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.

Table of Contents :

1 Models and Methodology
2 Basic Principles of HAS Modelling
3 Selection of Relevant Systems
4 Business Process Re-engineering
5 The Consensus Primary Task Model
6 CPTM - Formulation Using Wider-system Extraction
7 CPTM - Assembly Using the Enterprise Model
8 Application to Training Strategy and HR
9 Generic Model Building
10 Conclusions
App. 1 The Albion Case
App. 2: Exercises
App. 3 The Development of the United Kingdom’s Single Army Activity Model and Associated Information Needs and its Relationship to Command and Control
App. 4 An Overview of Soft Systems Methodology
App. 5 Example of Applying Information Analysis Method to Airspace Control Function
App. 6 Example of Product to Information Category Mapping
References
Index