Integrative systems methodology: Heuristic for requisite variety

The author introduces a new methodological framework for dealing with complex issues, named Integrative Systems Methodology (ISM). ISM is a general heuristic to help actors in organizations and society achieve requisite variety. For this purpose, numerous ‘problem solving’ approaches have been developed. ISM is aimed at overcoming the drawbacks of many established methodologies. It emphasizes an extended perspective outlining a process which operates on both levels, ‘content’ and ‘context’, synchronically. At the same time, ISM leverages the complementarities of positivistic/representationist and hermeneutic/interpretive perspectives and allows for combining qualitative and quantitative modelling techniques. The potential of ISM is illustrated by means of an up-to-date case study, in which different methodologies are synthesized to overcome their respective limitations. Several applications developed over the years have led to new insights which enable the handling of complexity more effectively with the help of ISM.