essential-guide-to-qualitative-in-organizational-research

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– SOFT SYSTEMS ANALYSIS –––––––––– 337data should be broad-based, encompassing all those individuals (or an appropriate subset of them)who have inputs to, and interactions with, the system under study. This stage will normallyincorporate the collection of ‘hard’ data (for example, regarding outputs and performance of thesystem) as well as the ‘soft’ data (for example, including attitudes and emotions).The rich picture is a cartoon-like picture of the problem situation and includes a widerange of information, of both qualitative and quantitative kinds. The picture includesinformation on the tasks that the system must perform and also data on the issues that peopleraise, namely topics of concern or dispute. Also included may be elements of structure, processand climate, namely important aspects of the system. But this picture is not a systemicrepresentation of the problem domain, and nor is it a characterization of a problem type. Thusthe analyst still refrains at this stage from constructing an explanatory model of the problemsituation, either in the form of a systems diagram or by describing it in a particular way (forexample, that this is a problem of employee morale caused by an inappropriate reward system).The output of stage 2 is a rich picture which includes tasks and issues which are relevant tothe system under study.Both these first two stages are concerned with the present day reality: Checkland labelsthem as ‘real world’ activities. In contrast, the next two stages (3 and 4) are predominantlyintellectual and conceptual.Stage 3In this stage the analyst and participants search for new ways of looking upon the existingproblem situation. These new ways of looking at these complex interrelationships, are called‘relevant systems’. In essence, the analyst says ‘let’s try looking on this situation like this’. Thisis the imaginative part of the method. For example, a pub can be visualized in a number ofalternative ways (based on Naughton, 1984). Thus it can be seen as a system for:• providing drinks;• initiating adolescents into adulthood;• providing employment;• entertaining customers;• dispensing drugs;• integrating a community;• producing customers for taxi firms;• scheduling work for the police; and so on.These views are ‘relevant’ insofar as they cast light on the situation. Relevant systems can betask-based (for example, viewing a pub as a system for dispensing drinks) or issue-based (forexample, a system for initiating adolescents into adulthood). This part of SSA is critical to itssuccess. The analyst selects views (relevant systems) which s/he believes may be fruitful foruncovering aspects of the problem situation. The process of selection is informed by whatmakes most sense to the analyst and/or the participants, and by what promises to take theirlevel of understanding further. This process is iterative as the formulation can always bemodified later as understanding deepens. Thus the function of the relevant system is to provide‘an alternative way of viewing the problem situation which, when developed further insucceeding stages of the methodology, will provide the analyst with a sharp comparison