A Morphological Field Analysis of the Creative,
Innovation and Execution Process:
Giving Decision Support to a Confused
Landscape?
Bruce Garvey and Dr Nasir Hussain
Email: hussain@strategyforesight.org
Innovation, Creativity & Leadership - Research and Practice, 11th June 2012, City University
What’s the Problem?
Innovation
 Creativity
 Innovation
 Execution
 How does this on-going
problem open up new
research vistas?
Creativity
Execution
Uncertainty
Qualitative
Risk
Hybrid
Quantitative
The landscape of decision support and
problem-structuring methods
 Decision Support Modelling is
application of scientific modelling
methods for the study and
management of complex systems
 Involves the construction
scenarios & futures projections to
test strategies, policies, systems
or organisational structures.
 Problem Structuring Methods
are a family of methods that
apply modelling approaches to
address ‘wicked problems’ faced
by senior executives, strategists
and planners of organisations.
 They seek to alleviate or improve
situations characterised by high
uncertainty, conflict and
complexity.
It’s better to be approximately right than
precisely wrong…..
“One of the greatest mistakes that can be made when dealing
with a mess is to carve off part of the mess, treat it as a
problem and then solve it as a puzzle -- ignoring its links with
other aspects of the mess.”
Michael Pidd, Tools for Thinking
Analysing a confused landscape...
Domain
Area of management Analytical category Type of analysis
Creativity
Strategic
Frameworks
Qualitative
Innovation
Tactical
Tools, aids, devices
Quantitative
Execution
Operational
Processes
Hybrid
How many combinations are there?
The organisational context
Organisational
responsibility
Organisational
culture (Tharp)
Cultural dimensions
(Hofstede)
Chairman / Board
Control (hierarchy)
Power distance
CEO / C-level
Collaborate (clan)
Individualism
Cross-functional
project team
Functional
departments
Individuals
Create (adhocracy)
Compete (market)
Masculinity /
Femininity
Uncertainty
avoidance
Long-term
orientation
Organisational
structure
(Mintzberg)
Vertical & horizontal
centralisation
Limited horizontal
decentralisation
Horizontal
centralisation
Limited vertical
decentralisation
Selected
decentralisation
Decentralisation
Any
Linking the internal and contextual perspectives
Strategic
Analytical
category
Frameworks
Type of
analysis
Qualitative
Innovation
Tactical
Tools, aids, devices
Quantitative
Execution
Operational
Processes
Hybrid
Domain
Area of management
Creativity
Organisational
responsibility
Organisational
culture (Tharp)
Cultural dimensions
(Hofstede)
Chairman / Board
Control (hierarchy)
Power distance
CEO / C-level
Collaborate (clan)
Individualism
Cross-functional
project team
Functional
departments
Individuals
Create (adhocracy)
Compete (market)
Masculinity /
Femininity
Uncertainty
avoidance
Long-term
orientation
Organisational
structure
(Mintzberg)
Vertical &
horizontal
centralisation
Limited horizontal
decentralisation
Horizontal
centralisation
Limited vertical
decentralisation
Selected
decentralisation
Decentralisation
Any
An example of an inference model
Implications for further research
 Presented a two-stage
research programme
 Phase 1: Explore the variety
of decision support
methods within CIE domain
 Phase 2: Research into
creating an integrated
model adaptable to
practitioners from different
CIE sectors
External
environment
i.e. ‘what if’
Decision
fields
i.e. ‘looking
through the
right lens’
Strategic
vision
i.e. internal
‘values’
Take home messages
1. Analysed the vast landscape of decision support models
2. Highlighted the organisational context within which to use
the most optimal mix of decision support models
3. Demonstrated a live example of how General Morphological
Analysis can operate as an inference model
4. Outlined a research programme that will have benefits for
practitioners
5. Further material available at www.strategyforesight.org