Satu Jumisko-Pyykkö, Sanna Nieminen, Kirsi Kemell, Mikko Seppälä, and Satu Honkanen
Systems Intelligence (SI) takes a systemic, bottom-up, pragmatic, behavioural, and interactional approach to human systems. It has a positive association with system outcomes such as performance, learning, and wellbeing. Previous research on SI has been conducted in different systems at the individual, team, and organisational levels and in multiple disciplines, confirming the widespread existence of the phenomenon. However, SI in SMEs’ networks has not received much previous research attention. The goal of this study was to explore the existence and characteristics of SI in manufacturing SMEs’ networks. The data were gathered through 12 semi-structured group interviews with core team members and key personnel from manufacturing SMEs. We conducted hybrid thematic analysis to categorise the data according to eight established SI factors. Our results reinforce the existing SI factors and extend them with context-specific features. This study offers a new SI lens for viewing manufacturing SMEs’ networks and a tangible framework for academics and practitioners.
Keywords: systems intelligence, network agency, manufacturing, SMEs