Soft Systems Methodology Approach to Mapping Sustainable Business Model Elements in the Indonesian Media Industry

Abstract

Indonesia’s media industry is being reshaped by digital disruption and the concentration of digital advertising revenues in global platform ecosystems, with significant implications for newsroom employment and organizational sustainability. This study uses a qualitative systems approach and limits its analytical scope to the early stages of Soft Systems Methodology (SSM). Through a Rich Picture and CATWOE-based Root Definition, the study structures the problem situation and identifies the core activities required for a sustainable media business model. The resulting conceptual human activity system is organized around the Triple Bottom Line domains of Profit, People, and Planet. The model emphasizes three interdependent strategic domains: journalists’ welfare and professional capacity, revenue diversification beyond algorithm-dependent advertising, and management of the environmental footprint of cloud-based digital infrastructure. The contribution is conceptual rather than empirically validated: the study clarifies stakeholder relationships, conflicts, and activity domains that can guide subsequent quantitative and structural analyses. These outputs provide a basis for future research using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) to examine causal hierarchies and implementation priorities