Cooperating to compete: turning toward a community of practice

摘要

There are problems faced by businesses that are so complex they are described as wicked problems. Their key characteristic is that they are unstructured, crosscutting and relentless. They arise largely from the interplay of a multiplicity of stakeholders with different definitions, capabilities, values, perceptions and interdependent factors that comprise the problematic system. Unlike tame problems, which can be complicated, have clear boundaries and can be solvable through technical or other means, wicked problems are difficult to identify, cut across domains and are not solvable in the sense that it is not possible to know when or whether an end has been reached. Instead of solving wicked problems, efforts must be made to manage them. Thus, management decisions are judged based on whether they make things better or worse, and not on whether they solve or do not solve the problem. The manager's first response is to use his practical knowledge, such as business acumen, experience and tacit assumptions in a scientific-like manner to drive out any bias. Applying an interactive process and systematic and rational approach is increasingly, a linear concept - in which more science leads to less uncertainty which leads to improved decisions - is viewed as flawed (Batie 2008).