Behavioral Science—Systems and Perspectives

Occasionally someone weaves a net of thoughts together into a largely original and perhaps seminal pattern. “MIS Problems and Failures: A Socio-Technical Perspective” [Bostrom, Robert P., J. Stephen Heinen. 1977. MIS problems & failures: A socio-technical perspectives (Part I: The causes). Management Inform. Systems Quart. (Forthcoming).], soon to be published in the Management Information Systems (MIS) Quarterly, impresses me as being one of these rare gems. The theme of the article is that management problems become much more solvable when viewed in their environment as joint technical and social systems to be coresolved.

Their article in MIS Quarterly will appear in two parts. Part I addresses the causes of problems. Part II is expected to “present the basic concepts and principles of the socio-technical system (STS) design approach, demonstrating how they apply to MIS design.” As we all do, Bostrom and Heinen borrow heavily from others. I mention this, not to detract from their work but rather to compliment them on their selection and to mention a few of those who are acknowledged as direct predecessors.