Examples of 'Systems Thinking' Projects in International Development

As science and engineering projects are becoming increasingly more complex, sophisticated, comprehensive and multidisciplinary, there is a growing need for systems thinking skills to ensure successful project management. Systems thinking plays a major role in the initiation, effective management, and in facilitating inter-organizational tasks. This research assesses the capacity for engineering systems thinking and its contribution in carrying out a multidisciplinary project. The research also reviews the cognitive process through which systems thinking skill is acquired. The study focused on a group of students who have completed their senior design projects in high-tech industry, while their plans were being integrated into existing larger projects in the respective industrial sites. The systems thinking skill of the students was examined according to a questionnaire for assessing the Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST). Statistical analysis shows significant differences in the students capacity for systems thinking at the beginning and end of the work (p<0.001). This research demonstrates that systems thinking skills can be improved through awareness and involvement in multidisciplinary projects.

Although Design thinking originated as a process to solve wicked problems such as environmental issues and inequality (Rittel and Webber, 1973: Buchanan, 1992), the approach tends to focus on a conventional linear growth paradigm rather than a sustainable transition with nature at the core. Design thinking arose in a time (mid 90s - 00s) when climate and environment did not receive the same attention as in recent years. We believe that Design thinking still has its justification as a process tool, however, the authors are convinced that the tool can be strengthened if we focus more on materials and early use of prototyping, and if the process is supplemented with a consistent focus on natural interdependencies and systems thinking. We will address and discuss this as a perspective to re-balance the Design thinking process in the current context, where natural recovery and green transition should be highest priority. Design thinking emphasizes research as the first step of defining a relevant problem. This can typically be in the form of ‘empathizing’ (Ideo, Stanford), ‘discovering’ (Double Diamond, British Design Council) or ‘finding’ (5F, VIA University College). That is, with a human-centered focus. In this paper, we discuss ways in which systems thinking can serve as an entrance point to a re-balanced Design thinking process model with nature in the center. In two projects we have employed systems thinking at different phases in the design thinking process. One project has used systems thinking throughout the whole process with an intensified focus on the solution. The other project has used system thinking specifically in the initial phases to find and re-frame the problem through system mapping. The focus in the paper is to evaluate in which ways and to what extent system thinking has contributed to the process. In this paper we use interviews with participating students from both projects as a foundation for our discussions. The projects are respectively an internal project with local students and an external project with multiple international partner universities and students. We present the two projects, the participating students, and the partners involved together with the insights from the interviews. The local project Design for Change is a three-week project with 48 students from the 5th semester specialty ‘Entrepreneurship and Innovation’. The GPA Map the System is a 10-week long learning experience offered in collaboration between Humber College, Otago Polytechnic and VIA University College for students to build key competencies for sustainable development (Rieckmann, Mindt and Gardiner, 2017) through activities focused on systems thinking and mapping. Systems thinking allows us to reorient our thinking from being entity-focused (a product, a local problem, a specific person) to include multiple entities (products and services, multiple problems, multiple stakeholders), their interrelations, the dynamics of the system, and very importantly the different scales of the system (Hunt, 2020) Based on the insights from the two projects, this paper discuss the didactic approaches to system thinking, the potentials and challenges in connecting it to design thinking processes and summarize with recommendations.

Deriving from a critique of the theory of management that has influenced the practice of project management, this article explores an alternative paradigm in the form of systems thinking. The known multi-disciplinary usefulness of systems thinking is proposed as a means of reconsidering project planning, implementation and control, leading to potential implications for the education of project managers. The appropriate selection of systems approaches for use in the planning and control of complex projects in any development sector, including construction, is considered. Although the specific details of any specific ‘process-based’ systems approaches are not presented, the conceptual rationale for such approaches to project planning and control is presented. This is done within a framework of critical consideration of those factors that are argued to contribute to failure to meet key project outcomes, especially in complex projects. Contemporary literature (extensively referred to in this article) increasingly suggests that there are limits to the established ‘rational-oriented’ approaches to project management. The current body of practice knowledge requires the addition of complementary, ‘process-based’ approaches for a new generation of strategic project managers. Specific recommendations for educational development in this regard are made. This article explores the influence of contemporary organisational theory on project management and hence the need to add critically necessary soft skills capacity to the current body of knowledge.

Purpose: The fields of competence development and capacity development remain isolated in the scholarship of learning and innovation despite the contemporary focus on innovation systems thinking in agricultural and rural development. This article aims to address whether and how crossing the conventional boundaries of these two fields provide new directions for developing learning and innovation competence in international development. Design/methodology/approach: Using mixed methods research, this article assesses work environments for experiential learning and innovation, and investigates effective ways of enhancing core competence in agricultural research, education, extension and entrepreneurship. Findings: Findings suggest that while the focus on input and output indicators are relevant for technological innovation competence development, outcome indicators, such as measures of changes in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning and innovation, would better serve the purpose of developing organisational and institutional learning and innovation competence. Practical implications: This research concludes that crossing the conventional boundaries of competence development and capacity development serves as a way to renew the role of education within the innovation systems thinking. However, such an attempt to enhance human capabilities and functionings through education should integrate theory-based, competence-based and experiential learning components as a coherent whole. Originality/value: This article demonstrates the value of crossing the conventional boundaries of the two seemingly unrelated fields—competence development through education and capacity development through extension—to provide new directions to operationalise innovation systems thinking in agricultural education and extension.

This article presents an energy-efficient multiplex housing project proposed in response to a local affordable housing crisis among low-income urban neighborhoods in Chattanooga, TN, in the United States. The project adopted the systems thinking approach, which encouraged design students to think beyond individual components and consider the interconnections of various systems within and around the multiplex housing, including daylight analysis, market analysis, life cycle assessment, and energy performance evaluation. To respond to the local-specific housing market and climate conditions, the students from the multidiscipline collaboratively engaged in the design process to understand the project's environmental, social, and economic contexts and implement the passive design strategies into energy-efficient and affordable multiplex housing design to meet low-income families’ economic and social needs. The project site and design requirements were provided by a local nonprofit housing development organization that was a client of the project. This article highlights the significance of students’ systems thinking exercises in achieving energy-efficient affordable housing solutions in low-income urban neighborhoods through passive design strategies.

Cross-learning between project management and international development: Analysis and research agenda

Adaptive water resources management recognizes the centrality of learning to its effective implementation.However, the literature on learning in Adaptive Management (AM) is disjointed and lacks rigorous treatment.The purpose of this paper is to clarify how learning associated with AM is distinctive and to explain the importance of successfully integrating it into policy design.Because adaptive learning holds a unique position within the adaptive management and assessment process, it should serve as the basis for a systematic redesign of water policy processes.Adaptive environmental assessment and management processes, which highlight the role of adaptive learning, are built upon in this paper.For the purpose of this paper, adaptive learning is defined as "an ongoing process of inquiry that incorporates new knowledge with the aim to continually improve management policies".In order for adaptive learning to live with and profit from nature's dynamism, it is argued that it must be problem-centered, decision relevant, reflective, and inherently transformative.When this kind of learning becomes a fully integrated component of AM, water resource institutions have a greater likelihood of maturing into actual "learning systems".The specific objectives of this paper are to: 1) redefine what adaptive learning is, 2) explain how this particular type of learning is distinctive and 3) outline the role of adaptive learning in policy formation.Regarding policy design, the paramount issue is determining how to respond to the speed, scale, and complexity of the planetary challenges.This paper draws on a number of related areas of research to present propositions for increasing the adaptive capacity of water organizations.These research topics include: demonstrating how adaptive learning should be integrated into policy design; establishing new standards of practice that are based on adaptive learning rather than achieving 'optimal' end-game solutions; using the breakthrough views in order to transform learning into effective action; framing management problems in non-reductionist ways so that nature may serve as an ally and pilot; using shadow networks to inspire innovation, encourage institutional learning, and improve governance rules; and creating a new social reality that is more future-responsive to problems and more hospitable to new ways of thinking about water management.

Chapter 22 - Project management of innovative teams

The purpose of this research was to plan an approach to a project framework that integrated a model for sustainability and CSR, with the process groups of the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) standard, in its application to the training of a group of students in Project Design, Management, and Evaluation. The integration was justified by the scarce explicit references to sustainability and CSR found in traditional project management guidelines, norms, and standards. The new framework was used to structure a Sustainability Management Plan, which made it possible to incorporate sustainability criteria throughout the life cycle of the training project. The training proposal in Project Design, Management, and Evaluation was chosen, among several alternatives, by a multi-criteria selection process (fuzzy AHP) in the context of project scope management. The results reveal a great heterogeneity among the models and the lack of a base of key indicators in sustainability and CSR measurement tools as well as of explicit references to sustainability in project management standards. It is therefore necessary to develop a Sustainability Management Plan that can be introduced in the Project Management Plan and thus influence the strategic and operational guidelines of the Institution.

The scarcity of water resources exhibited in different parts of the world and the dysfunctional consequences associated with urban water processes and services are encouraging countries to adopt transformative innovative thinking. The movement from the “visions” of urban water management to ‘actions” demands more emphasis on the development of relevant platforms and frameworks that enable effective transitions and sustainability of actions and good practices. Within the context of a changing environment, urban water management processes need to be “shifted” from the “conventional” approach to a wider context capable of addressing the growing urban water management lock-ins. Complexities in urban water management originate from the difficulty of maintaining sector-based balances (mainly supply-demand balances) governing internal functionality as well as from the intensity and uncertainty of the dynamics of both the entire water system and the wide range of change agents interacting in its external environment. Such lock-ins are affecting the capacity of urban water managers and policy makers to develop suitable strategies and implementation pathways and improve the overall resource utilization and service provision capacity and efficiency. While conventional approaches continued to be widely used to address such lock-ins, little improvement tend to be gained with regards to the dynamics of the “problem domain” and the feasibility of “solution spaces”. Over years, emphasis continued to be on advocating “nesting” urban water management processes into the context of integrated water management, but without ensuring the availability of relevant change management strategies, tools and agents. Issues relating to water governance, decentralization of water management processes and authorities, involvement of stakeholders, development and adoption of appropriate information platform, and capacity building are moving to the front line agenda of urban water managers and policy makers. In the absence of relevant tools and integrated frameworks, the capacity of conventional urban water management approaches to address such a new context remains questionable. The complexity exhibited across the entire urban water subsystem (both in scale and magnitude) calls for not only the development on new or modified “program sets” but also transformed and enriched ‘mind sets”. Such migration can be envisioned through the adoption of system thinking, innovation and strategic niche management. This will improve the capacity of the overall urban management “sub-system’ to orchestrate its functionalities with the overall water system using a holistic approach. This contribution focuses on the imperativeness of capacity building in urban water management in a changing environment and the importance of developing sustainability framework and approach in accordance with the principles of system innovation and thinking.

In the knowledge era, projects taking the form of value co-creation activities among different people and multiple organizations are required for knowledge creation in today's economy. There are two main methodologies in the existing project management (PM): the Last Planner and Scrum, which are rooted in the foundation of the conventional PM doctrine: planning and control. When customers as co-creators are directly engaged in PM processes, the traditional concept of control in PM is unsuitable to a value co-creation project. Therefore, a new managerial methodology is essential for value co-creation activities in new PM. We apply the KIKI model for the new PM based on a service-centered view and a service systems thinking. The model is focused on value co-creation through knowledge creation by such steps as knowledge sharing; identifying needs; knowledge integrating; implementation to meet needs. Those steps are spirally developed such that the knowledge creating process is able to efficiently develop to convert into values. We verify the adaption of the KIKI model in PM through a case study in an English education project. The significance of the framework is in both academic and practical aspects on PM.

Knowledge systems are increasingly used to support globally distributed work. Projects are a natural means of designing and deploying such systems. There is plenty of literature on the management of information systems design projects and some literature on information systems deployment projects. However, knowledge systems are typically more complex organizationally and socially than most traditional information systems. For example, enterprise resource planning systems typically must be used to get the work done whereas many knowledge systems are voluntary to use. It is reasonable to assume that project management involved in the design and deployment of knowledge systems differs from the project management involved in traditional information systems projects. Examples abound in the literature about knowledge systems deployment efforts that failed because (1) the business cultures did not encourage and reinforce knowledge sharing and (2) the necessary organizational change could not be implemented. Such failures could often have been avoided if (1) more balanced efforts between the design and deployment of knowledge systems had been implemented and (2) the design and deployment efforts had been managed through coordinated design and deployment projects. Deployment projects have a crucial role in implementing organizational and social changes. Yet, deployment is often considered only as a phase in larger design-driven projects. This minitrack calls for research contributions in domains where large economic, organizational, and social benefits can be obtained from the effective management of knowledge systems design and deployment projects. Contributions should span the dualism between knowledge system design and deployment research and/or the dualism between the design project and deployment project research, helping individuals and organizations design and use work systems and enabling knowledge systems holistically. For example, when the routines of people using knowledge systems unexpectedly break down, people typically devise workarounds, potentially changing their work practices or using the knowledge systems in unintended ways. Sooner or later, workarounds become ineffective and new holistic work system and knowledge system redesign projects are needed to devise lasting solutions. Theory-based normative advice is needed to answer questions such as why, when, and how to devise new holistic work system and knowledge system designs (1) to deal with the encountered breakdowns and (2) to leverage and appropriately institutionalize the knowledge embedded in the improvised workarounds. In 2012, this minitrack consists of two papers. The paper of Laddawan Kaewkitipong investigates the reasons for and the lessons to be learnt from the failure of Google Wave, a shared space on the web where people can collaborate using multiple media and artifacts. Kaewkitipong conducted content analysis of secondary data from several online forums, which discussed the failure of Google Wave, and primary data collected from interviews with early adopters who had discontinued using Google Wave. Complexity and a lack of relative advantage were found the most frequently cited reasons for failure. The exclusivity of Google Wave through the invite-only policy was also cited as a reason for failure. Designers and vendors of web-based knowledge systems thus need to be able to (1) balance between delivering all-in-one systems and keeping the systems easy to understand and use and (2) understand the dynamics of decision making within social networks in which single actors can seldom decide which systems the networks should adopt. According to Koivulahti-Ojala and Kakola enduser training is complicated to implement in global software development organizations where development work is distributed across multiple sites that may leverage a development tool for very different purposes. Web-based Virtual Meeting Tools (VMT) enable synchronous communication and provide potentially a cost effective way to train even complex topics to large numbers of people in global settings. Few industrial experiences from the design and use of VMT-based training innovations have been reported. The paper draws upon a case study in a global corporation to describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a VMT-based training innovation for delivering a set of courses to support the global deployment of a Unified Modeling Language (UML) modeling tool and to develop UML modeling skills. The innovation proved successful in improving skills, knowledge, and motivation and learners were satisfied with it. Other organizations may benefit from using VMT to train people to use similar complex information systems. 2012 45th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Research on project selection system of pre-evaluation of engineering design project bidding

Cybersecurity decisions are made across a range of social, technical, economic, regulatory and political domains. There is a gap between what companies and institutions plan to do while developing their internal IS-related policies and what should be done according to a multi-stakeholder system perspective in this area. Our task as researchers is to bridge this gap by offering potential solutions. The aim of our work is to promote the usage of the socio-technical systems (STS) approach to support the emerging role of systems thinking in cybersecurity education, using simulation as a supporting tool for learning. Meanwhile, new trends in cybersecurity curricula suggest an important shift toward new thinking approaches such as adversarial and systems thinking. We explored individuals’ adversarial and systems thinking skills in an open agent-based simulated environment and subsequently assessed the impact based on a participant survey. We discuss these results and point to directions for further investigation. The second contribution of the article is the provision of a tool for developing target users’ skills in making quantitative risk decisions and giving them a deeper understanding of the importance and use of key indices in the cyber risk management process.

Multinational organisations of all kinds face growing challenges to ensure that their international operations and staff are safe from threat of physical and psychological danger. This is particularly acute in the international aid and development sector, where expatriate field staff are both valuable and vulnerable, and where organisations often confront limited infrastructure and financial resources. This paper reports an empirical study exploring the ways in which 10 international non-government organisations from 5 nations (USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Australia), all with substantial experience operating in high-risk contexts, manage the safety and security of their expatriate staff. Our results unearth four areas where these organisations seek to build in-house competence, centred on culture building, and supported by a suite of human resource practices relating to people services, information services and communication services. These competencies coalesce around an overarching philosophy towards safety and security that we describe as ‘personal responsibility and empowerment’.