Compressed Semester with a Holiday Shift The semester runs with weekly lectures, but the 23 February holiday cancels that meeting. The next lecture occurs on 2 March. With the final week reserved for wrap-up, the effective count of lectures is reduced to about eight.
Seven Labs Including a Creative Assignment The electronic journal lists six laboratory works, and a seventh “individual creative task” counts as a lab. All labs revolve around analyzing and solving a single chosen problem. Results are best delivered as a concise report with supporting tables and diagrams.
Self-Formed Mini-Groups and Free Choice of Problem Students assemble into mini-groups of two to three or work solo. Any problem may be selected as the running case for all labs. Deliverables are submitted through the electronic journal.
Unified Reviewer and Point Allocation Vasilii Nikolaevich Shcherbakov evaluates all labs. Each lab gives five points, so seven labs total thirty-five points. Poorly completed work below the passing threshold may be returned with comments for revision.
Written Submission or Oral Defense Nuances Written submissions can yield identical grades within a mini-group. If a defense is requested, individual answers to questions may influence marks. Specific arrangements with the reviewer will determine the format.
Four Tests Across Four Sections The discipline comprises four sections with four tests. The first section is brief, purely theoretical, and has no labs. The first test is scheduled at the start of the next lecture.
First Test on 2 March, Short and Theoretical The test begins at the lecture’s start on 2 March. Multiple variants will be assigned by a simple rule such as groups or surnames. It contains five questions, takes about five minutes, and requires no calculations.
Textbook and Early Lab Start A new textbook titled “System Analysis” is attached as a file; use it alongside the slides. Labs for the first two groups begin on 1 March, ahead of the second lecture. Independent study from the textbook and slides enables starting Lab 1 on time.
Rating Logic and Submission Deadlines The rating is computed as a percentage of the maximum achievable points and may be adjusted. Each lab carries five points for thirty-five total, and test point distribution can be tuned. Regular, on-time submissions are expected, with a lab scheduled, for example, on 4 March due no later than 11 March.
Foundations of System Analysis in the First Section The first section introduces the basics of system analysis and contains two topics. The test will cover this theory. The lecture focuses on general concepts rather than calculations.
The Landscape of Systems Sciences Numerous system-oriented fields exist, with theoretical branches like general systems theory, tectology, systems philosophy, synergetics, and cybernetics. Applied branches include operations research, decision theory, systems engineering, systemology, and system techniques. System analysis is an applied discipline built on these theoretical foundations.
Methodology for Solving Problems of Any Nature System analysis proposes a general methodology to solve problems without restricting domain or type. It targets complex, poorly structured problems in organizations, regions, public services, and safety. Simple, well-defined problems do not warrant this heavyweight approach.
What Makes a Problem Complex Complexity arises from many internal and external factors, weak structure, scarce information, and intertwined subproblems. Multiple aspects are involved, and obvious solution paths are absent. Such problems touch diverse stakeholder interests simultaneously.
Education Quality as a Running Example Insufficient graduate competence in a specific program showcases multifactor complexity. Contributing factors range from student intake and teaching technology to curricula, faculty competence, labor-market demand, attendance, standards, and external shocks like a pandemic. Interests of faculty, administration, employers, applicants, and ministries intersect.
Always Start by Defining the System A problem is treated as a state of the system where it arises, not as an isolated fragment. The task is to define that system and then improve it so the problem disappears. The object of analysis and the goal of work are both systems—the current one and its updated successor.
What a System Is and How to Delimit It A system is an organized whole of interacting components that together achieve goals unattainable by parts alone. Delimiting the system is nontrivial, since the same entity can be viewed as managerial, production, or economic systems depending on perspective. The analyst determines relevant elements and relations for the problematic function.
Analysis as Decomposition and As-Is Modeling Analysis means dividing the complex into simpler parts to understand how the system works. A cognitive As-Is model is crafted with diagrams, tables, and text to capture components, links, and functions. The goal is to locate poorly performing parts and explain why the problem appears.
Synthesis and the To-Be Normative Model After causes are known, the system is reassembled conceptually into a new design. A To-Be, normative (pragmatic) model specifies how the system should function. Feasible, resource- and time-constrained solutions are chosen to realize this design.
From Design to Realization Solutions must be implemented so changes occur in reality, not just in documents. Implementation demands organizing people, planning, risk assessment, motivation, management, and monitoring. Outcomes are checked against the client’s expectations, and residual issues can start a new cycle.
Three Macro Stages and Practical Meaning The process comprises analysis, synthesis, and implementation, each containing several steps. Practically, system analysis is a system of methods for researching, designing, planning, and realizing changes in complex systems of any nature. Technologies like information systems development, business-process reengineering, and academic research lean on this methodology.
Broad Method Arsenal and Expert Judgment Methods span models of general systems theory and tools from many disciplines. Formal, experimental, heuristic, and experiential techniques are all appropriate as the problem dictates. Expert assessments and creative heuristics are common because many problems are weakly structured.
Methodology That Prescribes Yet Adapts A methodology organizes structure, logic, methods, and means of activity. It is normative, prescribing stages, actions, and allowable methods, yet remains flexible and dialectical to fit changing systems and contexts. The aim is an organized but adaptable process of inquiry and transformation.
Iteration Over Rigid Sequence The stage scheme is iterative, with frequent returns and corrections as insights emerge. Many alternative sequences exist, yet all traverse analysis, synthesis, and implementation. Regulation focuses on stage outcomes, while the analyst freely chooses suitable methods for each case.
Comprehensive, Multi-Perspective Coverage Fullness and all-sidedness are required, examining managerial, technological, and economic aspects. Specialists use different terminologies, so multiple description languages are employed to cover the system. A configurator—an adequate set of such languages—ensures sufficient descriptive breadth.
Systemicity, Emergence, and Modeling Views Parts must be studied in their interdependence, where emergent qualities arise beyond the sum of components, as when assembled aircraft gain the property of flight. Any component is both a subsystem and part of a higher-level system, enabling analysis at different abstraction levels. Systems can be modeled as black boxes via inputs, outputs, properties, and state parameters with trends over time, or structurally via components and their links.
Dual Hierarchies and the Nine-Step Path Structural decomposition forms strata that show the same system at increasing detail, while logical hierarchies trace cause–effect chains and build goal trees where lower goals serve higher ones. The working sequence spans nine steps: analyze the system and environment as a black box to identify problems, decompose structure to localize issues, and build a cause tree to expose root causes; then set goals, design updated subsystems, and forecast the To-Be system; finally, organize implementation and planning. The lab cycle mirrors this path—black-box and environment analysis, structural decomposition, cause analysis, goal tree, structural synthesis, and a creative task that plans realization. The next lecture starts at 3:00 with the first test on 2 March, and example problem domains previously chosen include an internet café, ISP issues, and an ecological topic.