Applying Systems Thinking and
Common Archetypes to Organizational Issues
Module 1: Why the Systems View?
A Systems View
There was complete agreement that sales were down and that current customers were choosing other suppliers. There was also agreement that poor service was a significant contributor to lost customers.
What was causing poor service? The service department didn't deny that there were problems, but they reported that they were swamped with "special orders." These included atypical billing arrangements and unusual delivery configurations. As a result, there were many fewer routine orders, increased administrative time to process and fulfill an order, and no additional service staff. This created an increasing burden on the service department, resulting in the documented pattern of poor service.
Where were these special orders coming from? When the sales manager was interviewed, he reported that the marketplace was vicious, and he applauded his sales force for coming up with creative ways to make the sale. He noted special pricing arrangements and expanded delivery as very attractive features to new customers.
He also reported that these new features were a function of aggressively seeking new accounts to help meet Acme's sales targets.
If this picture provided a good explanation for the current downward trend in results, the solutions offered by the consultant would not address the real problem.
The systems view poses a new hypothesis about a root cause of poor performance, suggesting that endogenous (internal to the system) forces might be important contributors to the problem. How can this view help us test possible solutions and identify interventions that are more likely to improve system performance?