Soft Systems Methodology for Organizational Culture Analysis

Abstract

The main purpose of this chapter is to present the interlinkage of soft systems methodology (SSM) and organizational culture. Often, organizations find themselves within a problematic situation connected with cultural issues. Analysis of such issues is complex because of the numerous stakeholders involved and the multi-faceted and dynamic nature of the culture. This chapter focuses on organizational culture, which is among the most important assets on which an organization rely, particularly for the sake of change management. Here the authors begin with a review on the concept of organizational culture and proceed to discuss the factors affecting the organizational culture and then present a model of organizational culture, cultural aspects of SSM, and a real-world application of SSM in the form of a case study of corporate ethical culture analysis.