Article ID: | iaor19962309 |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Volume: | 46 |
Issue: | 11 |
Start Page Number: | 1285 |
End Page Number: | 1298 |
Publication Date: | Nov 1995 |
Journal: | Journal of the Operational Research Society |
Authors: | Brocklesby John |
Keywords: | practice, systems |
This paper uses a culture prespective to examine the complementarist idea of combining hard, soft and critical methodologies in systems research. The culture perspective is adopted because it reminds us that all research is underpinned by socially constructed meanings that often severely constrain the range of options that are possible. It is particularly appropriate, therefore, in the context of a situation where systems researchers are being urged to develop their research capabilities in distinctive ways. The future prospects for complementarism are examined in relation to two major factors-its cultural ‘content’, and the overall level of receptiveness to cultulre change in the systems community.