Understanding behaviour in problem structuring methods interventions with activity theory

Abstract

1Highlights  Paper presents a conceptual framework and methodological guide for researching and understanding OR interventions. The paper outlines the main theoretical and methodological concerns that need to be appreciated in studying PSM interventions. The paper explores activity theory as an approach to study them. A case study describing the use of this approach is provided. AbstractThis article argues that OR interventions, particularly problem structuring methods (PSM), are complex events that cannot be understood by conventional methods alone. In this paper an alternative approach is introduced, where the units of analysis are the activity systems constituted by and constitutive of PSM interventions. The paper outlines the main theoretical and methodological concerns that need to be appreciated in studying PSM interventions. The paper then explores activity theory as an approach to study them. A case study describing the use of this approach is provided.

Guiding interventions in a multi-organisational context: combining the Viable System Model and Hierarchical Process Modelling for use as a Problem Structuring Method

“…In particular, the use of software to support propagation of evidence is relegated to the supporting role as a device to check for model consistency (Yearworth, Lowe, Schien and Walworth, 2015) and documentation. In practice, group model building with HPM, including evidence expressed in Italian Flag notation, is perfectly feasible without software support, for example see the analysis contained within White, Burger and Yearworth (2015).…”

Behavioural operational research: Returning to the roots of the OR profession

“…The authors' work offers an alternative view to the normative perspective on OR intervention design that has important implications for OR academics and OR practitioners alike. The second study of OR praxis, by White, Burger and Yearworth (2015), introduces activity theory as a means to characterise problem structuring interventions as a dynamic and complex array of people, objects, artefacts and instruments. They then use activity theory to guide their analysis of a case study drawn from an intervention that explored the use of system thinking for energy efficient planning in a UK city.…”

The Value Paradox of Problem Structuring Methods

“…One of the most notable and intriguing recent developments in understanding OR processes is the increased interest in the detailed understanding of how real-time practices are carried out and the relation between OR practices and the organizing process (Franco, 2013;White, 2009;White, Burger, & Yearworth, 2016). While there has always been an interest in the process of OR (Keys, 1989(Keys, , 1998Keys & Midgley, 2002), there is renewed interest in practice that can thus be interpreted as an attempt to re-ground what is actually done by the OR practitioner in the doing of OR, and how those doing it make sense of it in practice.…”