SYSTEM INSPECTION

Inspection should be carried out in a series of stages involving identification, selection, measurement, and comparison.

After the issues and the problem components have been identified a detailed inspection can be made. If the problems are in resources, the location, quality and quantity may then be assessed. Are they located in the right place? Are they of the right quality? Is their quantity correct, or are there too few or too many? If the problems are in activities, exactly the same questions of location, quality, and quantity can be asked. If the answer to any of these questions is unsatisfactory, then the next question is do the essential requisites of activity exist — opportunity, capability, and motivation? If the problems are in controls, once again the same questions of location, quality, and quantity may be asked — are the controls in the right places, are they of a suitable quality, and are there sufficient of them? If the controls are not of a suitable quality is it because of evaluation, implementation or decisions? The analysis of the components and factors associated with them such as rewards and effects can be continued and carried down to whatever level of detail is appropriate and necessary.

We have now completed an outline of the basis of the General Theory, the full details of which can be found in the book. However, an examination of the main components of management are provided in the links below, and also a case study which illustrates the practical application of the theory.

INSPECTION STAGES

The first stage in inspection is the identification of all of the possible topics and issues associated with them that may affect the process or system. The second stage is to select which of these topics and issues that have been identified are relevant. The sequence and timing of the selection are important elements of inspection. The third stage is the measurement of the performance of the selected topics. These measures may range from counting the production of cans of beans to assessing the morale of the staff, or judging the confidence of the stock market in the shares of the company. The fourth stage is the comparison of the selected measurement with similar measurement made elsewhere. These comparisons may be between the same topics at different times or in different places. Production of a factory during a certain time may be compared with production of the same factory at some other time, or with some other factory elsewhere. The objectives of a process or system are those for which the system is set up. The resources of a system are all of the resources involved within the system as well as those resources on which the system depends. The activities of a system are not only all of the activities that take place within, but also those outside the system that affect or are affected by the system. The events that need to be evaluated are those that mark significant stages in the operation of the process or effects of the system.