Problems and Issues in Using Computer- Based Support Tools to Enhance 'Soft' Systems Methodologies

This paper describes the Soft Information Systems and Technologies Methodology (SISTeM), and demonstrates its utility in integrating informational and organisational development. The methodology and its stages are illustrated with examples from recent information systems and technology (IS&T) based projects, mainly in the health sector. Its antecedents in soft systems methodology are identified. The use of the approaches underpinning concept of the human/machine activity system is described. The nature of SISTeM as a social, political and technological form of contingency methodology, working with other approaches and disciplines, is demonstrated. SISTeM, it will be argued has capacity for orchestrating the emergence, consolidation and continual development of real world actor networks.

So-called ‘hard’ systems methods like System Dynamics (SD) are useful for analysing complex systems where multiple factors interact with each other. However, the models used in such approaches are developed by people who decide what aspects are to be included in the understanding of the systems, what the purpose of the systems are supposed to be, and how to interpret the outcome of the SD simulation experiments, suggesting that the inclusion of a ’soft’ systems method could be beneficial. The Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) has turned out to be a good interface in many ‘hard’ systems cases, although it has sometimes been experienced as too demanding or impractical, giving rise to the question of whether a simpler approach like the Appreciative Inquiry Method (AIM) would be more effective. In support of this hypothesis, six years of action research on the use of AIM within language pedagogy illustrates how periodic appreciation of a human activity system for learning Spanish has developed through cycles of reality judgements, value judgements and action judgements, although the study indicated that AIM would become increasingly more effective if assisted by SD-like evaluation principles. Using language pedagogy as an example, the paper argues the relevance of soft systems thinking and how the future of soft systems thinking depends on the widespread use of simple and effective methods like AIM.

This chapter explores the potential of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) for making improvements in healthcare practices. SSM is an approach designed for tackling real world problems and is described as a learning process that engages relevant stakeholders in a process of inquiry into a problematic situation with the aim of improving the situation. SSM has potential to contribute to the way we manage change in healthcare by acknowledging the complexities of the real world rather than trying to provide simplified or idealized solutions that all-too-often do not work in reality. Although SSM has not been extensively used in healthcare it has been applied in a variety of healthcare settings and for different types of problematic situations and improvements, indicating the versatility of the methodology. We provide examples of how SSM has been applied and based on our analysis discuss some main principles for how SSM can bring about more responsive, sustainable change in healthcare, including: a participatory approach that involves relevant stakeholders with expertise about the local context; a systems approach to assess and address the problematic situation; and approaching improvements in an iterative learning cycle.

Wide interest in, and acceptance for, the using the soft systems methodology (SSM) in the development of information systems (Stowell, 1995; UKSS, 1992; Jayaratna, 1994; Lewis, 1994; Avison and Fitzgerald, 1995; Crowe, Beeby and Gammack, 1996; CCTA, 1993) has greatly increased awareness and use of the methodology. This growth in knowledge of SSM, often obtained through a secondary literature, inevitably leads to a change in the profile of the typical user of the methodology. Many new users will be less concerned with theoretical issues than the immediate, practical benefits that the methodology can provide, have had only limited, if any, supervised experience of the methodology’s use and be unaware of theoretical discussions concerning the methodology and its use. This can have benefits (for example, a more daring willingness to experiment and adapt the methodology) but there is also the danger that ideas may be misunderstood, misapplied, employed crudely or inappropriately. New users may also feel at times uncertain in their use of SSM (Moore, 1996)

Checkland's soft systems methodology (SSM) has been successfully employed to solve organizational semi-structured and unstructured problems. It is faced with the challenges of cognitive biases, misused mental models and frames. After analyzing the features of the decision making theories based on normative and descriptive paradigms, this paper builds up an integrated decision making knowledge system to provide full support to decision process and then put forward an improved SSM.

This article explores the potentials of systems analysis and design of information system for sustainable natural resource management. Soft and hard system analyses were performed to better understand the information needs and design of an information system for improving decision making for achieving sustainable natural resource management. In order to analyze the complex and soft systems situations for developing an effective information system, which meets related actors’ changing needs, a conceptual model inspired by soft systems methodology (SSM) was developed. This model is based on information derived from twelve farmers who were purposely selected to represent diverse conditions and 23 agricultural extension experts across the Alborz Watershed in Mazandaran Province, located in northern Iran. Since a conceptual model resulting from SSM is not in itself sufficient as the basis for the implementation of information systems, a hard system methodology was used to structure the data handling by using unified modeling language. This research has shown the promising potentiality of using soft system analysis methodology as a preliminary step to the actual design of an information system in the natural resource management situation in the watershed system level when combined with hard system analysis methods.

The objective of this study is to explore the adoption of an intellectual innovation within an organisational environment. The intellectual innovation that will be explored is Soft Systems Methodology.As a prelude to the study, an overview of Soft Systems Methodology is provided. Theoretically, Soft Systems Methodology can be used to formulate a wide range of problem types. However, there is a continual belief that Soft Systems Methodology can only be used to solve soft problems.Innovation Diffusion Theory has been used in a wide range of studies to explain the adoption of innovations within organisations and work groups. This study will evaluate innovation diffusion theory as an effective theory that explains how intellectual innovations can be adopted within organisations.The results indicate that Soft Systems Methodology is an innovation, and that it is useful in formulating problems. Innovation Diffusion theory was evaluated as being an appropriate theory to explain the adoption of an intellectual innovation. The level of adoption and the level of usage by the respondents do not influence how SSM is perceived as being an innovation.There has been little research conducted in the adoption of intellectual innovations. The research presents opportunities for further research within the areas of Innovation Diffusion Theory and Soft Systems Methodology.

The world is now moving toward a pluralistic approach of combining several methods, both hard and soft, within an intervention multimethodology. It currently shows an upward movement for social researcher to employ methodologies grounded on environmental analysis and ecosystem modeler, known as hard system, or preferably on participatory processes, stated as soft system. Both approaches surely have their own positive and negative points to reckon with the complexity of systems from various perspectives. However, a major existing gap is the lack of a clear methodology for integrating these two approaches. This paper synthesizes a promising integration in soft systems methodology (SSM) and agent-based modeling (ABM) that hereinafter referred to as soft systems agent-based methodology (SSABM). SSABM emerges from the limitations of soft systems dynamic methodology (SSDM), which combines SSM and system dynamics (SD) approach. The theoretical and methodological assumption in SSM, ABM, and SD is briefly discussed, and critiques for each method are presented. Regarding their theoretical and methodological approach, this paper shows a comparison between SSABM and SSDM in dealing with decision-making.

Soft systems methodology (SSM) is a well-known Problem Structuring Methods that has proven effective when tackling problematic situations. To model different perceptions of a problematic situation, SSM encourage stakeholders to propose possible transformation likely to improve the situation. The more transformations compiled the richer the process become; but in practice, managing higher number of transformations presents a challenge. Value-Focused Thinking (VFT) is an approach designed to obtain and structure stakeholders’ value-based objectives. In an SSM application, stakeholders ascribe their value-based objectives to the transformations proposed; we propose a multi-methodological framework in which VFT analysis is added to a revised version of SSM (Re-SSM). This allows to reduce the transformations to a manageable number. We applied the (Re-SSM)-VFT framework to a single case-study to structure/define policies/practices in planning the inclusion of students with special educational needs in a Brazilian Federal High School. In applying the framework, we found that from more than 40 initial SSM transformations only 8 transformations were needed to reach 4 out of 5 objectives. Results suggest that it is possible to save time/effort in the planning process by considering transformations associated with the stakeholders’ value-based objectives enabling efficient systemic plans, aligned with their expectations.

Academic research is often regarded as less than helpful for practice, while knowledge practitioners are accused of failing to apply relevant research in their industries. This study successfully bridged the theory‑practice gap in that it resolved a real‑world problem and added to the body of knowledge, i.e. it aided to: identify underlying social root causes of a flawed project governance process and associated decision support software; define actions for improvement; and realise generalisable theoretical and applied knowledge to improve both theory and practice. It illustrates that collaborative academic research adds value to both academia and industry. This paper discusses an empirical study where soft systems methodology (SSM) was applied as an interventionist action research (AR) method, positioned in the critical systems thinking (CST) and critical social research (CSR) paradigm. SSM is defined as a learning system that facilitates the identification of actions for improvement of problematical social contexts—it gives epistemological guidance to systematically explore perspectives of individuals involved in and affected by social (e.g. organisational) settings, to identify actions for improvement. However, SSM is found to be most often applied interpretively by academia, i.e., to understand a problem context, rather than to improve it, and by practitioners as a consulting tool. SSM successfully facilitates exploring of problematical social contexts, but, according to users of it, fail to effect real and lasting change. It is also quite difficult to extract generalisable learning from its output. In this study, the researcher argues that SSM have the potential to live up to its original intent. So, she positioned SSM in the CST/CSR paradigm by applying an enriched version of it. She guided participants to reflect on inherent flaws in the scrutinised project governance business process and associated decision support software. Hence, by applying methodological pluralism, she also guided them to reflect on actions for change in light of the organisation’s socially constructed structures and their effects on involved and affected stakeholders of the process. SSM was enriched by also reflecting on the output of facilitated workshops, which aimed to identify required transformation to improve upon deficient project governance, from the perspectives of: the role of the participant(s) in the organisation; the effects that identified organisational decisions and changes may have on them; and by asking probing questions about the crux of statements made, e.g. if it is presumed to be true, what would the effect be, or vice versa. The outcome was emancipation, as key underlying social and structural causes for the organisational deficiencies surfaced.

Broadly, the paper argues for a soft systems approach to initial requirements definition and for the use of formal techniques as a means of strengthening that approach. In detail, the paper looks specifically at the means and implications of combining Checkland and Wilson's Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) with formal specification in LOTOS (P.B. Checkland, 1981; B. Wilson, 1990). Formal descriptions give precise meaning to the largely informal SSM models and help establish a bridge to traditional computing oriented analysis techniques. The use of tools to support the development, linking and maintenance of SSM and LOTOS models is also examined. The discussion is illustrated with a simple book ordering data processing example. Overall, this work is part of a larger research effort into the development of RACE, a new requirements engineering method for software.

Background: Computer-based tools to assess venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk have been shown to increase VTE pharmacoprophylaxis rates and decrease VTE incidence in high-risk hospitalized patients. However, VTE risk may be underestimated using computer-based tools alone. We tested the effect of a provider-enhanced clinical decision support (CDS) tool on VTE pharmacoprophylaxis and VTE incidence in patients who would have been deemed “low risk” using a computer-based risk-assessment tool alone. Methods: The study sample was adult patients hospitalized during a 13-month period who were determined to be at low risk for VTE with a computer-based risk-assessment tool. The provider-enhanced CDS tool was implemented 4 months into the study period and required providers to stratify patients as being at high, moderate, or low risk for VTE. We compared rates of VTE pharmacoprophylaxis and VTE incidence before and after implementation of the provider-enhanced CDS tool. Results: There were 1322 patients in the 4-month pre-implementation period and 3347 patients in the 9-month post-implementation period who were determined to be at low risk for VTE based on a computer-based risk-assessment tool. Using the provider-enhanced CDS tool, providers stratified 31% of these computer-assigned low-risk patients as being at moderate risk for VTE and 7% as being at high risk for VTE. The rate of VTE pharmacoprophylaxis increased from 27% to 34% (P < 0.01). The venous thromboprophylaxis rate decreased from 0.98% to 0.42% after implementation of the provider-enhanced CDS tool (P < 0.02). Conclusion: Patients identified as being at low risk for VTE solely by computer-based algorithms may include patients whom providers determine to be at risk for VTE. Provider-enhanced CDS tools may outperform computer-based VTE risk-stratification algorithms.

This paper tests the application of soft systems methodology (SSM) to a problem situation in an educational context. It reports the first stage of an international study of pre-service teacher education using the author’s interpretation of the problem situation in order to determine the applicability of the approach. The international study compares the policy context and practice for the practicum element of pre-service teacher education within the three jurisdictions of England, UK, Ontario, Canada and New South Wales, Australia. A critical aspect of the international study is the commitment to use a methodology normally adopted in information systems and organisational management. The approach is primarily used as an action research tool but it can also be used to assist in sense making. In the trial application presented here it is being used for this second purpose. The methodology is described in some detail and the first three stages are then applied to the problem situation. Not only does the creation of root definitions highlight different perspectives but using SSM surfaces the likelihood of teacher shortages. This analysis has contrasted the government aim of improving the quality of teachers with the emerging issue of generating enough trained teachers in an environment where primary pupil numbers are set to grow by 20%. The analysis to date provides a catalyst for discussion among partners and the identification of unintended consequences from multiple changes is characteristic of the application of SSM.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the basic epistemological and ontological foundations of soft and hard information systems (IS) methodologies. A number of writers have discussed the philosophical underpinnings of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM); the general conclusion being that SSM embodies the philosophical assumptions of (some form of) subjectivism. It will be argued that whilst the advocates of SSM subscribe to a subjective mode of enquiry, such a mode has its history — and its rationale — firmly grounded in the early modern philosophies of the natural sciences. In contemporary epistemological terms, this approach can be characterised as a variant of foundationalism. Lewis has recently studied the epistemological foundations of hard IS methodologies. Although these methodologies are generally committed to an approach based on objec- tivist assumptions, they are also based on a variant of foundationalism. The overlaps between hard and soft IS methodologies’ metaphysical foundations will be explored, and it will be argued that, whilst there may be epistemological overlaps between the two broad approaches, there are problems reconciling the ontological assumptions of these two broad approaches. It will be concluded that these problems (whilst causing some difficulties) are not insurmountable.

Demonstrates the application of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to issues facing those information professionals attempting the long-term management of digital data objects (DDOs) in the UK. Reports results of research, undertaken at Loughborough University, Department of Information Science, to demonstrate the benefits of using SSM to determine the critical issues underlying the resolution of complex ill-defined people-centred problems. Defines DDOs as computerized, machine-readable resources, such as Web pages or electronic periodicals, the information content of which can be stored and accessed independently of the form in which it was created. Discusses basic SSM principles and the seven stages of its implementation in research. Secondary source material from a literature review was combined with empirical data and analyzed using SSM. The use of SSM to create a ‘rich picture’ enables the categorization of organizations into relatively homogeneous groups, based on their approach to the long-term management of DDOs. This rich picture illustrates that there is a division between stakeholders who use standard metadata formats and those who have, or are in the process of creating, in house formats.