The need for increased user participation and involvement in the process of designing and developing public e-Services has been emphasized in recent years. User involvement is critical to success in the development and implementation of public e-Services, and many visions and efforts are focused on citizen participation in the design and development process. In this article, concepts of Social Systems Design are analysed in the context of local public e-Services in order to improve potential to meet the requirements for user participation and involvement. Results show that the ideas of Social Systems Design, where applicable, can contribute to user-centred development of local public e-Services, and can form a foundation for the development of methods that utilize user participation and involvement. However, further research requires empirical studies.

This is an exploratory case study of a management issue that confronts filmmakers: how do they select locations for their films? The outcome of those decisions can have vast and immediate effects upon the profitability of a film. This is a sometimes shadowy, but significant industry with a major economic impact. For systems theory advocates, students, and explorers, this study demonstrates that investigative, immersive action research techniques can be used to explore what are otherwise hidden, somewhat cloistered business organizations and industry structures that are ordinarily closed to outsiders. The soft-system of this industry that is rooted upon trust, loyalty, alliances, relationships, and other non-financial bonds influence its decisions, and its institutional performance. While this research is focused upon a fragment of the overall film industry worldwide, and is thus limited in the universality of the propositions that subsequently emerge, this study can serve as a springboard for research into other soft systems, from which new knowledge of managerial perspectives can emerge.

This paper presents a personal account of the theory and practice of staff development of Open University (OU) tutorial staff, based on nearly 30 years' experience, during which I have consciously reflected on my work, continually building on what has seemed important. It results from an extensive process of reflection in which I have tried to capture an understanding of what I do, with the aid of systems models. Some of the basic assumptions and systems models I present have more or less stood the test of time for a number of years; others are the result of my latest reflections. I show how I have used systems concepts and methods to form a coherent, holistic framework for developing tutorial staff in the East Anglian Region of the OU. Two aspects of this work are emphasized: first, the role that staff development can play in improving tutors' basic skills and understanding of their role; second, how the quality of their work is managed through using feedback and the notions of single- and double-loop learning. An important feature of this work has been the setting-up of communities of practice which enable learning by individual tutors to be shared with their peers and transformed into organizational learning for general use. Starting with some basic assumptions about staff development, a number of systemic models are presented which fit into a coherent framework, linking theory to practice and embodying Rene Dubos' (1972) well-known dictum to "Think globally, act locally."

Strategic policy has to be implemented within complex operating environments where organisations have to perform within an inter-dependent production process in a dynamic mix of competition and cooperation. This suggests that network structures need to be in place that allow for both collaboration and competition whilst mitigating against structural fragmentation. The aim of this research was to further the understanding of control and communication mechanisms and collaboration in policy implementation networks and focus upon problems of structural fragmentation in these complex policy environments. This research used a systems approach to develop a methodological framework based on Beer’s Viable System Model, work by Espejo and Social Network Analysis. The research was set in a tourism ‘cluster’ in an English seaside context, which is that part of the Yorkshire coast covered by the Scarborough Borough Council local authority, where a more culturally focussed tourism product was being introduced.

This article describes the way in which the Open University is expanding its online quiz engine to enable students to draw free-form diagrams in response to a quiz question. The new quiz engine automatically marks a student’s diagram and provides feedback either instantaneously when used in formative mode or later when used in summative mode. The new quiz engine is hosted within the Open University’s quiz module, OpenMark, which interfaces to the Moodle VLE which is responsible for rendering both the question and the feedback in the user’s browser. The article outlines the general nature of the diagrams that our system has been designed to deal with. This is followed by an example of the use of the new question type as implemented within our e-assessment system. The article also briefly summarizes the results of experiments carried out on the accuracy of the automatic marker and reports on feedback from students who have used the new diagramming question type.

In the face of complex and uncertain issues, one important goal of public participation in resource management and research is to foster communication and the inclusion of non-expert knowledge—thus the effective flow of information between project organisers and stakeholders. We compare different methods (instruments, tools) that were employed in the German–Austrian ‘PartizipA’ project to structure information flows in participatory processes. Depending on their goals and context, more or less ‘formalised’ and ‘participatory’ methods were applied, the most important being guided interviews, focus groups, agent-based modelling, nutrient modelling, cognitive mapping and group model building as well as the development of a common document. Two regional case studies, both concerned with European-induced institutional change, are portrayed in which the specific participatory methods were embedded. The Austrian case study involved the analysis and modelling of agricultural land use in the region of St. Pölten against the background of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, while the implementation of recent European water policy was the issue in the German agricultural region north of Osnabrück. Presenting both cases in their regional context, the applied methods are first described according to the logic of the entire respective process. Subsequently, the specific methods are systematically analysed and compared according to their objective, context and degrees of participation and formalisation. Finally, we evaluate all methods regarding their effectiveness in terms of goal attainment and their potential generalisation, seeking to respond to the question of when a particular method might best be used.