Problem Structuring Methods

Keywords: Strategic planning Performance-based planning Complex adaptive systems Adaptive planning and management Problem structuring methods Resilience A B S T R A C T Urban systems and human settlements have been growing exponentially in size and complexity in the last decades, defying current approaches to sustainable development. While urban planning has been identified as one of the main tools for attaining specific sustainability goals, consideration of cities as complex social-ecological and adaptive systems challenges traditional views, demanding new flexible and creative planning solutions. In this conceptual study, we analyse the capacity of performance-based planning (PBP) to provide sustainable solutions for urban planning problems. To do so, we examine the different conceptualizations of PBP in the current planning environment. To better define the challenges posed by the complexity of urban systems, we explore the similarities and common ground between PBP and other approaches such as adaptive planning and management (APM) and problem structuring methods (PSM). We analyse a case study, in Queensland (Australia), using SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis to identify potential advantages and barriers to the implementation of PBP. Finally, we discuss the potential role of APM and PSM in PBP, the utility of an extended conceptualization of resilience as an important reference for its implementation and a potentially stronger role for planners in PBP as decision shapers.

During the first half of the 20th century Talcott Parsons developed his social theory of functionalism. His synthesis of the insights of Durkheim, Webber, and others provided the corner stone for his "grand theory." Parsons' functionalism takes the form of a schema or descriptive framework of society, its component parts, and the interactions between them. Post-WW2 the new framework was widely welcomed by the growing army of researchers conducting empirical research into social phenomena, but it was fiercely criticised by social theorists. As a consequence, new variants of functionalism were developed, existing programmes were reexamined , and new schools evolved. This article first describes func-tionalism and examines some current schools of social theory in relation to it. Then it examines the use made of social theory by OR researchers to develop an understanding of the context of OR interventions, underpin the development of OR methods, provide methods and frameworks for empirical research, inform and motivate critique of OR practice and research, and contribute to sociology. This article demonstrates that functionalism offers a point of entry for OR researchers intent on gaining an understanding of social theories, a notoriously difficult subject on which all sociological theorising is founded.

The term morphology (from the Greek μορφή, morphé = form) is used in science in a number of different contexts and on a number of different conceptual levels. On the most general level, it refers to nothing less than a philosophy of science, or at least what Lakatos (1968) calls a basic scientific research program. On another level, we find morphology and morphological analysis denoting a general methodological approach used in a wide range of scientific disciplines concerning the study of structural interrelationships within the context of a developing systemic whole. Finally, on a purely technical-methodological level, morphological analysis refers to a basic modelling method, on a par with other modelling methods such as System Dynamics Modelling (SDM) and Bayesian Networks (BN). Although morphological modelling is essentially " qualitative " (i.e. non-quantified and non-causal), it relies on the same principles of construction, and the same iterative process of analysis and synthesis, as all other scientific modelling methods.

The sociological theory of functionalism dominated sociology in the middle of the 20th century and OR has inherited some of its concepts and assumptions. At the same time functionalism has been strongly criticised and it behoves OR to at least understand what it is that is being criticised. Many of the modern schools of sociological thought can be viewed as deriving from functionalism or from the criticism it attracted. Functionalism thus can be used to provide an introduction to the development of modern social theory. Since the 1970s a number of OR researchers interested in the process of OR have engaged with sociology . However, the barriers to gaining an understanding of the theoretical basis of the subject are formidable. This paper (Part A) is the first in a series of three; together these introduce social theory by taking a close look at functionalism (Parts A and B), and then identifying its impact on other social theories and discussing the implications for OR (Part C). Whatever the merits or failings of functionalism it provides a point of entry for OR academics seeking to situate their research in sociology. Social theory is a notoriously difficult subject to understand and the writings of Parsons are particularly convoluted. However, he placed decisions to act at the centre of his theory and used systems ideas to flesh out his schema of the structure of society. Both these features make the operational researcher’s struggle to get to grips with the subject matter a little easier.

What does good operational research (OR) practice mean, and what can critical systems thinking (CST) do for it? This two-part essay proposes new answers to both questions. Part 1 first reviews the idea and history of systems thinking in OR, as a basis for properly situating CST within OR. It then offers a comparative, non-partisan account of the two strands of CST, critical systems heuristics (CSH) and total systems intervention (TSI), and identifies their combined potential in an ability to enhance the contextual sophistication of OR. The prevalent but inaccurate notion of the history of OR as a linear evolution from ‘hard’ to ‘soft’ and ‘critical’ systems thinking is replaced by an integrated perspective of OR as applied systems thinking.

"At some point in an intervention, the operational research consultant has to choose how to approach the issue in hand. The need for an explicit approach depends on who will be involved and the nature of the relationship between consultant and client. Increasingly, as the organisational distance between the two parties increases, the approach taken has to be declared formally and at an early stage. The approach chosen may be a general approach for consultancy assignments, it may he a specific, named approach taken from the literature, or it may be designed specifically for that particular intervention. The choice of methods will depend on the organisafional context, the degree of participation envisaged,
the consultant's skills and on the nature of the outcome required. The paper draws on theory to articulate these choices. A personal experiment is described in which critical systems heuristics, soft
systems methodology, and the strategic choice approach are used to structure the process of designing an intervention. As a result two concepts are introduced, (i) personal intervention competence and (ii) intervention transformation requirement and context. These concepts are used to suggest a general method mixing approach referred to as the transformation competence model."

OR interventions involve the deployment of three core competences: (1) conducting analysis, (2) managing the process of intervention, and (3) understanding context. The nature of these competences is reasonably well understood in terms of traditional interventions but problem structuring methods (PSMs) make additional demands on practitioners. PSMs are designed to help the OR consultant structure an intervention in which actors relevant to the situation engage in interpreting the context, do some qualitative analysis, debate the issues, and agree some future actions. The OR consultant is required to master the methods, design the intervention, facilitate the set pieces such as workshops, and manage the process overall. The paper considers the burgeoning literature on the competences required to deploy PSMs. It is concluded that these competences can be considered under the same broad headings as those for traditional OR, but the skills and the process of obtaining them make new demands. An enhanced schema of OR competence is developed and its application in education and practice is suggested.

The Production Engineering field has inherent complex situations, in which an optimal solution is not feasible nor desirable. A range of methods were created within the discipline of Operational Research to deal with such problems. These methods have been collective known as Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs), or in a broader sense, soft OR. Even though relevant to Production Engineers who face complex situations on a daily basis, Brazilian literature lacks a review that synthesizes both international and local contributions in terms of methods and frameworks created on this field of Operational Research. That is exactly the aim of this study, which was undertaken by a thorough literature review. The results showed the relevance and reach of these methods. A range of Methods and frameworks which helps managing complex issues were identified. Six methods were further explored, including SSM, SODA, SCA, Robustness Analysis, Drama Theory/Confrontation Analysis and STSP (Systems Thinking and Scenario Planning, a Brazilian method). Finally, this study argues that this group of methods is an integral part of Operational Research, and is useful and needed to build the Production Engineers competence of managing strategic and complex / messy / wicked situations.

How can critical systems thinking (CST) strengthen the competence profile of professionals? Considering the examples of operational research, policy analysis, and process consultation, and moving beyond the view developed in Part 1 of professional practice as applied systems thinking, an argumentation-theoretical turn of the understanding of professional competence is suggested. It yields an integrated perspective of competence in terms of systems thinking and argumentative practice, in which CST finds a systematic place.

This entry on "Critical systems thinking" (CST), prepared for a major encyclopedia in the field of Operations Research and Management Science, offers a non-partisan, comparative account of CST's two major strands, CSH and TSI. A new, integrative understanding of CST emerges in which both strands, although in different ways, focus on enhancing the contextual sophistication of professionals.

The essay explores how the “evenemential” trend in historical sociology – -embodied by Abbott, Sewell and Griffin most of all – addresses the relationship between explanation and narration, through the theoretical framework of the problem of structuration (Abrams). Given the monographic character of this paper, Griffin will be both a privileged source from the historiographic point of view and an object of systematic study in order to enhance his attempt to formalise the sequences of historical events through the original elaboration of an explanatory model: the Event Structure Analysis.

What does it look like when a group of scientists set out to re-envision an entire field of biology in symbolic and formal terms? I analyze the founding and articulation of Numerical Taxonomy between 1950 and 1970, the period when it set out a radical new approach to classification and founded a tradition of mathematics in systematic biology. I argue that introducing mathematics in a comprehensive way also requires re-organizing the daily work of scientists in the field. Numerical taxonomists sought to establish a mathematical method for classification that was universal to every type of organism, and I argue this intrinsically implicated them in a qualitative re-organization of the work of all systematists. I also discuss how Numerical Taxonomy’s re-organization of practice became entrenched across systematic biology even as opposing schools produced their own competing mathematical methods. In this way, the structure of the work process became more fundamental than the methodological theories that motivated it.

This article proposes the importance of admitting into the repertoire of Problem Structuring Methods for (Community) Operational Research, the methodology called Structured Dialogical Design (SDD). Problem Structuring Methods are described in the literature as facilitating transparent and participative ways of formulating and systemically modelling problems with a view to participants' co-defining alternative futures. We reflect upon the contribution of SDD as lying in its appreciation of "third phase science" and discuss links to other deliberative processes. We indicate why SDD can be classed as "problem structuring" despite the near absence of publicisation in the Operational Research (OR) literature to date. We discuss distinct contributions that the SDD offers to the OR world and indicate how it strengthens and extends Community OR, contributes to Critical Systems Thinking in OR, and offers new mathematical approaches that the Community OR practitioners may wish to consider using. By way of illustration, we showcase the "European Initiative" as an aspect of a large-scale project across five geographical regions funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund, in conjunction with the Future Worlds centre (2016-2018). It engaged as stakeholders five cohorts of youth pioneers concerned with formulating options for Re-inventing democracy in the digital age.

Behavioural research into the practice of OR needs to be grounded. Case studies written by practitioners can potentially help address this need but currently most do not. The paper explores a way of describing OR projects that place the emphasis on the 'actors' who provide the motivating force and the consequences of their actions. The 'mangle' perspective focuses on the dynamic intertwining of people, technology and concepts; this can provide the basis for an insightful narrative describing the reality of the project in terms of the planned approach, the problems met and the outcomes. Two examples are given, one of a conventional model building exercise, the second of a 'soft OR' intervention: both describe projects conducted by practitioners for commercial purposes. It is concluded that, by using the mangle perspective, the OR case writer can winnow the wheat from the chaff in order to write a succinct informative narrative, a narrative that could be utilized by behavioural OR (BOR) researchers. It is further concluded that BOR researchers should engage with 'practice theory' to deepen their understanding of what actually happens in projects.

Multimethodology interventions are being increasingly employed by operational researchers to cope with the complexity of real-world problems. In keeping with recent calls for more research into the ‘realised’ impacts of multimethodology, we present a detailed account of an intervention to support the planning of business ideas by a management team working in a community development context. Drawing on the rich steam of data gathered during the intervention, we identify a range of cognitive, task and relational impacts experienced by the management team during the intervention. These impacts are the basis for developing a process model that accounts for the personal, social and material changes reported by those involved in the intervention. The model explains how the intervention’s analytic and relational capabilities incentivise the interplay of participants’ decision making efforts and integrative behaviours underpinning reported intervention impacts and change. Our findings add m...

This monograph series presents case studies of approaches to complex problems which exist in human systems throughout the globe. The first issue of the monograph illustrates an approach for creating a structured understanding of the global challenges delineated by the Millennium Project and critical problems identified in the Predicament of Mankind Proposal. It concludes with a reflection on implications for New Strategic Theory and Social Mediation - Communication Theory for democratization.

"This commentary sketches the prospective role of The New Strategic Theory (espoused by the Communication Strategies Ibero-American Forum (FISEC)), and emerging communication theories of Latin America in revamping our approach to deliberation and democratization to address global challenges.

The attached file is a draft of my commentary on the Monograph.

The full monograph is available at: http://www.academia.edu/3386273/Strategic_Articulation_of_Actions_to_Cope_with_the_Huge_Challenges_of_our_World_Today"

A consultancy project to develop an information systems (IS) strategy for a copper mine located in South Africa is described. The mine is operated by the UK based mining company RTZ, the world's largest mining company. The approach taken was based on an earlier project at Sainsbury's, a major food and grocery retailing chain in the UK. At Sainsbury's a participative approach made use of a number of models and methods developed by the advocates of soft OR and systems thinking. The aim of the Palabora project was to test whether the same participative approach, suitably adapted, would work in a completely di€erent context, and more generally whether this could form the basis of a standard method to be applied at a variety of mine sites. The paper describes the design of the intervention process and the choice of methods for the particular mining context of Palabora. Account had to be taken of the nature of the operation, the remote location and the limited time available. The intervention proved successful, resulting in both an IS strategy for the mine which has since been implemented and a participative approach for IS strategy development for use at other mine sites. However, the soft OR methods played a less significant role than first envisaged. Lessons are drawn for future applications of soft OR methods for strategy development in different circumstances.

Se uma organização é composta por diversas partes que trabalham para um objetivo comum, segue-se que a existência de cooperação entre as diversas partes da organização é essencial para seu funcionamento. Apesar disto, evidências empíricas mostram que a cooperação é um problema para muitas organizações. Embora reconheça a importância da cooperação para as organizações, a literatura atual carece de métodos que indiquem como alcança-la. Neste contexto, este trabalho utiliza a Design Science Research como método de pesquisa para a proposição de uma abordagem sistêmica para a identificação de ações alavancadoras para o aumento da cooperação em organizações. Além disto, este trabalho avalia o método proposto por meio da aplicação do mesmo em uma indústria metal-mecânica. Finalmente, o artigo traz sugestões de trabalhos futuros que virão a ser úteis para a o avanço do conhecimento pragmático acerca de cooperação.

In 1994, RTZ Corporation pic, the world's largest mining com
pany, tried to reconcile (a) the desire of central management to compare performance across mine sites with (b) the desire of local management to judge performance in their own terms. The company began a project to establish a method of measuring open-pit productive capacity, to spread best practice, and to motivate higher performance. Initially we saw the solution as a simple model of equipment availability using hard OR derived using a participative process based on soft OR. Trials in Australia, Southern Africa, and North America showed that we needed to combine various hard and soft OR methods and to move the emphasis to achieving breakthroughs in performance. The latest trial resulted in an increase in production of over 25 percent in the first year. The results indicate that soft and hard OR methods can be combined to good effect to produce tangible results.

Historically, project management has relied on modelling decision problems mathematically and computing the ‘best’ solution. But there do emerge several obstinate, even prohibitive, difficulties for these sorts of models. How to deal with the intractability of real-world uncertainties, of kinds that defy the probabilistic reductions of mathematical ‘decision models’? How to address (fully legitimate) forms of ethical reasoning that go beyond the simple scalar trade-offs that lie at the core of decision models? When consequences are difficult to characterize in any one robust way, how rational is it to insist on doing so anyway? What about the ambiguities and irreconcilabilities in the divergent values and interests around the management of projects in a complex and turbulent world, difficulties that make it misleading to produce any single, notionally definitive picture? And how to balance the often-invisible effects of power – operating as much within the management of large and complex projects as outside? (Andy Stirling & Coburn, 2017)

Ten years of connecting researchers.... The Journal of Research Practice is a small but rather unique journal that aims to engage researchers interested in enhancing their research practice. The journal has established innovative forms of connecting researchers and organizing its peer review. Here is a brief digital poster on the journal.

Rich pictures are a powerful tool for understanding complexity. The rich picture is not only a tool to aid discussion and debate about problem situations.  We claim that understanding the iconography produced during the picturing process leads to a knowledge understanding that far exceeds the limitations of words and speech. We claim there is a language of the rich picture and a subsequent icon grammar structure.