Social imperatives in systems development: A conceptual model

The focus of this article is on systems development; and the development of a methodology appropriate for complex organisations. A conceptual systems development methodology OASES is presented. It is developed from findings from studies conducted within five NHS hospitals located in the North-East of England. OASES is a non-instrumental (in effect does not pertain to directives or rules) soft systems-based methodology. It therefore emphasises an alternative social imperative which will be of primary interest to soft operations research scholars. We find not only the existence of numerous social imperatives in systems development, but also that overall success during systems development is achieved by ensuring conflict neither exist between the systems and the organisations culture, the worldview of its stakeholders, or the prevailing business environments.