ENACTING PLATFORMS TOWARDS CRITICAL SYSTEMS PRACTICE: REFLECTIONS FROM AN ORGANISATION-BASED ACTION RESEARCH

摘要

This paper is the result of reflection and debate, which has been reciprocally enriched by theory and practice. The author of this paper entered into a real-world situation and aimed both at improving it and acquiring knowledge about the experience. He became, for a period of 3 years, involved in the flux of 'real-world problems' within an engineering company that invited him to do research by using systems ideas in practice. Thus, the research endeavour constituted an "organization-based action research" (Checkland and Scholes, 1999, pA40). This organisation-based action research produced a series of findings contributing to the study of the process whereby different systems methodologies, methods, tools and techniques are used in combination. This process is known as Critical Systems Practice (CSP) (Jackson, 2000). The study yielded what Checkland and Holwell (1998, p16) refer to as "defensible generalisations" particularly regarding the enactment of 'platforms' for legitimising CSP. In responding to the complexity and heterogeneity of the problem situations at hand platforms adopt different 'forms'. This study supports the enactment of platforms to enhance the process of CSP and the role of the researcher in the process of intervention. In other words the findings of the research presented in this paper concentrate mainly on the "transferable problem solving capacity" (Jackson, 2000, p14), namely platforms. In order to 'delineate' this notion of platforms three sections are presented. The first section presents the general research approach to set the conceptual and methodological background of the research. The second section provides a description of a series of characteristics attributed to platforms. And the third section discusses relevant aspects emerging from platforms in the light of the operationalisation of CSP.