Objective of the Assignment

The objective of this assignment is to go in depth identifying an

organizational problem and solving it based on a methodology. The
methodology here is Soft System Methodology. Here I am going to look
into the organizations problem and also recommend how The Company
can solve the problems using the methodology.

The Company

The evergreen state of kerala located along the south western tip of
Indian sub-continent, accounts for about 93% of the natural rubber
produced in India, the fourth biggest producer of natural rubber in the
world. Merchem limited is one of Indias biggest chemical manufactures.
The Company is one of the biggest manufactures for chemicals used in
the tyre and latex industry. Its Clients include Indian tyre majors like
MRF , CEAT and international manufactures like Bridgestone. Merchem
limited manufactures various rubber, chemicals used in the production
of various rubber products. Merchem also produce latex preservation
chemicals, pesticide intermediates and water treatment chemicals.
Merchem is the largest producer of Thiuram and Dithiocarbamate
Accelerators in India. The company enjoys a major market share of
these products in India and also exports large quantities to South East
Asia, Europe, etc.

It has four Factories and employs nearly 500 employees. The
companys factories are located mostly in industrial areas. However the
companys only business is chemicals and it has not yet diversified.

Case Summary

Activity Description
Weltanschauung: Merchem limited had established a
name Ior it, however in recent
years it Iacing problem and losing
reputation and also loosing
customer and hence the company
has to Iind ways oI improving
service, eIIiciency and again
establishing themselves as the
leaders in the segment
Inquirer`s mission: IdentiIying the cracks in the
organizational and solving them,
giving priority to the one that need
more attention and use oI
inIormation technology Ior
improving productivity and
research
Methodology : SSM Use the SSM Methodology to
improve the company situation
while giving priority Ior culture
and present values, which hold the
company, but compare it with real
world situations.
Methodological
Inquiry:
Inquiry goal is to improve the
situation, by Iirst improving the
goal speciIication oI the inquiry.
Nature oI
Examination:
Analyze problems Irom the stake
holders point oI view while
bearing in mind the need to tease
out the particular goal
speciIications. The main output oI
the study is to solve the problems,
improve the present situation and
use inIormation technology to
improve the overall business
Explanatory model: Changes by adapting in new
changes, new business rules and
use oI inIormation technology
Options
selection:
Areas which need to be concentrated
are employee relations, quality
,environmental issues and use oI
new inIormation technology tools.

Its Managing director started Merchem as a small chemical

manufacturing unit. The business he started soon expanded and began
flourishing and expanding. Merchem added new chemicals to its list
mostly by developing in its research labs and company entered as a big
player in India

In Recent years the business environment has changed rapidly.
Chemical business has been in a state of flux, with new products
frequently coming to market. Many small and efficient firms have
managed to take advantage of this situation to establish them and to
gain a reputation for producing and delivering chemicals quickly and
cheaply to customer requirements.

Merchem has been unable to adapt satisfactorily to change
circumstances and this has shown in disappointing financial returns. Its
research and development is not functioning properly and the company
is not getting the investment returns. Inevitably it has fallen behind its
competitors in product development.

It takes time for problems to show big impact on companies. When a
company grows big it is very difficult to find a solution as each problems
are interrelated. Use of Various methodologies gives a solution, which
can improve the situation. Lets us analyze and solve Merchem problems
using Sofz syszem mezhodology.

Soft systems methodology (SSM) has been developed at Lancaster
University over the last 30 years, through action research. Professor
Peter Check land is the best-known member of the team in the
Department of Systems and Information Management involved in this



ideas Ior
Models oI
puposeIul
A real world activity systems
situation oI thought relevant
concern


comparison
oI models
and real world
Action to
improve




(Fig:1)




development. Other members of the team include Dr Brian Wilson,
Professor Gwilym Jenkins and Dr David Rippin, all of whom have their
backgrounds in "hard" fields, such as engineering. The methodology has
developed mainly as a result of consultancy work. As more experience
was gained dealing with different sorts of problem situations, the
learning was analysed and incorporated into the methodology. What we
have as a result is a generic methodology which should be adapted to
any given situation, A. Platt, S. Warwick(1995)

SSM study is all about finding the stages of the problems, the outcome
of which is captured in a "rich picture" of the problem situation(Fig :1).
A rich picture is a representation of the problem situation, presented
usually in the form of a drawing, which makes explicit a range of
diverse viewpoints concerning issues, conflicts and difficulties. It draws
attention to cultural and political aspects of the problem situation and
attempts to provide a complete picture of what is going on

SSM deals with problem formulation at the strategic level. It partly aims
to structure previously unstructured situations, rather than to solve
well-structured problems. It deals with "fuzzy" problem situations -
situations where people are viewed not as passive objects, but as active
subjects, where objectives are unclear or where multiple objectives may
exist

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) has long been involved in information

systems development through the medium of action research. Its social
constructivist paradigm and managerial focus distinguish it from most
software engineering development approaches. Check lands underlying
view of systems development, however, is heavily influenced by
traditional waterfall models - something of a contradiction
The Checkland Methodology
The Checkland methodology, or the seven-stage model, is considered
by most people to be 90 SSM. However, SSM covers a range of
methodologies developed to deal with different situations.
The seven stages are:
The problem situation unstructured;
The problem situation expressed;
Root definitions of relevant systems;
Deriving conceptual models;
Comparing conceptual models with the "real" world;
Defining feasible, desirable changes;
Taking action.
Stages (1), (2), (5), (6) and (7) can be regarded as working in the real
world, while stages (3) and (4) can be considered to be systems
thinking about the real world.( A. Plazz, S. Warwick, 1995)

Problems In the Company. Why use SSM ?

The Company had to face many problems in employing employee
relation the situation within the production function itself was also at
crisis. Traditionally Merchems Managements felt that employees didnt
work hard and impose close supervision and control over subordinates.
This had thus degenerated into management by threat as market
pleasures and procedures being enforced. There were many errors and
mistakes leading to high levels of waste, spoiled works and low quality
problems, and this has increased cost. Morale was extremely low and
often resulted from the poor quality materials with which they were
worked, they refused to collaborate with their supervisors and industrial
relation problems between management and unions or shop stewards
were frequent.

The Problems faced by the company has to be viewed in terms of the
SSM methodologies. The inbuilt differences in management systems
prevailed in the company have concentrated small issues that could
have been solved easily into big problems that cast a lasting shadow on
the company as a whole itself. This state of affairs of the company can
be explained in terms of the problems it faces.


Some of them are listed below:

Decreased market share
Profit has declined
Low employee morale
Frequent individual actions
Hostile environment
Decreased Quality
Failure to the cope with the emerging trends as a result of
liberalization and globalization.

If the Company could address these problems effectively it can come
out of this mess. These problems are basically structural in nature, not
technological. Hence by using SSM Methodology these problems could
be tackled.

In terms of external and internal problems the company could have
done with a well-trained and highly aware management team. Infact
this was lacking .The management jobs were specialized and there was
little team spirit or there was not a will to change


Environmental Problems
It was all working fine for the company when the people staying in the
local area started agitating for closure of its major factories due to
pollution issues. Due to this production had to be stopped for a couple
of months, during which the company lost nearly 12 lakhs rupees a day.
The Factories had to be then locked, after the court gave order for
closure of factory due to pollution. However again after two months the
company obtained a stay order from high court with conditions of not
producing some chemicals until some checks have been made. This led
to low production and low capacity utilization, which affected the
companys overall financial results.

Even though the company was able to solve its problems in courts, it
was not able to settle issues with the agitating people in the local areas
who always tried to create problems there, which in turn reflected the
companys image. Agitations led to low level of productions and
companys competitors began to improve their market presence

The company didnt maintain a good public relations and it didnt have
anyone in the top Management to deal with these issues. The Company
didnt have good communication with the outside world. It Public
relation was so bad that it didnt do any thing to respond to the news
which came on newspaper and televisions.

Political Problems:

Due to heavy agitation on pollution issues, some local political
organization began to extend their support and sympathy to those
people keeping in mind the vote bank of that area. Also the state is
dominated by many trade unions, which are communist, and soon
political groups soon started creating problems for Merchem. A
Company, which was for years talking care of its employees by
themselves, found it hard to deal the situation as its management has
less experience in dealing with political parties

The management was not able to deal nicely with the unions and they
felt humiliated. The unions hence began interfering in all the company
activities

SSM For Management.

One of the major reasons for the problems of the company was the
managements inability to understand the complex situation in the
organization. Unlike many companies it was not professionally managed
but was managed by family. The management was actually driven away
by the firms previous success and assumed that the companys present
name would keep the company going on. They were wrong, because
market changed, people changed not the management
Using SSM for Human resources
One of the major areas where we had to use SSM and where we didnt
use SSM was Human Resources managements. SSM can be used as a
vehicle for developing competitiveness in human resource management.
The benefits of SSM are based on its underlying interpretive
assumptions, the distinctive way in which conceptual models are used
to create learning and insight, and other aspects of systems thinking,
notably the guidance embodied in its technology, and its use of the
systems concepts of hierarchy and holism. Any information, which is a
potential source of insight about the kinds of competences, needed,
either currently or in the future, are relevant and should be included. In
most organizations people hold differing opinions on the aims being
pursued and the problems and issues in the situation as it currently
exists, or as it might exist given certain defined scenarios. The rich
picture should embody the full diversity of these viewpoints ( John
Brocklesby, 1995). At this point there should be no attempt to deny the
applicability or relevance of minority opinions, or opinions which run
counter to the official line. In fact, counter-viewpoints can lead to
creative insights, which may not emerge if discussion is limited to
perspectives compatible with the currently prevailing ideology. In the
rich picture it should be possible to visualize how individual activities,
issues or problems fit into the broader context within which these are
located.
After the initial rich picture has been developed and broad themes
identified, a range of task and issue models based on different
WelzaKscPaOOKgeK should be constructed and contrasted with the real
world situation. In most SSM projects, a combination of task and issue
systems is included, and this is advocated here. Task systems represent
official pronouncements about the identity of an organization or what a
particular job involves. Issue systems may represent continuous
aspects of a job or contain ideas about what it means to be a member
of a particular organization, which are not formally sanctioned. Often,
when individuals are being questioned directly about competences,
these unofficial aspects of work do not surface. They can, however, be
very important. Cultural and political aspects of work, for example, are
especially important, and often warrant further attention. Sometimes
achieving a better "fit" between individuals and these contextual and
informal features of their work is more important than ensuring that
individuals satisfy technical competence criteria. ( John Brocklesby,
1995)
The problem is most noticeable when a group of individuals are placed
in a focus group and asked to recount their ideas about the
competences required in their work, or to describe the differences
between good and bad performers. Difficulties arise when such beliefs
are abstracted from the broader pattern of ideas and worldviews, which
give them meaning. When the data are aggregated, as they usually are,
much of the meaning is lost. In SSM, the concern, always, is with
wholes and the underlying worldviews, which provide the crucial
meaning. Meaning is explored and made explicit. It is not neutralized
through a process of aggregation. (John Brocklesby, 1995). If one
accepts the idea that potentially there are a number of possible ways of
doing a job well, aggregating data does not make a lot of sense. The
results can be costly. Potential recruits may slip through the net
because they fail to match aggregated criteria, which, at best, may bear
only a tenuous relationship to the way in which the job would be done.
At worst, the criteria may be completely irrelevant. Equally, current
staff can become dissatisfied and disillusioned when meaningless
criteria are applied in evaluating their performance. (John Brocklesby,
1995)
To the extent that any aspect of the HRM process privileges a particular
worldview and takes this as a given aspect of the design brief, it
suggests an orientation towards hard systems thinking. Often HRM
appears to assume that the overall aims and objectives of the
organization, or any of its sub-units, may be defined unequivocally
without any serious investigation or reflection on the veracity of
dominant viewpoints. Moreover it often appears that analyzing job or
organizational requirements is largely unproblematic, that these may be
defined objectively and unambiguously. To some extent this is true.
There are basic skills associated with the job of brain surgeon that are
fundamentally different from those required of a social worker, for
example. Clearly as one move away from broad technical competences
into the domain of attitudes, values and behavioral styles, the idea that
such requirements may be defined objectively becomes increasingly
less tenable.


SSM on quality

Merchem being a big player in chemical industry the problem was
always maintain the quality issues. The company was able to maintain
quality, but due to problems it was not able to maintain consistency in
quality. The company has to establish a prevention approach to quality.
The aim should be to get the right things from output requirements that
should be regulated immediately. Nonconformance to requirement was
eliminated. Employees should be motivated to own quality themselves

SSM for marketing

Marketing knowledge is accumulating in an inexorable, although slow,
process, through the exchange of knowledge, mainly via the print media
(systems). Various journals have taken an explicit interest in this
process (Bush and Grant, 1994; Finn and McQuitty, 1994; Hubbard and
Armstrong, 1994; Madden 09,, 1995). The inputs to this are primarily
submitted or commissioned articles/books (product) - generically the
expression of ideas. The communication organs - primarily books and
journals - generally involve independent editorial (including double-
blind refereeing) (technique) and organisational and financial inputs
(transactions). Through the conventions of attribution of sources, the
stock of knowledge potentially passes into collective ownership
(implementation).

According to Check land (1985, p. 826): A root definition is well
formulated if it covers the elements in the mnemonic CATWOE.

C:(customers). Who are the system's victims or beneficiaries?
A:(actors). Who would do these activities?
T:(transformation process). What input is turned into what output?
W:(WelzaKscPaOOKg). The worldview that makes this definition
meaningful.
O: (owners). Who could abolish this system?
E: (environmental constraints). What does this system take as given?

Nevertheless, the written expression of a root definition should be
concise and capture a particular, but not the only, view of the human
activity system. The creation of a root definition should interact,
through iteration, with the step where there is comparison of the
conceptual models with the problem situation as expressed.

The firm has poor communication with its markets and plays no role
trying to nurture its environment. Merchem marketing has been far too
passive in the face of aggressive tactics from competitors. It sales force
lacks proper training and professionalism and doesnt seem motivated
to establish and develop customer relations. Sales people are not able
to service customers properly because of the simple lack of knowledge
about what the company can offer.

Real world Situations.
We must gain a focus for the real world(fig :2). We must use
"structured thinking, which aims to bring about improvements in a
situation. We
Real world would-be imprivers oI
history problem situation the situation perceived
as a prioblem
Tasks, issues
Relevant Systems Models Situation
compare
The situation as a
culture
analysis oI the intervention
social analysis
political analysis ...etc.
diIIerences between models and real world
Changes: systemically desirable, culturally Ieasible
Stream of Cultural Analvsis Action to improve the situation
Logic-Based Stream of Analvsis


(fig : 2)

Must express a paradigm that is "in terms with epistemology. No
automatic assumptions can be made, and "each approach must be
made with concise on moving from one world to another. This
approach, which was designed to be used in many different situations,
may be "interpreted differently by each user. This system as explained
above is used or derives from what our own worldviews and language
are. "It is meant to be interpreted rather than expressed from the
paradigm. (Yolles, 2002) Meaning each person is to make his or her
own viewpoint, not one viewpoint for everyone. Each person must take
the paradigm/concept given and make his or her own ideas




Szakeholder Analysis: From the Rich Picture we gain an accurate
representation of the main stakeholders that are in the process. Here it
is important to understand each stake older and what role they have to
play in. They should also make sure that they communicate their vision
to senior management as well as stakeholders

Welzanschauung: The different stake holders on the company views
the problem in their own perceptive. The management throws the entire
blame on the employees, where as the employees return the same coin.

Rooz Definizion: A statement that is a combination of Weltanschauung
partners using the CATWOE

Concepzual Model: It depends on integrated synchronized and
harmonious present alias, which can give us an instinctive perception
about the ideal system.

Real World Vs Concepz Model: It is quite natural that the real world
will definitely be at the variance with the concept ional model. This will
enable us to analyse the gap and take and steps to bridge the gap.

Recommendations:
This is the recommended courses of action that take place in order to
improve the process, based upon the real world and conceptual
comparison
Every company can change if the management begins taking interest
for improvement. Most companies fail, because management forgets to
give the due attention it needed. The company forgot to organize itself.
Also family members ran Merchems activities, as it was a family owned
company. However the company had to bring in professional to take
care over the day-to-day activities as they are much qualified and has
the experience to manage such situation

The Company needs to give focus on positioning based on priority. The
first one is quality, which is very important for the company to survive
on. Secondly it should concentrate on Staff training and human
resources

Quality:
There are many dimensions to quality with definitions that vary among
the organizations. By definition program evaluation is "the systematic
assessment of the operation and/or the outcomes of a program or
policy, compared to a set of explicit or implicit standards, as a means of
contributing to the improvement of the program or policy" (Weiss,
1998). One of the major reasons for the instability of the organization
was the fact that the company was not able to maintain the right
standard in quality systems. Ensuring consistent quality, safety and
protection of environment should be its major quality objectives. High
standards of quality and product consistency should be maintained by a
comprehensive system covering raw materials, production processes
and end products. The management should analyze the situation and
come out with suggestions for an enhanced quality management
program based on assumptions and comparison of how the existing and
the enhanced versions would address the problem situation confronting
the firm. The firms should also try new approaches like using systems
that might help them to improve its quality program.

Human resource and training:
Human resources planning are related to the assignment of the right
number of people at the right place and time, in order to perform
efficiently the job to be done. Many are the steps in the planning
process (from forecasting or recruitment, to rostering definition) in
order to achieve these overall objectives (Rampton 09 ,., 1999). The
concern with the workforce allocation problem, that is, the task of
determining staff numbers in order to provide minimum coverage.
Baker (1976), and more recently Mason and Ryan (1998), present a
brief survey of some quantitative methods to approach that problem in
different settings. These latter authors, for instance, apply heuristic
algorithms and simulation for the integrated staffing problem for the
Customs at the Auckland International Airport. Cruz-Cruz (1997)
proposes the use of expert systems in the staffing decision-process. For
the Company, it is very important to train the staff so as they can give
better service to the people. Also staff attitude also matters in service
for growth. Staff has to consider there jobs are service oriented, and
concentrate more on improving. Also these staff works in a very
stressful environment. So they have to be trained in such a way that
they can overcome their tensions.

Traditionally in Merchem it has been a common practice to prepare
detailed job descriptions and profiles of the "ideal candidate" based on
some supposedly impartial reading of what a job involves. Today this
practice is less appropriate. Work environments are more volatile than
before, and individuals are now required to take personal initiatives in
responding quickly to meet the needs of local, and often unforeseen
circumstances. Here, tight job descriptions are manifestly dysfunctional.
In recent years, Merchem have become more decentralized in response
to the need to cope with increasingly competitive environments and
hierarchies have been flattened, pushing decision making closer to the
customers. Centralized bureaucratic control and tightly defined job
descriptions are giving way to more subtle forms of control which has
led to discretionary content being dispersed throughout organizations.
In the recent past discretion has tended to be associated with senior
positions. Today individuals are being given more license to define job
boundaries themselves. Even in relatively stable environments, the
belief that jobs must be done in a particular way, or that individuals
must possess a particular set of aptitudes in order to perform a job well,
is being questioned. Women and those promoting the cause of minority
groups have been particularly vocal in this regard.

The occupational stress indicator (OSI) can be used to enable seven

different aspects of the stress/strain relationship to be assessed in
Merchem. In the company the employees reported greater pressure or
stress at work than is the normal, and at higher levels than in day shift,
and were experiencing significantly higher levels of mental and physical
ill health as a consequence.

Job dissatisfaction was revealed as a major problem for the company as
most workers reporting far less satisfaction at work than.

Environmental and political issuses: one of the major problems the
company faced was the Environmental issue. The company has to find
whether it really pollutes the area and what the company can do about
reducing or decreasing the pollution .It should enter in talk with people
in the nearby surroundings to enter into agreement, so that the
company can work with the people and solve the problem.

The company should talk with the union leader and make them
understand that instead of being part of any trade union, it would be
better if the company has one union, which will look into the employee
benefits. Management should try to implement some programs, which
will take the employee in their confidence

Use of information Technology:

Perhaps this is where the company had lacked back. Even thought
being a big company it didnt have good IT infrastructure. The
Companys Information Technology was managed by its IT team, which
didnt do much to improve anything

The Company has four factories and it head office all of them which are
in different geographical location but within a 25-mile range. Most
people in head office are administration and marketing people while the
people in factory are workers and supportive staff. Since people in head
office who do the marketing and sales, they need to have good
knowledge of the stock position etc

First of all the Company need to integrate its manufacturing, marketing
and payroll and make it into a single integrative system by using
Enterprise resource planning. SAP would be the best version to go as
this as a lot of features and its a lot flexible and the company can tailor
it to its needs. However such an implementation should be done with
proper planning with help from IT Consultants as the investment here is
too much and the company cannot effort to make a mistake. Once the
Erp is installed the manager can check the stock position, the details of
stock manufactured the dates of shipments and how the factory is
responding to needs.

Intranet & Email:

Information should flow through the nerves of the organization as it is
information that guides the company and perhaps the intranet is what
the company cannot afford to miss. Much of the problem at Merchem
was that people were not getting the required information at the right
time. For example the, management was not knowing the problems of
the organization as information was flowing late in the organization.

The intranet can solve this problem. The CEO can get up to date
information of the current productions of each factories, the daily sales
chart, the order remaining and other areas, which requires attention.
Employees can benefit from the intranet by going through the
companies policy, refer the employee manual, check their pay slips and
other service like, how the companies competitors are doing etc.

Email the new artillery in cyber world is the fastest, easiest and
cheapest way of communication. All most all employees other than
factory worker should be given access to it and it should be effectively
used

B2B E-Commerce:
To face challenges in the new business world the company can open an
e-com site a B2B site so that the company can do more business not
only with its Indian client but also to it international clients.

Different system approaches helps us in using the theoretical and
methodological levels. Critical systems thinking uses all available
metaphor to gain a better understanding of problem situation .The
Merchem case the culture, management, employee relation and
technology has been taken, and a change is needed to bring in a
change in the organization

I would suggest that once company bring in the recommended changes
it should then try to deal with it and make sure that a effective change
has happened and that these changes will help the company not to
repeat the mistakes it made before









SeIf-PefIectIve LearnIng
Complexity in organization is very common these days and they are
growing, because as organization grows it is difficult to manage and
understand the complexities. Change management help me to realized
the complexities and problems that actually stopped the organization to
grow, and the methodologies for improving the situation.

Studying managing information helped to understand change
management without much difficulty. Mr. Yolles book was a very good
book to start with. This book gives a foundation for systems theory and
method, in particular, viable systems theory, that explicitly addresses
complexity. The book is very good for a beginner to understand as each
things are described in details and simple. Overall the book is excellent
for management students, with its variety of case studies.

The website site of MR. Yolles was very good and informative. It had all
the information for covering the subject. The Liverpool city council case
study, the NHS case studies give a good idea on learning each
methodology. The case studies presented are from real world complex
situation

I also believe some video lectures should also be available on the
website. Since the subject is strong and in depth analysis is needed,
video lectures are always good to refresh memory. Group participation
and seminars are the ways of improving learning and they get a chance
to learn more

This subject has greatly attracted me. When I worked I was faced with
real world situation. However I was never sure of these methodologies..
My work experiences and my visit to Merchem as a member of the audit
company where I worked help me to do this course work. My jobs have
helped me a lot in learning management skills and the experiences I
learned there helped me in learning this subject easier. Also my sincere
thanks to Mr. Yolles who has shown lot of patience and understanding in
helping me to understand a relative very new, very difficult subject by
his easy way of teaching, his examples, which made us understand the
methodologies and the valuable information he has passed on to us.

I also realized that methodologies like SSM could help in Improving
HRM and marketing. Overall to be frank I enjoyed studying the subject
as it was relatively new to me and it was interesting .The experiences I
learned from this subject will help me in playing a big role in the
company I will be working for identifying and solving problems.