Functional Siloing? Towards a Practical Understanding of Operational Boundaries Using Critical Systems Heuristics

The paper discusses the application of Critical Systems Heuristics to the problem of functional siloing. Functional siloing refers to a situation in which the functional areas of an organisation become overly focused on local performance measures to the detriment of the organisation as a whole. The authors liken the organisational fragmentation to Ulrich’s description of dysfunctional social planning. Thus, the need to align functional activities may be viewed as a question of practical reasoning. A case is presented of a New Zealand snack-foods manufacturer. It is found that where there is evidence of functional siloing, there is also significant conflict between the planning system boundaries of the functional groups, viz Ulrich’s heuristics. Findings are discussed with respect to current Systems Thinking, Operations Management, and Organisational Learning literature.