Structuring an MCDA model using SSM: A case study in energy efficiency

This work presents the use of a problem structuring method, Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), to structure a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) model, aimed at appraising energy efficiency initiatives. SSM was useful to help defining clearly the decision problem context and the main actors involved, as well as to unveil the relevant objectives for each stakeholder. Keeney’s Value Focused Thinking approach was then used to refine and structure the list of objectives according to the perspective of the main evaluators identified. In addition to describing this particular case study, this paper aims at providing some general guidelines on how SSM may facilitate the emergence of objectives for MCDA models.     

Using a model of the performance measures in Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to take action: a case study in health care

This paper uses a case study of a multidisciplinary colorectal cancer team in health care to explain how a model of performance measures can lead to debate and action in Soft System Methodology (SSM). This study gives a greater emphasis and role to the performance measures than currently given in typical SSM studies. Currently, the concept of performance measurement in SSM is in the form of a set of criteria used to judge the performance of the SSM model (the purposeful activity model). These performance criteria are definitions of efficacy, efficiency, effectiveness, ethicality and elegance. However, the use of performance measures within SSM is not clear and therefore criticized by some as nebulous. This paper uses a case study to explain how to involve the stakeholders in deriving a performance measurement model (PMM), which is a more detailed expansion of the performance criteria. The paper concludes with some reflections about how the PMM can fit in the SSM cycle, with two modes of practice put forward.     

合同能源管理中超额节能收益分配问题研究

在我国合同能源管理项目中,节能收益分享模式被广泛采用。通过构建“委托-代理”模型深入分析节能收益分享模式下的超额节能收益分配问题。研究发现:(1)无论是否出现超额节能收益,合同中用能方的节能收益分享比例不得超过50%;(2)在引入节能服务公司的努力成本系数且不考虑节能改造双方风险偏好的情况下(风险中性),当努力成本系数在特定的取值范围内,优化后的超额节能收益分配方式对节能服务公司更具激励作用;(3)考虑节能服务公司为风险规避时,其最优期望节能收益不但受其努力成本系数的影响,还受其风险规避程度以及节能收益期望方差的影响。     

Soft OR and management practice: a study of the adoption and use of Soft Systems Methodology

The adoption and use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) within management practice is the central focus of the reported research study. The paper concentrates upon the extent to which SSM has been adopted and integrated into the management practice of 349 members of the Systems Study Group (SSG) of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries (QDPI). The study builds upon and complements previous work that surveyed the use of Soft Systems Methodology in the United Kingdom. Although the results of the study are consistent with the previous research, the level of adoption is found to be much higher than anticipated and the form of adoption differs considerably from the UK study. Users are found to fall into two main groups; those that use the core elements of SSM and those that do not. However, both groups report successful use of the approach but yet again the attribution of success falls into two main categories, namely sense making and change management. It is concluded that a positive impact of SSM upon management practice can be demonstrated but that the nature of the impact remains unclear.     

The Use of Soft Systems Methodology in Practice

This paper reports the results of a survey intended to discover the extent to which Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) is used in practice. Some 300 questionnaires were sent to people who had had some exposure to SSM and, surprisingly, nearly half were returned. The majority described in detail their uses of SSM and most felt that it had been successful. This paper describes the overall quantitative results from the survey as well as presenting a qualitative analysis of the experiences of using SSM.     

Using SSM to structure the identification of inputs and outputs in DEA

This paper reports on an innovative combination of hard and soft methods—soft systems methodology (SSM) with data envelopment analysis (DEA). Problems in defining and agreeing appropriate inputs and outputs for DEA led to the use of SSM as a way or producing a comprehensive and systemic database of performance indicators. The contributions of the paper are: the use of SSM to improve DEA specifications; conceptual clarifications within both SSM and DEA; and an innovative example of multimethodology. These developments are illustrated through a study evaluating the performance of the basic research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.     

Process and content: two ways of using SSM

Soft systems methodology (SSM) includes several ways of gaining a rich appreciation of the problem situation addressed. ‘Analysis One’, exploration of the intervention itself, is the subject here, since it is sparsely covered in the literature. The analysis is conducted in terms of three roles: ‘client’, ‘problem solver’ and ‘problem owner’. Whoever is in the role of ‘problem solver’ is free to define a list of possible ‘problem owners’, which brings many perspectives to bear on the situation. It was realized that ‘client’ and ‘problem solver’ should themselves feature in the ‘problem owner’ list. The ‘problem’ owned by the ‘problem solver’ is that of undertaking the intervention. This led to a realization that SSM is relevant to both the content of a perceived situation (SSMc) and the process of dealing with that content (SSMp). This development is described and illustrated by work in the National Health Service. The focus of the SSM use was to define the intellectual process for a service specification project which NHS professionals would themselves carry out.     

Planning for disaster: developing a multi-agency counselling service

Multi-agency planning is becoming increasingly important to organisations, especially those concerned with delivering services for the benefit of the community. This paper describes how a modified version of the methods from soft systems methodology (SSM), chosen through methodological reflections informed by critical systems thinking, was used to support the planning of a multi-agency counselling service that could be activated in the event of a disaster. Representatives of nineteen agencies were involved in this exercise, working together in six, one-day workshops. Feedback from participants, using four evaluation criteria (derived from the principles of SSM and the stated priorities of workshop participants), suggests that the methods of SSM, modified as described, show a great deal of promise as a support to multi-agency planning.     

Global convergence of SSM for minimizing a quadratic over a sphere

In an earlier paper [Minimizing a quadratic over a sphere, SIAM J. Optim., 12 (2001), 188-208], we presented the sequential subspace method (SSM) for minimizing a quadratic over a sphere. This method generates approximations to a minimizer by carrying out the minimization over a sequence of subspaces that are adjusted after each iterate is computed. We showed in this earlier paper that when the subspace contains a vector obtained by applying one step of Newton's method to the first-order optimality system, SSM is locally, quadratically convergent, even when the original problem is degenerate with multiple solutions and with a singular Jacobian in the optimality system. In this paper, we prove (nonlocal) convergence of SSM to a global minimizer whenever each SSM subspace contains the following three vectors: (i) the current iterate, (ii) the gradient of the cost function evaluated at the current iterate, and (iii) an eigenvector associated with the smallest eigenvalue of the cost function Hessian. For nondegenerate problems, the convergence rate is at least linear when vectors (i)-(iii) are included in the SSM subspace.

     

Some Recurring Themes in Using Soft Systems Methodology

The object of inquiry in this paper is all organisation-based M.Sc. student projects of two consecutive years, using Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), undertaken as part of the course requirements at Lancaster University. This paper reports on a survey of 25 projects conducted by the group who originally developed SSM. No questionnaire that would trigger replies was used; rather, attending the students' project presentations at Lancaster after about four months in their client organisations brought to the fore those themes that the 45 users themselves deemed relevant during their use of SSM on the projects. This paper describes, discusses and analyses those themes, and relates them to each other. Reference to previous surveys is made and the consequences of the results presented are discussed.     

Problem structuring in project management: an application of soft systems methodology (SSM)

Recent research suggests a major role for problem structuring methods (PSMs) in the field of project management, particularly at the front-end of projects, where objectives are often unclear and where different constituencies have conflicting aims. This paper presents a case example of soft systems methodology (SSM) at the front-end of a major project within Tesco Stores Ltd. A detailed account of the intervention is given, including the results achieved and a discussion of how the methodology was used for multiple purposes within the same intervention. Within the literature, there remains a lack of detailed examples from which people can learn more about the use of PSMs in project management. By providing a detailed example of SSM in action, this paper seeks to highlight the importance of problem structuring at the front-end of projects and the potential role an approach such as SSM can play at this crucial stage.     

Maximizing power yield in energy systems - A thermodynamic synthesis

We present a synthesizing thermodynamic approach to modeling and power maximization in various energy converters, such as thermal, solar and chemical engines and fuel cells. Static and dynamical systems are investigated. Thermodynamic analyses lead to converters’ efficiencies in terms of propelling fluxes. Efficiency equations are applied to find maximum power points in static systems. These efficiency equations are also applied to determine maxima of integrated power (work) in dynamical systems, which work with upgrading and downgrading of a resource medium. While optimization of static systems requires using of differential calculus and Lagrange multipliers, dynamic optimization involves variational calculus and dynamic programming. In reacting mixtures balances of mass and energy are applied to derive power yield in terms of an active part of chemical affinity. Power maximization approach is finally applied for fuel cells treated as flow engines driven by fluxes of chemical reagents and electrochemical mechanism of electric current generation. The efficiency decrease is linked with thermodynamic and electrochemical irreversibilities expressed in terms of polarizations (activation, concentration and ohmic). Maximum power data provide bounds for SOFC energy generators, which are more exact and informative than reversible bounds for electrochemical transformation.     

An application of Soft Systems Dynamics Methodology (SSDM)

The paper argues that by combining some of systems dynamics (SD) and soft systems methodology (SSM) stages, within the intellectual framework proposed by soft systems dynamics methodology (SSDM), a systemic methodology developed by Rodriguez-Ulloa, much can be gained in a systemic intervention when tackling complex social problematic situations. A framework for comparing the ontological, epistemological and methodological principles of SD, SSM and SSDM is proposed and the synthesizing role of SSDM is advanced. SSDM ten stages are briefly outlined and a full account of an application on a small Peruvian enterprise is presented. A reflection on SSDM as a systemic intellectual tool is proposed and conclusions together with points for further research are suggested.     

Instability of the finite‐difference split‐step method applied to the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. I. standing soliton

We consider numerical instability that can be observed in simulations of solitons of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLS) by a split‐step method (SSM) where the linear part of the evolution is solved by a finite‐difference discretization. The von Neumann analysis predicts that this method is unconditionally stable on the background of a constant‐amplitude plane wave. However, simulations show that the method can become unstable on the background of a soliton. We present an analysis explaining this instability. Both this analysis and the features and threshold of the instability are substantially different from those of the Fourier SSM, which computes the linear part of the NLS by a spectral discretization. For example, the modes responsible for the numerical instability are not similar to plane waves, as for the Fourier SSM or, more generally, in the von Neumann analysis. Instead, they are localized at the sides of the soliton. This also makes them different from “physical” (as opposed to numerical) unstable modes of nonlinear waves, which (the modes) are localized around the “core” of a solitary wave. Moreover, the instability threshold for thefinite‐difference split‐step method is considerably relaxed compared with that for the Fourier split‐step. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 32: 1002–1023, 2016     

SSM的改进及其泉州区域经济不平衡发展分析

引进SSM(偏离-份额分析法)研究区域经济不平衡发展,发现当前普遍采用的基于研究初末期的SSM算法有缺陷,因此,提出改进算法.根据全国第一、二次经济普查,以泉州区域经济发展为参照,应用改进的SSM,从县域经济及其产业的规模、结构与竞争效果等,分析2004-2008年泉州区域经济不平衡发展及原因.     

Messing about in transformations: Structured systemic planning for systemic solutions to systemic problems

The literature on multimethodology indicates that cognitive mapping is relevant to enriching the preliminary, information-gathering phase of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), and especially the rich picture. By noting the structural complementarity evidenced between SSM’s transformations and the bipolar constructs used in the cognitive mapping methodology known as Strategic Options Development and Analysis (SODA), this paper shows how SODA can be applied beyond SSM’s initial stage, and much more analytically within the heart of SSM, to guide the manner in which a systemic resolution to a problematic situation may be approached. It is proposed, and illustrated through examples, that a SODA map of large numbers of transformations, resulting from an exercise in SSM, offers a methodological means for structuring what might otherwise be perceived as a mess. The paper discusses how in such cases ‘strategic options development and analysis’ of transformations, or SODA-T maps, serve, among other things, to identify relations between transformations, their hierarchies and priorities, problem epicenters and starting points for intervention. In addition, the arsenal of graph theory can be used to cut through what would otherwise appear as interlinked chaos requiring structured operationalization. In this respect, the SODA-T map offers a high-level connective orientation which can guide the interconnections between the respective human activity systems of the transformations, resulting in the final systemic plan. Ultimately, SODA-T mapping is shown to facilitate a structured approach toward systemic planning.     

The non-codified use of problem structuring methods and the need for a generic constitutive definition

When we use a PSM what is it we are actually doing? An answer to this question would enable the PSM community to considerably enlarge the available source of case studies by the inclusion of examples of non-codified PSM use. We start from Checkland’s own proposal for a “constitutive definition” of SSM, which originated from trying to answer the question of knowing when a claim of SSM use was legitimate. By extending this idea to a generic constitutive definition for all PSMs leads us to propose a self-consistent labelling schema for observed phenomena arising from PSMs in action. This consists of a set of testable propositions, which, through observation of putative PSM use, can be used to assess validity of claims of PSM use. Such evidential support for the propositions as may be found in putative PSM use can then make it back into a broader axiomatic formulation of PSMs through the use of a set-theoretic approach, which enables our method to scale to large data sets. The theoretical underpinning to our work is in causal realism and middle range theory. We illustrate our approach through the analysis of three case studies drawn from engineering organisations, a rich source of possible non-codified PSM use. The combination of a method for judging cases of non-codified PSM use, sound theoretical underpinning, and scalability to large data sets, we believe leads to a demystification of PSMs and should encourage their wider use.     

Fields of application of SSM: a categorization of publications

In this article, we introduce a classification scheme for publications of articles on SSM. Generally speaking, the publications can be divided into empirically orientated and theoretically orientated papers. Within each of these two categories a further subdivision is made. This subdivision consists on the one hand of a division into type of organizations and on the other hand of type of organization processes. The resulting model then gives one the opportunity to classify new publications and to search for papers to use in further research. It also shows the state of the art of possible areas of applications of SSM.     

Unlimited cumulation under one-dimensional unsteady compression of an ideal gas

Various methods of unlimited cumulation (UC) of an ideal (inviscid and non-heat-conducting) gas subject to one-dimensional unsteady compression by a plane, cylindrical, or spherical piston are considered. The most perfect method, namely, UC with isentropic compression from rest to rest, which is referred to as “ideal” (IUC), is compared with three other methods of UC, which correspond to well-known self-similar solutions of one-dimensional gas compression. The most effective of these is UC with a reflected shock wave, behind which the compressed gas is homogeneous and at rest, as in IUC. The efficiency of various methods of UC is estimated by the ratio of the work done during compression to the work in the case of IUC, the ratio of the internal energy to the total energy of the compressed gas, and the degree of gas homogeneity with respect to the Lagrangian variable. Computations of these characteristics are carried out for a perfect gas with various adiabatic exponents.