Organizations are now more complex and require collaboration to function effectively across multiple stakeholders. Consequently, they need to be familiar with collaborative projects and participate consciously in shared processes for the accomplishment of particular goals. In order to support and strengthen business partnerships, organizations could use a model based on a multi-perspective approach, as a way of visualizing effective decision-making processes and gaining an understanding regarding how they can establish and maintain stable relationships with other organizations and strategic alliances. The benefits of the new multi-perspective model could be utilized for the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and to drive future organizational change. This study presents a case study which explores the use of a multiple perspective framework in Australian Government Organizations. The results from this study suggest that a multi-perspective model may be used to address organizational complexity through the holistic integration of stakeholder perspectives and sustained knowledge flow.

In a recent essay, Harker and coauthors stated that considering herbicide resistance as a wicked problem “without clear causes or solutions” ignores what weed scientists know about the biology and management of herbicide-resistant weeds. In this response, we argue that this misrepresents what is meant by “wicked” and that the wicked problem concept is valuable in understanding the multifaceted nature of herbicide resistance as a human-caused phenomenon.

Sociologists define a wicked problem as one without clear causes or solutions, and thus difficult or impossible to solve. Herbicide resistance is the epitome of a wicked problem: the causes are convoluted by myriad biological and technological factors, and are fundamentally driven by the vagaries of human decision-making. Weed scientists for decades have conducted research and developed educational programs to prevent or mitigate evolution of herbicide resistance, yet resistance is more prevalent today than ever before. If we expect to achieve success in herbicide resistance management, different approaches will be essential. The second Herbicide Resistance Summit focused on “doing something different,” bringing in rural sociologists, agricultural economists, weed scientists, and crop consultants to discuss the decision-making process itself, community-based approaches to resistance management, economics of resistance management, potential regulatory and incentive programs, new approaches to educational programs, diversification of weed management, and a call to action for everyone involved in the decision-making process.