A Method For Developing Churchmanian Knowledge Management Systems

Some problems confronted by managers include ill-formulated wicked planning problems, a type of problem that is difficult to solve because, in part, it is difficult to know what the problem is. The Churchmanian Knowledge Management Systems (CKMS) (Richardson & Courtney, 2004) is comprised of design principles for aiding system designers, managers, and clients who make decisions pertaining to these ill-formulated wicked planning problems. Problemography theory is proposed as a method for developing a CKMS. The method aims to measure CKMS development by using development tools that enables stakeholders and theoreticians to clarify CKMS development. A study was conducted to test a proof-of-concept development tool. The tool tested is a proposed list of processes that occur during CKMS development, processes derived from Churchman\u27s (1971) Singerian inquiring systems theory. A gap analysis was performed whereby the proposed processes were compared with the processes found during a case study of people confronting issues related to the \u27wicked\u27 problem of Florida\u27s invasive plant problem. A second study was conducted to explore possible design principles for developing a CKMS. Two proposed design principles, Every Person Principle and Connectedness Caretaker Principle, were used to develop a Describe a Wicked Problem Inquiring System (DAWP), a Web site which aims to enable inquirers to confront wicked problems. Participants in the study formulated problems related to Florida\u27s native plants and suggested potential solutions. Using Wengraf\u27s (2001) theory-driven qualitative research, interviews with participants were analyzed and the results suggest that the Web site being developed enabled the consideration of the ethical ramifications of knowledge

The Hungry Games: Tackling Wicked Food Problems at Black River Public Schools through a New Experiential Project Term Course

Join us in the fight against overly processed foods—may the odds be ever in your flavor! In the winter of 2014, a team of students from Lib 322 “Wicked Problems of Sustainability” identified the food system and its impact on children as a wicked problem, initiated a community partnership at Black River Public School, and posited the development of an interdisciplinary, experiential project term course then designed by students in Lib 342 “Food Matters.” This new Black River course, “The Hungry Games,” will be piloted this spring to engage middle school students in experiential learning in order to foster understanding and empower agency in response to our current food system

Wicked Ideas for Wicked Problems: Marine Debris and the Complexity of Governance

Myriad challenges regarding earth\u27s common spaces, those unregulated by sovereign state authorities, mount and intensify as resources diminish and competition for commercial, scientific and security advantages increases; the pollution and degradation of those spaces simultaneously expands. Threats to the global commons complicate efforts to achieve international consensus which impedes attempts to develop effective governance. As an example, marine debris is a growing problem and is an existential threat to the global commons. This dissertation aims to characterize marine debris as a wicked problem and explores the complexity of governance in the global ocean commons by answering two fundamental questions. Under what condition(s) does regulating debris in the marine commons pose unique governance challenges? Is the wicked problem of marine debris unsolvable? An interdisciplinary, mixed methodology approach is used, to include the development of a novel System Dynamics model, to explore the reinforcing cycles of exponential growth of marine debris. The design and analysis demonstrate multiple variables as components of a larger system and explore their dynamic interaction

Tackling the Wicked Problem of Poverty in Nigeria: Strategies for State Governments

Poverty incidence, a wicked problem in Nigeria, has been a source of worry to major stakeholders, especially the government and the masses. Having practically taken over the powers of local governments, the state governments are next in rank in terms of closeness to the grassroots. The objectives of the paper are to examine the measurement and profile of poverty in Nigeria, identify the causes and consequences of poverty, and suggest some pragmatic poverty alleviation strategies for state governments in Nigeria. The paper identifies the causes of poverty to include underdevelopment, inequality, increasing unemployment, teeming population, corruption, mono-cultural economy, laziness and poor education system. It also pinpoints the spate of armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom, internet fraud, terrorism and other forms of fraudulent activities as consequences of poverty in Nigeria. The paper suggests poverty alleviation strategies which include: inclusive growth, human capital development, provision of basic social services, result-oriented integrated rural development, public works and sustainable livelihood. However, to achieve optimal results, the paper emphasizes a combination of these strategies, and recommends that state governments must: demonstrate political will, be gender-sensitive and ensure professional management of poverty alleviation schemes as goal-oriented programmes in order to fast-track sustainable development in Nigeria. Keywords: Poverty, Wicked Problem, Causes, Consequences, Strategies

Risk Management in the Arctic Offshore: Wicked Problems Require New Paradigms

Recent project-management literature and high-profile disasters—the financial crisis, the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the Fukushima nuclear accident—illustrate the flaws of traditional risk models for complex projects. This research examines how various groups with interests in the Arctic offshore define risks. The findings link the wicked problem framework and the emerging paradigm of Project Management of the Second Order (PM-2). Wicked problems are problems that are unstructured, complex, irregular, interactive, adaptive, and novel. The authors synthesize literature on the topic to offer strategies for navigating wicked problems, provide new variables to deconstruct traditional risk models, and integrate objective and subjective schools of risk analysis

The wicked and complex in education: developing a transdisciplinary perspective for policy formulation, implementation and professional practice

The concept of 'wicked issues', originally developed in the field of urban planning, has been taken up by design educators, architects and public health academics where the means for handling 'wicked issues' has been developed through 'reflective practice'. In the education of teachers, whilst reflective practice has been a significant feature of professional education, the problems to which this has been applied are principally 'tame' ones. In this paper, the authors argue that there has been a lack of crossover between two parallel literatures. The literature on 'wicked issues' does not fully recognise the difficulties with reflective practice and that in education which extols reflective practice, is not aware of the 'wicked' nature of the problems which confront teachers and schools. The paper argues for a fresh understanding of the underlying nature of problems in education so that more appropriate approaches can be devised for their resolution. This is particularly important at a time when the government in England is planning to make teaching a masters level profession, briefly defined by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) benchmark statement as 'Decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations'. The paper begins by locating the argument and analysis of 'wicked problems' within the nature of social complexity and chaos. The second part of the paper explores implications for those involved in policy formation, implementation and service provision. Given the range of stakeholders in education, the paper argues for a trans-disciplinary approach recognising the multiple perspectives and methodologies leading to the acquisition of reticulist skills and knowledge necessary to boundary cross. © 2009 Taylor & Francis

Framing the UK’s counter-terrorism policy within the context of a wicked problem

Terrorist attacks can be seen as the ultimate wicked problem. After 9/11, terrorists moved from so-called ‘spectacular’ events to relatively low-intensity attacks against individuals and groups. The emergence of what has become known as the ‘home-grown’ terrorist has added a further dimension to the ‘wicked’ nature of the problem. This paper considers the UK’s CONTEST and PREVENT strategies as a policy response to the threats from terrorism and the impact that the policies themselves can have on the radicalization of individuals. The author highlights some of the limitations of the PREVENT strand of the overall strategy and the constraints that are imposed on government policies by failing to take a holistic perspective on the nature of the problem

Public policy that does the right thing rather than the wrong thing righter

Motivated by the reprisal of ‘wicked problems’ in Australian public policy discourse we make the case for understanding climate change adaptation, water and river managing, and other complex, uncertain, natural resource issues as ‘wicked problems’. This ‘framing’ of social planning dilemmas dates back 40 years yet public policy practitioners still do not seem well equipped in terms of understandings and practices to engage with these situations and to effect systemic improvements. Drawing on a decade of research in Europe we make the case for investing in social learning as an alternative governance mechanism and as a form of praxis for managing in ‘wicked problem’ situations. We outline our main research findings to explain how we understand and enact social learning. In doing so, we also draw on the Open University UK’s 35 years of experience of teaching systems thinking and practice for managing ‘wicked problems’. We conclude by opening up an invitational space to explore the commonalities and differences in research on social learning with that on deliberative practices and governance