A complexity management approach for designing viable IT service systems in South Africa

Abstract

This research investigates important determinants in designing, implementing and managing viable Information Technology (IT) service systems in the South African economy where digitalisation and globalisation are introducing unprecedented market and technological dynamics. The research adopts the Viable Systems Approach to provide a systematic, iterative process to service system design, tackling both service delivery and service co-creation complexities through the application of Viable System Theory. Having identified and discussed various existing service system design models available in the literature to date, the residual complexities these models present are discussed, and the research proposes an integrated model for designing viable IT service systems. The developed Integrated Service System Model is used for developing a complexity management approach to designing viable IT service systems within selected firms in South Africa. The finding is that the Viable Systems Approach efficiently reveals residual variety in operational IT services systems under investigation while also providing viable service system designs for services systems found to contain a residual variety. The use of the Cybernetics model within the Viable Systems Approach proves useful in analysing specified service system viability operating in dynamic markets by providing the analytical tools and methods to interrogate systemic behaviour from a complexity perspective. The recommendation is that in erratic dynamic markets where previous performance history does not guarantee sustainable performance, residual variety presented by the market environment and the ability to effectively implement viable service system designs are critical determinants to designing viable IT service systems that can survive in the digital economy. The implications for management is the foundational understanding and a multi-disciplined application of Organisational Cybernetics (OC) in the design and management of service systems. Further research is suggested in applying the developed Integrated Service System Model in other industries and service system context to prove or improve the tenacity of the model in designing service system that adapts to dynamic market environments over the entire service system lifecycle.