Systemic intervention to manage ccomplexity in Mexican SMEs to last over time

The purpose of this research is to develop a new methodology based upon ideas on managing complexity from the Viable System Model. The context for the research is Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mexico. Worldwide, SMEs represent the segment of the economy that contributes the largest number of economic units and employees, both in industrialised countries and in those that are less developed. However, the astonishing rate of change today influences most human activities, including business organisations, and, therefore SMEs. Organisational complexity continues to grow as organisations are forced to address more issues and greater diversity in their operating environments. So, the current challenges imposed by modern-day complexity suggest to think about new ways of approaching managementpractice. The research aims to adopt systems thinking approaches applied on daily life as an ongoing process, based on a learning system which aims to increase the ability to manage complexity in SMEs to last over time. The research design is based on an action research approach developing a single case study intervention, based on Yin's work, in a Mexican SME in order to provide the empirical data. To do so, this work presents a novel model (ModK+) and multi-methodology (MetK+) as a way of thinking and acting, respectively, to perform a systemic intervention, linking the philosophical, methodological and practical levels. Finally, and based on the sources of evidence, the researcher realised two main findings. First, the MetK+ facilitated the adoption of systems thinking approaches in the daily practice of organisational management: it helped managers to identify and to overcome their main challenges and it enabled them to better manage their complexity. Second, the researcher identified the positive impact of building a learning system because it helped managers to refine their learning cycle to manage complexity; however, despite having such a learning system it was clear that managers would still require further accompaniment after the systemic intervention to overcome inertia in their busy daily agenda

Exploring middle managers sensemaking processes during the adoption and practice of sustainability strategies in organisations

The thesis explores middle managers sensemaking processes of a University’s social responsibility and sustainability (SRS) strategy during a period of change. Overall the thesis establishes links between middle managers simultaneous sensemaking processes, dynamics of loosely coupled organizational contexts and organizational responses to unexpected outcomes as they impact strategy creation processes in organisations. Three main issues evolve. Firstly, middle managers in loosely coupled organisations consist of two different sets (administrators and academics). Based on their nature of work in particular, administrators and academics select different sets of dominant and subtle sensemaking frames to make sense of organizational strategies. Generally, while administrators select sensemaking frames which emanate from existing strategic processes, academics select autonomous cues which exist outside strategic processes. Administrators and academics sensemaking processes are therefore not a single level or consecutive processes as typically researched, but rather occur as simultaneous sensemaking processes. Six dominant simultaneous sensemaking frames are identified and described. Secondly, the thesis examines less explored aspects of debates on loosely coupled systems. It investigates specific patterns of coupledness in middle managers strategic work and relationships. It identified and described patterns of administrative work which are tightly coupled and patterns in academic work which are loosely coupled. Thirdly, distinct links are identified between middle managers simultaneous sensemaking processes and unexpected strategy outcomes. This further led to exploring how organizations respond to unexpected sustainability initiatives, especially in light of integrating them into already existing strategy outcomes. Three integration strategies are identified and described

Ways of Seeing Wholes: Systemic Problem Structuring Methods for the Uninitiated

Softer forms of systems thinking and Soft-OR (Operational Research) provide the theory, the methodology and the methods by which managers can see the situations they are trying to manage as wholes. They facilitate what has become known as “bigger picture” thinking and are widely acknowledged as effective ways to manage complexity. But despite nearly 50 years of development, the extent to which these ideas have penetrated mainstream management thinking and practice is very limited. Existing research suggests that adoption of systemic problem structuring methods (systemic PSMs) is frustrated by a number of factors. But questions about the take-up of systemic PSMs remain under-theorised. This thesis aims to deepen our understanding of how managers receive and take-up, and sometimes repudiate, systemic PSMs. It uses a qualitative multiple case study design to report findings from four interventions using systemic PSMs in four organisations (two from the UK and two from Romania). The findings are interpreted through the lens of Luhmann’s complex social systems theory. Applications of softer forms of systems thinking are better received and are more likely to be taken-up in situations where an existing organisational decision premise is contested and no longer functions as a stable reference point for future decisions. In these circumstances, managers show greater curiosity in systemic PSMs and are more willing to adopt them to generate new “ways of seeing”. However, they also present managers with a paradox. Used as a means to explore an organisation’s future, and as a means of deciding what that future could be, managers are more reluctant to perform “bigger picture” analyses if the product of such thinking is perceived to over-specify plans for the future; plans which might well turn out to be ill-adapted to a “future” that is fundamentally unknown. This changes the way we think about interventions using systemic PSMs and leads to a theory that produces a more nuanced understanding of the circumstances in which they might be needed and effectively deployed. Existing theory tends to focus on ideal-type problem contexts. But the near-manifestation of such contexts in actual practice does not automatically guarantee that systems-inquiring methods will be taken-up, for existing theory underplays the inherent decision logic of the organisation in which the intervention takes place and underestimates the organisation’s ability to create its own “secondary complexity”. Systemic PSMs are more likely to be in demand when existing “ways of seeing” have been exhausted