A critical analysis of the practical relationship between soft systems methodology, husserlian phenomenology and systems development

Stephen K. Probert

pp. 15-23

in: Trevor Wood Harper, Nimal Jayaratna, Bob Wood (eds), Methodologies for developing and managing emerging technology based information systems, Berlin, Springer, 1999

Abstract

It is argued that the epistemology proffered by the SSM advocates does not provide a practical basis upon which to conduct team-based systems development; this is because the SSM advocates over-emphasise the need for subjective certainty and meaning, thus rendering their epistemology over-idealistic. It is concluded that the need for effective communication between team members necessarily implies abandoning the search for subjective certitude and supplanting it with the search for practical "working knowledge" of the actual situation in which IS development occurs.

Cited authors

Husserl Edmund