Designing an Architecture – the People Facet

We are currently working on the first stage of the investigative phase of the project. This comprises exploring three facets of designing an organisation-centred architecture for ERM - people issues, understanding work processes and systems, and technologies.
http://northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/erm/arch/

• The first facet – People – includes vision, awareness, culture, drivers and barriers.

The investigations will be conducted using a combination of e-Delphi studies and face-to-face colloquia involving an appropriate mix of experts, disciplines and recordkeeping stakeholders. The Delphi studies will build upon our findings from the systematic literature review. Using the review findings as a starting point, they will gather primary data from selected participants and develop a picture of ‘expert opinion’ on each facet. The colloquia, to be held in different parts of the UK, will validate and extend the Delphi studies through face-to-face discussions between more participants. The end result will be vignettes, placed in the public domain, of issues and solutions.

As this phase progresses, look on our Blog / Website for interim findings.

Delphi Technique

The ‘classic’ Delphi technique comprises setting up a panel of experts. The members are kept anonymous from each other, although each is known to the researcher. This anonymity is a key factor as it prevents a ‘powerful’ person from dominating the group and also prevents the pressures for group conformity - people are free to fully express their views. Questionnaires are used, originally paper, and each expert communicates individually with the researcher. The first round is a set of open questions to derive as many views and issues as possible. These are analysed qualitatively by the researcher to develop a set of themes. In the second round these themes are then presented in a structured questionnaire and the experts are asked to rank or rate them using a scoring technique. The results are analysed quantitatively and the themes ordered by their rank value, with the use of dispersion estimates such as standard deviation to show divergence. These results are then presented in a third round for a further set of ranking and reanalysis. Sometimes further rounds are used. The end result is a convergence of the findings to the central tendency, or a ‘consensus’, with an estimate of the degree of deviation from this central tendency.

We have amended the technique for our purposes in a number of ways: (i) collecting data through electronic means; (ii) not seeking to ‘force’ consensus, but rather to explore both consensus and divergence; (iii) capturing the richness of the discussion through an emphasis on qualitative analysis, though we also use quantitative analysis were applicable.

We’re not aware of many uses of Delphi studies in RM – we’ve used it ourselves in previous research. If you know of any, do let us know.

Horizon Scanning using Delphi Methodology

An interesting use of the Delphi technique we’ve come across is in the annual horizon scanning of emerging technologies for use in learning-focused organizations.
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2008-Horizon-Report.pdf

The process involves an Advisory Board of experts who: (i) undertake a comprehensive review of research and literature in the field; (ii) discuss and brainstorm the results of the review to end up with a list of technologies; (iii) go through an iterative Delphi process to rank the technologies and to place them on to an adoption horizon.

The results for the 2008 report are:

• Horizon: One Year or Less - Grassroots video; Collaboration Webs
• Horizon: Two to Three Years – Mobile Broadband; Data Mashups
• Horizon: Four to Five Years – Collective Intelligence; Social Operating Systems