INTRODUCTION
The nature of enquiry we were required to make in the assignment calls for “Unbounded Systems Thinking” as the most appropriate mode of enquiry. Reconciling real world pressures in IS design and forecasting and foreseeing advances in IS/IT in the next five years are “Soft” or “messy” problems and messy problems demand a creative approach to their solution as they are inherently Human Activity Systems(HAS).
¬MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVE CONCEPT
Unbounded Systems Thinking(UST) or as Ian Mitroff calls “The Fifth Way of knowing” or as Churchman’s philosophy calls “Singerian IS” is about adopting the Multiple Perspectives when making an enquiry.
The value in using multiple, T, O, and P perspectives lies in their ability to yield unique insights. None by itself suffices to deal with a complex system, but together they give a richer base for decision and action. Each dimension facilitates comprehension.[1]
All complex problems –especially social ones, involves multiplicity of actors, various scientific / technical disciplines and various organizations and diverse individuals. In principle, each sees a problem differently and thus generates a distinct perspective on it. Both the problems discussed in Task 1 and Task 2 are good examples of such problems and therefore the Multiple Perspective Concept of the Unbounded Systems Thinking strives enable us to understand the problems of IS design better.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF UST OR SINGERIAN IS
Strengths
• As mentioned earlier its major strength of UST is its suitability to undefined ill-structured problems where other modes of enquiry fail. It can be applied to a wide spectrum of “messy” systems ranging from a corporate acquisition and integration of a new techno...
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...e involved in the Governance of the Internet.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it can be safely concluded that the following propositions are true:[1]
• Every science is to be found within every other
• Every model presupposes every other model
• Every problem is to be found within every other problem.
It is this strength which has made it the approach of choice for the problem posed in the assignment as the issue of ethics and aesthetics is crucial to the problem at hand.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] The Unbounded Mind –Breaking the Chains of Traditional Business Thinking. Ian Mitroff & Harold A. Linstone
[6] Malhotra Y (2000). From Information management To Knowledge Management: Beyond the ‘Hi-Tech Hidebound’ Systems. In K. Srikantaiah & M.E.D. Koenig (EDs). Knowledge Management for the Information Professional. Medford, N.J.: Information Today Inc, 37-61
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University of Phoenix. (2006). Course Syllabus. Retrieved September 26, 2006, from University of Phoenix, CIS/564.4 - Information Management in Business Web site, https://classroom.phoenix.edu/afm203/secure/view-thread.jspa?threadID=1176244
Hansen M., Nohria N., and Tierney T. (1999), “What’s your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?,” Harvard Business Review (March 1999), 106–16.
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