Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice
Edited by Keith Ellis and Amanda Gregory University ofHumberside Hull, England
Bridget R. Mears-Young and Gillian Ragsdell University of Hull Hull, England
Plenum Press • New York and London CONTENTS
Plenary Papers 1. Systems Theory and Management Thinking 1 Peter Checkland
2. Total Systems Intervention: Critical Success Factors for a Systems-Based Problem-Solving System 15 Robert L. Flood
3. The Will to Systems: From Making Sense to Enframing 25 Ramses Fuenmayor
4. The Holographic Organization: An Introduction to a Values-Based Relational System for the Future (VBRS) 35 Brian P. Hall
5. Why Is Systemic Thinking "Difficult to Sell"? 45 Enrique G. Herrscher
6. Interactive Management: Framework, Practice, and Complexity 51 F. R. Janes
7. What Is This Thing Called CRITICAL Systems Thinking? 61 Gerald Midgley
8. Does 'Information Systems' Need Systems? 73 Frank Stowell
9. Demands Imposed on Systems Science by Complexity 81 John N. Warfield
Student Papers
10. Application of Multicriteria Analysis to Ranking and Evaluation of Water Development Projects: The Case of Jordan 89 B. Al-Kloub
ix x Contents
11. Have You Been Talking to Yourself, Rene? 95 Tony Brauer
12. The Ambiguities in our Understanding of Participation and the Implications of This for Methodology 101 Mandy Brown
13. A Soft Systems Approach to Integrating Information Systems Planning and Development 109 Sharon Dingley
14. A Systems Study of the Scope and Significance of Information Systems in the Management of the Colombian Coffee Industry 115 L. F. Garcia-Montoya
15. The Critical Systems Thinking (CST) as a Path for Acknowledging Human Dignity in the Organizations 121 R. Garcia and S. Motta
16. The Management of Change in Prisons: Toward a Process of Postmodern Systems Thinking 125 Catherine Gaskell
17. Merging the World Views of Systems Science and Human Values: The Organizational Perspective 131 Martin L.W. Hall
18. Communication in Decision Support: Prospects and Limitations 137 H. A. Higgo
19. Information System Development: Selection of Development Methodologies ... 143 M. E. James
20. A Knowledge-Based System for the Synthesis of Parts in a Design Product: The Wind 149 Manolya Kavakli
21. Stability Indicators: A Tool for Organizational Planning and Control in Carbocol 159 Clemencia Morales Montejo
22. The Case for Critical Creativity in TSI: A Necessity, a Practical Possibility, or a Contradiction of Terms? 165 Gillian Ragsdell
23. A Theoretical Framework for the Development of a Social Accounting System .. 173 Alfonso Reyes
24. Exploring the Notion of Change in Business and Organizational Systems 179 Francis Stickland
25. The Philosophical Foundations of CRITICAL Systems Thinking: Beyond Habermas, toward Foucault 187 Nestor Valero-Silva Contents xi
26. Operationalizing TSI: The Critical Review Mode 193 Jennifer Wilby
Systems Methodology and Practice
27. Learning to Love and Leave Ackoff: Does Interactive Planning Succeed within the Bounds of "Complexity"? 201 Sam Agyeman
28. A Framework for Analyzing SSM-Based Studies 207 A. Barnden, R. Smith and R.B. Watson
29. System(s) Engineering: Organization versus Practice 215 J. C. Boarder
30. A System Engineering Framework and Its Evaluation 221 J. С Boarder and J. Laming
31. Systems for Philosophy 227 Bill Cameron
32. Memorization Processes in Hierarchical Organizations: A Systems Perspective versus the Bureaucracy Pattern 233 H. Dragomirescu
33. The Resource-Based Theory of the Growth of the Firm: A Systems Perspective .. 239 Elizabeth Garnsey
34. Structuration and Enacted Social Systems 245 Elizabeth W. Garnsey and Seamas B. Kelly
35. Soft Systems Methodology: Modes of Practice 251 M. G. Haynes
36. Systemics Applied to the Study of Organizational Fields: Developing a Systemic Research Strategy for Research in Organizational Fields 259 Jon-Arild Johannessen
37. Teleology and the End of Systems Thinking 265 Iain Munro
38. Social Autopoiesis: A Quantitative Approach 269 F. Parra-Luna
39. New Developments in the Use of Systems Thinking in the Analysis of Failures .. 277 Geoff Peters and Joyce Fortune
40. Theories that Create Coherence in Practice and Other Stories 283 Martha Vahl
41. Metaphor and the Gap between Theory and Practice 287 Heather Watson and Trevor Wood-Harper Xll
Information Systems Theory and Practice
42. Soft Systems Analysis and Modeling Tool (SSAMT): Computer-Based Support for Conducting Soft Systems Studies 291 M. S. Davenport and J. Ayers-Hunt
43. Uniting Systems Theory with Practice 297 Kevin G. Doyle
44. A Method for Entity Identification 303 Jun-Kang Feng
45. 'The Eternal Triangle': Conception and Misconception of Systems Hierarchy in the Application of Information Systems 309 M. J. S. Harry
46. Information Use in the 'New' Organization: The Organic Metaphor and its Implications 315 Richard Kamm
47. Interpretative Data Models and Relational Database Schema: Toward Some First-Cut Rules for Translation 323 P. J. Lewis
48. A Framework for the Design and Implementation of Distributed Information Systems 329 Kim Merchant and Steve Clarke
49. Information Systems: Not Artifacts but Models 335 Graham Paton
50. System Pictures: Toward a Tool for Information Systems Analysis 341 Angus J. Quin and Malcolm Bronte-Stewart
51. The Sixth Step: A 'Structured' Approach to Resolving Conflicting "Clues" in IS Strategy Definition 347 Wendy Robson
52. The Role of Information Technology in Supporting the Use of Systems Concepts in the Process of Knowledge Elicitation 355 M. H. Stansfield
53. Action Research and Information Systems Research: The Consultancy versus Field Study Dilemma 361 D. West, F.A. Stowell, and M.H. Stansfield
Critical Issues in Information Management
54. Structuring Information for Executive Action 367 C. James Bacon Contents xiii
55. Information Systems Evaluation: From Accounting Theory to Systems Theory through Practice 373 Christopher Davis
56. Audit and the Net: Critical Issues for Information Management and Control .... 379 James Gilligan
57. Incorporating Individual Differences in Perspective in a Systemic Approach to Information Systems Requirements Analysis 387 Judy McKay and Peter H Marshall
58. The Critical Information Systems Practitioner: Listening to the "Babble of Voices"? 395 Brian Nicholson
59. The Work of the Swedish Information Technology (IT) Commission in the Perspective of Critical Systems Thinking 401 U. E. Söderberg
60. Representation and Double-Level Language in Information Systems 405 Robert Stephens
61. Information Systems Development: Methods, Modeling, and Metaphors in an Object-Oriented World 411 R. T.Vidgen and J. R. G.Wood
62. The Trojan Horse Phenomenon 417 Heather Watson
63. Politics versus Learning? 421 Jane A. O.Young
Critical Systems Thinking
64. Systems Constructs and Cultural Filters: Learning from a Management Development Program in Poland 427 Margaret A. Barrett and Barry Crellin
65. An Integrated Approach of Analysis 433 Ahmed Beloucif
66. In the Spirit of Total Systems Intervention: Systems Modeling at Telecom (NZ) 439 John Brocklesby
67. The Language of Systems: One Linguist's Perspective 447 M. R. Combs
68. Systems Practice Challenges 453 D. P. Dash XIV
69. Surviving Seeing Medusa: A Meditation on Truth in Systems Thinking 459 Peter Dudley
70. Systemic Refocusing Strategy: An Emancipatory Approch to Intervention; Part 1 465 Peter Dudley and John Hassall
71. Systemic Refocusing Strategy: An Emancipatory Approach to Intervention; Part 2 471 Peter Dudley and John Hassall
72. Critical Reflections on the Past, Present, and Future Development of Organizational Evaluation 479 Amanda Gregory
73. MPSB Frameworks Explained 487 J. К. К. Но
74. Systems, Rationality, and Equity in a Post-Modern World 493 Gilbert Mansell
75. The Cynicism of Systems Thinking 499 S. K. Probert
76. Some Anomalies in Ulrich's Critical Inquiry and Problem-Solving Approach .... 503 Norma Romm
77. An Ethical Basis for Critical Systems Thinking: Communicative or Communitarian? 511 M. W. J. Spaul
78. Working with Heterogeneity: A Pluralist Strategy for Evaluation 517 Ann Taket and Leroy White
79. The Power of Distinctions 523 Ioanna Tsivacou
Critical Issues in Business Systems
80. Systems Models for Designing the Organizational Restructuring of Companies during the Process of Ownership Changes 529 Wiktor H. Adamkiewicz
81. Six and Two Threes: Business Process Re-Engineering : A Historical Perspective 535 Linda Charnley
82. Administration Systems: Mythology versus Reality 541 Janet Davison and Doreen Osuch
83. A Life-Line for those Abandoning Check-List Management 545 Anthony Gill Contents xv
84. Comparing the Criticised Concepts of 'Re-Engineering the Corporation' with a Systems Structure for Organisational Change 551 Kenneth Hammer
85. Creative Management 559 Jon-Arild Johannessen
86. Administrative Reform and Administrative Self-Reference 565 Panagiotis Karkatsoulis
87. Management Systems for Evolving Networks 571 Garry Marshall
88. Logistics Awareness: Vision versus Practice 577 Bridget Mears-Young
89. Organization and Information for Technology Management: A Systemic Methodological Application 585 Gabriel A. Ramirez
90. The Management of Change in a Turbulent World 591 R. G. (Bob) Saunders
91. Using a Formal Model as a Meta-Model in the Analysis of Team Behavior in Organizations 597 R. W. Stewart
Medical Information and Health Care Systems
92. SSM: A Guiding Light in the Introduction to Hospital Case Mix Management Systems? 603 P. J. Baugh, D. A. Fitzsimmons, and D. M. Walters
93. Building a Fully Integrated Hospital Information System 609 T. S. Chen and T. G. Gough
94. Why Electronic Patient Record Systems in Hospitals Can Go Wrong: A Systems Failures Study 615 Joyce Fortune, Geoff Peters, Roger Stewart, and Bill Dodd
95. Medical Information System Metadesign Using Metamet 621 Peter Kokol, Bruno Stiflic, Jernej Zavrsnik, and Kurt Kancler
96. Decision-Making in Mental Health Care: Toward a Technology-Based Decision Support Aid 625 F. A. Stowell, D. West, S. A. Smith, and С. Е. Begg
97. Putting Systems Theory into Practice and Vice Versa: The Role of Observation in Analysing the Real World 631 Sam Waters, George Bakehouse, Christopher Davis, and Kevin Doyle xvi Contents
Educational Systems
98. Systems and the 'Polo Mint' Metaphor 637 R. Armson and R. L. Ison
99. Structure and Culture of Higher Education Institutions: Its Impact on Information Systems Strategic Planning 643 Steve Clarke and Nandish V. Patel
100. Critical Thinking in the Information Systems Undergraduate Curriculum: The Use of Soft Systems Methodology as an Introductory Vehicle 647 Brian Hopkins
101. The Hybrid Academic: AChanging Profession 653 J. G. Howell and F. A. Stowell
102. Opening Up Systems: A Review of Systems Teaching in the Open University ... 659 Graham Paton
Community and Environmental Systems
103. Total Systems Intervention in Strategic Planning 667 R. Keith Ellis and Andrew J. Humphreys
104. Systemic Reflections on Corporate Responsibility 673 Raul Espejo and Neil Stewart
105. The Use of Systems Techniques in Integrated Catchment Management (ICM): Its Promise and Limitations 681 W. E. Hutchinson
106. Propagation of Uncertainty in Socio-Economic Systems 687 J. Korn and A. Takats
107. The Autopoietic View of Prison Organization and of Correctional Reforms 693 Effi Lambropoulou
108. Detecting Ethics in Social Systems 697 Gianfranco Minati
109. The Application of Systems Thinking to Modern Policing 703 Trevor Pearce and Joyce Fortune
Author Index 707
Subject Index 709