Peter Checkland

Bio: Peter Checkland is an academic researcher from Lancaster University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soft systems methodology & Systems thinking. The author has an hindex of 38, co-authored 55 publications receiving 20636 citations.

Systems Thinking, Systems Practice

Abstract: Whether by design, accident or merely synchronicity, Checkland appears to have developed a habit of writing seminal publications near the start of each decade which establish the basis and framework for systems methodology research for that decade."" Hamish Rennie, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 1992 Thirty years ago Peter Checkland set out to test whether the Systems Engineering (SE) approach, highly successful in technical problems, could be used by managers coping with the unfolding complexities of organizational life. The straightforward transfer of SE to the broader situations of management was not possible, but by insisting on a combination of systems thinking strongly linked to real-world practice Checkland and his collaborators developed an alternative approach - Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) - which enables managers of all kinds and at any level to deal with the subtleties and confusions of the situations they face. This work established the now accepted distinction between hard systems thinking, in which parts of the world are taken to be systems which can be engineered, and soft systems thinking in which the focus is on making sure the process of inquiry into real-world complexity is itself a system for learning. Systems Thinking, Systems Practice (1981) and Soft Systems Methodology in Action (1990) together with an earlier paper Towards a Systems-based Methodology for Real-World Problem Solving (1972) have long been recognized as classics in the field. Now Peter Checkland has looked back over the three decades of SSM development, brought the account of it up to date, and reflected on the whole evolutionary process which has produced a mature SSM. SSM: A 30-Year Retrospective, here included with Systems Thinking, Systems Practice closes a chapter on what is undoubtedly the most significant single research programme on the use of systems ideas in problem solving. Now retired from full-time university work, Peter Checkland continues his research as a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellow. "

Soft Systems Methodology in Action

Abstract: The Emergence of Soft Systems Thinking. Soft Systems Methodology--the Whole. Soft Systems Methodology--the Parts. Soft Systems Methodology--the Whole Revisited. Soft Systems Methodology--the Context. Conclusion. Appendix. Bibliography. Indexes.

Soft Systems Methodology: A Thirty Year Retrospective a

Abstract: Although the history of thought reveals a number of holistic thinkers — Aristotle, Marx, Husserl among them— it was only in the 1950s that any version of holistic thinking became institutionalized. The kind of holistic thinking which then came to the fore, and was the concern of a newly created organization, was that which makes explicit use of the concept of ‘system’, and today it is ‘systems thinking’ in its various forms which would be taken to be the very paradigm of thinking holistically. In 1954, as recounted in Chapter 3 of Systems Thinking, Systems Practice, only one kind of systems thinking was on the table: the development of a mathematically expressed general theory of systems. It was supposed that this would provide a meta-level language and theory in which the problems of many different disciplines could be expressed and solved; and it was hoped that doing this would help to promote the unity of science. These were the aspirations of the pioneers, but looking back from 1999we can see that the project has not succeeded. The literature contains very little of the kind of outcomes anticipated by the founders of the Society for General Systems Research; and scholars in the many subject areas towhich a holistic approach is relevant have been understandably reluctant to see their pet subject as simply one more example of some broader ‘general system’!

Information, Systems and Information Systems: Making Sense of the Field

Abstract: From the Publisher: This book makes sense of the large, sprawling, confusing field of information systems (IS) and helps readers distinguish between information systems and information technology (IT). Based on author Peter Checkland's years of experience working with top international companies, this book explores the concept of IS as well as its practice in the real world.

Action Research: Its Nature and Validity

Abstract: The process of knowledge acquisition which has the strongest truth claim is the research process of natural science, based on testing hypotheses to destruction. But the application of this process to phenomena beyond those for which it was developed, namely, the natural regularities of the physical universe, is problematical. For research into social phenomena there is increasing interest in “action research” in various forms. In this process the researcher enters a real-world situation and aims both to improve it and to acquire knowledge. This paper reviews the nature and validity of action research, arguing that its claim to validity requires a recoverable research process based upon a prior declaration of the epistemology in terms of which findings which count as knowledge will be expressed.

The case research strategy in studies of information systems

Abstract: This article defines and discusses one of these qualitative methods - the case research strategy Suggestions are provided for researchers who wish to undertake research employing this approach Criteria for the evaluation of case research are established and several characteristics useful for categorizing the studies are identified A sample of papers drawn from information systems journals is reviewed The paper concludes with examples of research areas that are particularly well-suited to investigation using the case research approach

Interpretive case studies in IS research: nature and method

Abstract: There has been an increase in recent years in the number of in-depth case studies which focus on human actions and interpretations surrounding the development and use of computer-based information systems (IS). This paper addresses philosophical and theoretical issues concerning the nature of such interpretive case studies, and methodological issues on the conduct and reporting of this type of research. The paper aims to provide a useful reference point for researchers who wish to work in the interpretive tradition, and more generally to encourage careful work on the conceptualisation and execution of case studies in the information systems field.

Whatever happened to information systems ethics? Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea

Abstract: This paper explores the development of information systems and computer ethics along separate trajectories over the 20 years since the first Manchester Conference, and ponders how things might have been and could be different. Along each trajectory, the challenge of aligning theory and practice has stimulated much research. We evaluate some of this research with respect to this alignment, discuss ethical theories and behavior, and explore the role of education in the development of practitioners who can and do behave ethically. We recommend the inclusion of the ethics of care, and more research into the teaching and learning of ethics as part of the personal journey of students, teachers, and practitioners.