Soft System Methodology - Essay Example

SOFT SYSTEM METHODOLOGY ( SSM ) Introduction : This essay discusses the concepts related to Soft System Methodology (SSM) and it’s application to system analysis. The Soft System Methodology was initially developed as a modeling tool by Peter Checkland in 1960s. This method allows to structure and analyze the real world problems or situations qualitatively . Systems thinking has two traditions namely, ‘hard systems’ and ‘soft systems’. According to Jenkins (1969) while hard systems deal with systems engineering, system analysis, operation research, etc. , soft systems are applicable in situations where the hard systems fail to perform . SSM is a system approach that gives a comparison between the real world and system models, which leads to better qualitative research and action related to the real world problem. Compared to the Hard System Methodology the Soft System Methodology is more advantageous in that it is effective in addressing problems which are complex and messy says Checkland (1981). The main idea of SSM is construction of models for the systems under study. These models are used to make purposeful changes in the system. This essay is aimed at describing the Soft Systems Methodology in detail and it’s application to a transnational organization which intends in implementing a new protocol. This transnational organization has five branches in different countries. It may encounter many problems like local government policies, language difference, culture discrepancies, etc. This essay narrates the problem solving capability of SSM in this organization, with qualitative research data. The essay also discusses the strengths and weakness of applying SSM method to this problem situation. Soft Systems Methodology applied to a transnational organization : In Soft System Analysis, the key concept is that everyone does not view a particular problem in the same way. Each person has a different opinion or perspective about that problem. This leads to discrepancies which are realistic in nature. This complex human behavior must be analyzed in a public and participative manner rather than by using power and authority. Rose ( 2002 ) states that the SSM model does not view the problem as a technical task rather than as a social and managerial task. The analysis of this complex situation can be done in seven stages as proposed by Checkland ( 1981 ). These seven stages are discussed in detail below and is shown in Figure. 1. kindly refer appendix .1. Stage 1 - Analyze the problem situation within the frame of real world thinking : In analyzing a problem a huge amount of information needs to be collected. The information may include organizational history, organizational structure, culture, types of stakeholders, number of stakeholders, their perspective etc. This first stage of analysis gives a rough structure of the problem situation. It gives an idea of the parameters involved. This starting point of analysis is arbitrary and may shift in a later stage. This is a goal free stage with no definite boundaries. We gather as much data as possible by survey or observation or measurement. Stage 1 for the transitional organization under study Let us consider an Electronic nano technology based organization which has branches in five different countries. The organization wants to implement some new routing protocols that will aid the easier design of the multi layered Integrated Circuits ( IC ) chips. It was decided to apply the Checkland’s Soft System Methodology for the better implementation of this protocol in all branches. The company has good reputation globally for it’s design and manufacture of high precision and highly reliable electronic products. The organizational structure of the company is also complex, with three divisions namely, design, manufacture and corporate engineering. The design section takes the pride in designing complex circuitry for nano technology based applications. The design is passed on over to the manufacturing unit which gives out the ICs. The major objectives of the implementation of the new protocol was to reduce the time taken for design, producing high precision ICs, integrate the design and manufacturing stages and finally reduce the total production cost. Stage 2 - Express the problem situation : After collecting the information about the problem or issue, it has to be expressed in some way. This is done in the form of a rich picture. This picture depicts the structure, process , climate, people, issues expressed by the related people, conflicts between participants, the problems in the environment, etc. Structure refers to the physical layout, reporting structure, hierarchy, mode of communication like formal or informal. Process refers to the basic activities of the organization like resource allocation, monitoring, control and deployment. These structure and process relate to each other and help in better understanding and identifying relevant themes. Stage 2 for the transnational organization. The rich picture for this problem situation may be framed from the information collected through various sources like interview with the people involved in the design and manufacturing section, people in the corporate training division specifically for cross border training, managerial opinions related to implementation of the new technology ( software ), views and demands of the customers in different countries, etc. An informal rich picture of this situation is shown in Figure. 2. kindly refer appendix 1. This rich picture considers qualitative data like transnational government policies for implementing the protocol, resources available in the individual branches, communication language involved in imparting the training in different countries, coordinating the training and implementation in the different branches, the reporting structure or the monitoring and control structure for the implemented software, the cultural and ethical background of the people involved. Stage 3 - Root definition of relevant systems : This is the difficult part in the modeling where the analysis moves from real world into the abstract world of the systems. The progress of the analysis in the upcoming stages depends on this third stage of root definition. Checkland (1981) says that at this stage holons are derived from the rich picture. A holon is a perspective of the real world that is relevant and purposeful. Each holon provides a base to evaluate the situation. The mnemonic CATWOE is used to construct the root definition. C customer who or what will be the beneficiary from this transformation? A actors who facilitates these activities ? T transformation from input to output what is the expressed purposeful activity? This is the change in the system. W Weltaschauung ( world view ) what is the world view that makes this root definition ? O Owner To whom is this system answerable? Or who can stop this activity. E Environment The factors that influence this system. Clegg & Walsh (1998 ) say that this is the most imaginative part of the SSM. The transformation process is the core of root definition, it changes the inputs to outputs. The inputs may be concrete or abstract, physical or logical. A concrete input leads to a concrete output and an abstract input leads to an abstract output. These inputs and outputs are expressed in noun form rather than as verbs. These nouns are only transformable into something else. These transformations lead to other actions or conclusions or consequences. The usefulness of these transformations are judged by some criteria such as efficiency, efficacy, effectiveness, ethicality and elegance. Thus in the third stage a root definition which reflect various worldviews are constructed. Stage 3 for the transnational organization The root definition for the problem under study is constructed based on the mnemonic CATWOE as shown below C ----- Customer or the beneficiary are the designers in the different product groups in the various branches ( countries ) . A ----- Actors are the corporate managers. T ----- Transformation is the change in the design technology. W ---- World view is the combined consideration of technical and organizational issues. The transformation should take place with appropriate resources and minimum cost. O ----- Owners are the management , financial board members and the local government. E ----- Environment is the background culture, language in which training is imparted, government rules and regulations in the different countries. Thus the root definition is the implementation of the new design protocol across all branches ( T ) , this system being controlled by the management services (O) , with the participation of end-users ( C, A ). The implementation involves technical and organizational issues ( W ) and must be done with minimum cost and resources ( E ). Stage 4 - The conceptual model : It is a model to understand the activities that are required to bring about the transformation. It represents the perspective of the stakeholders and the associated human activities. The construction is based on the purposeful root definitions and is measured with the above mentioned five criteria. According to Checkland & Scholes (1990) this stage prepares for the discussions that are to happen in the real world. Checkland ( 1981) recommends the following steps to construct the conceptual model. Write down around 6 to 12 activities that are necessary to carry out the transformation, Select the independent activities that can be done immediately, Arrange these activities in line and then those that are dependent on the first activity and then those that are dependent on the second activity and so on, Show the dependencies, Rearrange the activities such that there is no overlapping, The model must be checked for the following system properties like a useful purpose, means for assessing performance, decision making process, resources, boundary between system and environment. Stages 3 and 4 are highly correlated with each other. If the chosen perspective is changed then the root definition and the conceptual model must also be changed. The analyst may go for several iterations of these two stages to identify a purposeful perspective that will effect the transformation. Stage 4 for the transnational protocol implementation Based on the above root definition a conceptual model is sketched to define the action plan for the transformation. This model enables to prepare the agenda that has to be followed to implement the new system in all the branches. The model is as shown in Figure. 3. kindly refer appendix .1 Stage 5 – Comparison of the conceptual model and the Rich Picture : This stage compares stage 4 ( conceptual model ) and stage 2 ( real world ) . Clegg & Walsh (1998) say that these comparisons can be done in an unstructured way or in a structured way. The differences between these models are identified. The outcome of this stage is an agenda of possible changes. These are in the form of topics for discussion. The agenda is concerned with identifying the activities that are problematic, questionable, present, absent . Stage 5 agenda for the protocol implementation After comparing stage 4 and stage 2, an agenda must be proposed which may include - follow a new view for the implementation emphasizing organizational and technical issues, invest more resources, prepare a plan that will effect the implementation, allow more participation by end users, give proper training and support according to their culture and language, check the usefulness of the implementation. Stage 6 - Identifying the feasible changes : This stage explores the systematically desirable and culturally feasible changes based on the qualitative research. According to Checkland (1981) three types of changes are possible. They are changes in structure, in procedure and in attitude. Structural changes are related to reporting structures, structure of functional responsibilities, groupings of organizations. Change in procedure relates to changes within the operational processes, reporting conventions. Change in attitude refers to changes in human behavior towards other actors. Stage 6 in the protocol implementation The agenda and other findings must be presented to all end users for debate and discussion. The key points for debate may be related to financial aspects involving the profit – investment ratio, issues related to design time reduction and integration of design and manufacture. These points are debated in view of organizational structure to have some common agreement in the implementation. Stage 7 - Implementation : The above mentioned changes are implemented to improve the system’s performance. Here the concerns are about Who is to take action? What action is to be taken? When? And Where? Resources, timetables and scope are important. This stage formulates an action plan and needs commitment and responsibility in implementation. Stage – 7 for transnational protocol implementation In this final stage the action plan for implementing the protocol must be done by the managers and the owners. The training given and the utilization are monitored so as to achieve the desired design efficiency which leads to high precision, reduced design time, and reliability of the ICs produced. Strengths and Weakness of the SSM when applied transnationally : The strengths of SSM are that it is highly participative says Clegg & Walsh (1998). This strength is highly apt for the transnational protocol implementation, which involves people from different countries. The aberrant behavior of the participants in different countries are not ignored rather they are taken as a part of the process. This method gives a proper structure and organization for the complex system analysis so that the change is managed efficiently. The SSM analyses the logical implications of the system implementation. The common weakness of SSM is that it needs skill to understand it’s terminologies like rich picture, conceptual model, etc. Secondly the transformation is feasible only if there is agreement between end users, if some powerful stakeholders resist in the change then the result achieved is conservative. In the above protocol implementation problem, the method says little about the managerial aspects of the organization rather it is more concerned about the agreement between the end users in implementing the change. Conclusion : Thus this essay illustrates the concepts of SSM in detail. The seven stages of the method gives an elaborative view of the concept in analyzing a complex problem which involves more human perspective. Thus this qualitative research method was utilized in analyzing a protocol implementation problem in a transnational organization. The problem was analyzed with all the seven stages and an agenda was proposed for the effective implementation of the protocol. The strengths and weakness of the SSM as applicable to this problem situation was also discussed. The entire discussion justifies the use of SSM to the transnational protocol implementation problem. Appendix 1 : Figure. 1. The seven stages of Soft System Methodology. Figure. 3. The conceptual model for the protocol implementation in a transnational organization. References : Checkland. P. B, 1981, Systems theory, systems practice. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons. Checkland. P. B & Scholes J., 1990, Soft systems methodology in action. Chichester, England: John Wiley and Sons. Clegg. C & Walsh. S, 1998 , ‘Soft systems analysis’, in G Symon & Cassell (eds), Qualitative methods and analysis in organizational research: a practical guide, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 211–233. Jenkins. G. , 1969 , The systems approach, reprint from Journal of Systems Engineering. In Open Systems Group, Eds, , Systems behavior, 3rd ed., London: Harper & Row, pp. 142-168. Rose. J , 2002 , ‘Interaction, transformation and information systems development: an extended application of soft systems methodology’, Information Technology and People, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 242–265. Read More