Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Professor Gerald Midgley

Profile image of Gerald Midgley

Gerald Midgley

Professor of Systems Thinking


Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened? (2020)
Journal Article
Bammer, G., O’Rourke, M., O’Connell, D., Neuhauser, L., Midgley, G., Klein, J. T., …Richardson, G. P. (2020). Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened?. Palgrave communications, 6(1), Article 5. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0380-0

© 2020, The Author(s). Expertise in research integration and implementation is an essential but often overlooked component of tackling complex societal and environmental problems. We focus on expertise relevant to any complex problem, especially cont... Read More about Expertise in research integration and implementation for tackling complex problems: when is it needed, where can it be found and how can it be strengthened?.

Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions (2019)
Journal Article
Gregory, A. J., Atkins, J. P., Midgley, G., & Hodgson, A. (2020). Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions. European journal of operational research, 283(1), 321-340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2019.10.044

© 2019 The Authors This paper addresses the under-researched issue of stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions. A concise framework is proposed to aid critical reflection in the design and reporting of stakeholde... Read More about Stakeholder identification and engagement in problem structuring interventions.

Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach (2019)
Journal Article
Nicholas, G., Foote, J., Kainz, K., Midgley, G., Prager, K., & Zurbriggen, C. (2019). Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach. Evidence and Policy, 15(3), 353-370. https://doi.org/10.1332/174426419X15578220630571

© Policy Press 2019 The language of co-creation has become popular with policy makers, researchers and consultants wanting to support evidence-based change. However, there is little agreement about what features a research or consultancy project must... Read More about Towards a heart and soul for co-creative research practice: A systemic approach.

Developing a systemic program evaluation methodology: A critical systems perspective (2018)
Journal Article
Torres-Cuello, M. A., Pinzón-Salcedo, L., & Midgley, G. (2018). Developing a systemic program evaluation methodology: A critical systems perspective. Systems research and behavioral science, 35(5), 538-547. https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2561

In recent years, there has been an increased interest within the program evaluation field for introducing systems thinking concepts. However, most of these attempts have been primarily directed towards supporting the practice of evaluation and not to... Read More about Developing a systemic program evaluation methodology: A critical systems perspective.

What is Community Operational Research? (2017)
Journal Article
Midgley, G., Johnson, M. P., & Chichirau, G. (2018). What is Community Operational Research?. European journal of operational research, 268(3), 771-783. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2017.08.014

Community Operational Research (Community OR) has been an explicit sub-domain of OR for more than 30 years. In this paper, we tackle the controversial issue of how it can be differentiated from other forms of OR. While it has been persuasively argued... Read More about What is Community Operational Research?.

Systemic lean intervention: enhancing lean with community operational research (2017)
Journal Article
Ufua, D. E., Papadopoulos, T., & Midgley, G. (2018). Systemic lean intervention: enhancing lean with community operational research. European journal of operational research, 268, 1134-1148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2017.08.004

This paper explores how theory and methodology from Community OR can enhance Lean initiatives. We are driven by the paucity of the literature discussing the involvement of non-obvious stakeholders, particularly local communities, in the adoption of L... Read More about Systemic lean intervention: enhancing lean with community operational research.

Dealing with challenges to methodological pluralism: the paradigm problem, psychological resistance and cultural barriers (2016)
Journal Article
Midgley, G., Nicholson, J., & Brennan, R. (2017). Dealing with challenges to methodological pluralism: the paradigm problem, psychological resistance and cultural barriers. Industrial marketing management, 62, 150-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2016.08.008

This paper calls for methodological pluralism in industrial marketing research. We discuss three challenges that proponents of methodological pluralism have to address if their practice is to be seen as credible: the paradigm problem; psychological r... Read More about Dealing with challenges to methodological pluralism: the paradigm problem, psychological resistance and cultural barriers.

Four domains of complexity (2016)
Journal Article
Midgley, G. (2016). Four domains of complexity. Emergence: complexity and organization, 18(2),

In this short paper, which reflects on one of my contributions to the systems literature in 1992 (Pluralism and the Legitimation of Systems Science), I discuss the context at that time. Systems scientists were embroiled in a paradigm war, which threa... Read More about Four domains of complexity.

Antimicrobials in animal agriculture: Parables and policy (2015)
Journal Article
Scott, H. M., Midgley, G., & Loneragan, G. H. (2015). Antimicrobials in animal agriculture: Parables and policy. Zoonoses and public health, 62(s1), 3-9. https://doi.org/10.1111/zph.12191

In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision-making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these pr... Read More about Antimicrobials in animal agriculture: Parables and policy.