Critical Issues in Theory and Practice

Edited by Keith Ellis and Amanda Gregory University ofHumberside Hull, England

Bridget R. Mears-Young and Gillian Ragsdell Hull, England

Plenum Press • New York and London CONTENTS

Plenary Papers 1. and Management Thinking 1

2. Total Systems Intervention: Critical Success Factors for a Systems-Based Problem-Solving 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 51 F. R. Janes

7. What Is This Thing Called CRITICAL Systems Thinking? 61

8. Does 'Information Systems' Need Systems? 73 Frank Stowell

9. Demands Imposed on 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. Development: Selection of Development Methodologies ... 143 M. E. James

20. A -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

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 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. 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 : 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 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 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 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 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