Help the desk: an SSM investigation

This is case study about a groupware system adoption that, despite the efforts beyond the technical aspects, did not led to the expected improvements. Through a SSM (Soft System Methodology) process of inquiry, a consistent pattern of social involvement needs emerges. The generalisable lesson deduced from the findings is that a system is more profitable - or at least more difficult to be opposed - when participated and agreed in its parts. Yet, this may not suffice: as change sometimes needs to be imposed, divergent and never stable-for-too-long standpoints always exist, incentive devices are effective in enforce the above and conduct the actor’s actions towards a wanted path

Using SSM in Project Management: aligning objectives and outcomes in organizational change projects

This paper aims to contribute to the use of SSM in Project Management, by exploring what happens in a real-world organisational change projects when stakeholders seem to agree in a set of initial-objectives and final-outcomes of the project. SSM Analyses are then use to explore the misalignments between initial-objectives and final-outcomes along the project life cycle. Initial results suggest that SSM helps to “shadow” these misalignments when structuring an unclear complex situation such as organisational change projects and that the application of SSM facilitates negotiations, generates debate, understanding and learning. This leads to meaningful collaboration among stakeholders and enables key changes to be introduced reflecting on the potential misalignments. Results also support SSM analysis of changes in role, norms or value adversely influencing project outcome

Legal deposit of digital publications

Legal deposit is an obligation to deposit publications with specified depositories. The purpose of legal deposit is to preserve and provide long-term access to the national intellectual heritage. Extending legal deposit to digital publications presents many challenges for the framing of legislation, selection and acquisition of material, preservation and provision of access. The aim of this research was to: explore the potential issues related to the extension of UK legal deposit to digital publications and identify the implications for existing legal deposit arrangements. The research was based on Soft Systems Methodology. Data was gathered through two rounds of interviews with stakeholder groups, including legal deposit libraries, publishers, government and technical experts. Preservation is accepted as the main purpose of legal deposit, but there is some tension and lack of trust between publishers and legal deposit libraries on access to legal deposit collections. The new UK legal deposit law is enabling only; implementation will require further regulations that will be subject to detailed consultation and negotiation. While there has been a voluntary scheme in place for some time in the UK, the research found a lack of readiness amongst the UK legal deposit libraries. They still had to develop cooperative arrangements between themselves and publishers; policies, procedures, especially for online publications; and did not have all the necessary technical infrastructure in place. The deposit of digital publications is an extra role for legal deposit libraries and it is not clear that they will receive extra funding, as is the case in some other countries. There is currently no full-scale fully functional digital legal deposit system in the world. However, there are lessons to be learned from other legal deposit libraries and research and development work is providing partial solutions. The key issues are the need for communication and collaboration between UK legal deposit libraries and cooperation and trust between legal deposit libraries and publishers. Developments since the research was carried out demonstrate some progress in this. Without these, digital legal deposit cannot be successfully implemented in the UK. There is also a need to look at what the users require in terms to material collected and how it is preserved

Information systems development and practice in organisations in Sri Lanka : an in-depth case study

This thesis describes an investigation of information systems development and practice in a privatised state owned enterprise (North-West Cement Company Limited or NWCL) in Sri Lanka between J95M-2000. The objectives of my study were: (1) to understand the approaches used by NWCL for information systems development; (2) to understand how these approaches relate to the organisational, socio-cultural, economic and political realities of organisations in Sri Lanka; (3) to outline a theory to better understand information systems development and practice for organisations in Sri Lanka; and (4) to make recommendations which could be used to improve information systems development and practice for organisations in Sri Lanka

A framework for the transformation of the creative industries in a digital age

The creative industries sector faces a constantly changing context characterised by the speed of the development and deployment of digital information systems andInformation Communications Technologies (ICT) on a global scale. This continuous digital disruption has had significant impact on the whole value chain of the sector: creation and production; discovery and distribution; andconsumption of cultural goods and services. As a result, creative enterprises must evolve business and operational models and practices to be sustainable. Enterprises of all scales, type, and operational model are affected, and all sectors face ongoing digital disruption. Management consultancy practitioners and business strategy academics have called for new strategy development frameworks and toolkits, fit for a continuously changing world. This thesisinvestigates a novel approach to organisational change appropriate to the digital age, in the context of the creative sector in Scotland.A set of concepts, methods, tools, and processes to generate theoretical learning and practical knowing was created to support enterprises to digitally adapt through undertaking journeys of change and organisational development. The framework is called The AmbITion Approach. It was developed by blending participatory action research (PAR) methods and modern managementconsultancy, design, and creative practices. Empirical work also introduced to the framework Coghlan and Rashford’s change categories. These enabled the definition and description of the extent to which organisations developed:whether they experienced first order (change), second order (adaptation) or third order (transformation) change. Digital research tools for inquiry were tested by a pilot study, and then embedded in a longitudinal study over two years of twentyone participant organisations from Scotland’s creative sector. The author applied and investigated the novel approach in a national digital development programme for Scotland’s creative industries. The programme was designed and delivered by the author and ran nationally between 2012-14. Detailed grounded thematic analysis of the data corpus was undertaken, along with analysis of rich media case studies produced by the organisations about their change journeys.The results of studies on participants, and validation criteria applied to the results, demonstrated that the framework triggers second (adaptation) and third orderchange (transformation) in creative industry enterprises. The AmbITion Approach framework is suitable for the continuing landscape of digital disruption within thecreative sector. The thesis contributes to practice the concepts, methods, tools, and processes of The AmbITion Approach, which have been empirically tested in the field, and validated as a new framework for business transformation in a digital age. The thesis contributes to knowledge a theoretical and conceptual framework with a specific set of constructs and criteria that define first, second, and third order change in creative enterprises, and a robust research and action framework for the analysis of the quality, validity and change achieved by actionresearch based development programmes. The thesis additionally contributes to the practice of research, adding to our understanding of the value of PAR and design thinking approaches and creative practices as methods for change

A framework for the transformation of the creative industries in a digital age

The creative industries sector faces a constantly changing context characterised by the speed of the development and deployment of digital information systems andInformation Communications Technologies (ICT) on a global scale. This continuous digital disruption has had significant impact on the whole value chain of the sector: creation and production; discovery and distribution; andconsumption of cultural goods and services. As a result, creative enterprises must evolve business and operational models and practices to be sustainable. Enterprises of all scales, type, and operational model are affected, and all sectors face ongoing digital disruption. Management consultancy practitioners and business strategy academics have called for new strategy development frameworks and toolkits, fit for a continuously changing world. This thesisinvestigates a novel approach to organisational change appropriate to the digital age, in the context of the creative sector in Scotland.A set of concepts, methods, tools, and processes to generate theoretical learning and practical knowing was created to support enterprises to digitally adapt through undertaking journeys of change and organisational development. The framework is called The AmbITion Approach. It was developed by blending participatory action research (PAR) methods and modern managementconsultancy, design, and creative practices. Empirical work also introduced to the framework Coghlan and Rashford’s change categories. These enabled the definition and description of the extent to which organisations developed:whether they experienced first order (change), second order (adaptation) or third order (transformation) change. Digital research tools for inquiry were tested by a pilot study, and then embedded in a longitudinal study over two years of twentyone participant organisations from Scotland’s creative sector. The author applied and investigated the novel approach in a national digital development programme for Scotland’s creative industries. The programme was designed and delivered by the author and ran nationally between 2012-14. Detailed grounded thematic analysis of the data corpus was undertaken, along with analysis of rich media case studies produced by the organisations about their change journeys.The results of studies on participants, and validation criteria applied to the results, demonstrated that the framework triggers second (adaptation) and third orderchange (transformation) in creative industry enterprises. The AmbITion Approach framework is suitable for the continuing landscape of digital disruption within thecreative sector. The thesis contributes to practice the concepts, methods, tools, and processes of The AmbITion Approach, which have been empirically tested in the field, and validated as a new framework for business transformation in a digital age. The thesis contributes to knowledge a theoretical and conceptual framework with a specific set of constructs and criteria that define first, second, and third order change in creative enterprises, and a robust research and action framework for the analysis of the quality, validity and change achieved by actionresearch based development programmes. The thesis additionally contributes to the practice of research, adding to our understanding of the value of PAR and design thinking approaches and creative practices as methods for change

The emergent realities of project praxis in socially complex project environments

The research explores and reveals the significance of socio-cultural, socio-technical infrastructure and human capital elements relevant to managing effective organizational change projects. The research broadened project practice and theory focussed upon technical project practice by moving beyond instrumentality through conceptualising the nature of systems where the ecology of the project entity entails socially derived complexity. Such thinking supports associating organisational resilience with the capacity of project organisations to mutually adapt to and create the environmental context in which project practice is embedded. Given these realities, this research also explores the feasibility of developing project management strategy that can accommodate for diversity and difference to facilitate the cognitive emergence that underpins learning and change. Findings reveal that the presence of a profound ability to shape the project context from within is integral to an effective project manager’s role. Facilitating human multiple reality interconnections, despite differences in language and understandings, necessitates application of adaptive systems of governance to enable enactment of cognition to bring forth new culturally patterned existence and meaning. Balancing the contextual dynamics for consensus in action is dependent upon acknowledging the inherent social complexities of the project actuality and having the PM responsive skills to be flexible and adaptive