Multiple Criteria Decision Making Within Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology

It is concluded that Checkland’s SSM can, without any changes from its usual framework, be used to bring about compromise solutions and is particularly suitable for problem situations that are ill-defined and largely qualitative.

Abstract

This paper studies Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a potential multi-criteria decision making methodology. The paper first gives a brief outline of Checkland's SSM, highlighting its salient features. It then explores in what sense it is an MCDM methodology (in contrast to an MCDM technique) for dealing with multiple-decision maker situations. In particular, we explore the role of the Weltanschauung in the MCDM context and the process of finding a compromise solution involving conflicting Weltanschauungen among multipledecision makers or stakeholders. We conclude that Checkland's SSM can, without any changes from its usual framework, be used to bring about compromise solutions. By its very nature, it is particularly suitable for problem situations that are ill-defined and largely qualitative. For problems that lend themselves to quantification, MCDM techniques for exploring the solution space may be useful aids. The final section then explores its suitability for single-decision maker situations. The tentative conclusion reached is that, in principle, this is the case. However, the lack of a proper debate among advocates with opposing views may call for the use of MCDM techniques to get better insights into the solution space.