scholarly journals A Soft Systems Approach to Knowledge Worker Productivity: A Purposeful Activity Model for the Individual

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Helga Guðrún Óskarsdóttir ◽  
Guðmundur Valur Oddsson ◽  
Jón Þór Sturluson ◽  
Rögnvaldur Jóhann Sæmundsson
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
The Individual

This research attempted to find and define holistic systems that affect the productivity of the knowledge worker (KW), using the soft systems methodology (SSM). It is not enough to look at the management and improvement of knowledge worker productivity (KWP) from the viewpoint of the organization. The viewpoint of the individual KW needs to be considered as well. The KW owns the means of production; they carry their knowledge in their heads and take it with them when changing jobs. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that describes the process in which the KW uses resources to execute actions to create tangible or intangible artifacts with the intention of generating value. It was based on interpretations and inferences made from an extensive literature review using the snowballing method. This paper highlights what implications the lessons learned from the conceptual framework have on managing and improving KWP and delves deeper into four key concepts: value in knowledge work, knowledge, personal resources, and competencies.

Application of Soft Systems Methodology to the Real-World Processes of Human Resource Management

2021 ◽  
pp. 170-188
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource Management ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Group Creativity ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
Effective Group

Systems approach to human resource management (HRM) regards it as a unified and purposeful system containing interrelated parts. In order to develop HR decisions and practices, the soft systems methodology (SSM), as an approach, causes a better understanding of the system and more meaningful decision making. Various applications of SSM in HRM were reviewed in this chapter, including employee participation, group creativity, HR development, HR maintenance, and knowledge worker productivity. The main discussion of this chapter is that SSM can strongly improve the intersubjective understanding necessary for effective group development and progress. It is especially helpful to challenge paradigms, leading to enhanced group creativity. The issue of current HR development resulting from the lack of any argument on the central role of SSM in this development was another topic. Finally, low knowledge worker productivity through SSM was explained.

Developing GP Monitoring Systems Guided by a Soft Systems Approach

1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tony Hindle
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
General Practitioners ◽  
National Health ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Monitoring Systems ◽  
Contract Management ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems

This paper describes a selected aspect of a research project concerned with ‘contracts and competition’ in the recently reformed National Health Service. The particular feature highlighted in this paper is the central role played by the general practitioners in the health service as principal sources of the demands made on provider units (particularly hospitals) and, hence, critical determinants of volumes and costs in contracting. A practical outcome of the research has been the development of GP monitoring systems to be used by provider units particularly in the context of marketing-led referral expectations. The approach used to highlight areas of potential GP contract management and monitoring improvements has been a development of soft systems methodology.

Improving the Role of Organisational Culture in Change Management through a Systems Approach

2015 ◽  
pp. 230-271
Author(s):  
N. Gökhan Torlak
Keyword(s):  
Change Management ◽  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Culture Change ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Organisational Performance ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems

The chapter assumes organisational culture, which is most valuable resource of organisation, cannot often be treated coherently by managers in change management that ultimately leads to ineffectiveness and failure. In order to make organisational culture a powerful managerial instrument in change management resulting in high organisational performance the chapter proceeds through the following sequence. At first, it elaborates chief characteristics of organisational culture in order to underline its value; secondly, portrays significance of interpreting and managing organisational milieu; thirdly, emphasises necessity and difficulty of organisational culture change; and then offers a systems approach called two strands model of soft systems methodology to improve the effect of corporate culture on organisational performance. The last part describes the methodology in depth and shows how it is applied to a private hospital that generates its improved version dealing with the major issue of open, full and equal participation in organisational culture change management.

Linking Ontological Conceptions and Mapping Business Life Worlds

2011 ◽  
pp. 208-222
Author(s):  
Paul Jackson ◽  
Ray Webster
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Government Agency ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Class Diagrams ◽  
Knowledge Ontology

This chapter describes a methodology developed to elicit knowledge for the design of a corporate Intranet within a government agency. This Intranet was intended to supply knowledge management systems solutions to various problems such as work duplication, document location, and accessing tacit expertise that was distributed across different office locations and departments. An inventory of the pertinent knowledge was required. We situate our discussion of this undertaking within the context of ontology and what it means for something to be a depiction of a socially constructed reality, a representation of the knowledge of a group. We developed a methodology combining soft systems methodology, causal cognitive mapping, and brainstorming to create a knowledge ontology using UML class diagrams. The methodology offers an effective approach for understanding nonroutine yet rigorous knowledge work and conveying relevant and contextual knowledge to the designers of solutions.

scholarly journals DESIGN MEETINGS: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE STAGES AND ACTIVITIES THAT INFLUENCE SUCCESS

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 501-510
Author(s):  
C. S. Bedingfield ◽  
P. J. Clarkson
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Design Process ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems

AbstractA central part of the design process is collaboration, harnessing specialist expertise often in meetings. We understand relatively little about how meetings serve teams of designers and their work and this study uses soft systems methodology to attempt to create structures that describe and explain meetings. The results suggest extension of the boundary of interest and suggest a conceptual framework which reveals some under-addressed stages and activities which may help designers improve their meetings.

Using a Systems Approach in Developing a Survey to Assess the Contributing Factors to Needlestick Injuries

1997 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 782-786
Author(s):  
Krista R. McIntosh ◽  
Sandra D. Rever-Moriyama
Keyword(s):  
Critical Incident ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Needlestick Injuries ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Equipment Safety ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Two Phases ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Complex Manner

Needlestick injuries (NSIs) are the result of multiple factors which interact in a complex manner. In an attempt to understand the causes of NSIs, a systems approach was adopted. An extensive literature review identified behaviors, equipment, safety and interpersonal environments, and administrative policies and procedures as potential contributors to NSIs. Two phases in the development of an instrument that measures the contributions of the individual, organization, and environment are reported. In phase one, a questionnaire was developed using the critical incident technique and tested on nursing and paramedic students and nursing professors. In phase two, a revised survey was administered to 205 nurses. The following factors representing different levels of a health care system emerged: safety environment, stressors, conflicting or conflicting procedures, critical behaviors, and knowledge. The discussion addresses how the questionnaire can be used to test the relative influences of these factors on the occurrence of NSIs and generate recommendations for system-wide interventions.

A Survey of Knowledge Work Productivity Metrics

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min Xiao ◽  
David A. Nembhard ◽  
Changjun Dai
Keyword(s):  
High Intensity ◽  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Intensity Level ◽  
Work Intensity ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Work Effectiveness ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper presents a unique comparison of work on productivity metrics in the literature and that in use in practice, with the aim of identifying gaps, and opportunities for researchers and practitioners to meet the challenge of improving knowledge worker productivity. Methods used include surveys, group interviews, and in-depth interviews. The authors conclude that several metrics including effectiveness, efficiency, profitability, innovation, and customer satisfaction may need to be given more attention when considering productivity evaluation. It is also important to identify knowledge work intensity, and select metrics that are most appropriate for each worker’s knowledge intensity level. Results provide insights for enterprises to identify useful metrics for evaluating the knowledge workforce. Specifically, for high intensity work, effectiveness is a valuable metric, but for lower intensities, efficiency may be more practical.

Utility-Based Knowledge Work Productivity Assessment

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Xiao ◽  
D.A. Nembhard
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Worker ◽  
Work Productivity ◽  
Knowledge Work ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Risk Attitudes ◽  
Worker Productivity ◽  
Worker Performance ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Productivity Assessment

This paper presents a utility-based productivity assessment model for evaluating knowledge worker productivity, with the goal of examining the assessment process for knowledge workers with varying levels of knowledge intensity. The authors conduct an experiment to discover effects from knowledge intensity on managerial assessments of knowledge worker performance. The model presented allows for the quantification of evaluator's risk attitudes and preference, as well as relative weights for three chosen productivity metrics. The results indicate that managers' risk attitudes vary with respect to both different metrics, and to different levels of knowledge intensity.

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