Abstract
It is a serious failure of business and management researchers when they solve the wrong problem precisely. This means that their problem formulation is inadequate which may lead to disastrous consequences for the well-being of the stakeholders. To avoid substantive failures in problem solving business and management scholars should reconsider the basic assumptions of the system under their study and include as many stakeholders’ views as possible. Appropriate problem solutions should address all the important dimensions of the problem in question (the scientific-technical, the interpersonal-social, the systemic-ecological, and the existential-spiritual), and create some optimal balance among them. The job of responsible business and management research is identifying the right problems and producing solutions for them that are substantively adequate and ethically acceptable in a broad socioeconomic context.
The paper is based on and expands further the author’s paper on “Responsible Social Science in the Age of Economic Crisis” (Human Systems Management 2014, Vol. 33, Nos. 1–2, pp. 1–5, https://doi.org/10.3233/hsm-140805). Permission for using the paper is granted by the Publisher. The present version of the paper has largely benefited from constructive comments by Anne Tsui, Founder of RRBM.
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Zsolnai, L. (2020). Identifying and Solving the Right Problem by Using Multidimensional Systems Thinking. In: Zsolnai, L., Thompson, M. (eds) Responsible Research for Better Business. Palgrave Studies in Sustainable Business In Association with Future Earth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37810-3_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37810-3_3
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