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Examines the use of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) in the analysis and improvement of a “messy” HRM problem in Nationwide Building Society (NBS). Describes SSM in outline and relates it to a case study application of the methodology in the area of career management and career counselling. At the time of investigation, there was a growing awareness of career problems among managers of all levels in NBS increasing the impetus for change. The problems identified in career management did not lead to clearly defined objectives: the “right answer” was not yet known and variables involved were bound up in values, motives and decisions of human beings with a significant amount of free choice. Develops and analyses a Rich Picture taking account of subjective data as well as objective facts. The understanding gained about the management of careers is used to generate possible improvements and solutions following the stages of SSM. Makes recommendations, a number of which have already been implemented within NBS.

The performance evaluation process is a key step in any management system and constitutes the basis for continuous improvement. Resistance to change is considered as a critical factor in any change management project; so, development of employee performance appraisal systems like all of the change management projects has always faced many challenges. This study seeks to illustrate the two-year experience (2018–2020) and lessons learned by developing an employee performance appraisal system in the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI) as a cultural public sector organization.

This study was carried out by using soft operational research (OR) approaches, using a novel combination of two methods, soft system methodology (SSM) and importance performance analysis (IPA). For this purpose, at the beginning, with the help of the SSM approach, the challenges of implementation was identified, then, using the opinions and experiences of the system's stakeholders, improvement actions were defined and prioritized using the IPA method.

The research findings showed that “coaching development,” “optimizing the forced distribution rating system (FDRS)” and “customizing the system” are the most important improvement actions.

The research has bridged the gap between research and practice in the field of employee performance appraisal system in national libraries.

Project management has become the hip new trend in librarianship, appearing more and more in job listings, position descriptions, and professional development offerings. How did project management become the latest buzzword, and what does it have to offer our profession?

The answers to these can be explored through a look at the evolution of project management from the concept of Scientific Management to the certifiable skill set it is today, and how that evolution connects with librarianship’s own changes over time. This examination is done through a literature and historical analysis.

A deeper look at the basic concepts behind project management in light of this historical and practical connection with librarianship demonstrates how project management not only can be a useful skill for library workers to embrace today, but will also illuminate how our service-oriented structure may not mesh well with a concept rooted in business and computing. However, libraries that take a systems approach to implementing project management may see that they are better able to find success.

This study is largely theoretical and based on literature and historical analysis rather than practical implementation and testing. However, it does offer us a different way of looking at a trendy concept, one which helps ground the concept in theory and practice in a way that is seldom done. It also provides examples of tools to help libraries implement project management with a systems approach, which has not been addressed much in library literature.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an illustration of the methodological processes and resultant outcomes relating to one theme investigated during an application of soft systems methodology (SSM) in a library and information service (LIS) context, in order to contribute to the explication of the methodology to LIS professionals.

A selective but detailed description of the use of SSM is provided in relation to case study research undertaken at a UK law firm, which included, within the framework of SSM, the conduct of interviews with 42 legal and information practitioners.

The described application of SSM is a demonstration of its use for structuring learning in situations: in this instance, of a developed understanding of stakeholders' views of appropriate LIS activity in a law firm.

The paper is a selective representation of the first use of SSM by a researcher and demonstrates the methodology's applicability to any situation about which learning is considered to be desirable.

The paper provides an illustrative application of SSM which may prompt the use of, or may contribute to understanding of, the methodology by LIS practitioners, researchers and educators.

The paper provides an in‐depth illustration of the SSM‐informed processes and outcomes in a novel application area.

Community safety partnerships have a new statutory duty to reduce reoffending. A key stage in developing a strategy to do this is to understand the problem. The development of offender problem profiles will be an important part of the process. This article, drawing on experience from local partnerships, discusses how partnerships might go about developing offender problem profiles.

The purpose of this paper is to complement a previous article on using the Cynefin framework to make sense of the electronic records management challenge. Its focus is on how to use Cynefin, and the ERM framework developed using it, as an approach to addressing this wicked problem. The aim is to provide examples of how they could be used in practice in different organisational contexts.

Four examples are provided. Empirical research data are used to underpin three of the examples and a thought experiment using published literature informs the fourth.

The examples illustrate the potential value and power of the Cynefin framework as both a practical and conceptual tool in the ERM context. It can be used to address the ERM challenge in different ways: as a strategic approach taking a holistic view and/or as a tactical approach at a more specific granular level. It can be used to inform practice by helping practitioners choose the most appropriate approach dependent on the level of complexity of the issue they are addressing, whether that is for a specific issue, a project or initiative, for planning or for exploratory, sense-making purposes.

The examples draw on one qualitative, empirical set of research data and one published use. Further experimentation and practical use are required; others are encouraged to use Cynefin to test the propositions and provide further examples.

The examples provided can be adopted and/or adapted by records professionals, both practitioners and/or academics, at strategic and tactical levels in different records contexts.

This paper provides examples of adopting a different approach to tackling the wicked problem of managing electronic records using the Cynefin framework as a new lens.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for the use of mobile computing in the management of on‐site construction information and communication.

The research strategy contains three steps: a pilot study for the first stage, a survey that investigated the information needs of particular users and the nature of on‐site information, and finally the development of a model and the validation and evaluation by operational scenarios.

The developed model explores how mobile computing can be used on construction sites to manage on‐site information. This model, firstly, identifies the key factors of mobile computer, wireless network, mobile application, construction personnel, construction information, and construction site; secondly it describes the relationships and interactions among these factors. Based on the model, the selection process for mobile computing strategy includes the clarification of information management process, the creations of overview for mobile computing solution, the identification of mobile computing strategy, and the selection of appropriate mobile computing technology.

The developed model explores the general concepts and the internal relationships at the two areas of mobile computing and construction site information management. The application of the model can help users to select mobile computing strategies for managing on‐site construction information based on the characteristics of their projects.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for the teaching and delivery of HRD practices, professional skills and theory that challenges the modernist orthodoxy of contemporary organisational life and the requirements of professional bodies.

First, the territory of a critical HRD pedagogy is defined within practices that respect human freedom and individual dignity as opposed to instrumentalism and target setting. Second, it will advocate an approach for a HRD pedagogy that has its roots within the lost paradigm of sentimentalism that emphasises the belief in the goodness of humanity informing the romantic notions of human imagination, creativity and respect for the individual that is realised through the dialogical process.

The findings, evinced by vignettes, advocate a critical HRD pedagogy and the development of professional skills that base their values and ethics within emancipatory practices if organisations are to create and support sustainable learning environments rather than those located within the conventional wisdom of modernist orthodoxy.

This paper calls for a critical HRD pedagogy and learning environments where individuals are engaged in the transformation of their socio‐historical‐political worlds and advocates dialogue is central to classroom practice if it is to realise the potential and creative impulses of individuals.

This paper contributes to the critical HRD discourse in the development of knowledge, skills, values and professional practice by addressing the constraints of classroom practice in its response to the demands and tensions of professional bodies. It explicitly develops a critical HRD pedagogy that has implications for the assessment of HRD programmes and of their resourcing.

The introduction of clinical care pathways into one acute hospital trust provided the opportunity to investigate reasons why doctors behave the way they do, and to identify receptive and non‐receptive factors for change. A multi‐method research strategy was used to obtain primary data, both quantitative and qualitative material, namely responses to a questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was distributed to 70 consultants from a variety of medical and surgical specialties, and 42 questionnaires were returned (60 per cent response rate). Reports some of the findings and shows that consultant behaviour and the factors that influence that behaviour are affected by their own characteristics, specifically age and specialty, although all specialties agreed that non‐financial incentives would influence their behaviour. Characteristics of opinion leaders were also found to be specialty‐specific in their degree of influence. Concludes that the multi‐method research approach was effective in identifying factors which influence consultant behaviour, and further studies should be carried out in this area.