The self-fulfilling prophecy can be best described as an assumption which, only because of the fact of being believed, provokes certain expectations and patterns of behaviour which eventually make the initial assumption come true (Merton, 1948), perpetrating what are known as virtuous and vicious circles. This phenomenon has been long studied in a variety of applied settings, and this research thesis suggests it may be applied to the realm of Service Systems, too: in this regard, shared norms and beliefs within service organisations, rooted in taken-for-granted and institutionalised ways of operating, may enact unconscious self-fulfilling prophecies potentially hindering the process of innovation. Recent studies in Service Design (Vink et al., 2020) identify the employment of individual and collective reflexivity within service actors as a promising practice to overcome these barriers. The purpose of this study is to further develop this research stream to address both virtuous and vicious circles within the system in order to reveal, question and/or transform them to foster organisational change at different levels of aggregation. Through an experimental work within a Northern-Italy Department of Mental Healthcare, the “Systemic Double-Reflexive Design” methodological framework is conceptualised, delineating which Service Design methodologies should be employed within complex Service Ecosystems to enable transformational processes.
La profezia che si auto-avvera può essere descritta come un previsione che, soltanto per il fatto di essere creduta, provoca certe aspettative e modelli di comportamento tali da far avverare la previsione iniziale (Merton, 1948), perpetrando ciò che sono meglio noti come circoli virtuosi o viziosi. Il fenomeno è stato a lungo studiato in diversi contesti applicativi, e questa tesi di ricerca suggerisce possa essere applicato anche all'ambito dei Sistemi Servizio: a questo proposito, norme e credenze condivise, radicate in modi operandi istituzionalizzati, possono inconsciamente perpetrare profezie che si auto-avverano tali da ostacolare il processo di innovazione. Studi recenti nell’ambito del Service Design (Vink et al., 2020) identificano l’utilizzo della riflessività individuale e collettiva tra membri dell'organizzazione come pratica promettente per superare questi ostacoli. Lo scopo di questo studio è di implementare questa branca di ricerca al fine di rivelare, mettere in discussione e/o trasformare i circoli virtuosi e viziosi all’interno del sistema per favorire cambiamento organizzativo a differenti livelli di aggregazione. Attraverso un lavoro sperimentale all'interno di un Dipartimento di Salute Mentale del Nord-Italia, viene concettualizzato il framework metodologico “Systemic Double-Reflexive Design”, delineando quali metodologie di Service Design debbano essere impiegate all'interno di Ecosistemi Servizio complessi per consentire processi di trasformazione.
Self-fulfilling prophecies in service design. Development of a double-reflexive methodological framework for service ecosystems transformation
Cutroneo, Alessandra Sara
2019/2020
Abstract
The self-fulfilling prophecy can be best described as an assumption which, only because of the fact of being believed, provokes certain expectations and patterns of behaviour which eventually make the initial assumption come true (Merton, 1948), perpetrating what are known as virtuous and vicious circles. This phenomenon has been long studied in a variety of applied settings, and this research thesis suggests it may be applied to the realm of Service Systems, too: in this regard, shared norms and beliefs within service organisations, rooted in taken-for-granted and institutionalised ways of operating, may enact unconscious self-fulfilling prophecies potentially hindering the process of innovation. Recent studies in Service Design (Vink et al., 2020) identify the employment of individual and collective reflexivity within service actors as a promising practice to overcome these barriers. The purpose of this study is to further develop this research stream to address both virtuous and vicious circles within the system in order to reveal, question and/or transform them to foster organisational change at different levels of aggregation. Through an experimental work within a Northern-Italy Department of Mental Healthcare, the “Systemic Double-Reflexive Design” methodological framework is conceptualised, delineating which Service Design methodologies should be employed within complex Service Ecosystems to enable transformational processes.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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CutroneoAlessandraSara_915515_MasterThesis.pdf
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Descrizione: Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in Service Design: development of a double-reflexive methodological framework for service ecosystems transformation.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/169228