Ravalier PhD Theis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

83
world as systematic and HSM evolved as a means of defining a solution to
a problem, and implicit in hard systems thinking is the demand for
quantification and optimisation (Petkov et al., 2008). However, the hard
systems approach is too rigid for exploring the complex area of human
sciences, and therefore a Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) could be
applied to many situations.
Soft systems thinking evolved from HSM and systems engineering
and whereas hard systems thinking assumes the view that technicallybased
problems can be solved in a systematic and functionalist manner,
SSM explores many options and issues and how they interconnect. The
assumptions made by SSM are therefore very different to HSM because it
views the world as complex and the process of investigation is considered
itself as a learning system.
Soft systems models of change (SSMC) have been used in both
public and private sector management to deal effectively with the
problems of organisational improvement and change. Peter Checkland
and colleagues are often accredited with the introduction of SSMC, and
has employed soft systems methodologies in a variety of settings within
the NHS. SSMC was formulated as a way to structure problem-solving and
decision-making under the vagueness of complex human systems. A
human system is identified as a collection of activities in which people are
purposefully engaged as well as the relationships between these activities
(Presley & Meade, 2002). As such, in contrast to HSMC, the world is taken
to be complex, messy and with diverse perspectives (Petkov et al., 2008)
and where there may be several different assessments of a problem. Soft
systems thinking is also categorised as an interpretive systems approach
and the primary areas of concern in this approach are perceptions, values,
beliefs and interests. SSMs therefore emphasise each individual's
perception of reality and therefore works with these to understand
individual beliefs, values, perceptions and interests (Petkov et al., 2008).
Soft systems methodological approaches adopt principles which are
often divergent from those inherent in Hard Systems Models. Hard
systems maintain that the world can be fully and objectively modelled and