Where does it come from

CATWOE Where does it come from

Where does it come from

In the late 1960s, the British systems thinker Peter Checkland developed the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) while working at Lancaster University in England.

The SSM can be used to solve certain problems in business processes. It is often wrongly assumed that Checkland improved SSM himself with the CATWOE method. In fact, it was David Smyth, a member of Checkland’s team. In 1975, he developed the CATWOE method to make SSM more successful. Peter Checkland subsequently added the W (worldview). They first published their work on CATWOE in 1976.

CATWOE is an acronym that stands for Customers – Actors – Transformation process – World view – Owners – Environmental constraints.

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2020-1-ES01-KA202-082113