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24th IPMA World Congress
REDESIGNING
A PROJECT-ORIENTED ORGANIZATION
USING COMPLEX SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE AND SOFT
SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY APPROACH
Jürgen Staadt
Challenges & Opportunities
SSM intervention in a predominantly francophone country in the EU
Skema Business School, Lille, France
RSM, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Fonds pour le développement du logement et de l´habitat, Luxembourg
1-3 November 2010, Istanbul
CONTENTS
1. Problem and Questions
2. Importance of the Research
3. MS Methods / Methodologies
4. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
5. Research Process
6. Results of the Investigation
7. Conclusions / Implications
Case study research combined with an action research approach
Istanbul, 02 November 2010
1. Problem and Questions
Impact and importance of the housing domain
Luxembourg
Affordable housing
A small country with an ever growing economy and
consequently a growing population
This has an impact on many different areas
This calls for adaptations in the housing sector
Public organization under the tutelage of the housing minister
Recent developments show a constant rise in the price of lots, houses
and apartments. Furthermore, there is need to cope with the principles of
sustainable development
The main actor in the sector is somehow stuck in a problematic
situation and has not yet developed an appropriate organizational
design so as to respond to these and future challenges
The question is: Why?
1. Problem and Questions
RQ’s are probably the most important step in the study (Yin, 2003)
Modern times have brought about an ever growing complexity of
organizational as well as societal issues. There is a need for constant
adaptation as well as the acquisition of new capabilities
The public organization is constantly involved with many parties such
as staff, communities, contractors and even the government which
creates a problematic situation
How can the current problematic situation be understood so as to come
up with an improved design/strategy for the organization, incorporating
project management capabilities, which allows an effective response to
future tasks and challenges?
Research Questions
How can the current and future problematic situations be monitored
and controlled so as to constantly improve and learn in an ever
changing complex environment?
From command and control towards systems thinking
2. Importance of the Research
Provision of affordable housing especially for the elderly, young families
and people on a low income
Practical importance
Societal interest in subsidized housing projects as well as the
further development within the country
Urgent need to strengthen the position of subsidized
housing in general and the public organization in particular
We have to consider the world as being a complex system whereby
everything is connected to everything else.
We are trying to understand a problematic situation in a complex
environment by means of systems thinking
This calls for a more holistic approach and a new way of
thinking with regard to the design and management of work
Soft systems thinking is the process of coping with the world
Theoretical importance
Systems thinking is an attempt to keep much of the tradition but to supplement
it by tackling complex problems through thinking in wholes
Systems thinking does not refuse scientific reductionism. The argument is
that reductionist science cannot cope with various forms of complexity
Separation between hard and soft systems thinking
Difference is based on systemicity
The use of soft systems thinking in a project-oriented environment is of
particular interest as the PM domain is still dominated by a mostly
positivist paradigm (Pollak, 2007; Cicmil & Hodgson, 2006; Bredillet, 2004)
“Soft”“Hard”
“Critical”
2. Importance of the Research
Management science paradigms (Paucar-Caceres & Pagano, 2009, p. 346)
3. Management Science Methods / Methodologies
“Hard” “Soft” “Critical”
SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY
The development started when the founder Prof. Peter
Checkland and his colleagues learned that systems engineering
could not be applied to complex management situations.
•SSM is a methodology that aims to bring about improvement
•in areas of social concern
•by activating in the people involved in the situation a learning cycle
•which is ideally never-ending (Checkland et al., 1990, p. 28)
SSM is a set of principles which a user can draw upon to create a
specific approach relevant to this particular situation (Checkland,
2001, p.91)
Importance of Methodology
4. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
SSM is the leading or guiding methodology
1. Finding out about a problem situation
The learning cycle of SSM (Checkland, 2000, p.16)
2. Building purposeful
activity models
3. Debating the situation
4. Taking action in the situation
4. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)
The four main activities of SSM
CASE STUDY RESEARCH
ACTION RESEARCH
Sources for evidence according to Yin (2003)
• Participant-observation
Action research has become increasingly interesting for
researchers involved in the study of organizations
Action research is not a method but a way of collaboratively
orchestrating social research processes to enhance liberating social
change processes (Greenwood & Levin, 2007, p.101)
• Documentation
• Interviews
Case Study Database
5. Research Process / Methodology
Research methods adopted for the study
(1)
Official “Finding out”
Early “Finding out”
Purposeful activity models
Cultural enquiry
Debating the situation
Taking action
Interview session
Participant-observation - Note taking
Action research
Documentation
(A)
(1)
(3)
(4)
Four main activities of SSM
5. Research Process / Methodology
The three main areas of data collection
B. Documentation
A. Participant-observation
Methods adopted
Case study research
(B)
C. Interviews
Action research
(C)
(1)
(2)
Work
start
Nov.
2006
Four main activities of SSM
First
note
March
2007
ESC
Lille
Oct.
2007
Systems
thinking
seminar
April
2008
Res.
proposal
June
2008
Analysis
observ.
August
2008
Start
interview
session
Sept.
2008
End
interview
session
Dec.
2008
Analysis
interview
session
Jan/Feb.
2009
Start
group
work
Feb.
2009
Peter
Checkland
2006 2007 2008 2009
(B)
(C)Methods adopted
(2)
(1)
(A)
Official “Finding out”
(1) Early “Finding out”
Purposeful activity models
Cultural enquiry
Debating the situation
Taking action
(1)
(3)
(4)
Interview session
Action research
Participant-observation - Note taking
Documentation
5. Research Process / Methodology
The connection between SSM an the research methods adopted
Categories identified and the link to the SSM intervention
6. Results of the SSM Intervention
6. Results of the SSM Intervention
PM capabilities in the strategic, operational and human level
The PM capabilities needed go beyond the strategic and operational level since
the management of the social system is of major importance
Any change in the strategic/operational level depends on more understanding
about the human level i.e. why people act as they act
1
3
2
4
Corporate
governance
PM capabilities
Relationships
Communication
Information
Primary task
systems
Issue based
relevant
systems
mental
processes
Real
World
manifestations
Concept for constant improvement and collaborative learning
6. Results of the SSM Intervention
Input: Need for monitoring and controlling the problematic situation
The depiction of the transformation process T fosters understanding about the
proposed model which builds the basis for discussion and debate
Output: Need met through constant improvement and collaborative learning
Relevant system for constant improvement and collaborative learning
6. Results of the SSM Intervention
MI: Methodological Implications; PI: Practical Impl.; TI: Theoretical Impl.
7. Conclusions / Implications
The activation of the learning cycle was and still is feasible as well as
desirable but is jeopardized by politics and power
The researcher’s status as a newcomer helped establish the credibility
and seriousness of the collaborative approach
Creative Holism: Identification of the crucial problems prior to the choice
of a suitable systems methodology, as well as suitable methods
There is a need for managers i.e. critical systems practitioners to act as
holistic doctors who have a range of methodologies, methods and
treatments at their disposal
Management is in a way trapped within the traditional authoritarian or
hierarchical view which prevents them from adopting a new design of
management and work based on systems thinking in order to cope with
an ever growing complexity.
MI
PI
There is a need for leaders in the public domain to better understand
complex social systems as well as their behaviour which calls for some
kind of adaptation within the educational system
7. Conclusions / Implications
SSM has greatly contributed towards understanding the problem
situation and gaining the big picture about the complex housing system
Project failure is based on strategic, social and behavioural factors rather
than technical problems
The discipline of project management should further develop towards an
equal appreciation of the hard as well as the soft paradigm which
emphasises a critical systems thinking approach
TI
The investigation shows that although Complex Responsive Processes of
Relating theory is in opposition to systems thinking, the insights gained
demonstrate its usability in the quest for a greater understanding of
processes between organizational members.
PM in the new design based on collaborative learning is given an
important role since it assembles the strategic, operational as well as
human level within a particular socio-political system using a systems
thinking approach
The results demonstrate that the hard paradigm is also involved but only
as the special case of the soft paradigm
MI: Methodological Implications; PI: Practical Impl.; TI: Theoretical Impl.
PI
Skema Business School, Lille, France
Fonds pour le développement du logement et de l´habitat, Luxembourg
SSM intervention in a predominantly francophone country in the EU
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Jürgen Staadt
RSM, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
24th IPMA World Congress
Challenges & Opportunities
1-3 November 2010, Istanbul
REDESIGNING A PROJECT-ORIENTED
ORGANIZATION