HRM 3450 Lecture 14: HRM 3450 Tutorial 14 Notes
5 May 2018
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HRM 3450 Tutorial 14 Notes – Constant Interface
Introduction
• If the interface is well-defined, it is often possible to replace the existing system with a
different system, as long as the interface between the system and the environment
remains constant.
• This idea can have important implications when designing IT systems.
• For example, in a particular IT installation, a single large computer may be functionally
the same as a network of small computers.
• When we define inputs and outputs for a system, the environment is the source of the
input and also the receiver of the output.
• As an example of the relationship between a system and its environment, consider the
rather simplistic view of an e-business system illustrated
• The organization represented by this illustration purchases goods from suppliers and
makes them available for sale.
• The value-adding component in the figure consists of various operations that make it
worthwhile to buy from this organization, rather than directly from the supplier.
• For example, Amazon.com makes it possible to buy a wide variety of books from one
source, rather than having to place separate orders from a number of different
suppliers.
• The environment for this system consists of customers who purchase from the system,
suppliers to the system, governments who control the legal aspects of the business and
collect taxes, employees and prospective employees, external support personnel (such
as repair people), financial resources, and others.
• The primary interfaces for this system are system input from suppliers and system
output to purchasers
• However, there are additional, more subtle interfaces to be considered, including legal,
cultural, and financial interactions with the system.
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