GESTALT THEORY AND SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY (SSM)

Scientific analysis breaks up a complex situation into its constituent parts for analysis. Although this works in the physical sciences, it is less successful in the social sciences and in management science. One tenet of systems thinking is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts: properties of the whole are not explicable entirely in terms of the properties of its constituent elements. Human activity systems are more complex and the human components in particular may react differently when examined singly to when they play a role in the whole system. Something is lost when the whole is broken up in the 'reductionist' approach of scientific analysis.

The systems principle also implies that we must try to develop application systems for the organization as a whole rather than for functions in isolation. It may take only a few hours by Concorde to cross the Atlantic, but this progress may be lost if it takes as many hours to get from the centre of London to Heathrow Airport and from JFK Airport to the centre of New York. It is the transport system we should be looking at, not the airline system in isolation. Another aspect of this is that organizations are 'open systems' and therefore the relation between the organization and its environment is important. We should always be looking at 'the system' in terms of the wider system of which it is part. Systems theory would also suggest that a multi-disciplinary team of analysts is much more likely to understand the organization and suggest better solutions to problems. After all, specialisms are a result of artificial and arbitrary divisions. In the information systems context, a systems approach prevents an automatic assumption that computer solutions are always appropriate. It will also help in problem situations which have been studied from only one narrow point of view. Such an approach is not appropriate in the study of large and complex problem situations.