Problem Structuring Methods: A Review of Advances Over the Last Decade

The Problem Structuring Methods (PSMs) are a set of interactive and participatory modeling approaches for dealing with unstructured complex problems, which are characterized by the existence of multiple actors, with differing perspectives and conflicting interests, trying to identify alternatives for solving a problematic situation in an environment with uncertainties. In this paper, we provide a literature review about PSMs over the last decade (2010-2020), focusing on verifying the distribution of papers according to year, journals, countries, and authors; to identify the most frequent PSMs and areas of application; and to present methodological and theoretical advances, and emerging topics. The content analysis technique was used to analyze the papers. From 2015 on there was a significant increase in the number of studies that address the PSMs and the years 2018 and 2019 concentrate around one-third of the number of papers. Most of the papers present applications of PSM in different areas that were classified into five categories: business management; environmental management; healthcare sector; social issues; and other areas. Regardless of the application area, the Soft System Methodology (SSM) is the most frequently used PSM and a discussion is provoked about this finding. The paper also presents the theoretical and methodological advances and emerging topics in this discipline.