Working Title: Organizational transformation: Integrating problem-based business improvement methods with strengths-based constructionist methods.
 
I have led quality assurance and business excellence initiatives for the past 20 years. While these initiatives were successful, they were not without unmet opportunity.   It’s necessary to identify and resolve problems, but when doing so it’s very easy to focus on problems to the exclusion of recognizing, celebrating, and building upon those things that the organization does right.  Then, an organization eventually pushes back, asking, “Don’t we do anything right?”
 
Conversely, when I’ve introduced various strengths-based methodologies, a concern builds that the organization has real problems and focusing on the positive tends to ignore potential organizational ills.  
 
My research will study the integration of problem-based business improvement methods with strengths-based constructionist methods for a more holistic approach to business improvement and organizational transformation.
 
This study will contribute to the field of business management by concurrently 1.) identifying and resolving significant organizational problems, 2.) identifying and building upon past organizational successes, and 3.) identifying and deploying a new co-created shared vision and reality for the future organization.  Both problem-based business improvement methods and strengths-based constructionist methods could potentially be used in conjunction with, and in support of, each other, providing a solution more complete than either could separately.  Typically using problem-based business improvement methods and strengths-based constructionist methods are seen as an either or proposition; therefore, accepting as a predicate assumption a field-limiting separatist paradigm.     
 
The following research question and its sub-questions will be explored through in-depth interviews of subject matter experts and the subsequent actioning of other qualitative methodologies and approaches as they are analyzed and developed.
 
Research Question:
How is it possible to design and deploy an organizational transformation methodology that integrates problem-based business improvement methods and strengths-based constructionist methods?
 
• Can this integrated method provide levels of benefit perceived as greater than either could separately contribute?
• Will this integrated method be recognized by practitioners from either primary orientation as being of increased contribution through their combination?
• How can this integrated method be used and embraced by employees?
• How can this integrated method be clearly communicated to employees across various organizational levels and disciplines?
• How can this integrated method be generically packaged providing common scaleable baseline applicability across multiple industry or business segments?
 
This information is intended to form the basis for determining the feasibility of successfully and beneficially integrating problem-based business improvement methods and strengths-based constructionist methods. It may also help in the determining the appropriate action path and mechanisms for the integration of these two methods.