Book Reviews

Edited by TONY CORNFORD

Soft Systems Methodology in Action PETER CHECKLAND and JIM SCHOLES

Wiley, Chichester, 1990. xv + 329 pp. £19.95 ISBN 047192768 6 Despite its joint authorship this major work will be widely perceived as Checkland's second book, a successor of his, for this genre, best-selling Systems Thinking, Systems Practice which came out in 1981. The intervening decade has seen a continuing growth in the influence of Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) which shows no sign of abating. The aim of the new book is to provide 'a mature account of SSM as it is in the 1990's'. What can we as readers learn from this account? The structure of the book is straight-forward. A situating introduction is followed by a chapter which summarises both the 'problematique' of SSM and its current, more developed, format. There then follows a set of case studies spanning from the late 1970s through to the late 1980s. There is one which was carried out in ICI, one in the National Health Service, one in a civil service agency, three (linked) in ICL, and one for the Shell group; each is treated at chapter length. A final chapter draws lessons. The book is effectively self-contained. There is no need, for example, to refer back to Systems Thinking, Systems Practice - a distinct bonus, since that modern classic is not the easiest book to find your way around. Chapter 2 of SSM in Action gives an introduction to the rationale, history, concepts and phases of SSM which is both compact and effective. Each of the case studies is interspersed with highlighted passages of methodological commentary, relating the blow-by-blow account to the underlying SSM framework - a generally helpful device. Each study is also preceded by a description of the organizational context, ranging from a brief outline to a five page essay. In the one case where I have some background knowledge (the NHS study) there is at least one error and a number of arguable - not to say contentious - statements. However they do not bear on the substance of the case study. © 1991 Operational Research Society Ltd Eur. J. Inf. Syas. Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 215-222, 1991

It is valuable in itself to have so substantial an increase in the available stock of case study material on SSM. However the purpose of including the studies in the book is not to describe practical manifestations of an established methodology, but rather to serve as vehicles to convey innovations in SSM practice. There are quite a number of these innovations. One is the reformulation of what were previously Stages 1 and 2 of the methodology ('finding out' about the problem situation) as a continuous stream of activity throughout the engagement rather than an initial phase. These are now seen as being two interacting streams of structured enquiry - a logic-based stream (involving root definitions, conceptual models, etc) and a stream of cultural analysis (enriching the picture in parallel). The three component analyses within this cultural stream are given a fuller exposition here than I have previously seen in print. Another, less significant departure from former orthodoxy is the interment of the 'Formal Systems Model', previously used for checking the validity of conceptual models. This is now seen as superfluous. The most major change, however, is not to do with the details of stages and streams. It concerns a new 'mode' of use of SSM. What we have known to date is Mode 1 - using SSM to do a study. That is, a specific project is formulated in which a problematic situation will be subjected to SSM. Mode 2, by contrast, is doing a study using SSM. In this mode we start, not from the methodology, but from the concrete managerial situation, from what is to be done. Instead of starting from the 'given' of the stages of SSM, to be operated as an outside intervention, the practitioner takes the exigencies of a continuing managerial process as the given, and helps to make sense of it through the use of SSM. This is not an easy distinction to appreciate. Reading the case studies, or at least the later ones, helps. My current understanding, which I regard as provisional, is that Mode 2 involves an escape from a pre-set format into a more flexible application of SSM. SSM becomes a mode of internal thought, perhaps shared with key managers, which helps them to make progress in their day-to-day work. Mode 2 is not seen as driving out Mode 1, but as extending the range of SSM. However the intellectual excitement of the authors clearly centres on their discovery of Mode 2. 215

BOOK REVIEWS

In attempting an assessment of SSM in Action there are two principal questions to consider. How significant is all this? And how well does the book work? The question of significance is itself contingent on one's view of SSM as a whole. My own is that it now has a demonstrated track record in structuring a wide range of problematic situations in ways which problem owners find helpful. I am nevertheless agnostic, at best, about how widely useful this new development will prove. Mode 2 SSM can only be operated by practitioners who have internalised SSM as a personal method of thinking. This is a state difficult to achieve without deep immersion over many years. It is likely to be inaccessible to beginners, or even to more experienced analyst/consultants who may wish to deploy SSM as one among a repertoire of possible approaches. It is also legitimate to raise a query about which of the available formal problem structuring methodologies has most to offer as a structure for informal thought processes, if one is to be adopted. I know, for example, that exponents of cognitive mapping use their mapping notation for taking notes at meetings etc, even when they are not involved in project work. I myself am surprised at how often the world seems to fall into a robustness formulation, and be more comprehensible and actionable afterwards. Perhaps there is scope for assessing the advantages and disadvantages of these various methodologies for informal, personal use, in terms of breadth of scope, learning time, ease and speed of operation, etc. But then, what methodology shall we use to carry out the comparison? Rather than pursue this regress further it would be better to turn to a discussion of how well this book works in its own terms. Does it get the message across effectively, and to whom? Neither question has a completely straight-forward answer. The book is clearly structured, and well though not vividly written. The main expository question mark is over the extended use of case studies to carry the message. Checkland and Scholes' justification is that the latter studies in particular were the experiences through which they won their way to a more mature understanding of SSM, and they want to 're-create the experience of that learning'. It must be at least an open question whether this sort of 're-creation' is the best way for others to learn. One problem is that it is notoriously difficult to capture in text the twists and turns of a continuing process of interaction and commitment. Such stories are nearly untellable, and the written versions which emerge are likely to be disconcertingly thinner than real life. A second difficulty, specific to SSM, is the copious illustration of the story with root definitions and conceptual models. They were, I am sure, important landmarks to those who participated in the problem structuring activity. This seems, however, to be one of those cases where process is more important than product. 216

Certainly the root definitions and conceptual models quite failed to speak to me. Guilty skipping was the only way I could make progress. Without doubt the wealth of worked out examples which are incorporated in these case studies will provide a rich seam to be mined by teachers developing courses. But I think that the process of learning the meta-lessons, about Modes 1 and 2, which Checkland and Scholes report here could have been transferred more easily by some more condensed and codified exposition. Who then is the book for? It is very much not a course text for students (though it could well be a valuable look-up resource for reference). Teachers should read it but not teach from it. For committed adherents of SSM, whether academics or practitioners, it is a must - taking the approach forward in a very intriguing way. For newcomers to the subject, I would suggest reading a more introductory account first. In sum, another difficult book from Checkland which is well worth reading. Reference CHECKLAND P (1981) Systems Thinking, Systems Practice. Wiley, Chichester. JONATHAN ROSENHEAD

London School of Economics.

Multiview: An Exploration in Information Systems Development D E AVISON and A T WOOD-HARPER

Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1990. 280 pp. £14.95 (paperback) ISBN 0 632 03026 7 For many years it has been clear that the design of information systems for organizations cannot be accomplished successfully by concentrating merely on the technical aspects of computer systems design. The response to this realisation has been to develop methodologies for analysis and design. There are now many of these available. Two important driving themes can be detected in these methodologies. The first theme derives from a recognition of the need to develop models of the treatment of information at a logical level prior to any detailed systems specification. Methodologies following this use formal methods for modelling data processes and data structures. Typical tools are data flow diagrams, structured program specifications and entity-relationship models. These structured methodologies have gained pre-eminence in the computer systems profession. The second theme recognises that computer systems lie within the much broader context of organizational structure and its evolution. This leads methodologists to