Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

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more effective and long-lasting than secondary or tertiary approaches (e.g. Ongori & Agolla, 2008), but for a
number of reasons are utilised much less (see Chapter III Section 1e for an overview).
As a typology of organisational change, soft systems methodologies for change (see Chapter IV, Section
2a), in which employees are the ideal vehicle for information gathering and implementing organisational system
changes (Petkov et al., 2008), are often implemented in organisational change studies in which the principle
anticipated outcome reflects upon employees. Therefore as an organisational development and change approach
Appreciative Inquiry, which views the participant as an expert in their own environments as well as the ideal
method for intervention design, is a strong example of soft systems change methodologies.
Each of the implemented changes (as shown in Table 29) fit the SSMC approach, with the emphasis on
employee interaction with organisational systems, although without any pre-existing expectations as to the type of
impact these changes should have. The table shows that many of the implemented changes impact upon the way
that individuals and management interact and communicate, a clear emphasis on the subjective approach inherent
within an SSMC. While a Hard Systems approach may have sought to quantify the amount of impact that
interventions may have had on both the individuals and overall organisation, an SSM approach implements the
intervention without having to objectively measure the outcomes.
To summarise, the use of an SSMC approach to implementing the interventions within the organisation have
been successful. Use of the human-facing approach within SSMC, as well as a lack of emphasis on pre-defined
outcomes, has meant that the subjectivity within SSMC has been a fruitful approach to take. To evidence this a
large number of organisational interventions have been implemented, although the actual impact of these
implementations will remain unknown.