An Imaginary Organization: Total System Intervention Method - Essay Example

Management Decision Making Table of Content Introduction Case Study Investigating issue by using TSI Model Major & minor Metaphors System of System Methodologies (SoSM). (Diagram of Rich picture with boundary required). How these ideas limit the two methodologies to different paradigms of thinking. Introduction Managing any organization has become a scientific and systematic process now. Various Organisations often have a large number of sections which perform their functions individually and collectively. It is necessary that there should be collaboration between these section as a single service required by a customer involves several functions. It is the responsibility of management to assure quality service and avoid delays and poor quality. It is one of the attribute of the management to make correct, effective and timely decisions. Decision making process in not as simple as it was considered in the past. It requires a systematic approach. Various models and theories are presented for this purpose. Whenever there is some problem occurs in the system it should be addressed by applying various model and theories available. In this essay an imaginary organization is taken for case study. The problem is also imaginary. The problem will be investigated by use Total System Intervention method and System of System Methodology. The various metaphors will be discussed and solution will be found through Viable System Model and Soft System Model. Case Study The organization under discussion is a large Hotel in Bahrain Middle East. The Hotel Management is facing variety of problems. These problems need to be addressed by applying above discussed models and methodologies. The problems in brief are: Local Customers and authorities are uneasy with the life style of Western Customers. There is lack of communication in various departments and section of Hotel. Lower level managers who are also local, not responding to problem properly. There is possibility of loosing customer confidence and trust. Ultimately Hotel may face financial losses. Before starting diagnostic and remedial process it would be useful to have brief insight of the structure of the organization in Hotel. The Hotel Management is looked after by a General Manager who reports to Managing Director. The General Manager is doing his job with the assistance of few junior managers responsible for various sections of the Hotel. The following managers have direct link with the above stated issues. - Food service manager - Convention services manager - Housekeeping manager Food Service Manager The supervisor and stewards working under his jurisdiction have reported that local customers have showed their reservation and dissent over usage of liquor openly in various sections of Hotel. They feel offended and as against their culture. They like to keep it confined to the rooms of customers. The Western Customers also feel this dissent and are unhappy too. Convention services manager It has been brought to notice of the Convention services manager that few local radical organizations are against the conferences of some international organizations on the subject of birth control. They have showed their dissent over usage of Hotel conference facilities for this purpose. Housekeeping manager Housekeeping managers is facing a negative attitude problem of the porters and room service employees. They are not friendly to the customers and often expect some sorts of giveaway from customer in cash or kind. If their expectations are not met they become rude and non cooperative Total System Intervention methodology For analyzing the root cause of these problems TSI methodology will be used to investigate and assess the major issues. For assessing the situation following we need to find out system metaphors that may be linked to different system methodologies for solving the problem. What is metaphor Metaphor is mode of representing complex details regarding certain matter in some catchwords These catchwords or similes express the situation comprehensively without going into details. It will be helpful to act on the assumption that the inadequacies of existing strategies are partly due to scarcity of imagination. The question to be asked is whether there is some pattern to our thinking which effectively limits the complexity of the policy options which tend to emerge. Major Metaphor: Major system metaphor is cultural narrow mindedness of local staff and also junior local managers. They are intentionally of unintentionally allowing to heat-up the sentiments as they also disagree with the certain practices. Justification: The whole issue is caused by this metaphor cultural narrow mindedness. This metaphor is relevant to all problems and is also major metaphor. If people are broadminded and they are trained to tolerate other cultures and life style then there would be no problem. Dependent Metaphor I: First minor or dependant metaphors are mental inadequacy of staff and lack of communication among staff members and high level management. Justification: This is dependent metaphor of cultural narrow mindedness. If people are mentally adequate then they can cope with such narrow mindedness prevailing in the society. They can even motivate other people to be more liberal and tolerant.Dependent Metaphor II: Second minor or dependant metaphor is lack of training and exposure to foreign cultures Justification: This metaphor is also dependent it the cultural narrow mindedness has led to this metaphor. If people are broadminded then can get exposed to foreign cultures and they will not hesitate in getting training in such fields Before moving onward it is quite appropriate that vision may be discussed on these issues. Vision The process visions must be related to strategy, so that organisation's strategy may get inspiration. This assumes that the strategy is sufficiently specific to give a sense of direction. The Vision of organization is clear on this aspect "There should be no discrimination whatsoever. There should be complete liberty to customer to spend their time according to their faith and beliefs. The vision shows what Organization has clear thinking on the issue. Now it will be easy to focus on the process objectives and attributes. The objectives should have a customer focus - they must truly be concerned with outcome. They should be measurable. They should be easy to be implemented. And they should be simple and non-contradictory. The long list of objectives is not required. When implementing the new processes we will have to plan change from the current situation - the existing processes. The existing processes may be causing problems which we could easily repeat if we do not understand them. Existing processes may also contain activities for avoiding problems which might not be anticipated. The Objectives for solution of problems may be (TASKS) To bridge the communication gap between local customers and authorities To train and motivate lower staff members for fulfilling their responsibilites without any prejudice and negativity To make arrangements for getting feedback from regarding the attitude of the staff To have collaboration with local authorities regarding threat imposed by local organization To publicize the non-religious policy of Hotel for calming down the opponents Now it should be considered after sorting out objectives for dealing with the issues that whether the resources available to proceed with the project. Social resources must be looked out and searched in association with material resources. It should also be considered that the organisation used to adopt the change. Does the organisation have a tradition of team work and open discussion Is there an atmosphere of trust What skills are available Are people willing to learn If social resources appear to be inadequate, they will need to be developed before or during the implementation phase. The technical resources should also be considered. It should be comparatively to find out these resources. If the required technology is available to support the new processes it would be of great help. The techinical resources include hardware, software and skilled manpower. If there is dearth of such resources they should be acquired and developed. Application of Appropriate Methodologies and Models It is time for choosing correct methodology and models for designing and implementing the new processes Soft System Model (SSM) SSM says "institutionalizing of learning through continual seeking of accommodations between world views of different stakeholders". The SSM team has to agree on what it is all about. What is the human activity on which we spend so much of our time together It is like a very brief mission statement, though it applies to an activity and not necessarily an organisation or division of an organisation, and it is definitely for internal use rather than public consumption. In one sense it is the minimum we can agree on, but it must describe our real activity. And there will have already been much argument, because people will see what they are agreeing to and what has been left out. The mission statement of SSM very interestingly addresses the root cause of issue. "Accommodating the world views of different Stakeholders". It defines what is agreed and what is still up for discussion, and that many important things might not be mentioned. We need to be sure that so far everyone is still with us. Achieving a truly agreed mission statement is probably the most important part of SSM. Once the SSM team has agreed on mission statement they temporarily forget about the existing system and model their "ideal" system to do the job. The construction of the model was originally seen by Checkland as fairly formal, and he provided a definitions. His current models are usually process models, with a small number of steps. However, SSM includes in its conceptual model management and support activities. The model must have enough detail (including resource use and performance measures) for it to be evaluated, but complete specification is not necessary since, as we shall see, the model is unlikely to ever be fully implemented. Organisation goals were matters of controversy; in particular most investigators assumed that all members of the organisation accepted goals set by top management, but this is usually not the case. CATWOE Analysis Part of the problem expression is working out who are the involved parties. Checkland uses mnemonic CATWOE to describe the human activity and its situation. A certain Transformation (process) is performed in a certain "atmosphere". Checkland actually recommends CATWOE analysis as the first step in working out a root definition, but I think it is useful during problem expression. Still, you should avoid doing it too early in case you jump to conclusions about who is "important". Diagram of Rich picture with boundary A key feature of SSM is the advice to keep the project vague and wide ranging for as long as possible - don't jump to conclusions, and don't ignore the current situation by concentrating on some utopian future. Checkland tends to describe his systems with diagrams known as "rich pictures". It is thought that this can be any sort of picture, a diagram "without rules". This is exactly the point, though rich pictures do have some distinguishing features. They show the people involved, their stated purposes, and their desires and fears (usually in think bubbles). They show more environmental detail than most diagrams (human activities, like processes, cross organisational boundaries). And they show how interests agree or conflict. Rich pictures are cartoons - they can be funny, sad, political, preferably all at once. You can compare a rich picture from CATWOE analysis and rich pictures concentrate on the process view. Since SSM is quite concerned with existing systems, Checkland also recommends that we find out about the organisation structure and how this interacts with the process. If it is assumed that current system is not perfect the enterprise needs to agree on desirable changes. Presumably these changes will move towards the ideal system. At this stage we go back and draw on the knowledge gained during the problem expression stage, particularly in understanding how proposed changes might affect and be affected by stakeholders. Before going further here is presented rich picture describing all the parties concerned, their thinking and prospective actions. Proposed Strategy Now wee need to implement the agreed changes. These changes can be described as under: Creating Public Relation Section in the Hotel. It will be the responsibility PR Manager to inter act with all the parties concerned and implement the objectives stated above. A tight check and balance policy will be problem creating staff members. Initially they would be motivated not to indulge in such negative activities. Some incentive may also be offered. But still they are found guilty the most mischievous should be fired at once. It will have a better impact on others. Core theoretical ideas behind both the Viable System Model (VSM) and Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). How these ideas limit the two methodologies to different paradigms of thinking SSM is a generally considered as method for system redesign. Ideal type models are built for each relevant view. These models are compared with the existing system in order to generate debate about what changes are culturally feasible and systemically desirable. SSM is an inquiring method; it is used for analysing of inadequately defined systems. SSM inquiry revolves around a real-world problem situation and conceptual models of relevant systems. This model is used to understand problem areas where human involvement is important. That is why it is effective in the development of expert systems with problem orientation. Logic is used in various practical applications of these systems. We are living in a society that is getting more and more complex and all the systems are interrelated. Researchers need to go along such fast developing systems by creating such system, which help them to understand the system in true sense. This understanding could be very helpful in the solution of complex problems The SSM is applied both in terms of the size of organization involved, and also in terms of its mode of use, which was as a facilitation device structuring work carried out by the participants themselves rather than as a methodology applied from outside. SSM is being used for various types of problems, organizational restructuring, information systems and performance evaluation and modification. If the SSM is not used at some place it is just because people do not have enough knowledge about the system modalities. Experience and proper training is necessary to use SSM successfully. (VSM) is a generic model of a viable organization based on cybernetic principles. It specifies five notional systems that should exist within an organization in some form--operations, co-ordination, control, intelligence, and policy, together with the appropriate control and communicational relationships. VSM was introduced by Stafford Beer in 1950s. The basic style of this work is systematic approach. A systems approach assumes that all systems operate according to some common basic rules, that analysis is usually best done from the top down, that the most basic rules deal with the active interaction of a system and its parts. The background leads Beer to claim that the model is mathematical. A viable system can be described as a system that is viable in certain type of environment. Its viability can be many of its important features. The goals described in a viable system are quite interesting. As all systems are subsidiary to other systems any system will get goals from the next higher level system. So from within a particular level system, goals are things which are given to the next level, not acquired from above other level. The Beer paradigm is applicable to Nano Technology as it is capable of deep insights into complex Organisation. Beer wanted to take human psychological process and to convert it into mapped business or industrial process. The statistic takes his models with actual performance. If it deviates from Competence it gives a warning to the concerned manager. Competence means ability of doing certain task on a routine day while everything is working normally In today 's complex society manager are unable to measure everything and pass it to the senior management without a methodology like VSM. Here the importance of such methodology could be understood and realised. It helps in sorting out matter in unique systematic way. The Viable System Model can provide a useful analysing method of understanding organisations using a cybernetic approach. Nowadays it is considered as a "technical" approach to the analysis of complex problems, but must be seen to be much broader than this, particularly when embedded as a paradigm within its own logical presentation. The logical method adopted to deal with centers of problems on the assumption that they can be distinguished between a system and its metasystem. It helps in streamlining the decision taking VSM used cybernetic approach that can define assess problem areas in organisations that require intervention from management. The methodology in which it is based provides relationships within a set of structures that can represent the organisation in a general way. The logical relationships are not set in such a way that may be affected by any sort of personal affiliation of the person concerned. On the whole it can be safely said that both the models are very essential to understand and practice for the prospective managers. It will be help for them in future decision making process. They will be able to manage complex organizations of future with great ease. In the absence of such system management decision making could be problematic and inaccurate. That may lead to disastrous situations. References Beer, Stafford 1985 Diagnosing the System Wiley, Chichester Checkland, 1989. P. Checkland, OR and social science: Fundamental thoughts. In: Operational Research and the Social Sciences, Plenum Press, Cambridge (1989). Read More