"Despite the myriad successes of Operational Research (OR) in government and industry, critique of its continued relevance to complex, wicked problems led to the emergence and evolution of Soft OR as a more humanist orientation of the discipline centred on a methodological framing of techniques known as Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs). These have enabled OR practitioners to broaden the scope of OR to address complex problem contexts that require transforming, planning and strategising interventions for their clients. The ...
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"Despite the myriad successes of Operational Research (OR) in government and industry, critique of its continued relevance to complex, wicked problems led to the emergence and evolution of Soft OR as a more humanist orientation of the discipline centred on a methodological framing of techniques known as Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs). These have enabled OR practitioners to broaden the scope of OR to address complex problem contexts that require transforming, planning and strategising interventions for their clients. The original core PSMs of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA) and the Strategic Choice Approach (SCA) are presented using a new analytical framework based on constitutive rules, epistemologies, and affordances of the modelling approach. Practical considerations in PSM based interventions are discussed emphasising trust-building, stakeholder identification, facilitation and ethical practice. A wide range of PSM applications are surveyed demonstrating clear intersections with communities of practice grounded in the applied social sciences. The development of a new PSM based on Hierarchical Process Modelling (HPM) of purpose arising from a processual turn in engineering practice offers additional insights for the practice of Soft OR. New developments in PSM practice built on use of Group Support Systems (GSS) and exploiting developments in machine learning are presented. Prospects for bringing the Soft OR project back into better alignment with mainstream OR are discussed in the context of new education programs and a possible processual turn in OR"--Provided by publisher.
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