Soft System Methodology in the Management of Agroecosystem Health and Sustainability Concerns of a Tropical Highlands Agroecosystem - Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems - page 128

step in the second (logic-based) mode of inquiry is to formulate models, which it is
hoped will be relevant to the real-world situation (Checkland and Scholes, 1990). The
models are then compared with various perceptions of the real world, thus initiating
debates and a process of negotiations and trade-offs that lead to purposeful actions
aimed at improving the problem situation under scrutiny.
SSM uses particular kinds of holons—referred to as human activity systems —to
model the problem situation. A human activity system is a set of named activities
connected to make a purposeful whole (Checkland and Scholes, 1990). The holons
are conceived as holistic ideal types of certain aspects of the problem situation
rather than as accounts of it; it is taken for granted that no objective and complete
account of a messy problem situation can be given (Bulow, 1989). Two kinds of
human activity systems can be made: the primary task system and the issue-based
system (Checkland and Wilson, 1980). Primary task systems are ones in which the
elements and relationships map on to real-world institutionalized arrangements.
Issue-based systems, on the other hand, are relevant to mental processes that are not
embodied in formalized real-world arrangements. The distinction between primary
task and issue-based systems is not absolute but rather more of opposite ends of a
spectrum. The choice of a human activity system to represent a problem situation is
always subjective (Checkland and Scholes, 1990), with the final choice depending on
which model is deemed most relevant to the situation after the logical implications
of all the choices have been evaluated.
A human activity system is built based on its root definition. A root defini-
tion expresses the core purpose of an activity system. That core purpose is always
expressed as a transformation process in which some entity, the “input,” is changed,
or transformed, into some new form of that same entity, the “output.” The trans-
formation occurs because a purposeful action (or actions) A is (or are) taken on
that entity. Such an action, being purposeful, will be an expression of the intention
of some person or persons B. Since A is a human action, there will be someone C
who takes the action. The action will have an impact on some person or group D,
and it will be taking place in an environment E, which may place constraints on it.
Since human autonomy is rarely total, there may be a person or group F who could
stop the action being taken. In real life, the same person or persons could be one or
more of the elements in B, C, D, or F since these represent roles and not individuals
or groups playing them. The transformation and the actions taken are meaningful
and rational given a particular perspective or worldview. A complete root definition
of a human activity system therefore identifies the customer (D), the actor (C), the
transformation, the worldview, the owner (B), and the environment of a particular
activity system.
Several human activity systems can be built to represent different perspectives
of a given world situation. In addition, activity systems can be built for intended
purposeful actions, with several such systems representing the different perspec-
tives that may exist among all the stakeholders. These models then serve as the
basis for negotiation and consensus building as well as a guide to action, monitoring,
and evaluation. This chapter describes how SSM was used to manage the analysis,
design, and implementation of purposeful actions to ameliorate AESH and sustain-
ability concerns in the intensive study sites (ISSs).