrij project extern External project FOURTH YEAR COURSES tb411 MTCP Managing Technically Complex Projects tb411d MTCP DT Managing Technically Complex Projects PT tb412 Reflectie vakgebied TB Reflection on the SEPA domain tb4-p TB4-project External project 4th year INTERNATIONAL AND MSC COURSES tb016i Modelleren internationaal Continuous and discrete modeling tb026i MTCP Internationaal Managing Technically Complex Projects ELECTIVES tb9309 tb9310 tb9312 tb9313 tb9427 Simulation Masterclass Electronic Commerce Facilitation of group meetings Collaborative Work and Groupware Technology Simulation and Logistics 36 37