A HANDBOOK of INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT by John N. Warfield and A. Roxana Cárdenas Published by Ajar Publishing Company Palm Harbor, FL 34684 © John N. Warfield, 1993, 2002 Copyright © 1993, 2002 by John N. Warfield All rights reserved. Publ ishe d in d raft form f or review in the Unite d Sta tes of Ameri ca by IA SIS Printed in the U. S. A. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without t he prior written permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed in writing to: Ajar Publishing Company, Palm Harbor, FL 34684 USA Library Cataloging Data: Warfield, John N., 1925- A. Roxana Cárdenas, 1959- A Handbook of Interactive Management–Compact Disk Edition. 1. Systems Science. 2. Complexity (Philosophy). 3. Interactive Management. ISBN: 0-9716962-1-7 PREFACE This HANDBOOK OF INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT is intended to put in one place and in modular form much of the material that practitioners need to know about Interactive Management (IM). It is intended to help bridge an acknowledged gap between the material in the senior author's 1990 book A SCIENCE OF GENERIC DESIGN: MANAGING COMPLEXITY THROUGH SYSTEMS DESIGN and the needs of the practitioner or potential practitioner to translate the science into action in organizations. The practitioner may find parts of this HANDBOOK useful in marketing IM to clients or for training others. The reader who is not familiar with the history of IM will need to know that there is a large array of backup literature that is available. Of special importance are two books. The first book titled SOCIETAL SYSTEMS: PLANNING, POLICY, AND COMPLEXITY, was published by Warfield in 1976. It had a very broad systems engineering orientation, and it introduced the process called Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM), presenting the theory, methods, and some initial applications. The 1976 book was subsequently reprinted and part of it will be required reading for anyone wishing to study thoroughly the nature and processes of IM. The second book, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, also requires recourse to the 1976 book for certain detailed material relating to the ISM process. This second book provides the scientific basis for IM. These two books merely cap the literature. An extensive set of publications providing backup detail and applications reporting appears in The IASIS File: A Bibliography of Books and Papers Relevant to Complexity. This book is located in the Library of Congress and various university libraries. The documents are accessible in the Library of the Defense Systems Management College in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The text begins by responding to the question "What is Interactive Management?". It continues by giving the primary set of outcomes from its use, the several levels of success from which users can choose, the phases through which IM passes, and the roles that are important in applying IM. Then typical types of products that are produced by using IM are described, and the processes that are used to produce these products are discussed. The kind of facility that is very helpful in carrying out IM is described. Next several versions of IM Software are discussed, the software being essential to carrying out the IM processes. The three phases of IM activity are then discussed in detail. Evaluation criteria are then given which can be applied to assess the quality of the work being done in applications, and to assess the performance of various roles with the aim of helping the actors to improve their capabilities to work with IM. In view of the applications of IM to system design and implementation, it is appropriate to compare IM with other approaches to system design and implementation. Among the approaches currently being used routinely or experimentally are methods usually associated with Japan. These include Quality Function Deployment and the so-called "7-QC-Tools and 7-M-Tools". A thorough comparison of IM with these methods is presented, along with recommendations for a i superior process. Appendix 1 gives an executive overview of IM for orientation of a busy executive who will not have time to get into many important details. Appendix 2 gives a detailed user guide for using one of the several versions of the IM software, namely the GMU ISM Software, operating on IBM compatible PC equipment. Appendix 3 presents a discussion of group facilitation, with emphasis on activity involving complex issues. Appendix 4 gives a case study showing how to interpret certain products of IM activity. Appendix 5 lists qualified practitioners who have varying degrees of experience in applying IM, and who are capable of planning and conducting IM work. Appendix 6 gives details of how to develop an IM Workshop Plan. Most of the text for this work was written by the senior author. The junior author made major changes in the organization of the material, and added key comments in various places, based on her own significant experience in setting up an IM center and applying IM at ITESM (her home institution in Monterrey, Mexico). She has introduced IM on many ITESM branch campuses, where it is being applied in strategic planning. This book benefited from research support provided by the Defense Systems Management College, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and from the Ford Research Laboratory of the Ford Motor Company. The authors appreciate the support, and acknowledge the cooperation of Professor Henry Alberts at the Defense Systems Management College and of Dr. Scott Staley, P. E., at the Ford Research Laboratory of the Ford Motor Company. George Mason University (GMU) has been the home organization where most of the work reported in this HANDBOOK has been accomplished. The computer equipment made available has greatly facilitated the writing of this book. Professor Benjamin Broome of the GMU Communication Department has been a colleague of both authors for several years and his help, which has come in a variety of ways, is much appreciated. He has been practicing IM with several Native American tribes in cooperation with the Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO) as a colleague of LaDonna Harris, President of AIO, and through this collaboration is becoming well known as a major actor in helping the Native American community become more capable in self-governance. In lieu of any other institutional support, Rosamond Warfield has been donating her services as office manager and librarian of the Institute for Advanced Study in the Integrative Sciences at George Mason University for over four years, and this has helped greatly to make this work possible. The senior author is a member of the faculty of The Institute for Public Policy (TIPP) at George Mason University. Dr. Kingsley Haynes and Dr. Roger Stough of TIPP have given moral support to this work and to the overall goals that this work reflects, which is appreciated. ii LIST OF TABLES 1.1 Some Applications of Interactive Management 5 7.1 Mean Values of Some NGT Process Parameters 89 7.2 Mean Values of Some ISM Process Parameters 92 9.1 Data on the Interpretive Structural Modeling Process 116 9.2 ISM Software Evaluation Standards 122 13.1 Summary Evaluation Form for Planning Phase 177 13.2 Summary Evaluation Form for Workshop Phase 178 14.1 Data on the Nominal Group Technique 191 14.2 Data on Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) 194 14.3 Older 7-QC-Tools 209 14.4 Newer 7-M-Tools [7MP Tools] 210 14.5 Qualitative Relational Diagrams from the Japanese Tool Box 211 A3.1 Four Case Types for Group Facilitation 275 A3.2 Difficulties and Means of Resolving Them 279 A3.3 Means of Resolving Related to Items of Difficulty 283 A4.1 Problem Field for Analytical Powertrain 296 A4.2 Voting on Problem Importance 303 A4.3 Structural Scoring Analysis of Problematique 308 iii LIST OF FIGURES 13.1 Options Profile--Planning Phase for a Definition Outcome at Success Level 1 158 13.2 Options Profile--Workshop Phase for a Definition Outcome at Success Level 1 161 13.3 Options Profile--Planning Phase for a Design of Alternatives Outcome 165 13.4 Options Profile--Workshop Phase for a Design of Alternatives Outcome 168 13.5 Options Profile--Planning Phase for a Choice of Alternatives Outcome 171 13.6 Options Profile--Workshop Phase for a Choice of Alternatives Outcome 174 A4.1 Problematique for Analytical Powertrain 305 A4.2 Problematique for Analytical Powertrain (with Categories) 306 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface i List of Tables iii List of Figures iv CHAPTER 1. WHAT IS INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT? 1 1.1 Connection to Science 1 1.2 Need for Special Training 1 1.3 Applications Testing 1 1.4 Documentation 2 1.5 Typical Application 2 1.6 Three Phases 2 1.7 Processes 2 1.8 Distinctive Features 3 1.9 Principal Prod ucts 4 1.10 Intelligence, Design, and Choice 4 1.11 Cooperation Breeds Success 4 1.12 Installation of IM 4 1.13 Some Applications of IM 5 Study Questions 15 CHAPTER 2. IM OUTCOMES 17 2.1 Definition 17 2.2 Alternative Designs 19 2.3 Choice of a Design 21 2.4 Other Relevant Outcomes 21 NOTES 22 Study Questions 23 CHAPTER 3. IM SUCCESS LEVELS 25 3.1 Levels of Success 25 3.2 Learning More About What is Involved in Approaching an Issue 25 3.3 Learning More About the Issue 26 3.4 Defining the Issue 27 3.5 Finding Alternative Designs 27 3.6 Arriving at a Good Action Choice 27 3.7 A Bad Experience 28 Study Questions 28 CHAPTER 4.