Abstract
John Dewey's work inspired Simon, Churchman and Ackoff. To encourage rigorous thinking, Dewey makes the rallying cry: Synthesize don't just analyse. Operational research does analysis well. However, our understanding of its conjoint twin, synthesis, may need some more pragmatic rationalization. Synthesis, often confused with systems thinking, is thought to be a process of engagement with alternative conceptions (interpretations) of the problem domain; conceptions that suggest a different solution set. Therefore, this paper explores the proposition that operational research needs to engage more synthesis to complement its skill at analysis. Why synthesis is required, what it is and how it works is explained. Two case studies are provided to demonstrate the mechanisms of synthesis as one part of strategic thinking.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ackoff RL ( 1978 ). The Art of Problem Solving: Accompanied by Ackoff's Fables . Wiley: USA .
Ackoff RL ( 1994 ). From mechanistic to social systems thinking . Systems Thinking in Action Conference, USA .
Ackoff RL ( 2000 ). A day with Dr. Russell L. Ackoff — Making a Difference: Systems Thinking/Systems Change . Girls Link Live Webcast, Chicago-Kent College of Law, November 29, 2000, http://www.judgelink.org/presentations/Girlslink/, accessed August 2008 .
Argyris C and Schon D ( 1996 ). Organisational Learning II: Theory, Method and Practice . Addison-Wesley: USA .
Chanin M and Shapiro H ( 1985 ). Dialectical inquiry in strategic planning: Extending the boundaries . Acad Mngt Rev 10 : 663 – 675 .
Checkland P ( 1981 ). Systems Thinking, Systems Practice . John Wiley: UK .
Checkland P ( 1999 ). Soft Systems Methodology: A 30 Year Retrospective . John Wiley: UK .
Checkland P ( 2005 ). Webs of significance: The work of Geoffrey Vickers . Syst Res Behav Sci 22 ( 4 ): 285 .
Chia R ( 1996 ). Organisational Analysis as Deconstructive Practice . Walter de Gruyter: New York .
Churchman CW ( 1968 ). The Systems Approach . Dell Publishing Co.: New York, USA .
Dewey J ( 1910 ). How We Think . Dover: New York .
Dooley J ( 1999 ). Problem-Solving as a Double-Loop Learning System, Adaptive Learning Design, http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/dooley99problemsolving.html, accessed August 2008 .
Franco LA ( 2006 ). Forms of conversation and problem structuring methods: A conceptual development . J Opl Res Soc 57 : 813 .
Gergen M and Gergen K ( 2003 ). Social Construction: A Reader . (eds) . Sage: USA .
Gilbert DT ( 1991 ). How mental systems believe . Am Psychol 46 : 107 – 119 .
Gray J ( 2003 ). Straw Dogs . Granta Books: London .
Grint K ( 2003 ). Problems, problems, problems: The social construction of leadership . Hum Relat 58 : 1494 – 1497 .
Houghton L ( 2008 ). Problem solving through cognitive engagement . Unpublished PhD thesis, University of New England .
Houghton L and Ledington P ( 2004 ). The engagement approach to real world problem solving: Toward a coherent soft-systems-based theoretical platform for real-world problem solving . Sys Prac Act Res 17 : 497 – 510 .
James CH and Minnis WC ( 2004 ). Organisational storytelling: It makes sense . Bus Horizons 47 ( 4 ): 23 – 32 .
Klein G ( 1989 ). Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions . MIT Press: Boston .
Landry M ( 1995 ). A note of the concept of ‘Problem’ . Organ Stud 16 : 315 – 344 .
Ledington P and Ledington J ( 2001 ). Interpretive inquiry: From comparison to engagement in SSM. Seventh ANZSYS Conference, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia .
Liebl F ( 2002 ). The anatomy of complex societal problems and its implications for OR . J Opl Res Soc 53 : 161 – 184 .
March JG ( 1978 ). Bounded rationality, ambiguity and the engineering of choice . J Econ 9 : 587 – 608 .
March JG ( 1988 ). Decisions and Organisations . Blackwell: New York, USA .
March JG and Simon HA ( 1958 ). Organisations . John Wiley: New York, USA .
McFadzean E and Money A ( 1994 ). The Theory of Strategic Problem Solving . Henley Management College: Oxford .
McLellan H ( 2006 ). Corporate storytelling perspectives . J Qual Participat 29 : 17 – 22 .
Menand L ( 2001 ). The Metaphysical Club . Flamingo: London .
Mitroff II ( 2004 ). William James and a Theory of Thinking . J Information Technol Theory App 6 : 83 – 90 .
Morgan G ( 1997 ). Images of Organisation, 2nd edn . Sage: USA .
Newell A and Simon HA ( 1972 ). Human Problem Solving . Prentice-Hall: New York, USA .
O'Loughlin A and McFadzean E ( 1999 ). Towards a holistic theory of strategic problem solving . Team Perform Mngt 5 : 103 – 120 .
Peirce CS ( 1878 ). How to make our ideas clear . Pop Sci Month 12 : 286 – 302 .
Polya G ( 1962 ). Mathematical Discovery: On Understanding, Learning, and Teaching Problem Solving . Wiley: USA .
Polya G ( 1965 ). Mathematical Discovery . Vol. 2, Wiley : USA .
Rittel HWJ and Webber MM ( 1973 ). Dilemmas in a general theory of planning . Pol Sci 4 ( 2 ): 155 – 169 .
Rorty R ( 1989 ). Contingency, Irony and Solidarity . Cambridge University Press: Cambridge .
Rosenhead J ( 1996 ). What's the problem? An introduction to problem structuring methods . Interfaces 26 ( 6 ): 117 – 131 .
Schon D ( 1963 ). Displacement of Concepts . McGraw-Hill: USA .
Schultz M and Hatch MJ ( 1996 ). Living with multiple paradigms: The case of paradigm interplay in organizational culture studies . Acad Mngt Rev 21 : 529 – 557 .
Simon HA ( 1960 ). The New Science of Management Decision . Harper and Row: New York .
Simon HA ( 1996 ). The Sciences of the Artificial . MIT Press: Massachusetts, USA .
Simon HA ( 1997 ). Administrative Behaviour: A Study of Decision Making Processes in Administrative Organisations, 4th edn . Free Press: New York, USA .
Simon HA ( 2000 ). Public administration in today's world of organisations and markets . Polit Sci Polit 33 : 749 – 756 .
Sleiss D ( 1986 ). In Search of Semiotics . Croom Helm: London .
Stacey R ( 1996 ). Management and the science of complexity: If organizational life is nonlinear, can business strategies prevail? Res Technol Mngt 39 : 8 – 10 .
Stacey R ( 2001 ). Complex Responsive Process in Organisations: Learning and Knowledge Creation . Routledge: UK .
Stacey R ( 2003 ). Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics: The Challenge of Complexity, 4th edn . Prentice-Hall: UK .
Tucker AL, Edmondson AC and Spear S ( 2001 ). When problem solving prevents organisational learning . J Organ Change Mngt 15 : 122 .
Tsang E and Williams J ( 2007 ). Generalization and Hume's problem of induction: Misconceptions and clarifications . Social Sciences and Humanities Working Paper Series, http://mercury.smu.edu.sg/rsrchpubupload/7853/InfoSysResearchSubmission.pdf, accessed August 2008 .
Ulrich W ( 2003 ). Beyond methodology choice: Critical systems thinking as critically systemic discourse . J Opl Res Soc 54 : 325 – 342 .
van Bueren EM, Klijn E and Koppenjan JFM ( 2003 ). Dealing with wicked problems in networks: Analyzing an environmental debate from a network perspective . J Pub Admin Res Theory 13 : 193 .
Vickers G ( 1983 ). The Art of Judgement: A Study on Policy Making . Harper and Row: UK .
Walsham G ( 1995 ). Interpretive case studies in IS research: Nature and method . Euro J Inform Syst 4 ( 2 ): 74 – 81 .
Walsham G ( 2006 ). Doing Interpretive Research . Euro J Inform Syst 15 : 320 – 330 .
Weick K ( 1993 ). The collapse of sensemaking in organizations: The Mann Gulch disaster . Admin Sci Quart 38 : 628 – 652 .
Weick K ( 1995 ). Sense making in Organisations . Sage: USA .
Weick K ( 2001 ). Making Sense of the Organisation . Blackwell Business: Oxford, UK .
Wheatley M ( 2001 ). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, 2nd edn . Berrett-Koehler Publishers: USA .
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Houghton, L., Metcalfe, M. Synthesis as conception shifting. J Oper Res Soc 61, 953–963 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2008.188
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jors.2008.188