The Nature of Hard and Soft Problems and Their Problem-Solving Perspectives

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• Payam Hanafizadeh ¹
• Mohammad Mehrabioun ²

¹ Department of Industrial Management, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.

² Department of Operation Management and Information Technology, Faculty of Management, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22067/jstinp.2022.79419.1024

Abstract

Problem-solving requires adopting an appropriate approach that is influenced by understanding the nature of problems ranging from soft to hard. Research results indicate that there is still a lack of an accurate understanding of the nature of problems while researchers are engaged in adopting an approach to addressing the problems. Therefore, this research seeks to investigate the nature of hard and soft problems and the quality of their resulting solutions. This research endeavors to examine the nature of soft and hard problems. It is believed that identifying the attributes of different types of problems helps strike a balance between the nature of the problem, the problem-solving method, and the methodology used. Therefore, this research has addressed the nature of hard and soft problems and their perspectives on solving problems to fill gaps left in systems thinking studies. Also, current research helps researchers set a balance between attributes of the problem and ways of thinking about it, better identify the nature of the problem and better adapt the methodology to the problem. Based on the results of this research, soft problems are influenced by the context of the problem. In addition, in hard problems, the structure of the solution is determined by the problem structure. In contrast, in soft problems, the structure of the solution demands a proper understanding of the logical and cultural phenomena of the problem context. That is why the quality of the answer to hard problems is a normative, right, and definitive solution, while the answer to soft problems is a procedure composed of concepts and meanings. The findings of this study suggest that, like a soft problem, the solution to a soft problem is a social reality that all interested groups collectively enact. Consequently, the solution is a system of concepts that all the interested groups accept, and over its implementation, there is a shared understanding among all the interested groups.

Keywords

• Soft problems
• Soft systems methodology
• Phenomenology
• Interpretivist approaches
• Soft OR

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