The victims or beneficiary of transformation process

C, Customer, is defined as the beneficiary or victim of the system's activity. The term 'customer', however, has an unfortunate connotation that narrows its meaning and use in practice, namely of a recipient or purchaser of goods or services. This point can be illustrated by an example given by Checkland (1979) in relation to mistakes in defining C. “For example, customers in the marketplace are frequently named as representing CATWOE’s ‘C’ in Root Definition’s of production planning systems. For such a system the correct ‘C’ (the system’s direct beneficiaries or victims) are the people responsible for carrying out the production process” (p. 48). However, Checkland uses this example in order to illustrate the tendency to define C too widely. He argues that “[w]ithin CATWOE the most common mistake is to define as C, the system’s beneficiaries or victims, some persons who are affected by the system but at several removes” (p. 48). Hence, he sees the use of defining C as the customers in the marketplace as a C at several removes while we mean that this is an effect due to confusing the term Customer in CATWOE with the everyday word customer. Besides this it could also be argued that it is a mistake to try to define C too narrowly because it is often the indirect impacts that determine the real success or failure of a system, and analysis should uncover all of them and provides means for discussing them. As illustrated in Mitev's (1996) discussion of the SNCF railway ticketing system, in which many kinds of people and groups were affected - passengers, ticket office staff, trades unions, the traveling public, etc. - the impacts of a system can be widespread and unpredictable and occur by indirect means. Finally, in using the term customer we have found a tendency to focus on positive benefits of T and neglect to analyze the possible negative impacts that T might have. For these reasons we tend not to use the term during our analyses, but rather terms like 'beneficiary', 'victim', etc. Hence, what is needed is a view of Customer that helps the analyst to uncover both all those affected by T, at different levels of abstraction, and whether the impact is negative or positive.

BERGVALL-KÅREBORN, MIRIJAMDOTTER AND BASDEN

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This tool is part of a project which try to answer the question: Is it possible to use software to help users construct Root Definitions? The chosen topic has its roots in system thinking and modelling world. A system represent an arrangement of parts or elements, in a whole according to a regular form of interaction or interdependence, a common principle. System thinking is a holistic approach towards systems, their context and their parts interaction. A model describe something real in a simplified form, usually in a graphical, schematic way for a specific purpose. We use them often together (systems and models) to describe concepts (mental constructs) to understand things by comparing them with our own reality.

A Root Definition (RD) can be defined as a structured description of a chosen relevant system of purposeful activity. It is a precise and concise expression of a specific world-view and model one way of looking at problematic situations. It has a central role in Soft System Methodology in building many distinct descriptions of notional human activity which later will be debated in order to understand better the situation complexity. The Soft System Methodology (SSM) was created by Peter Checkland at the Lancaster University in late 70’s while he was leading an action research program. Validation of a Root Definition can be done using CATWOE technique introduced in 1976 by David Smyth, a researcher from Checkland's team who observed that successful SSM analysis were having in common some elements (Smyth and Checkland, 1976). The elements of this mnemonic word are: Customer, Actor, Transformation, Weltanschauung (World-view), Owners and Environmental constrains. As well the CATWOE analysis can be used to construct a Root Definition. Why are RD important? Beside that Root Definitions modelling step is part of the SSM, it can be used very well out of SSM; as an analysis tool for businesses to analyse stakeholders interests, or to express ourself better when explain or define transformation processes. Also can capture requirements for any project by understanding different realities (points of view) and people interests. Users might need help to construct RD, because as humans, are prone to mistakes and misunderstandings related to the methodology as framework and its components use. One way to find an answer to our question is by trial and error using a software prototype. A software application is a program, a set of rules designed in advance, to be executed by a machine (computer) which will process the user inputs in something else useful for the user. In our case, will try to capture the inputs as elements of mnemonic CATWOE and PQR, then process/arange them in a frame/pattern and express them back to user in a succinct phrase called a Root Definition. So by following guided steps and receiving automatic feedback, they can build valid Root Definitions conform to the rules designed by their authors and even improved with construction patterns extracted from existing examples analysed.