Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) allows complex, sociotechnical systems to be explored in terms of their potential configurations. However, CWA does not explicitly analyse the manner in which person-to-person communication is performed in these configurations. Consequently, the combination of CWA with Social Network Analysis provides a means by which CWA output can be analysed to consider communication structure. The approach is illustrated through a case study of a military planning team. The case study shows how actor-to-actor and actor-to-function mapping can be analysed, in terms of centrality, to produce metrics of system structure under different operating conditions. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: In this paper, a technique for building social network diagrams from CWA is demonstrated.The approach allows analysts to appreciate the potential impact of organisational structure on a command system.
Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) allows complex, sociotechnical systems to be explored in terms of their potential configurations. However, CWA does not explicitly analyse the manner in which person-to-person communication is performed in these configurations. Consequently, the combination of CWA with Social Network Analysis provides a means by which CWA output can be analysed to consider communication structure. The approach is illustrated through a case study of a military planning team. The case study shows how actor-to-actor and actor-to-function mapping can be analysed, in terms of centrality, to produce metrics of system structure under different operating conditions. PRACTITIONER SUMMARY: In this paper, a technique for building social network diagrams from CWA is demonstrated.The approach allows analysts to appreciate the potential impact of organisational structure on a command system.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cognitive Work Analysis; network analysis; sociotechnical systems; systems design; visualisation
Authors: Megan E Salwei; Pascale Carayon; Ann S Hundt; Peter Hoonakker; Vaibhav Agrawal; Peter Kleinschmidt; Jason Stamm; Douglas Wiegmann; Brian W Patterson Journal: Ergonomics Date: 2019-04-30 Impact factor: 2.778