Case1 a Soft System Analysis of Nonproﬁt Organizations and Humanitarian Services

Systemic Practice and Action Research, Vol. 18, No. 5, October 2005 ( C 2005)DOI: 10.1007/s11213-005-8483-5

A Soft System Analysis of Nonprofit Organizationsand Humanitarian ServicesZeinab Karake Shalhoub1,3 and Jameela Al Qasimi2

Received January 18, 2005; accepted July 4, 2005

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services(SCHS), a not-for-profit organization serving people with disabilities in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE), from a soft systems methodology (SSM) perspective.

KEY WORDS: SSM modeling; nonprofit organizations; humanitarian services;Sharjah.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the UAE, like in other countries both within and outside the Middle East,there has been a big wave of structural changes within the public sector whichresulted in huge reductions in the donation to humanitarian organizations. Dueto this, the SCHS has to develop a better strategy to raise money in order tokeep its programs functioning at an acceptable level; and this is the main purposeof this paper. Looking at the literature, one finds that the humanitarian servicesector has been ignored from the research agenda, and the few studies made donot emphasize the soft issues involved in decision making in these institutions.The major contributions of this paper are two-fold; first, it is a case study ofa humanitarian service organization which has been viewed by many, even inthe UAE, as a black box; second it is the first application of SSM methodologyin a Middle-Eastern organization operating in the humanitarian service industry.The nonprofit sector has received attention in the past few years as evidenced bythe coverage in trade as well as academic periodicals.4 The research follows the

1MIS, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE.2Deputy Chairperson of the Family Supreme Council and Director-General of Sharjah City forHumanitarian Services (SCHS).

3To whom correspondence should be addressed at MIS, American University of Sharjah, P.O. Box26666, Sharjah, UAE; e-mail: [email protected].

4Examples of Journals dedicated to the nonprofit sector are Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly,Voluntos and Nonprofit Management & Leadership.

457

1094-429X/05/1000-0457/0 C 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

458 Shalhoub and Qasimi

tradition of the interpretive and action oriented approach, where we are lookingat a real life situation with the objective of both acquiring knowledge about thesituation in order to improve it.

The framework adopted in this research includes systems thinking as viewedby the soft systems approach. The soft approach characterizes design as a personalprocess very much subjected to the worldviews, visions, and mental models of thepeople concerned with the design process.

The paper is organized as follows; first, the SSM development, characteristicsand attributes are covered. Soft system methodology as a tool, give us the ability toperceive a system in a given situation as it perceives by all different stakeholders.It is a kind of insight which enables us to look at complex, confused situationand perceive degree of order or interconnection in the perceptible chaos. Themethodology builds on the interpretative paradigm and is a methodology whichrecognizes the role of individuals world images and the influence of historicalbackground on the interpretation of reality (Jayaratna, 1994, p. 176). Even thoughthe roots of SSM are in systems theory and system engineering, it has graduallymoved from the hard area dealing what is to be accomplished into focusing on theperspectives through which activities are to be carried out. As stated by Bergavall-Kareborn et al. the methodology as a whole has changed from the seven-stagemodel to the two streams (logical and cultural) model. (p. 56). In addition, theoriginal focus on structures and processes has been replaced with the social, polit-ical, and historical focus. Implications of SSM thinking for humanitarian servicescommunity: (1) Emphasis on a problem-solving and interdisciplinary approacheswithin and among the community as a human activity system; (2) Determining thefactors that impinge on the performance and motivation of the roles and actors inall sub-systems; (3) Understanding and approaching problems on multiple levels(bottom up and top down); (4) Attempts for change and intervention within thecommunity through participation of all stakeholders; (5) Considering recursiveand dynamic relation between community and its physical, biological, and humanenvironment which enable us to communicate with it in a sustainable framework.

The following section describes the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services(SCHS), and goes on to model the City from an SSM perspective, by identifying theproblem, expressing the problem situation, creating a root definition, conductinga CATWOE analysis, constructing a Rich Picture, evaluating the real situation tothe proposed modeled situation, and coming up with a list of recommendations toimprove the status quo.

2. SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY (SSM)The view that systems ideas could be applied in business organizations and

beyond emerged in the years following the Second World War. Key features ofsuch ideas were that as a collection of interrelated parts, a system as a whole

Soft System Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations 459

has properties which are created through the synergy of interrelation which aregreater than the sum of the parts. Applying such ideas to organizations, it wasassumed that as problematic human activity systems, organizations could beengineered toward solutions of varying degrees of optimality or satisfaction(Checkland, 1985). During the 1970s, a challenge to these views emerged. Thechallenge was based on a fundamental difference between the idea of systems asa first-order reality, that is, the idea that systems really exist and can be defined,designed, and engineered, and systems as a second-order reality, as a way of talkingand thinking using the idea of system as a metaphor. The difference between thesetwo views was eventually summarized as the difference between hard and softsystems thinking, given rise to soft systems methodology, SSM (Checkland, 1983).

Soft systems methodology (SSM) (Checkland and Schools, 1990) is a well-known methodology that aims at tackling real-world problems of management.As such, it has been used both for information systems design and for systemsdesign and learning in general. It focuses on models of perceptions, not models ofcomplex reality and is especially suited for problem situations labeled as complexand pluralistic. Hence, the focus of attention for SSM is on peoples perceptionsof reality, their worldview, rather than on external reality as such. This focus onperceptions and worldviews has its rationale in the belief that, without changes inpeoples worldview or weltanschauung, significant changes in social systems willnot prevail.


The SSM process, which according to Checkland is, in fact a method forthe more formal articulation of the workings of what Vickers terms the process ofappreciation (Checkland, 1979, p. 325), consists of four main phases: finding out;systems modeling; comparison; and, taking action, illustrated in Fig. 1. It is notthe phases in themselves that makes SSM particular because as Checkland himselfpoints out, they are all everyday mental acts (Checkland, 1981, p. 214), and canbe found in most methods and methodologies aimed at change. Rather, it is partic-ularly is the way in which these phases are perceived, due to the epistemologicaland methodological Weltanschauung of the originators of SSM.

Even though it is possible to start the process at any phase (it is the relationbetween the phases rather than their order that is important), it usually starts inthe first phase by an exploration of a real-world situation of concern (left center,Fig. 1), initiated because someone perceives that situations as problematic andwants to do something about it. The purpose of the exploration is to provide abetter understanding of the situation in question and it is usually summarized in aso-called Rich Picture (Checkland and Schools, 1990).

From the Rich Picture, issues, judged by the analyst or someone else tobe relevant for improving the problem situation, are selected and modeled usingsystems concepts (upper right-hand corner, Fig. 1). These models, depicted assquare boxes, illustrate different perceptions or interpretations of the real-worldsituation under study and represent activities that logically need to be performed inorder to reach a certain purpose. Because of this, they are referred to as conceptualmodels of human activity systems (HAS) (Checkland, 1971, 1981; Checklandand Schools, 1990), and the class human activity systems comprises all activitiesthat are carried out by human beings. In order to form a whole or a system,these activities are linked to each other by some principle of coherence or someunderlying purpose or mission. Further, these models should be neither accountof the real world, nor Utopian designs, but rather epistemological devices whichhelp to structure a debate.

In the third phase, the models of human activity systems are set againstactual perceptions of the situation, based on individuals appreciative settings and,to some extent, depicted in the Rich Picture (right centre, Fig. 1). Through thecomparison, and the debate it creates, new insights are revealed and appreciativesettings may be changed, hopefully in such a away that accommodations betweendifferent interests and views can be reachedaccommodations that emerge asboth feasible and desirable and can lead the way towards actions to improvethe situation. This represents the fourth phase and is depicted at the bottom ofthe figure. The implementation of agreed-upon changes, or actions to improve thesituation, then becomes the new problem situation and this way the methodologycomes full circle. However, if changes cannot be agreed upon, a more extendedexamination of relevant systems will be necessary.


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The purpose of the modeling phase is to mimic different perspectives of theproblem situation and to structure the thinking of the same. In order to do this,some precise techniques have been developed, which consist of root definition(RD); PQR; CATWOE, and conceptual models (CM) of human activity systems.Root definition means naming, in a short statement, a system of purposeful activity.The formal rules for a well-formulated root definition are that it should contain theelements of the mnemonic word CATWOE (Smyth and Checkland, 1976) and/orinclude the elements of PQR (Checkland, 1999). PQR refers to the statement DoP by Q in order to contribute to achieving R and answers the three questions:What to do (P); How to do it (Q); and Why do it (R)?

The aim of the conceptual model is to represent the minimum number of log-ically contingent activities that need to be carried out in order to accomplish whathas been defined in the root definition, and which the actors could, in principle,carry out right away. These models are not models of parts of the real world, aswas pointed out above, but rather ideal types in Webers sense. This means thateach model is formed by the one-sided accentuation of a certain perception of theworld, that is, by a worldview or Weltanschauung. Since the Weltanschauung isdifferent for different people and since a particular Weltanschauung of a partic-ular person changes through time, Checkland argues that there is no such thingas the real human activity system. Hence, in a sense, human activity systemsdo not exist; only perceptions of them exist, perceptions which are associatedwith specific Ws (Checkland, 1981, p. 219). This means that both the conceptshuman activity systems and conceptual models cannot exist without the conceptWeltanschauung.

Further, every concept in the root definition should find expression in theconceptual model, and the conceptual model should reflect all aspects of the rootdefinition, but no others. The aim is to achieve a pairing of root definition (whatthe system is) and conceptual model (what the system must do in order to be thesystem named in the root definition) which are manually consistent (Checkland,1981). Until recently, it was argued that conceptual models ought to representwhats rather than hows since they originate from root definitions and these latterusually define a what (Checkland, 1981; Wilson, 1992). It was also argued that,in order for the comparison phase to result in an outcome that is as effective aspossible, the what of the conceptual model should be compared with the how ofthe real world.

Although companies have to be aware of the needs of all stakeholders, somestakeholders are considered more important than others. Their ranking differs fromcompany to company and time to time depending on current demands, pressures,and goals. All humanitarian services societies need to review and improve theirfund-raising and revenue-generation activities regularly. A healthy organizationgenerates the necessary resources for its services from a diversified financialbase. Humanitarian services organizations can safeguard their independence from


governments and enjoy stability when they develop a coherent strategic plan forresource development, and practice marketing and public relations.

In most countries, resources provided by local and federal governments andthe community are not sufficient to sustain humanitarian programs and servicesin the long run. Therefore, a vital corresponding building block of organiza-tional development is to make certain that there is an internal support system forfund-raising activities. A sound financial development strategy is a prerequisite togenerate more resources. Key to flourishing fund-raising and revenue-generatingactivities is the ability to develop and maintain excellent relations with all stake-holders. Fund-raising to generate revenue is a necessity in the non-profit human-itarian sector and the most important characteristic of successful fund-raising istrust.

3. SHARJAH CITY FOR HUMANITARIAN SERVICESSharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) is a not-forprofit organi-

zation serving people with disabilities in the United Arab Emirates since 1979.The initial aim of the City was to advance the Arab family and develop the socialservices it needs as authorized by decree number 611981, issued on March 11,1981, by the Government of Sharjah. The decree established the City as an inde-pendent charity for the care of the handicapped with the capacity to conduct alllegal procedures necessary to fulfill its aims and objectives and to enjoy financialand administrative independence.

In UAE non-profit organizations, although independent of the government,have to be approved by it. SCHS was established by a decree issued by the govern-ment of Sharjah giving the organization financial and administrative independence.Being a well-recognized and a credible organization, SCHS enjoys a full supportfrom the local government of Sharjah. The government pays part of the salariesand provides buildings, land and other types of support. In addition, SCHS servesthe broader goals of the government of Sharjah in the social and special needsareas being the largest and oldest such organization in the area.

SCHS serves more than 2000 persons with disabilities every year. Servicesinclude early intervention, education, rehabilitation, family counseling, commu-nity awareness, teacher training, facilitation of services and accessibility in societyfor people with physical and mental challenges, and providing resources in Ara-bic on disability and special education. These, beside many other services, puta financial burden on SCHS and its management. About 300 employees work atSCHS serving the goals of the organization through the different centers, schools,and departments. The organization is headed by a general director who along withheads of departments forms the administrative board.

SCHS annual spending is about eight million dirham, most of whichgoes for salaries. Annual income fluctuates and cannot be anticipated due to


the fact that a large percentage of it comes from donations and fund-raisingactivities.

Main sources of income are: Fixed Government donations, aid, and grants. Earnings from assets (a residential building and shops). Nominal school fees. Donations from individuals, companies, and institutions. Earnings from fund-raising events and projects. Sales of books (SCHS publications and donated publications). Sales of products of Vocational Training Workshops.

The management of SCHS, in its efforts to create a sustainable income forrunning basic services of the center, and with the guidance and encouragementof His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, member of thesupreme council, ruler of Sharjah and Patron of SCHS, started to invest in income-generating projects such as commercial buildings and shops to be rented as well asmarketing products of its workshops. It has also started developing small businessprojects that serve income generation, student training and employment of peoplewith disabilities.

To gain an understanding of the situation in question the authors used inter-views as a main source. These interviews were conducted as a mix semi structuredinterviews and open discussions. In total 10 people were interviewed at variousmanagerial and operational levels. These interviews helped the authors articulatethe problem situation, define the root definition, conduct CATWOE analysis, buildthe conceptual model, and compare the conceptual model with the real situation.

3.1. Problem Situation

Financial support is needed in order to establish the above mentioned projectsand sustain them. The management of SCHS has set aside an investments account(also from donations) to finance new income-generating projects. We expect tohave a sustained income to cover the main spending requirements within 6 years.

The goal of fund-raising at SCHS is not only to bring in funds to cover itsexpenses. A more important goal is to have the community share responsibilityof its disabled citizens through participating in these events. This will in turn leadto the community having specific expectations from SCHS resulting in improvedservices.

Until SCHS reaches its objectives regarding income-generating projects, itwill still be dependent on donations and grants to run its services. It cannot affordto have a decline in income from donations and fund-raising events even for 1 year.From the financial reports, we have noticed a decline in donated funds from the year2002 to the year 2003. The Finance Department at SCHS prepared a comparativereport for the last 3 years (Table I) from which it was obvious that donations were


Table I. Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (Comparative Donations Table inDirhams)

Amount

Donations 2001 2002 2003

General donations 3,639,929 7,378,515 5,116,312Zakata 373,597 491,575 670,295Al Manal Magazine 202,000 250,000 180,000Emirates Very Special Arts 60,000 60,000 60,000Sharjah Dinner 2,423,868 Early Intervention Center 1,356,500 1,366,183 1,347,810Sharjah Autism Center 337,978 562,000 158,467Total 8,393,872 10,108,273 7,532,884

aThe Zakat is a form of giving to those who are less fortunate. It is obligatory upon allMuslims to give 2.5% of wealth and assets each year (in excess of what is required) tothe poor.

higher in 2002 than both 2001 and 2003. As we cannot afford to wait until incomedeclines further, we decided to conduct a Soft System Methodology analysis onthis specific problem situation. Our goal is to find out what the reasons are behindthis decline in income and to come up with practical suggestions for feasibleand desirable changes to help us move from the present situation to a better one.Information was collected from financial reports, individual interviews with somemembers of the staff and from discussions and brain storming sessions at staffmeetings.

3.1.1. Problem Situation ExpressedIn Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services, income generated from donations

and fund-raising activities is declining which means that community participa-tion and commitment is also declining leading to a gap between SCHS and thecommunity it serves and prospers in.

The problem situation is best expressed in Rich Picture where all relevantstakeholders are identified and related concerns are investigated.

3.2. Rich Picture

Here, an effort is made to list the key role players (stakeholders) in thesituation and define briefly the related concerns of each. Rich picture of theproblem situation is represented in Fig. 1.

3.2.1. GovernmentsThe local government of Sharjah and the UAE federal government are both

involved here. The Federal Government represented by the Ministry of Labor and


Social Affairs has no clear regulations concerning private centers for the disabledand it has no regulations on fund-raising activities. Many of the donations offeredto such services through the Ministry do not reach these centers. Financial supportis either not available or very little. The number of charities in a specific area isnot regulated which increases competition over donations.

The local government of Sharjah is one source of income. It also facilitatesevents and projects that SCHS organizes. For larger projects, the government offersland, free water and electricity, exemption of municipal and other fees as well asmany other types of support that leads to direct or indirect income generation forthe City.

Also, due to governments recognition and appreciation of SCHSs role inserving the UAE society, SCHS gained trust and recognition from the communityas a whole.

3.2.2. CommunityThe community includes beneficiaries of SCHSs services such as persons

with disabilities, their families, staff, special education students, and others includ-ing those who finance SCHS through donations or participation in fund-raisingevents. The later include individuals as well as organizations.

Communitys perception of SCHS as a governmental association causesreduction of financial support as governments are viewed as the main body re-sponsible for financing such services.

In order to gain the support of the community, information about SCHSservices has to be spread. Awareness programs and different events that SCHScarries out are considered good means of passing on information. For the purposeof public awareness, the Media department at SCHS publishes a monthly magazineand puts together a weekly television program. School events and visits to SCHSare being organized all year long but it seems that information still does not reachas far as its intended to.

When discussing community participation in charitable work we shouldinclude the fact that some people participate to improve their image and/or socialstatus. Social responsibility is to be stressed, also when dealing with communityas many organizations thrive to show their social responsibility in order toimprove their image and feel good about their operations. Are we as charitiesaware of this? And how should we go about getting the best out of it?

We should consider the expatriates community in our analysis since morethan 80% of UAEs population consists of expatriates. Most of these expatriates donot speak Arabic, a point which we should take into consideration when publishinginformation and or advertising fund-raising events.

Economic and political factors affect peoples willingness and/or ability todonate to charities. The war in Iraq during the year 2003 has affected negativelydonations to SCHS. It has also affected the economy as a whole which in turnaffected donations.


3.2.3. Management of SCHSAlong with its other obligations, the management of SCHS is concerned

with generating funds to run the services as well as coming up with long-termprojects and innovative ideas to sustain SCHSs income. This needs connectionsand requires many public relations and participation in different community eventson the part of the management as well as other concerned staff at SCHS.

The issue of trust is very important and this comes through transparency andsharing of information with community members as well as within the organi-zation. Creating a sense of belonging on all different levels of the organizationsustains loyal employees who on turn participate in creating trust and attractingfunds to the City.

3.2.4. Media Department at SCHSThe role of the Media Department is very vital as it is the mirror that reflects

the work of SCHS to the community and through it a feedback may be obtained. Itestablishes the needed trust and stresses the transparency aspect of what we wantothers to know about us. So, is this department doing enough? Where should itimprove? And what types of media should it hit more? Many questions need to beanswered here.

3.2.5. Public Relations Department at SCHSThe Public Relations (PR) Department has a vital role in our issue of concern.

PR officers have a direct contact with the community and they represent SCHS andwhat it reflects. Here we have to look into how these officers contact the outsidecommunity, what they reflect about SCHS, how transparent and comprehensivethe information they convey to others is, and what new ideas and project shouldthey come up with to attract peoples participation and involvement in our work.

3.2.6. Finance and Human Resources Department at SCHSThe concerns here are on how to generate the needed income, how to innovate

and come up with long-term income generating projects and how to fund theseprojects and cover the running costs of SCHS at the same time. Another concernis in what type of employees to choose, and how to keep them motivated and loyalto the City?

3.2.7. Staff of SCHSStaff of SCHS has two important roles. First is to do their job efficiently

and effectively in order to gain the trust of the community especially that ofbeneficiaries of services. The second is to spread awareness and educate thosewhom they come in contact with about SCHSs goals and services. Staff partic-ipation in fund-raising events is vital and their voluntary work help in reducingproject costs.


3.2.8. CompetitionCompetition consists of two main participants. One is charities in general

and the other is similar centers for persons with special needs. Charities in gen-eral support SCHS work by offering money or in-kind donations. In this casetheir competition in attracting community funds is transformed into coopera-tion where both sides become partners and have a win-win situation. Centers forpersons with special needs have similar goals. They usually compete in terms ofservices and/or fund-raising. Fortunately enough, SCHS works with other centersas partners and have no problem with this competition.

3.3. Root Definition

As stated above, the root definition is a condensed statement about the systemand is comparable in so many ways to a mission statement of an entity. The rootdefinition for SCHS, based on its state mission statement follows:

There is a need for stronger community participation in SCHSs projects. This may beestablished through new innovative means carried out by both media and public relationsdepartments at SCHS in order to increase donations coming from both individuals andorganizations.

3.4. CATWOE Analysis

CATWOE comes about as a combination of intuition and stakeholders gutfeelings, and real world experience. The following table represents a descriptionof CATWOE for the case in question:

CATWOE Analysis

Customer People with disabilities, parents, societyActor Management, media and public relations departmentsTransformation From the present medium participation of the community

to a stronger and better involvement in SCHSsprojects and events.

Weltanchauung Supporting non-profit service organizations is a joint(World View) responsibility among governments, private sector,

and communityOwner Sharjah government, SCHSs managementEnvironmental Economic drawbacks, political situation,

constraints priorities of governments.


SCHS is an advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities. It works handin hand with persons with disabilities and their parents. It acts on behalf of itsclients. It employs persons with disabilities and has them in different committeesand project teams.

The Weltanschauung states that Supporting non-profit service organizationsis a joint responsibility among governments, private sector and community Forany non-profit organization to succeed and accomplish its goals and mission apartnership should exist among the four stakeholders i.e., governments, privatesector, the community and the organization itself.

To give examples, one of SCHSs goals is to help persons with disabilitiesfind decent and suitable jobs. This would not be possible if the government didnot interfere through legislation or informal rules towards employment of personswith disabilities. Also, the private sector has a role in providing employmentpossibilities and adjusting the physical work environment to be suitable for thosewith physical disabilities. The communities role here is to accept interacting withpersons with disabilities in the different work settings and to provide them withmoral support. The organizations role is to prepare well-educated and trainedgraduates to fit the job market.

Environmental constraints include economic drawback and crunches affect-ing revenue-generation and fund-raising activities; political situation which mightaffect the relationship among the various local and regional humanitarian servicesorganizations; and priorities of the local and federal governments might shift withless emphasis on public sector and humanitarian services organizations.

3.5. Conceptual Model

The conceptual model comprises a representation of the minimum activitiesnecessary to carry out the needed transformation within the stated worldview. Forour case, the conceptual model formed for this root definition is attached in Fig. 2and a comparison with real life situation follows in Table II.

3.6. The Five Es Evaluation

To complete our analysis of the problem situation we have to verify thatour conceptual model contains the five Es: Efficiency, Efficacy, Effectiveness,Ethicality, and Elegance.

Our model is Efficient as it will give us the best return on all our activities andwill maximize SCHS income from donations with the use of its scarce resources.Efficacy is present in the model as with adopting the suggested ideas, value willbe delivered to end users (i.e., the community) through awareness, good services,and happy productive individuals. Effectiveness is reached through sustainability


Fig. 2. Conceptual model.

of services as we maintain a regular income. Ethicality is reached through sharinginformation with the community and being transparent as to where the donatedmoney is exactly going. Elegance, our last E, is reflected through happy andsatisfied beneficiaries. It is also reflected through use of the latest design softwareand different IT functions.

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4. PROPOSED CHANGES

From the comparison drawn between the conceptual model and real lifesituationwe may adopt many feasible and desirable changes for implementation.It is in fact possible to carry on all proposed changes with little difficulties. Speedat which these changes may take place might be slow due to different reasonsincluding the need of attitudinal changes and other factors which we have nocontrol over like wars and economic situations. A list of these proposed changesfollows:

1. Organize and host more social gatherings.2. Plan well for investment projects and be careful when choosing partners

to collaborate with.3. Continue the work in IT systems and try to speed it up.4. Train staff on using IT systems and how to maximize their benefits.5. Continue the work on changing attitudes towards services for persons

with special needs.6. Media department should look for new channels to reach the public.7. Media department should develop an electronic Newsletter and send it to

as many people as possible, especially to those who positively participatein funding and voluntary work.

8. Special ads & fund-raising activities should be directed to the expatriatecommunity.

9. Find means to attract English speaking volunteers from the expatriatecommunity.

10. Develop an electronic data base for all funding parties as well as potentialsources of funding.

11. Offer prizes to the best innovative fund-raising ideas presented every yearby SCHSs staff.

5. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, it is recommended that SCHS look for other sources of incomeand continue its investment projects to sustain a self-generated income in the longrun. It is also strongly recommended that SCHS develop and keep upgrading itsinformation technology system for the purpose of improving its records, data basisfor a quicker more efficient sharing of information. At the end, I recommend thatSCHS encourage innovation from within as well as from the outside. It shouldalso organize the efforts of its volunteers.

As Soft Systems methodology is an open ended technique that has a lot ofpotential for expanding on ideas and recommendations, we see that many of theproposed changes may be further investigated and elaborated on using SSM.


Finally, the recommendations listed in this paper will be implemented andthe authors are planning a post-implementation study in a couple of years in orderto measure the impact of the changes and programs undertaken.

The authors would like to note here that the recommended changes proposedabove assume a continuation of SCHS in its current form (mission, purpose,organization, and relationship with the government of Sharjah). The suggestedchanges are expected to improve the Citys current functioning, and that none ofthe changes are in the nature of a radical re-thinking of the essential purpose ormission of SCHS. Our in depth analysis of the City confirms our belief that thebasic form of SCHS is sound and should be continued.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The authors would like to thank two anonymous referees for their commentson a previous version of this paper.

REFERENCES

Bergavall-Kareborn, B., Mirijamdotter, A., and Basden, A. (2004). Basic principles of SSM modeling:An examination of CATWOE from a soft perspective. Syst. Pract. Act. Res. 17(2), 5568.

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Checkland, P. (1985). From optimizing to learning: A development of systems thinking for the 1990s.J. Operat. Res. Soc. 36(9), 757767.

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In Bayraktar B. A., Muller-Merbach, H., Roberts, J. E., and Simpson, M. G. (eds.), Education inSystems Science, Taylor & Francis, London, pp. 318326.

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