USING SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY TO IDENTIFY COMPETENCE REQUIREMENTS INHRM

Uses a case study to show how Checkland's soft systems methodology (SS M) may be used as a vehicle for developing competence profiles in huma n resource management. The benefits of SSM are based on its underlying interpretive assumptions, the distinctive way in which conceptual mod els are used to create learning and insight, and other aspects of syst ems thinking, notably the guidance embodied in its technology, and its use of the systems concepts of hierarchy and holism. Argues that much of the data which provide the basis for many HRM decisions is meaning less because they are abstracted from the broader social context from which they emerged. Presents SSM as an approach for developing HR-rela ted information which has the potential to overcome this difficulty.