Marrying Technology and Organisations: Designing for “Soft” problems

Technology has grown to become an intimate partner of organisations; each side adapting to, and morphing each other. Solidifying the relationship and posing to reap the rewards is essential. However, similarly to a couple coming from different backgrounds, the relationship may become more than slightly complicated, with ambiguities and uncertainty about the deliverables and ambitions each partner brings to the boardroom (or bedroom).

Consultants often act as matrimonial therapists, and in this essay we try to identify the different categories of relationships that may occur between organisations and technology. We then go on to talk about methods we may use to reconcile problematic relationships (SSM).

We use the BBS case study to provide examples and thus better illustrate the theory.

How do information systems (IS) projects emerge within organizational settings?

Use of information technology (IT) in organisations has been the main source of achieving competitive advantage for quite a long time now. However performance of organisations depends heavily on the “generation-dissipation cycle”( Ramprasad and Rai, 1996).The performance is greatly increased if decision makers, in organisations, respond efficiently i.e. generate new information based on the information received from the environment.

Decision making depends on the internal and external environment in which decisions are made (Mintzberg, 1983).In a stable environment, the need for IS to allow efficient execution of tasks is evident and easily implemented. As the equivocality of task increases it becomes difficult to arrive to a solid conclusion (Daft and Lengel, 1986). For instance if there is more than one decision maker each having their own perspective, a combined solution would perhaps be difficult – The situation may suffer from asymmetric information and may involve emotional and political characteristics.

This can be referred to the BBS case where the board of directors had conflicting views regarding the need for a new information system, as well as about the reasons why the firm should enter into e-commerce in the first place. Communicating these different opinions and establishing a compromise between the parties involved, like in any matrimony, is essential. SSM went a long way to help in this process.

Similarly in a dynamic environment, decision making can be referred to as an emergent process. In the case of BBS, the need for new IS emerged in order to attract new customers in the highly competitive environment. In such situations, exhibiting a high degree of uncertainty and a high degree of complexity (adhocracy), mutual adjustments are made to come up with a solid decision. In this case everybody is involved in making the decision.

The need for implementing new information systems also depends upon the services that organisations provide (Gutek, 1995). Encounter services can be provided through simple processes as it is based on facts and no record needs to be kept for future reference. In the case of BBS, the existing shops tend to provide encounter services to its customers. Relationship services are provided through complex systems. The need for new IS has emerged in order to build an ongoing relationship with the customers (as has happened in BBS).

The need for an IS can also be linked with task characteristics within the organisation. For instance if the tasks are less equivocal and less uncertain, then the organisation requires to dissipate information, and the proposed information system needs to serve as an encounter. In BBS, the system’s capability to allow its users to browse books available in the bookshop, serves as a computational service as it simply relays existing information. Similarly if the task has a low degree of uncertainty and a high degree of equivocality, continuous user interaction is required in order to accomplish the task as it cannot be easily standardised. In BBS, the system’s ability to allow sales staff to answer customer queries serves as adaptive service.

Moreover if there is a high degree of uncertainty and a low degree of ambiguity of tasks, a networking service is required in order to provide coordination and exchange of information. In case of the BBS, Google Group technology was used by the consultants in order to coordinate their decision points. In case of high degree of uncertainty and a high degree of equivovality collaborative services are preferred. For instance, in BBS, the online book selling system serves as a collaborative service as it tends to provide an ongoing relationship with its customers.

How can SSM help?

Much like how “Cosmo” and other magazines help to shine light on managing relationships, SSM provides the analytical and descriptive tools needed for managing the less rewarding, but just as complex, relationship between organisations and technology.

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) evolved to help deal with the increased complexity where designers could no longer presuppose single root causes for problems; rather, they had to apply analytical techniques to understand situations from a multilayered perspective and structure the problem themselves (Malcom Eve, 2004).

SSM provides an approach or an intellectual framework tool that enables deeper investigations which help designers identify and understand problems. It is an analysis tool that brings various soft skills together with object oriented modelling techniques, in order to better understand and describe problem domains and their alternative solutions.

Soft Systems Methodology is based on systems thinking. The concept of a system being observer-relative is applied throughout SSM - people are suddenly not only incorporated within the system (made systematic) but are treated as a major element to be analysed, managed and controlled.

“All of these human problem situations do have one thing in common: That they contain human beings trying to work together and trying to operate purposefully. Trying to formulate intentions and then trying to realise them. And we thought well, why don’t we take the notion of a “purposeful activity” as a new systems concept? (…) We then realised the significance of the fact that one observer’s terrorist is another observer’s freedom fighter though they’re both talking about the same purposeful action.” (PeterCheckland)

Through the use of rich picture, CATWOE, culture analysis, political system analysis, social system analysis, system designers are able to model all the different needs of each observer, as well as the different goals that are expected from the system. It helps control resistance to change and helps to better structure requirements by enabling better understanding of the organisation’s complexity. (Petrer Checkland, 1990). Rich picture and CATWOE has been extensively used for understanding BBS.

References

References are presented in order of appearance rather then in alphabetical order.

1) Mathiassen, L. & C. Sorensen: A theory of Organisational Information Services, 2002

2) Malcom Eva, 2004 - “Soft System methodology”, ACA.

3) Peter Checkland, date unknown, in an Interview by BBC published by the Open University - http://www.open2.net/systems/practice/pet.html

4) Soft Systems Methodology in Action by Peter Checkland, 1990