The road to emancipation is through organizational development: A critical evaluation of total systems intervention

Total Systems Intervention (TSI) has been claimed to be the practical face of critical systems thinking. This article reviews the central principles of TSI, describes its theoretical base, and outlines its logic. It is argued that, far from being the way forward for management science, as its supporters claim, TSI is beset by logical and conceptual problems which render its use problematic. More specifically, TSI appears to confuse logical types; its use of metaphors tends to be circular and unnecessary; and its avowed complementarism is insufficiently thought out. It is also argued that TSI is only contingently linked to critical systems thinking and that the latter's assumptions are not followed through in practice. TSI, in the final analysis, appears to be relying on commonsense, eclectically drawing on other problem-solving methods, but in itself unable to present a distinctively new, theoretically sound, and methodologically consistent approach.     

Ethical skill development as an imperative for emancipatory practice

Total Systems Intervention (TSI) as a form of Critical Systems Thinking has been subject to criticism concerning the actual application of its emancipatory commitment. The emancipatory potentials of TSI or other systems-oriented change efforts may possibly be improved through their linkage to employee ethical skill development. Acknowledging a “strategic twist” in consulting efforts to encourage greater emancipatory practice and a more communicative ethic, an agenda for consultants is suggested to provide incremental emancipatory potentials for organizations with many apparently coercive characteristics.     

基于调节焦点理论的领导反馈对下属创造力影响分析

尝试把调节焦点理论引入领导对下属创造力影响的研究领域, 构建并验证了基于该理论的领导反馈对下属创造力的影响机理模型. 以129 名学生为样本, 采用实验研究方法, 对领导反馈影响下属创造力的作用机制进行了深入考察, 实验结果表明, 下属情境调节焦点部分中介了领导反馈与下属创造力间的关系, 下属特质调节焦点则调节了情境调节焦点与下属创造力间的关系. 最后, 就论文的主要研究结论、主要贡献及不足之处进行了总结.     

Beyond the Shadow

This paper attempts to probe into the philosophical foundations of organizational theories. By reflecting upon several lofty philosophies and ideas, this paper argues that the convention of functionalism, primarily rests on analogical mapping, possesses inadequate grounding about omitting human issues. By contrast, humanism overstresses non-determinist property of the human mind, and ignores the objective constraints of lifeless entities. Grounded on these arguments, this paper proposes multiple perspectives to complement diverse convictions. The proposed idea seeks to increase the variety of a management system, and an effective intervention in organizational problems.     

Total systems intervention and human inquiry: The search for a common ground

Total Systems Intervention (TSI) is an approach to intervening in problem situations which has much to offer where complex interacting issues need to be addressed by the complementary use of intervention methodologies. That such an approach has much in common with Action Research (AR) has been recognized, with much recent effort being devoted to the relationship between AR and Critical Systems Thinking (CST), the theoretical endeavor underpinning TSI. This paper further develops this line of debate and relates AR or Human Inquiry (HI) more directly to TSI, using an information systems intervention to enhance the study. The outcome is a demonstration of how TSI implicitly uses techniques informed from the field of Action Research, and how a more thorough synthesis of HI with TSI might serve to improve the overall intervention process.     

The institution as an “Ideological system”: How morals maketh organization

A dominant current view of institutions sees them as task-performing entities and hence views improvements and change as functional in nature. Systems views of managing change in institutions are particularly guilty of adopting this view. Recommendations for change take the form of improving the task and organization structures to make the functions more efficient and effective in performance. This paper argues that such a functionalist view of an institution is limited and can be dangerous when considering recommendations for change. A different view of an institution is proposed. This view is interpretivist and uses the notion of organizational culture to show how institutions may be usefully viewed through the notion of “ideological system.” The theoretical framework for this notion is that of institutional members sharing and developing a common interpretive schema and exploiting this in their making of judgments about appropriate and inappropriate actions and change. This framework is then developed into the view that ideologies express the morals of institutional life and that so-called functional activities can be seen as essentially moral in action and intention. It is the symbolic nature of such moralities that allows the institutional life to be understood by its members and decisions to be made about what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The argument is made that this view of organizations is fundamentally important in analysis so that prioritization decisions can be understood and appropriate recommendations for change can be made. This paper shows how systems approaches can be used from this framework but that a different notion of institution, and hence change, needs to be adopted. An interpretative approach to organizational analysis is then developed and presented. Reference is made to various cases to illustrate the argument.     

Developing total systems intervention (TSI): The critical review mode

Total systems intervention (TSI) is a meta-methodology which interprets and brings into action a range of problem solving methodologies, viewing problem solving as a process of intervention where practitioners can learn about and manage complex interacting issues. When first presented, TSI was the framework that evolved from one of many possible operationalisations of critical systems thinking. From these beginnings, TSI (as one practical implementation of the principles of CST) now continues its development into a methodology for use by problem solvers in all situations, not just the organisational-enterprise setting. This paper presents a detailed operationalisation of the critical review mode, the framework of which may also be of use in the operationalisation of the other modes in TSI.     

Total quality management in manufacturing: A study in the Singapore context

The paper presents a total quality management (TQM) framework combining the concepts underlying the notions of total quality control (TQC), Just in Time (JIT), manufacturing resource planning (MRP), and quality control circles (QCCs). An integrative model, in which these notions and the related issues are complementarily connected on the same logical plane is presented and it is argued that this is akin to the total systems intervention (TSI) approach in its endeavor to seek manufacturing excellence. It also has similarities to creative problem solving, especially with regard to corporate strategy, but here with an emphasis on the role of manufacturing. However, TQM is an idea of its own, and not a conceptual derivative of systems theory.     

Constancy and change: Flexible organization structures

Management organization structure is the most sensitive characteristic displayed by a business organization in the process of its adaptation to the changing environment. It is well-known, however, that excessive changeability of the structure makes the management system unstable and leads to less effective organizational behavior. The author believes that the reason lies in the fact that the structural changes almost always involve the management system's composition too. This shortcoming is rarely found in matrix management of goal-oriented programs. However, application of this type of management structure is limited as complexity of management increases disproportionately. Systems analysis of the problem situation leads to two new conclusions: (a) the variety of management organization structures required by business organizations to adapt to the changing environment can be extended if the organizational relations are regarded as part of organizational/economic symbiosis and their interrelated change; and (b) enhancement of the program component in the matrix structure makes it possible to design stable manage-management structures with a dynamic composition. Implementation of this concept in large-scale business systems brought about essentially new forms of production units' self-organization that became known as state production associations. It makes the large-scale business organizations' structures far less complex and increase their flexibility without disturbing the management systems' resilience. The newly developed principles of organizational design are universal.     

Enhancing the process of methodology choice in total systems intervention (TSI) and improving chances of tackling coercion

The process of Choice in TSI is reexamined in this paper. Previously, methods² have been understood to have a given and immediate purpose and are employed when this is judged to be most suitable in the circumstances. In this paper we suggest that methods can be operated in ways that meet purposes not provided by their founding theoretical underpinnings. We develop this argument by pointing to cases where cybernetic or soft methods are driven by purposes and principles given to emancipatory methodology—in a quest to address more effectively issues of coercion. This may be necessary when explicit and direct employment of emancipatory methodology is not sensitive enough to political dynamics, where certain people may feel overly threatened by its language and consequently feel the need to subvert its use. We develop a defence for thisoblique use of cybernetic and soft methods in coercive contexts, and extend the argument to suggest that all methods can be employed in such a way.     

The Use of Soft Systems Methodology to Enhance Group Creativity

Soft Systems Methodology is especially useful in diagnosing and addressing organizational problems and designing new systems in cultures that are characterised by pluralistic views and values. This paper demonstrates how SSM workshops in a large government agency resulted in a high level of creativity. SSM is then proposed as a methodology that could enhance group creativity in organizational design contexts.     

Total systems intervention: A research program

The development of TSI represents a real advance in management science in our view. Further developments are necessary however. This Research Note has outlined what we currently consider to be key issues in this development. We welcome other criticisms and suggestions. We invite you to join with us in this project.     

Creative problem solving in the specification of information requirements

Information analysts today face new challenges from increasingly sophisticated endusers as well as increasingly complex managerial demands. For nonspecifiable problems that require creativity and innovation, the process of information requirements analysis (INRA) seems to require different forms of implementation and control than for the problems that apply to traditional operational and supervisory computer-based applications. This paper examines the processes of INRA and creativity in the context of problem type. It develops a model in which it is argued that user and developer collaboration and project management can be manipulated to provide the conditions for the level of creativity required by a specific problem type.     

复杂性科学中复杂性根源的研究

复杂性科学是近年来系统科学中的一朵灿烂的奇葩 .然而 ,诸如什么是复杂性根源的问题等一些基本命题仍有待解决 .事实上这些问题也阻碍着复杂性科学研究的发展 .本文在一般系统研究的范畴内 ,在原有一系列研究成果的基础上 ,探讨什么是复杂性根源的问题 .研究结果表明 :复杂性是由系统基层次之上的关系环引起和支配的 ,即系统基层次之上的关系环是复杂性的根源 .另一方面 ,2 0世纪 90年代在复杂性科学研究中异军突起的复杂适应性系统 (CAS)的发展已经在物理、化学和生物系统建模方面取得丰硕成果 ,并开始突破经济学中的某些议题 .不过 CAS概念在组织和管理领域的应用仍处于起步阶段 .照理 ,系统理论、数学和计算机科学的每一步成就都应当毫无例外地为管理科学所利用 ,组织的演化或重组最后当集中于开发内嵌优异软件包的适应性企业或事务模型之中 .文中对此表达了作者们的希冀 ,也是为了怀念许国志先生和继承许老的遗愿.     

Diagnosis of Organizational Soft Problems in a Peruvian Financial Institution by Systemic Thinking

Managing financial institutions in an underdeveloped economic context has become a real challenge nowadays. In order to reach the organization’s planned goals, they have to deal with structural, behavioral and informational problems. From the systemic point of view, this situation gets even worse when the company does not present organizational boundaries and a cohesive identification for their stakeholders. Thus, European countries have some special financial lines in order to help the development of micro credit in Latin communities in an attempt to help the local economy. However, institutions like Caixa dos Andes in Peru present management problems when dealing with this complexity. Based on this, how can the systemic eye help in the diagnosis of soft problems of a Peruvian financial company? This study aims to diagnose soft problems of a Peruvian financial company based on soft variables like identity, communication and autonomy and also intends to identify possible ways to redesign its basic framework. The (VSM––Viable System Model) method from Beer (1967), applied in this diagnostic study, was used in a practical way as a management tool for organizations’ analysis and planning. By describing the VSM’s five systems, the creation of a systemic vision or a total vision is possible, showing the organization’s complexity from the inside. Some company’s soft problems like double control, inefficient use of physical and human resources, low information flows, slowness, etc. The VSM presented an organizational diagnosis indicating effective solutions that do integrate its five systems.     

系统工程方法在管理中的应用

本文论述了系统工程理论与方法及其在某培训工程组织管理中的应用,论述了对培训工程进行系统分析、系统设计、系统管理、系统评价的科学管理的思路和方法。实践证明,系统工程理论与方法对实际工程系统具有重要的实用价值,是对工程系统进行组织管理的科学方法。     

Towards a Dynamic Model of Organisational Flexibility

Organisational flexibility, as the ability to adapt quickly to new or changing environments, has received growing attention from both researchers and managers as a key driver for companies to survive and prosper in turbulent and unpredictable environments. Although many scholars have studied the complex nature and multidimensional structure of this construct, research on a comprehensive model, which explains the relationships between its key variables and consequent side effects of such iterations, remains a challenge. We explore these interactions and the dynamic adaptation processes applying system dynamics modelling to develop a more robust organisational flexibility theory. The objective of this paper is twofold, to provide dynamic propositions related to several strategies along different enterprise lifecycle stages and to complement the transition guidelines proposed by the organizational flexibility framework. The results suggest that decision concerning flexible capabilities management and organizational responsiveness can be improved if organizational flexibility is analysed and evaluated incorporating the time-varying dimension. The analysis help to test and expand current theory, envisage new theoretical propositions and provide new alternatives for empirical results about the complex construct of organizational flexibility.