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ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: AN EVALUATION OF SYSTEMS THINKING INTERVENTIONS IN THE UK HOUSING SECTOR

2. Background to the research problem. Plethora of methods and models that purport to lead to change and improvementPrescriptive nature of change and organisational improvement methods and models is visionary and idealisticDifficult to confirm that particular change methods and implementation lead

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ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: AN EVALUATION OF SYSTEMS THINKING INTERVENTIONS IN THE UK HOUSING SECTOR

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    1. 1 ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE: AN EVALUATION OF SYSTEMS THINKING INTERVENTIONS IN THE UK HOUSING SECTOR Joe Marshall University of Derby April 2009

    2. 2 Background to the research problem Plethora of methods and models that purport to lead to change and improvement Prescriptive nature of change and organisational improvement methods and models is visionary and idealistic Difficult to confirm that particular change methods and implementation lead to improved organisational performance (Pettigrew et al 1997) Confounding nature and number of organisational variables when looking for cause (intervention) and effect (performance) Evaluation of change and systems thinking (ST) interventions is contested and a thorny issue Lack of robust measures and evaluation criteria – particularly the sustainability of change Evaluation is a political process and can even be corrupted (‘Macnamara Fallacy’ Butler et al 2003)

    3. 3 Research Aims Explore the effect of ST interventions on the organisation’s participants’ sense making and behaviour Examine the impact of the intervention on organisation and business performance Explore and understand key factors affecting organisational change, sustainability (or decay) and spread (or containment) Path dependency (events leading up to current conditions/choice of interventions etc) Cumulative effects (range of effects leading to intervention outcome)….and/or Conjunctural causality (particular combination of factors that lead to intervention outcomes) (Buchanan 2007)

    4. 4 Literature Vast and diverse literature on change, systems thinking and intervention theory Examine existing links of above and develop new insights Include the critical work on change outcomes, sustainability and failure Map the particular ST method (Vanguard) against major ST approaches and methods (similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses) Examine key factors attributed to success, sustainability and spread of change i.e. context, managerial/change leadership styles, politics/power, implementation methods etc. Critical review of evaluation of change frameworks Researching organisational change

    5. 5 Factors affecting sustainability (after Buchanan et al 2005)

    6. 6 Systems Thinking-theory & methodologies The System of Systems Methodologies (SOSM) Problem contexts (simple-complex) Power/knowledge of participants (unitarist-pluralist) 1)Improving Goal seeking and viability ( e.g. ‘hard systems’) 2)Exploring purposes (e.g. ‘soft systems’) 3)Ensuring fairness (e.g. ‘critical systems heuristics’) 4)Promoting diversity (e.g. ’postmodern systems approaches’)

    7. 7 Systems Thinking-Vanguard Methodology Based on systems principles Views organisations/operations as systems-with a purpose always seen in terms of its customer, client or citizen Holism Requisite variety Emergent properties Toyota production system (TPS) adapted for service organisations

    8. 8 Vanguard Methodology “a method for…achieving the ideas many managers aspire to: a learning, improving, innovative, adaptive and energised organisation. It provides the means to develop a customer driven adaptive organisation: an organisation that behaves and learns according to what matters to the customer” (Seddon 2003)

    9. 9 Intervention Method

    10. 10 The Vanguard model for ‘check’

    11. 11 Research Design Real time in-depth case study Combines qualitative and quantitative research to investigate related but different dimensions (‘Ontological Complexity’ – Midgley 2000) Qualitative methods to develop ‘thick descriptions of the patterns of intersubjective meaning of actors’ (Johnson et al 2006) Complemented by quantitative data needed to examine organisation performance over time Examines processes of change over a long time frame Draws on process theory and method (Pettigrew, Langley, Dawson, Van de Ven, Huber, Buchanan) Critical contextual-processual perspective (critical realist)

    12. 12 ‘Variance’ approaches to research Explores causal links between dependant and independent variables (if variables can be operationalised, measured with precision and individual effects can be identified) Difficulties… ‘Organisational phenomena’ not easily amenable to variance based explanation… e.g. leadership style, human action & behaviour, culture/norms and the outcomes (variables) often generated by combinations and interactions of factors whose independent effects are indeterminate

    13. 13 Process Research- theory and methods Explanation for why a sequence of events unfolds over time in a particular way Explanation usually qualitative and written as a theoretical narrative and... ...why a change process is sustained over time (or not) and why some changes spread elsewhere in the organisation (or don’t) Outcomes derive from ‘shifting configurations’ of a range of factors ‘interacting’ in particular contexts overtime (See Buchanan et al, Langley, Pettigrew, Dawson, Sminia, Van de Ven)

    14. 14 Research Setting, Methodology & Data Collection XX – one of the largest housing associations in the UK (32,000 homes; Ł1.1bn assets) XX undertook first ST intervention in September 2007 (‘General Needs’) Researcher gained access May 2008 at the start of the second intervention (‘Care and Support’) Exploratory field work/pilot studies conducted at XX and housing sector (‘tacit control group’ – Luker 2008) Observer/participant & ethnography at start of second intervention (May – August 2008) Understand/participate in Vanguard Method and Process Data collection – observation & field notes, unstructured & semi-structured interviews, focus groups – managers, sponsors, consultants, intervention teams, rank and file employees-recording & transcription Published data, archives, records, operational reports Third intervention, March 2009–September 2009(‘Responsive Repairs’) Analysis of process data underway following strategies of descriptive narrative; grounded theory and visual mapping (Langley 1999)

    15. 15 ‘Systems Thinking Pilot - Income Management General Needs: An Evaluation’ (Board Report 10/08) Key objectives of the Systems Thinking pilot were to deliver: A business transformation methodology designed from the customers perspective (Customer First); A consistent approach to service delivery, where appropriate. A whole systems view; that is effectively bringing together end to end processes as well as teams from legacy organisations; A need to make a step change in performance (Ambition, Innovation and Imagination); Generating efficiencies and reducing waste (VFM), a key financial driver in today’s economic environment; and Empowering staff to shape the business and unleashing potential.

    16. 16 Evaluation of Research to date… (For Data Security reasons the slides containing this information are not available for copying. However the research findings to date will be discussed at the presentation)

    17. 17 Contribution of Research Building on a model of change, sustainability and spread factors – their interactions and weightings Develop an evaluation framework for change and ST interventions – recognises competing, ontological and epistemological paradigms and embedded assumptions Add to the knowledge on ‘process theory and methods’ and ‘combined paradigm’ research in evaluating organisational change and systems thinking interventions Assist social housing management and practice

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