From our perspective: An informal survey on the application of General Morphological Analysis in the private sector

In this paper, we explore the differential factors and issues that arise as regards the application of General Morphological Analysis (GMA) to private sector companies, as opposed to public institutions (its main target so far). In order to identify the specific nature of the challenge posed for application of GMA in private companies, we conducted a survey among a number of managers in 27 companies which we believed had potential for application of GMA. Our aim was to provide insights into the way in which potential candidates for GMA view and approach their own complex problems (and the way in which they define a “complex problem”), as well as into their preferred problem-solving approaches and methodologies. Our findings suggested that there are a number of common issues to private-sector companies, as well as sector-specific issues, which should be taken into account when considering the application of GMA.