Title: Using soft systems methodology to corporate cultural change system analysis

Authors: Maryam Ebrahimi

Addresses: Germany

Abstract: Cultural changes in a large corporation which was split into several smaller separate corporations, under new vision, mission and leadership, is in need of a different culture deal with a fuzzy condition. Using soft systems methodology (SSM), the cultural change is analysed in the National Petrochemical Company (NPC). After data collection by means of interviews with stakeholders involved including senior manager, middle managers, employees, and customers, the richest possible picture of the problem situation is built up, root definitions via the mnemonic CATWOE are applied to define the relevant systems including the cultural change coalition, strategy formulation, structure reorganising, human resources management system redesigning, and training managers to be coaches. Accordingly, the conceptual model declaring the essential plans for the transition from the current status to the desired status is developed. Desired state includes the cultures of goal orientation, innovation, social responsibility, and humanism.

Keywords: soft systems methodology; SSM; organisational culture; change management; social responsibility; innovation; training; organisational strategies; human resources.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2022.123937

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2022 Vol.16 No.4, pp.448 - 468

Received: 22 Apr 2020
Accepted: 12 Aug 2020
Published online: 05 Jul 2022 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article