International Journal of Project ManagementVol. 14, No. 1, pp.

23-30, 1996
Pergamon Copyright © 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved
0263-7863/96 $15.00 + 0.00

0263-7863(95)00050-X

Assisting cultural reform in a

projects-based company using
Systemigrams

D G Sherman,t A J Cole* and J T Boardman

Systems Engineering Group, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester LE1 9BH, UK

The only sustainable advantage that one business can have over another is the knowledge base
of its employees; everything else is in the public domain. If all project personnel know and can
share values about best project practice they can then be responsive and adaptive to a changing
environment; if not then they will probably resist the change. This paper describes how the
Boardman Soft Systems Methodology (BSSM) has been used to support a programme of
cultural re-orientation within a medium-sized systems engineering business. The company has
recognised the need to adopt a project management organisation in order to survive and prosper
in the competitive business environment of the 1990s. Senior management prepared strategy
papers and guidelines for employees which set out to describe the new way in which the business
should operate. The methodology has been used to create diagrams that more richly describe
these new company values, so that they may become a basis for shared values and provide a
vehicle for cultural change. The diagrams, known as Systemigrams (systemic diagrams) have
been demonstrated to provide an enlightened understanding of engineering and management
process dynamics as a basis for shared values and can be shown to illuminate possibilities for
process improvement to ensure alignment with organisational objectives.
Keywords: project management, soft systems methodologies, process modelling, culture

The environment in which UK manufacturing industry
must operate is changing. Changes in the world economy,
demographic influences and an increasing awareness of
environmental aspects, offer both threats and opportunities
to manufacturing industry which must be addressed if
companies wish to survive and prosper ~. Ongoing improve-
ments in communications, transport and logistics has meant
that the manufacturing industry must adopt a more global
perspective. Suppliers, competitors, markets and customers
are becoming easier to reach. This not only provides
increased opportunities for exploiting world-wide markets
but also results in the threat of increased competition from
overseas suppliers. Secure home markets no longer exist,
as every market becomes exposed to world competition; the
UK's manufacturing companies must find the capability to
beat (or at least match) the best in the world.
The customer must be embraced as part of the system of
the business. The demand for quality products is driving
manufacturing companies to achieve excellence. Customer
*Corresponding author.
standards are rising and competition for their business is
fierce. Company performance must attain excellence in
quality, delivery and cost under increasingly demanding
conditions such as people and skill shortages, increased
people costs and greater environmental constraints. The
market is demanding multi-technology products alongside
shorter product life-cycles and delivery times, causing an
increase in the uncertainty and complexity of manufacturing.
UK manufacturing now relies on the ability of companies
to achieve a favourable competitive position through suc-
cessful management of these critical areas.
The picture is grim, and yet British industry has no
option, it must rise to the challenge and make radical
changes to the way in which it operates. To estimate the
culture of the business is to characterise its personality. Not
surprisingly, this personality is derived from the way in
which the people in the business go about their work; how
they view the company and how they consider each other
etc. If the business wants to change its culture then it wishes
to change the aforementioned things. This paper describes
the role of the Boardman Soft Systems Methodology (BSSM)
in supporting a programme of cultural re-orientation within

23
Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.
a medium-sized systems engineering business aimed at
ensuring the survival of the company in today's competitive
business environment and helping it to prosper. The
methodology could be applied to a company of any size,
providing it has a well defined idea of the internal change
it wishes to bring about.
Competitive advantage
Competition lies at the core of business success; a company
must achieve some form of advantage over its competitors.
A company's competitive advantage depends on what it can
offer its customers in terms of service and price over and
above its competitors. A superior competitive advantage
can be gained by either reducing the price or increasing the
value of the product or service to the customer. An increase
in both the value and the cost is only valid if the customer
is still satisfied. Superior value is born from offering lower
prices than competitors for equivalent benefits, or providing
unique benefits which more than offset a higher price 2.
How does a business achieve this?
The only sustainable advantage that one business can
have over another is the knowledge base of its employees;
everything else is in the public domain. Systems engineering
businesses gain value by virtue of their product's structural
complexity. The processes which transform relatively in-
expensive raw materials into expensive systems are intricately
related and this reflects product complexity. The customer
therefore pays for the skill of the human resource in creating
that added value. Systems engineering businesses have
to develop
,ol\,o ve
have
~, maintain
Partnership:
to
reduce
to
Acquisition
lo
ensure Delivery
of
of
Quality
of
Figure 1. Purchasing function
24
better prospects than many other businesses in being able
to affect both value and price of the product by virtue of the
skills and knowledge base of its employees. Clever designs
can reduce time to market, re-use of existing designs can
reduce costs for the company and innovative designs have
value in the eyes of the customer who may have his own
customers to attract.
About Systemigrams
Systemigrams (systemic diagrams) enable the essence of
complex processes to be captured visually whilst maintaining
the semantics of natural language. See Figure 1 for an
example. They are able to portray the essential nature of
the modelled system by identifying key entities which are
represented by nodes on the diagram. The relationships
between nodes are indicated by the text on the connecting
arcs and major subsystems can be identified by tracing
paths (sentences within the diagram).
Systemigrams prompt discussion and feedback. They
also provide expressions of process dynamics and rationale,
providing guidance and support for project managers and
systems engineers. By regularly referring to diagrams,
their content becomes very memorable, much more so than
standard prose. In this way, the systemigram is acting as a
simple memory surface which contains a rich knowledge
capital. Through familiarity and recall, the knowledge
contained in a systemigram can become ingrained as part of
a company culture.
A key feature of the new business strategy is the concept
for
to negotiate
Terms &
Conditions
for
lo
specific
which
provides
increasing
Profitability
required
for
of
of Projects
for
~IS
 Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.
of continuous process improvement and heightened market
orientation. The BSSM has been used to create models that
capture the deployment of the company's resource (people)
for the execution of systems engineering processes and the
overseeing and controlling processes of project management.
Systemigrams provide a medium by which latent knowl-
edge within a company may be mobilised. Once the
knowledge is represented in Systemigram form it becomes
accessible to the workforce. The Systemigram becomes a
basis for discussion for all concerned with the situation
modelled; they provide means of visually capturing the
significant elements of any situation and emphasising the
relationships betwen them in a way that prose alone cannot.
The discussions will give rise to improved understanding
and shared values which can lead to concensus for change
and improvement of business operations.
It is possible to model just about anything conceptually.
Within the medium-sized systems engineering business, the
BSSM has been used to create models for the following
purposes:
• To communicate functional roles and responsibilities
(Figure 1).
• To represent project processes (Figure 2).
• To reinforce the message for change in project manage-
ment (Figures 4 and 7).
A system approach to modelling using hierarchical prin-
ciples, makes for the ability to recognise the relationships
between parts and the relationship of parts to the whole.
This underlines the integrated approach necessary for the
'whole' of the company to satisfy its customers and to be
able to take advantage of market opportunities.
The use of Systemigrams as described greatly assists the
learning process necessary for continuous improvement.
The ability to learn faster than one's competitors may often
be the only method by which a competitive advantage over
them may be achieved and sustained.
Functional modelling for an integrated business
A commonly found characteristic of company culture is
that functional departments have an impression that they
are the centre of the business and do most of the work and
there are huge metaphorical walls around functional areas.
Within systems engineering businesses the engineering
function often falls victim to the view that they are the
critical agency (or even the sole agency) concerned with the
creation of a product. This is an obstacle to achieving a
responsive and market-oriented workforce because the
functional boundaries are insufficiently flexible to be able to
take advantage of a particular market situation. Using
Systemigrams (such as in Figure 1) can help to dispel this
notion by raising the awareness of what particular functions
within a business contribute to the whole. Figure I is based
on information gained from personnel within the purchasing
function and from senior management. It represents the
mission, if you will, of the department. It is developed from
past experiences and so therefore is real and acceptable to
company personnel, but is geared towards future develop-
ment, and so also communicates the intended cultural shift
in the focus of the department--an agency that assists the
company in serving the clients 3.
The Systemigram describing the functional purpose now
becomes a basis for discussion. For example the purchasing
manager can use it to ensure that all purchasing personnel
understand the overall role of the department. Other company
personnel whose own roles are impacted upon by the
purchasing function would use the models in order to gain
appreciation of another functional area which assists the
total integration of the company. It is possible to model
lower levels of detail for the function and create a nest of
systemigrams, for example one such lower level model
could explore the role of purchasing in working with
project departments to negotiate terms and conditions for
specific projects.
Effective operation of process via modelling
If all concerned with the operation of a process agree about
what is to be done and who is to do it and what passes to
where etc. then the operation of the process is likely to be
more successful. The use of systemigrams to provide clarity
to systems engineering processes is demonstrated with
Figure 2. This systemigram describes the way in which
enquiries are received and processed by the industrial
collaborator. Enquiry qualification represents a key process
by which the company decides which of the enquiries
received represent opportunities to win new business and
are able to allocate resources to the bidding process accord-
ingly. The systemigram offers clarity by identifying:
• the people involved with the process (Agents)
• the tasks that those people are required to carry out
(Activities)
• the resulting products of the tasks (Artefacts)
• the recipients and beneficiaries of these products
(Audiences)
A template for obtaining and structuring information about
the above elements is shown in Figure 3.
By using models like Figure 2 it is possible to create a
system of shared values among the agents. In this instance
the process requires contributions from a number of agencies.
The systemigram united the agents' varying viewpoints into
one coherent process model. The model reflects the dif-
ferent experiences, roles and expertise of the contributing
agents whilst individual perspectives can be set in a wider
context. There is now an agreement of the process, which
represents a guiding or 'as should be' model.
With this unity (and the agents' commitment) the sys-
temigram represents a controlling document, ensuring that
the process is correctly executed. The MD can easily see
that he needs to have received details of the estimating
resource required for producing the proposal and an assess-
ment of project requirements, risk and potential contract
value before he prepares to make a Bid/No Bid decision. If
more formal mechanisms for process control are required,
then these can be formulated on the basis of the model also.
Overhauling project management
Project: A company's method for developing products
which will satisfy their customers. There are as many
definitions of projects as there are authors on the topic.
Turner 4 surveys many available definitions and defines a
project as:
an endeavour in which human, material and financial
resources are organised in a novel way, to achieve a unique
25
Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.

Estimating
Resource required
discipline and for
quantity of
which is
received by

Contract
Secreterial ~lects

Pa~mg 4 ~ r o p o ~ s
send for

uses
about

providing
information
for against for

Accounts • Corporate Tender

t o enable
to Vetting
who nonitoring assist _ .

to provide produce by
information to to ermnle
monitoring by
for
Bid/No Bid
which i s Decision
communicated
% to continue to
whether to select
Proposal
Production

Figure 2. Enquiry qualification

scope of work, of given specification, within constraints
of cost and time, so as to achieve a purpose defined by
quantitative and qualitative objectives.
The unique nature of projects instantly differentiates project
management from the management of routine operations.
This is reflected by the way a project-oriented business is
organised and operates; its 'company culture'. Handy 5
describes common company cultures and the nature of the
work to which they are best suited. Successful project
environments need to be flexible, dynamic and responsive
to change. A goal-oriented approach is required. Each
person must fulfil more than one role, concentrating on
getting the job done rather than the function being carried
lakes rebpon$ibilityfor
Figure 3. Four as template
out. Project teams become concerned with effectiveness,
because the uniqueness of projects does not allow for
efficiency measurement.
Effective project management is vital in creating com-
petitive advantage, it is a function itself (although rarely
viewed that way, since project managers are usually dispersed
throughout the business) and as an agency needs to assist
the company in serving its clients. The intention of the
project management initiative launched in the company that
was studied, was to re-state the role and responsibilities of
a project manager in this context. Although, as we have
mentioned, it is no one agency that can take credit for
business success, since the business is a medium-sized
systems engineering company, then the role of project
management is fundamental to day-to-day operations. The
successful operation of project management processes is
dependent on the way in which a company supports the
management of its projects and it is this that can greatly
influence its project management culture.
The statement of the role and responsibilities of a project
manager in the context of assisting the company to serve the
clients was made in a project managers' handbook prepared
by senior staff in the company. It was intended to provide
guidance for project managers and systems engineers during
the execution of their clients projects.
The project managers' handbook was the cornerstone of
a programme of cultural reorientation which was designed
to aid the integration of all company functions. The hand-
book was a vehicle for the change process which was sup-
ported by regular training sessions. These sessions satisfied
requirements for successful transition management 6, by
demonstrating commitment to the change programme. It

26

also encouraged employee participation and feedback,
assisting the evaluation of programme success and sub-
sequent modification (if required).
However, there is a lot of information to be imparted to
project personnel and not surprisingly the messages often
become confused or lost in the day-to-day problems of
running a business. A concise overview of what the hand-
book was intended for and how it would improve the
company was required, something that could act as a simple
memory surface for the rich knowledge capital being im-
parted. The BSSM was used to create a model that provides
an overview that reflected the structure of the handbook
and acts as a containing system for the lower level project
management processes. Figure 4 is the Systemigram that
was created by inspecting the project managers' handbook
and talking with senior management about their intentions
for it. The ability of the diagram to support a system of
more detailed information ensures that the PM processes
line up with the organisation's objectives.
The PM handbook in m o r e d e t a i l
Project management, in spite (or because) of its familiarity,
is one of the least understood management principles 4.
Projects often fail to achieve their objectives due to a lack
of process understanding during execution of the project.
The project manager's handbook attempts to address this by
encapsulating the company's project management knowl-
edge, built up through a history of project execution,
successful and unsuccessful.
NIS Ltd.
expects
has a ~a~-"~l ~ Project Managers i
definedt~k==.,...~ f for ~ Project Engineers
Project by
Managers'
Handbook for
which
provides
comprising
Procedures
comprising
& who highty
Systems
Figure 4. Project manager's handbook
Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.
Systemigrams aimed at reinforcing the messages that the
management wished to impart were created in order to
enhance the bilateral communication between the change
agents and the recipients: a vital element for the success of
any change programme.
The project manager's handbook provides guidance and
procedural support for the execution of project management
processes. The Systemigram has been used to model these
processes, allowing their interrelated structure to be reflected
and illuminated. A family of process models has been
developed including rules for their linking through a hier-
archy defined by the structure of the project manager's
handbook•
Figure 5 represents an elaboration of one of the identified
entities from Figure 4, project procedures. The process
model is consistent with the linking text on the containing
model to enable this 'zoom-in, zoom-out' feature. Project
procedures are therefore a part of the provision of guidance
and procedural support and should enable project managers
and project engineers to fulfil their roles in achieving
project management best practice. Project procedures may
be decomposed into strategy-based elements and communi-
cations-based elements. Communications-based procedures
enable best practice to be achieved (internal) and strategy-
based procedures ensures that project managers and engineers
assume roles and responsibilities in customer management
(external). At this level in the hierarchy the model reflects
the structure of the processes and how they are related,
rather than describing individual processes in detail.
By elaborating on the project planning entity from the
over their
relationship with
tofulfil
their
• Rbles and
Responsibilities
that enab/e
to achieve
Project
Best Practice
to monitor
of value
tOsecure
& Wider
Competitive NIS Clients
Advantage
for
27
Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.

NISLtd. within
to improve _
insists that Satisfaction
comprising
Monitoring to improve
which
~J~" ~ ~ S t r a t e g y - to secure relevant to
which "Remedial
may be Profitabilit
be followed by ~comprising Debt
-based Collection without
&Control injuring

~omprising [ to achieve of

~ B
.neifgr. ~ Task
within Project
~ h ~/ n. , Teams

• N to provide t to win the

Assimilation esteem of

Project NISClients
culture who will be
impressed by
Figure 5. Projectprocedures

NISLtd. within
to create Task
Ownership
requires
Project ~ithin in orderto
to be Project
to undertaken by Culture
address
to Project
address
to impress
....r identifying ~

Breakdown t Project
Control
I~induding to ensure
identifying success of
including
required to
complete
including Project
Path

throughout
&
NISClients

Figure 6. Projectplanning
28
 Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.

project procedures Systemigram we obtain Figure 6. Pro-
ject planning is required to address three major issues:
• how the work is decomposed into work packages and
discrete activities;
• how these activities should be scheduled to take account
of task dependencies and lead time requirements;
• the resources required by these activities, including the
identification of the agents responsible for their execution.
Once a project plan has been produced (which integrates
contributions from members of the project team) it acts as
a mechanism for controlling the project.
The over-riding mission statement for project planning is
indicated by the grey path through the diagram. At this
level, the mission for project planning reflects the identified
requirements from the project procedures Systemigram.
Through the act of planning activities, team members will
be required to consider seriously the best way to structure
their activities, how long they are likely to take and the
resources that will be required. In this way, team members
feel a greater sense of task ownership by contribution,
rather than by plan imposition. Task ownership and employee
commitment are instrumental in promoting a project culture
throughout the company.
The semantic network of models can be further demon-
strated by Figure 7, project reporting. Project reporting is
a subsystem of project procedures but on the same level as
the planning process. By reporting, the project manager
absorbs project information. This information comes from
varying sources and combines into a common format, the
project manager's report. By producing the report the
project manager gains understanding and becomes more
aware of his project's status.
The project manager is required to produce a report
which details:
• the current status of the project;
• a forecast of how the project will progress.
The project status report includes project expenditure and
progress against the planned programme. This information
is of particular interest to senior management as it reflects
the criteria for intensive care projects (see Figure 5) where
special treatment is given to projects which are running late
or are overspending on material and labour. The status also
reflects any technical difficulties being experienced in
achieving the customer's specification as well as any vari-
ations or overspends. Highlighting problems encourages
open discussion and recovery strategies (which may require
senior management intervention) which will ensure the
success of the project.
The project forecast section requires the project manager
to consider the future and highlight any anticipated diffi-
culties. The forecast also requires the project manager to
estimate when the project will be completed and the
anticipated completion cost. This information impacts upon
the predicted profitability of the project, affecting future
cash flows and future capacities, which affects the com-
pany's ability to initiate new work. The project manager's
report also offers an opportunity to highlight possible
extensions to the existing contract, or to initiate new work

NIS Ltd. within

expects
to provide Project
Assimilation Culture

Project promote
to be New Sales
undertaken by
to
communicate highlight
to Project
communicate Manager
to ensure
success of ~ \ t t° impress
Snr. Project
Forecast for
Cost
Project predicting which
for Status impacts
comprising Date
impacts
Project
Predicted

formulatiOn
comprising to ensure
for comprising success
Recovery
• Difficulties
enablingformulation NIS Clients
Progress of

Figure 7. Project reporting

PM 14/I--B
29
Assisting cultural reform using Systemigrams: D G Sherman et al.
which has been identified throughout the course of the
project.
Conclusions
The BSSM builds on the seminal work of Checkland 7, by
reflecting the elements of 'structure', 'process' and the rela-
tionship between the two in order to generate shared values
for meaningful debate among the participants. The BSSM has
been used to capture contributions from functional groups,
key business processes and project management best practice,
representing the information in a unique form--as a
systemigram. The power of the systemigram has been illus-
trated particularly in the case study for the reform of a
project management culture within a medium-sized systems
engineering business enabling project personnel to learn
their way into an improved situation for their business.
To an audience of project managers and systems engineers,
who are often required to use models to illustrate products,
systemigrams are very acceptable. Unlike other engineering
models, systemigrams have a wider appeal because of their
use of 'natural language' expressions. Therefore their use
is not restricted to the domain of systems engineering and
project management and they may be more widely used to
provide a means of improvement in other situations.
Systemigrams provide a tool which can visually capture
a situation, then allow further elaboration and investigation,
providing a means by which complex processes may be
concisely described. They provide an excellent reference for
analysing, discussing and communicating process dynamics
and requirements. This paper has described the use of
systemigrams to provide a common understanding of the
project management process. This has been achieved by
the construction of a family of process models linked
semantically in an ordered hierarchy.
The correct use of the systemigram provides a notation for
simple representation of complex processes. This is a funda-
mental requirement for improving the learning process needed
for businesses to keep one step ahead of their competitors.
Acknowledgements
This work has been supported by SERC ACME Grant
(GR/H54317) for a research programme entitled 'A Process
Model for Project Management'. The authors gratefully
acknowledge Julian Bulbeck, from the Systems Engineering
group, for his assistance in the preparation of this paper and
wish to convey appreciation and thanks to Mr Phil Robson
and Mr Liam Ferguson for their industrial support to the
project.
30
References
1 'Manufacturing into the late 1990s' A Report by the PA Consulting
Group, Department of Trade and Industry, HMSO (1989)
2 Porter, M E Competitive Advantage, Creating and Sustaining
Superior Performance, The Free Press, New York (1985)
3 Boardman, J T 'A process model for unifying systems engineering
and project management' lEE Engng Management J (Feb 1994) 25-35
4 Turner, R 'What are projects and project management?' Henley
Working Paper (1990)
5 Handy, C B Understanding Organisations Penguin Books (1985)
6 Hunsucker, J L and Loos, D 'Transition management--an analysis
of strategic considerations for effective implementation' Engng
Management Int (1989) 5 167-178
7 Checkland, P B Systems Thinking Systems Practice John Wiley and
Sons (1981)
He was formerly a research engineer at the University of Portsmouth
where he studied systems thinking and practice, concurrent engineering
and the use of process modelling to permeate best practice in project
management. He was involved with the development of the Boardman
Soft Systems Methodology through major contracts awarded in the
satellite communications industry and through the study of project
management in small businesses. David graduated from Portsmouth
with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1990.
He is currently studying an MSc at UMIST.
John Boardman is Professor of Systems Engineering at De Montfort
University. He graduated with 1st Class Honours from the University
of Liverpool in electrical engineering from where he later gained his
PhD. He worked for English Electric and MANWEB before taking up
an academic career. His research has covered knowledge-based
systems, project management, concurrent engineering, and process
modelling; all from a systems perspective. His work on systemic
diagrams (Systemigrams), a methodology for the graphical visualisation
of key corporate planning issues and tasks, has been recognised
internationally. Throughout his academic life, consulting projects with
Pilkington, MANWEB, Seeboard, Schlumberger, GM Hughes, Babcock,
Computing Devices, Eurocontrol and GEC-Marconi, has kept the
research industrially relevant.
Alison Cole is a senior research associate within the Systems
Engineering Research Group at De Montfort University. Her under-
graduate studies were at Coventry where she gained honours in
applied physics and later joined Marconi Underwater Systems Ltd.
which provided many rewarding experiences in project management;
marketing and new business ventures; graduate recruitment and
training and development. Her current interests are systems thinking,
project management, the capture and analysis of management and
design processes and concurrent engineering. As part of an EPSRC
reserach project she has successfully designed and produced a PC-
based engineering handbook for GEC-Marconi Avionics that enables
navigation through the systems engineering and project management
processes of the business and developed a technique for process
modelling using the Boardman Soft Systems Methodology.