Amanda J. Gregory

Management of the marine environment: integrating ecosystem services and societal benefits with the DPSIR framework in a systems approach.

Ever increasing and diverse use of the marine environment is leading to human-induced changes in marine life, habitats and landscapes, making necessary the development of marine policy that considers all members of the user community and addresses current, multiple, interacting uses. Taking a systems approach incorporating an understanding of The Ecosystem Approach, we integrate the DPSIR framework with ecosystem services and societal benefits, and the focus this gives allows us to create a specific framework for supporting decision making in the marine environment. Based on a linking of these three concepts, we present a set of basic postulates for the management of the marine environment and emphasise that these postulates should hold for marine management to be achieved. We illustrate these concepts using two case studies: the management of marine aggregates extraction in UK waters and the management of marine biodiversity at Flamborough Head, UK.

Problematizing Participation A Critical Review of Approaches to Participation in Evaluation Theory

It is widely accepted that evaluation is a social process which implies the need for a participatory approach. In this article, it will be argued that the blanket use of the term ‘participation’ has masked the heterogeneity evident in its realization in practice. This article highlights a lack of transparency in participatory methods in evaluation by, first of all, critically discussing Rebiens (1996) definition of a set of criteria for distinguishing participative projects from interventions that are non-participative or have a low level of participation. Rebiens work is important because it not only discusses participation from a practical perspective, but also from a methodological point of view, advancing the argument that Guba and Lincolns (1989) Fourth Generation Evaluation is an appropriate methodology for supporting participation. Fourth Generation Evaluation will be described and critiqued with reference to Oakleys (1991) obstacles to participation. In the light of this critique, the argument will be advanced, through an examination of Pattons Utilization-Focused Evaluation (1986, 1997) and Pawson and Tilleys Realistic Evaluation (1997), that the notion of participation is ill-understood and is an important problem across a range of methodologies in evaluation. Guidance on how best to realize a participatory approach in practice will then be sought through examination of an approach to evaluation which has emerged from the systems field (Taket and White, 1995, 1996, 1997). Consequently, it will be argued that the problem of participation can only be approached through an understanding of power and its realization in practices that prohibit or promote participation.

A problem structuring method for ecosystem-based management: The DPSIR modelling process

The purpose of this paper is to learn from Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) theory to inform the development of Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) both in general and in the specific context of marine management. The focus on marine management is important because it is concerned with a CAS (formed through the interconnection between natural systems, designed systems and social systems) which exemplifies their particularly ‘wicked’ nature. Recognition of this compels us to take seriously the need to develop tools for knowledge elicitation and structuring which meet the demands of CAS. In marine management, chief among those tools is the DPSIR (Drivers – Pressures – State Changes – Impacts – Responses) model and, although widely applied, the extent to which it is appropriate for dealing with the demands of a CAS is questionable. Such questioning is particularly pertinent in the context of the marine environment where there is a need to not only recognise a broad range of stakeholders (a question of boundary critique) but also to manage competing knowledge (economic, local and scientific) and value claims. Hence this paper emphasises how a CAS perspective might add impetus to the development of a critical perspective on DPSIR and PSM theory and practice to promote a more systemic view of decision-making and policy development.

Evaluating organizations: A systems and contingency approach

It has become increasingly difficult to keep pace with the amount of information being generated about how to evaluate organizations. If it were not enough that the situation is made difficult by the sheer mass of material on evaluation, clarity is further hindered by many of the publications on the subject failing to make explicit the principles and assumptions upon which they are based. This was the situation confronting the authors when they began a national project with the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service on the evaluation of the performance of Councils for Voluntary Service. In an attempt to bring some order to the field, this paper adopts a systems and contingency approach to elucidate the nature and practical usefulness of the different methods of evaluation. It first seeks, using some tools of Checklands soft systems methodology, to present a systematic analysis of the subject of evaluation. Then, in the light of the analysis, an attempt is made to formulate a simple classification of approaches to evaluation which serves to match the different forms of evaluation to the contexts in which they are most appropriate for use.

Target setting, lean systems and viable systems: a systems perspective on control and performance measurement

The paper starts with a critique of the reductionist approach to control and performance measurement that emphasizes the parts of a system in isolation. The critique provides the basis for a shift in focus to a systems perspective that emphasizes the interactions between the parts of a system. It is argued that this shift is important because the behaviour of a system is a product of the interactions of the parts not the behaviour of the parts in isolation. Two systems approaches to control and performance management are compared and critiqued: Beers viable system model and Seddons lean systems. The paper concludes with the advancement of a model for control and performance measurement that not only integrates the work of Beer and Seddon but also compensates for the weaknesses in these approaches through the inclusion of a process of boundary critique.

The state we are in: insights from autopoiesis and complexity theory

Purpose – Following Polanyi, this paper aims to suggest that the Industrial Revolution marked a break‐point between pre‐industrial society (characterised by integration) and industrial society (characterised by differentiation).Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual paper, the focus is on drawing out the implications of Luhmanns application of the theory of autopoiesis to industrial society. This discussion leads to critical reflection on the state we are in and the active role we can each play in bringing about change.Findings – Differentiation, without an overall co‐ordination and control function within society, has led to the sub‐systems (and organisations) becoming self‐serving or pathologically autopoietic. Society has a capacity for self‐observation, through such mediums as the mass media. Alarm at the apparent increasing rate of change in both social and ecological systems reported by the mass media appears to be drawing us towards a second break‐point. The outcome of this revolution, shou...

Evaluation practice and the tricky issue of coercive contexts

Recently, the study of evaluation theory and practice has been elevated to a position of prominence. However, while evaluation theory is burgeoning, failure to consider situations of coercion and oppression renders evaluation practice fundamentally deficient. In this paper the search for appropriate methods of evaluation for use in coercive contexts is initiated. Based on Flood and Jacksons (1991) recommendation for the use of Ulrichs Critical System Heuristics (1983) in coercive contexts, the principles of this methodology are used to guide the search. Following the alignment of Critical System Heuristics with Stakes Responsive Evaluation (1980), the potential contribution of critical evaluation methodologies to the general field of critical management studies is assessed.

Community Operational Research and Citizen Science: Two icons in need of each other?

Citizen Science attracts a lot of positive attention and a convenient alignment with it might offer multiple benefits for Community Operational Research. But what would be the basis for such an alignment? Could it offer important reciprocal benefits for Citizen Science? We address our first question by conducting a systematic comparison of Community Operational Research and Citizen Science to reveal points of commonality and difference between the two. Having established the basis for alignment, we then address our second question by exploring how alignment might be realised at micro, meso and macro levels. Through this exploration, we highlight opportunities for Community Operational Research to avail itself of Citizen Sciences proximity to policy makers, and we make available to Citizen Science some approaches from Community Operational Research for structuring issues and dealing with contestable knowledge claims.

Which Evaluation Methodology When? A Contingency Approach to Evaluation

In the light of a project being undertaken by the National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service (NACVS) and Hull University, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, this paper seeks to show how an appropriate choice of evaluation methodology can be made by an organisation. To achieve this aim, the paper presents an analysis of the theoretical underpinnings of four types of evaluation and formulates a system of evaluation methodologies showing in what circumstances each may be most appropriately applied.

Insights into the Development of Strategy from a Complexity Perspective

This paper provides an account of an ongoing project with an independent school in the UK. The project focuses on a strategy development intervention which, from the start, was systemic in orientation. The intention was to integrate simple systems concepts and approaches into the strategy development process to: address power relations in actively engaging a wide range of stakeholders with the school’s strategy-making process; generate a range of good ideas; and make the strategy-making process transparent in order to inspire stakeholder confidence in, and commitment to, it and its outcomes. This paper describes how seeking to meet these aims entailed a series of workshops during the course of which an awareness of the relevance, in our interpretation, of Complex Adaptive Systems concepts grew.