Soft Systems Methodology: Conceptual Model Building and Its Contribution [Hardcover]

Brian Wilson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471997862 | ISBN-13: 978-0471997863 | Publication Date: January 2000

Conceptual model building is accepted as a key phase in Soft Systems Methodology. Despite the recognition of the importance of the SSM, students are still experiencing difficulty with the basic process of conceptual model building. This book addresses that issue.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

• provides a practical approach to an established and important topic
• builds on the success of his own and Peter Checkland's work in the area
• case studies include the Army, the Navy, the Prison Service, Trustee Savings Bank, Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, the Met. Office and a theatre
• offers a range of illustrative applications

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From the Back Cover

"SSM offers an elegantly simple approach that is both powerful, yet non-threatening and one that forces organisations to confront questions essential to their very survival such as, "Are we doing the right thing?"
From the Foreword by Mike Duffy, Operations Director, The Smith Group

Since its inception more than thirty years ago, the benefits of using Soft Systems Methodology for problem solving has gained worldwide recognition. Yet, despite recognising the importance of SSM, students and practitioners still experience considerable difficulty with the intellectual process involved.

Based on a lifetime experience as an academic and consultant, Brian Wilson provides guidance on how to develop a range of conceptual models across a variety of business problems. Building on his earlier work in Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications he takes a practical approach to the topic based on the premise that all organisations are unique. He develops concepts to articulate ways of thinking about complexity. These are an alternative to mathematically-based concepts, and they offer rigorous, and defensible ways of answering the question 'What do we take the organisation to be?' A model of the most appropriate and relevant concept for your own organisation can then be successfully developed and applied.

Of relevance to organisations of any type, or any size, this book shows how model building within SSM can be used to cope with real-life problems. It will be an invaluable resource for students and practitioners in both the public and private sectors.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 300 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471997862
• ISBN-13: 978-0471997863
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,872,854 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and informative introduction to SSM, June 30, 2002

By 

Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soft Systems Methodology: Conceptual Model Building and Its Contribution (Hardcover)

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is an offshoot of systems thinking and has its roots in Peter Checkland's seminal 1981 book, "Systems Thinking, Systems Practice" (now out of print). This book shows how to apply SSM to the problem sets for which it was designed: the unpredictable behavior of human actions, which are often counter to the logic we apply to "hard" problems such as computer systems behavior and other systems that follow predictable laws of physics.

As a consultant who aligns information systems to business processes this book provided me with a streamlined approach to dealing with the human factor, especially organizational politics and resistance to change - both of which I routinely deal with. The approach is reasonably straightforward, and involves the following steps:

- Frame the problem and surrounding situation
- Use 'rich pictures' portray the situation. A 'rich picture' is an informal rendering, and should capture issues and thinking, systems and interactions.
- Develop a root definitions and perspectives from which to view the situation (Clients, Actors, Transformations, World-view and Environment). A 'root definition' is a process that transforms an input into an output - a typical process flow.
- Build a conceptual model of what the system to remedy the problem or situation needs to accomplish. The basis of the conceptual model is human activity.
- Compare the model to the ideal, examine alternatives and select the best option.
- Design and implement the system or solution.

The approach taken by the author is to provide the knowledge needed to employ SSM in a sequence of chapters that lead you through models and methodology, the principles of human activity modeling, system selection, business process reengineering issues, the consensus primary task model, the relationships to training and HR, and generic model building.

Consensus primary task model (CPTM) is a key element of the approach in this book and is crucial to successfully employing SSM, which, after all, is designed to deal with the ambiguities of people. The CPTM is an aggregation of the conceptual models, which results in a 'strawman' model that is used to build consensus. From this evolves into the agreed upon model and approach.

The key differences between the usual 'committee' approach and SSM are the structure and framework, ensuring that viewpoints are systematically examined, and the emphasis on consensus instead of compromise. While the book makes SSM appear to be easy, which is a function of the author's clear writing, employing it in the real world requires training and discipline. It's especially well suited to organizational change management projects as well as strategic planning.