A Soft Systems Methodology Approach for Product and Process Innovation

Adrien R. Presley, Joseph Sarkis, and Donald H. Liles

IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 47, No. 3, pp. 379-392, 2000.

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) has been recommended for scientifically evaluating complex environments. One such environment includes organizational processes and products delivered by organizations. This paper proposes a methodology for organizational product and process innovation based on SSM theory incorporating Quality Function Deployment (QFD) and IDEF0 techniques. The methodology relies on a series of phases that elicit information from complex and amorphous real world practices, processes, and information, and develop models of these systems. The paper will illustrate the utility of the methodology and tools using a case example: development of an organizational decision support system used to justify strategically important technologies for the enterprise.

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