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JAKARTA
2011
Judul jurnal: Using soft systems methodology to determine the simulation study
objectives
Sumber: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jos/journal/v1/n3/full/4250025a.html
BAB 1
Abstract
This paper demonstrates, through a case study in health care, that Soft Systems
Methodology (SSM) can be used to determine the conceptual model's most important
component, the simulation study objectives. Conceptual modelling is a critical part of
the simulation methodology because it is the problem structuring stage in which the
questions of what, why and how in terms of modelling the system of interest are
answered. Therefore, it is surprising that very little has been done to link problem
structuring methods to Discrete Event Simulation (DES). SSM is the most popular
problem structuring approach to be used in DES and although various papers
advocate its usefulness to the simulation study in general, SSM has not been used it to
determine the simulation study objectives. In this study, one of the SSM tools is
extended to better fit with the process of eliciting the simulation study objectives and
the approach is demonstrated through a case study. This paper provides potential
adopters with a set of guidelines for this SSM extension and also provides a
discussion on the benefits of using SSM and its potential for being adapted for
simulation conceptual modelling. Areas that would benefit from further research are
identified.
BAB II
Introduction
The main contribution of this paper is to provide the modeller with a structured
approach to arriving at the simulation study objectives, demonstrating this with an
example. It also provides a list of generic guidelines that are expected to be
particularly helpful for studies that are characterized by a lack of understanding by
the modeller and/or client of the study context, a non-visible system, a system that is
difficult to understand, a context in which there are many stakeholders and a
The paper is divided into three main sections. The first section explores the literature
on SSM in Discrete Event Simulation (DES) studies particularly in terms of the
contribution to the conceptual modelling phase. The second section describes the case
study on which this paper is based and is divided into further subsections that include
a description of the problem and motivation for using SSM, a brief description of
SSM and how it was constructed and extended to determine the simulation study
objectives, and a set of guidelines to help SSM users determine the simulation study
objectives. The third section provides a discussion on the use of SSM in conceptual
modelling and concludes with some future research directions.
BAB III
Use of SSM in DES and Conceptual Modelling
There are a few studies reported in the literature that combine PSMs with DES.
Almost all of these use SSM (Lehaney and Paul, 1994a, 1994b; Lehaney and Hlupic,
1995; Lehaney and Paul, 1996; Lehaney et al, 1999), although Kraitsik and
Bossmeyer (1993) use cause-and-effect diagrams. Of the few studies that combine
PSMs with DES, all the known examples are in health care. SSM (Checkland,
1999a, 1999b; Checkland and Scholes, 1999) is the most popular approach because it
can be used to structure the process of understanding in a rigorous and transparent
fashion, which cannot be achieved to the same degree when using cause–and-effect
diagrams.
The oldest papers discussing the link between SSM and DES modelling are
by Lehaney and Paul (1994a, b), one of which is of particular interest as it
demonstrates how a SSM model (the Purposeful Activity Model (PAM)) can be
developed as an activity cycle diagram using a case study of an outpatient facility
(Lehaney and Paul, 1994a). A second paper by Lehaney and Paul (1994b), which is
complimentary to the first one, uses the SSM model to question health care
participants in the development of the simulation model. However, neither of these
papers are focussed on how the simulation study objectives are determined.
Lehaney and Hlupic (1995) review the use of DES for resource planning in the health
sector and suggest the use of SSM as an approach for improving the process and
research outcomes. Lehaney and Paul (1996) examine the use of SSM in the
development of a simulation of outpatient services. The paper explains how the
discussion of a PAM was used to determine the system that should be modelled out
of a number of systems that could be potentially modelled. The authors argue that this
multimethodology allows the participation of the staff in the modelling process and
they conclude that the participation paved the way for the acceptance of the
conceptual model and gave rise to the final simulation being credible. However, the
paper's main contribution to conceptual modelling is that it suggests that SSM can be
used to 'tease out' of participants what actually should be modelled. Lehaney and
Paul, however, do not specifically map the process for others to replicate.
At this point, it should be noted that there are no obstacles at the philosophical level
to the combination of SSM and DES. Although it has been argued that the soft (SSM)
and hard (DES) paradigms are incommensurable (Burrell and Morgan,
1979), Kotiadis and Mingers (2006) show that the two are compatible and can be
used in combination in operational research/management science studies.
It is clear that conceptual modelling is an important stage, but DES modellers have
not been able to explain the process that they undertake so it has been classed as an
art rather than a science. A large part of conceptual modelling is about problem
structuring and it is therefore surprising that very little has been done to link PSMs to
DES. A few papers report on using a multimethodology of SSM with DES and
advocate its usefulness to simulation studies in general. These papers, however, do
not sufficiently demonstrate in practice how the conceptual model's most important
component, the simulation study objectives (Robinson, 2004), are determined.
BAB IV
The Case Study: Intermediate Health Care
The study was part of a larger IC evaluation project commissioned for a locality in
Kent, England in 2000 by the Elderly Strategic Planning Group and the Joint
Planning Board for Care of the Elderly in East Kent (Carpenter et al, 2003). At that
time, IC services were a relatively new concept and their introduction can be
attributed to the growing population of older people that in many cases were found to
be inappropriately using the expensive and scarce secondary care resources (hospital-
based resources). The Department of Health response to the National Bed Enquiry
(Department of Health, 2000) stated that it intended a major expansion of community
health and social care services (termed IC) that in contrast to acute hospital services
would focus on rapid assessment, stabilization and treatment.
It was decided that DES modelling should be deployed as it had proved itself useful
in other health care studies in evaluating resources. However, we were having
difficulty deciding how to model the IC system. The actual IC system at the
beginning of the study was in its development phase and it was not particularly
understood as a whole by any one person in the system. Understanding the system is
generally considered the initial step of conceptual modelling (phase I). In this study, it
was not immediately apparent how to carry out this step because of the size of the
system, the newness of IC and the difficulties in observing the system as the changes
in the system were slow and its services were geographically dispersed. More
importantly, no one had an overall understanding of how the system worked.
In this case, Checkland's (1999a) four main activities version of the SSM
methodology was deployed, which consists of the following stages:
Here the focus is on the second activity in which a relevant 'PAM' is formulated.
Some authors refer to the PAM as a 'conceptual model', but this has a different
meaning to a simulation conceptual model and so we will only use conceptual model
with reference to the simulation and PAM with reference to the use of SSM.
The initial stage to developing a PAM is to define the system of interest using a
structured approach involving the SSM tools. Checkland (1999a) provides both
extensive guidance and examples of how to use the SSM tools (Transformation
process, CATWOE, root definition, Measures of Performance) to arrive at the PAM.
These tools offer guidance on how to format a set of definitions to help develop the
PAM. The definition of the system, called the root definition, can be loosely
compared to a company's mission statement. However, central to the root definition is
a need to demonstrate the transformation process (T) of some input to output.
Essentially, the process undertaken to develop the root definition is an exercise in
focussing the mind on the experimental frame prior to constructing the
PAM. Checkland and Scholes (1999) explain that a PAM provides an idealistic view
of the elements in a system and does not represent reality as participants are asked to
think outside the current bounds of what is there. This enables the participants to
compare reality with the idealistic view with the aim of reaching consensus on any
feasible changes.
Using Checkland's (1999a) guidance on how to cast a root definition, but also taking
into account the CATWOE definitions above, the following root definition was
developed for the IC system:Root Definition (RD) = A local health and social care
owned system operated by IC staff, that supports IC in our locality by designing and
operating a system of IC strategic and operational activities in order to provide
effective care for the older people, whilst recognising the constraints of local IC
funding and Department of Health guidelines.
Checkland (1999a) says that it is necessary to 'define the criteria by which the
performance of the system as a whole will be judged' (p A25) and suggests using the
criterion of Efficacy (check that the output is produced), the criterion of Efficiency
(check that the minimum resources are used to obtain the output) and the criterion of
Effectiveness (check at a higher level that this transformation is worth doing because
it makes a contribution to some higher level or long-term aim). In terms of this
research the three measures of performance, or the 3Es as they are commonly referred
to, are the following:
The measures of performance were broken down into a number of activities and
incorporated in the monitoring activities part of the PAM of the IC system (activities
A–M in Figure 1). The reader should note that this is not a common practice in stand-
alone SSM studies.
The root definition, CATWOE and the three Es guided the construction of the activity
model that aims to show the transformation process T (activities 1–11 in Figure 1).
The process of building the activity model 'consists of assembling the verbs
describing the activities which would have to be there in the system named in the RD
and structuring them according to logical dependencies' (Checkland, 2001, pp
77). Checkland (1999a, p A26, Figure A6) provides a set of guidelines in constructing
the PAM. Due to limitations on space, this paper omits the enormous amount of
information supplied by the stakeholders or observed during the first SSM stage
(finding out about the problem situation), which was used to determine the activities
essential to the SSM transformation process.
In order to construct the PMM, the performance criteria were further broken down
into monitoring activities (eg in the bottom part of Figure 1, the activities starting
with 'monitor') and corresponding activities to determine the action needed (eg in the
bottom part of Figure 1 the activities starting with 'determine if'). Subsequently, they
were circled, arranged and linked using arrows in a logical order and given a letter
rather than a number to distinguish them from the transformation activities in the
PAM.
The next step was to decide which of the performance activities in the PMM could
contribute data or be explored in a simulation model that would largely represent the
operating system in Figure 1. Nearly, all of the PMM activities influenced the
development of the simulation study objectives, except for D, E and H (Figure 1) as
they could not be directly explored in the simulation model that focussed on the
operational level activities. Also activities A, B and M do not form part of the
simulation study objectives as they relate to the process of building the PMM. The
remaining PMM activities were logically grouped into the following questions that
formed the simulation study objectives:
3.6. Generic guidelines for determining a simulation study objectives from a PAM
Based mainly on the experience gained from this study, it is proposed that the
following generic guidelines can be used by others to construct the PMM and arrive
at the simulation study objectives:
1. Find out how the performance criteria developed relate to the real-life
situation. Reflect on how each activity, supporting the transformation process
in the PAM, can be evaluated.
2. Break down the performance criteria into specific monitoring activities, which
are activities that involve observing and recording information. Where
possible these activities should be in the format 'monitor...'.
BAB V
Disscussion
In this section, we reflect on the use of SSM for determining a simulation study's
objectives. In particular, the following questions are considered:
• What are the benefits of using SSM to determine the simulation study
objectives?
• Does SSM need any modifications or adaptations for determining the
simulation study objectives?
4.1. What are the benefits of using SSM to determine the simulation objectives?
The more obvious benefits of using SSM with the extension proposed to determine
the simulation study objectives in the IC case were: (a) aiding the conceptual
modelling process for this complex system that was difficult to understand, and (b)
making the process more transparent and comprehensive. Since the first benefit is
highlighted in the case study described above, this discussion focusses on the second
benefit regarding transparency. Two further benefits are also identified: surfacing
objectives and engendering creativity.
There are two reasons for needing transparency in determining the simulation study
objectives. Firstly, there is a need for transparency so that simulation novices can
learn how to determine a conceptual model. Conceptual Modelling is currently
treated as an art, which means that some aspects of conceptual modelling are difficult
if not impossible to teach and most of the effort is spent demonstrating to students
how to construct communicative models such as an activity cycle diagram.
Unfortunately, this assumes that we have already gone through Robinson's (2004) (I–
IV) conceptual modelling stages. The approach using SSM, described in this paper, is
reasonably transparent and provides both steps and tools to assist the less experienced
The second reason why transparency is important is that is that it helps to establish
trust between the modeller and clients. Pidd (1999) points out that although
transparency through simplicity is important, a model should not be limited by the
technical abilities of the clients. Therefore, the trust established in the SSM process
can be carried to the DES model without needing to simplify the DES model in order
for the client to have a complete understanding of it.
Another benefit in using SSM is that it can surface objectives that would otherwise
not be obvious. Lehaney et al (1999) report that SSM saves time by surfacing issues
that might have otherwise been left dormant within a simulation study. This is also
the case in the study described here. The use of SSM ensured that the simulation
objectives were appropriate and that the correct problem was addressed. If SSM had
not been deployed no doubt the first objective regarding capacity would have been
derived, since it is a typical simulation study question (Davies and Roderick,
1998; Jun et al, 1999). In this study, capacity is examined by including all the
places/beds available for each IC service in the whole system simulation model and
monitoring queues.
The second and third questions, however, are original and can be attributed to the use
of SSM. To answer the second question, the model emulates the decision-making
process using a rule base that determines the service each patient should be sent to,
based on a large number of patient characteristics (attributes). At the end of a run, one
can see if a particular patient or group of patients entered the service that they had
actually entered in real life. The model is able to answer the third question by
determining whether there is an appropriate service for each level of IC need by
examining if there are gaps in the services mix. For example, it can be used to
examine the effects of adding a new service or removing an existing service
Therefore, the final and less obvious benefit from using SSM is that it can enable
creativity to take place. Creativity is considered to encompass 'seeing a problem in an
unusual way, seeing a relationship in a situation that other people fail to see, ability to
define a problem well, or the ability to ask the right questions' (Büyükdamgaci, 2003,
pp 329), which makes it an important element in problem definition. However, being
creative is difficult because by nature the brain is 'hard wired' by its inherent abilities
and predispositions (personality type), as well as the individual's past experience to
function in a particular way (Büyükdamgaci, 2003). This could mean defining the
problem in a similar way to ones that have previously been experienced, called
'functional fixation' (Duncker, 1945). In this study, the analyst had no prior
simulation modelling experience in health care and very little modelling experience in
general reducing the risk of functional fixation, but was at risk of irrational attitudes
experienced under high stress levels, namely 'defensive avoidance' and
'hypervigilance' (Janis and Mann, 1977). The former is about avoiding the problem by
ignoring it and the latter is about giving in to panic behaviour and making decisions
based on insufficient information. Fortunately, panic and stress led to the use of
SSM!
4.2. Does SSM need any modifications or adaptations for determining the
simulation study objectives?
In this study, the SSM processes were adapted and therefore it is likely that others
might wish to further adapt or even modify the existing SSM tools and approach to
better map on to the specific needs of simulation studies.Checkland (1999a) in his 30-
year retrospective of the use of SSM provides a lengthy discussion on what
constitutes a claim to using SSM, but regardless of that emphasizes that SSM should
be mouldable to the situation. We initially reflect on an aspect of SSM that could be
modified, although it was not modified in this study, and then we reflect on an aspect
of SSM that was adapted, but could be further adapted or even modified in other
studies.
In SSM the PAM does not necessarily represent the current activities of a particular
system of interest, which could be considered to conflict with the development of a
DES conceptual model. In DES in general, the modeller builds a model of the current
system that is verified and validated against it in an iterative manner until it is
represented with sufficient accuracy. Exploring what could be there commences if
and only if the model is considered to be a valid representation of the real system. In
this study it was beneficial to actually move outside the current system constructs as
it enabled creativity and led to alternative simulation study objectives. However, it
may suit other simulation modellers to focus just on activities that are actually taking
place in constructing the PAM, which would still enable modellers to benefit from
deploying the SSM structured approach in defining the system. If this latter approach
is adopted, the modeller could revisit the PAM after validation and verification of the
simulation model and modify it to determine the simulation scenarios.
In this study greater emphasis was placed on the performance criteria than is usually
placed in other SSM studies (Checkland and Scholes, 1999; Wilson, 2001; Winter,
2006). The core PAM (strategic and operational) activities were also linked with an
extended model of performance criteria that are referred to as the PMM, which is to
this author's knowledge unreported as a step in the SSM literature. This stage was
largely internalized and emerged after a series of discussions and reflections when
there was a reasonable correspondence between the two, that is, the PMM activities
would satisfy the needs of the strategic and operational activities. The simulation
model can be adequately described by the operational activities, and the simulation
study objectives largely map on to the PMM activities. To conclude, the PMM can be
BAB VI
Conclusions
This paper demonstrates, through a case study, that SSM can be used in a simulation
study to determine the modelling objectives. Further research would be useful into
adapting SSM so that it clearly maps on to all the conceptual phases (I–IV). In
addition, it would be useful if more studies reported their approach to conceptual
modelling in more detail than currently provided, regardless of whether a SSM is
used. It would also be useful if more case studies combining SSM and DES
modelling outside health care were reported. Finally, research involving PSMs other
than SSM may be of use to this problem structuring phase of simulation modelling.
BAB VII
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