HOW TO DO SYSTEM ANALYSIS THAT WILL HELP YOU SOLVE BUSINESS PROBLEMS

In my article titled – ‘How to boost performance with system concepts application, I discussed how I was promoted to the position of Managing Editor of a popular weekly business newspaper, despite the fact I was not a journalist by profession

I was informed by the owners of the Media Company that the newsroom had management and operational problems; so I was appointed to the new position specifically to solve the problems.

That was the time when I remembered the importance of system concepts in solving business problems.

At the University, I was taught how systems concepts could be applied in solving various problems in businesses e.g. engineering works, architecture, shipping, armies etc.

After my studies at the University, I realized that I could use the systems approach to solve many problems at my work place.

I slowly started to apply systems concepts in my everyday life and as of now, I believe very strongly in using systems concepts to solve business problems

I looked for a mechanism that would help me solve the problems that existed in the newsroom at that time.  I decided to use the systems approach

SYSTEMS DEFINITION

System is simply defined as any set of components, which function in interrelated manner for a common cause or objective.

 

A system exists because it is designed to achieve one or more objectives. We come into daily contact with transportation system, telephone system, accounting system, production system, computer system, etc

 

Similarly, we talk of business system and of an organization as a system consisting of interrelated departments (subsystems) such as production, sales, personnel, and an information system.

None of these subsystems is of much use as a single, independent unit. When they are properly coordinated, however, a firm can function effectively and profitably.

THE NEWSROOM IS ALSO A SYSTEM

 

From the system definition, I realized that the newsroom qualified to be called a system because; first, it was supposed to realize desired objectives, second, it consisted of departments (subsystems), third, the departments were supposed to function in interrelated manner for a common cause or objective

 

After I established that the newsroom was a system, I had to satisfy myself that the newsroom satisfied the three basic system concepts as follows:

 

·        The newsroom was designed to achieve a predetermined objective.

 

·        Interrelationships and interdependence existed among the department of the newsroom.

 

·        The main objective of the newsroom as a whole had higher priority than the objectives of departments.

I knew the newsroom met all the characteristics of a system, so how was I going to use the system concepts to solve the newsroom’s problems?

To improve the newsroom performance I had to do three things;

 

·        First, I had to review activities of the entire newsroom (System Analysis)

·        Second, I had to put in place systems and procedures that would streamline operations of the newsroom (System Design)

·        Third, I had to test the newly installed systems and procedures to see whether they were adequate for streamlining operations of the newsroom (System Implementation)

SYSTEM ANALYSIS OF THE NEWSROOM

I had to perform System Analysis as a starting point in solving the problems

What is System Analysis and why is it important in solving business problems?

System analysis is the process of gathering and interpreting facts, diagnosing problems, and using the information to recommend improvements to the system.

As System Analysts I had to assess as carefully as possible what the future needs of the newsroom would have been and what changes were to be considered to meet those needs.

 

In the case of the newsroom, I was supposed to recommend to the media company owners alternatives for improving the situation.

 

To conduct the analysis, I had to work with editors and journalists in general, so that I could recommend which options to adopt, based on such concerns as the suitability of the solution to the news room set up

 

I realized that the time required to develop one alternative, compared with others, was the most critical issue. Costs and benefits were also important determinants. In the end, the owners of the Media Company were to decide which alternative to accept.

 

REVIEW OF NEWSROOM ACTIVITIES

I reviewed the operations of the entire newsroom putting emphasis on management and organization of the newsroom. This involved a process of gathering and interpreting facts, diagnosing problems, and using the information I had collected to recommend improvement of the operations.

 

The review revealed the following:

 

·        The newsroom did not have vision and mission statements

·        The newsroom did not have operating procedures  

·        The newsroom operated like a single unit; it did not have departments and sections

·        The newsroom did not have long term plan. It just had a simple budget

·        Editors and heads of unit roles and responsibilities were not put in writing

·        There was no evidence of interrelations and interdependence among different functional units in the newsroom

·        Morale of journalists and other employees was very low

 

Apart from the problems which I founded, I had to assess as carefully as possible what were the future needs of the newsroom and what changes were to be considered to meet those needs. In the end I had to recommend to the owners of the media company alternative course of action to improve the situation

 

ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPANY SYSTEMS AND PROCEDURES 

 

Working with editors and other employees in the newsroom I prepared a System Analysis Report. This is the document that showed my findings and alternatives for adoption.

 

I forwarded my recommendations to the owners for approval. Approval was granted by the owners, and I developed a plan to implement the recommendations. The plan included all systems design features, such as new information capture needs, file specifications, operating procedures, equipment and personnel needs.

 

In designing the systems, I was guided by the following managerial considerations; effectiveness, efficiency and inter-dependence

                                                      

With regard to systems design I did the following:

·        Established Vision and Mission statements

·        Established a structure of the newsroom that included departments and sections

·        Put in place mechanism that encouraged Inter-relationship among departments and sections of the newsroom

·        Put in place mechanism that encouraged Inter-dependency among departments and sections of the newsroom

·        Established mechanism for establishing objectives of the newsroom

·        Established mechanism for preparing plans and budgets

·        Established mechanism for measuring performance and evaluation process

·        Put in place mechanism that encouraged togetherness aspect among employees of the newsroom

·        I put in writing roles and responsibilities of editors and other managers

As for management functions, I did the following:

·        Established long term plans and budgets for the newsroom

·        Set objectives of the newsroom

·        Set strategies that were adopted by the newsroom

·        Identified different activities and programmes of the newsroom

·        Set targets and bench marks

·        Established monitoring and evaluation system

 

HOW I USED SYSTEM CONCEPTS TO MANAGE THE NEWSROOM

The definition of a system suggests some characteristics that are present in all systems: These are: organization, interaction, interdependence, integration and a central objective.

 

After I was given the approval by the media company owners to implement the approved plan, I focused on the following issues:

 

The Newspaper

We made some changes of the Business paper layout and it’s content to make it more appealing to its readers.

The newspaper continued to publish news articles and feature articles on national and international news. The news included few political events and personalities but many business and finance stories. News on health and medicine, science, and technology were also included as well as sports, entertainment, society, food, clothing, home fashion, and the arts.

Newspaper Layout

The newspaper was divided into sections for each of major groupings. It featured an editorial page containing editorials written by editor, and columns that express personal opinions of columnists.

Besides the aforementioned news and opinions, they included weather forecasts; criticism and reviews of issues (including literature, film, television, theater, fine arts, and architecture) and of local services such as restaurants; entertainment features such as crosswords, horoscopes, editorial cartoons, gag cartoons, and comic strips; advice, food, and other columns; and radio and television listings.

Source of Revenue

The main sources of newspaper revenue were a mixture of subscription revenue, newsstand sales, and advertising revenue (businesses or individuals pay to place advertisements in the pages, including display ads and classified ads). We strengthened systems of controls over receipt of money in both the advertising and circulation departments

Newsroom Activities

Newspaper production is an act that actually starts from the gathering of news stories, articles, opinions, advertorials and advertisements to the printing out of these materials in a copy of Newspaper.

This whole process was divided into four parts, namely:

·        News/Story gathering,

·        Pre Press,

·        Press

·        Post Press.

We had two main sources of news; staff reports and the wire services. Other less important sources included feature syndicates as well as handouts and releases from various public and private sources.

The News Editor was the captain of the news reporting team. He used to assign stories to reporters and supervised their work

Reporters

There were two types of reporters:

·        Beat Reporters - Covered some topics on regular basis, such as crime beat or health beat

·        General assignment reporters - Covered whatever assignment was given to them

News Gathering

A typical day for the general assignment reporter consisted of covering an auto accident, a speech, by a politician and law court stories. Stories from the reporters were passed along to the News Editor, where they were approved and sent to the Sub-Editor’s desk for further editing.

 

(a) The Managing Editor and the Assistant Managing Editor were also part of the news team. They were responsible for the overall daily preparation of news bulletins.

 

(b) The News Editor could decide not to cover a story in the first place or not to run a story even if the event was covered.

 

(c) The reporter had wide latitude of judgment over what he or she chose to include in the story.

 

(d) The Sub Editor could also change the story as needed and the Managing Editor had the power to emphasize or de-emphasize the story to fit the needs of the day

Advertising

The advertising content of a newspaper was divided into two parts, classified and display.

 

Classified ads are small, text-only items obtained via telephone and set into the format by the classified advertising representative.

 

Display ads are obtained by sales representatives employed by the newspaper who actively solicit local businesses for this larger, more visually oriented ad space.

 

SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

 

The system approach encourages businesses and companies to improve their work performance by focusing on 5 aspects as I did myself when trying to solve problems of the Newspaper Publishing Company as shown below:

Organization

Focus on Organization Structure: Organization implies structure and order. In this regard, I arranged the departments of the company so that the new structure helped to achieve objectives. In the design of the Company system, the hierarchical relationships starts with the Managing Editor on top followed by a team of Editors downward to journalists and other workers. Such an arrangement portrays a system – subsystem relationship, defines the authority structure, specifies the formal flow of communication and formalizes the chain of command.

Interaction

Focus on Interaction: Interaction refers to the manner in which each department functions with other departments of the system. In this regard, for example, I made sure that News Editor’s desk interacts with Production Editor’s desk, advertising department with Circulation department and finance department with personnel department. The interrelationship between departments enables general improvement of performance.

Interdependence

Focus on Interdependence: Interdependence means that departments of the Company depend on one another. They are coordinated and linked together according to a plan. One department depends on the input of another department for proper functioning: that is, the output of one department is the required input for another department. Interdependence is crucial for systems to work.

In short, no department can function in isolation because it is dependent on the inputs it receives from other departments to perform its required tasks.

Integration

Focus on Integration: Integration refers to the holism of systems. Synthesis follows analysis to achieve the central objective of the organization. Integration is concerned with how a system is tied together. It is more than sharing a physical part or location. It means that parts of the system (departments) work together within the system even though each part performs a unique function. Successful integration typically produces a synergistic effect and greater total impact than if each component works separately.

Central objective

The main objective of the newspaper company at that time was to increase its income from circulation and advertising activities by 20 per cent. All departments participated in formulating the main objective of the Company. To achieve the main objective, the management decided to split it into smaller objectives which were assigned to each department. In this regard the editorial, advertising and circulation departments were assigned departmental objectives

CONCLUSION

The performance of the newspaper publishing company exceeded the top managers’ expectation. The income of the company doubled in the first year of operation, since the new systems were introduced.

The performance improved because all the employees of the newspaper publishing company participated directly and indirectly in determining the main objectives of the Company.

Because of the employees’ awareness about the main objectives, they worked hard through their departments, which were inter-dependent, inter-related and worked together for the purpose of realizing desired objectives

You can also solve different problems in your business or company by using a system approach

A system exists because it is designed to achieve one or more objectives. We come into daily contact with the transportation system, the telephone system, the accounting system, the production system, the computer system, etc

 

Similarly, we talk of the business system and of the organization as a system consisting of interrelated departments (subsystems) such as production, sales, personnel, and an information system.

 

None of these subsystems is of much use as a single, independent unit. When they are properly coordinated, however, the firm can function effectively and profitably.

 

LET ME KNOW YOUR EXPERIENCE

As manager or business owner, let me know whether you have been applying system concepts to manage your firm. 

What main challenges have you been facing in managing your firm? You can share with me your views through this LINK