Systems Thinking and Viable Systems
Systems Thinking and Viable Systems

Author: Sergio Barile

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-02-26

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1040028039

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In the last few decades, managerial and business studies have shown an increasing inability to explain and forecast emergent dynamics in society, economics, and the environment. Consolidated managerial approaches and business theories seem to be incapable of communicating and depicting the ongoing evolution, and new perspectives are required to support both researchers and practitioners in tracing new paths for development. Building upon the constructivist approach, this book illustrates the multiple advantages that systems thinking can offer in supporting a holistic understanding of social and economic phenomena. The book proposes a representation of the firm as a viable system and represents its functioning and decision-making processes trough a recursive depiction that can be applied for each of the multiple levels through which socio-economic environments are defined. As a result of the focus on the differences between decision making and problem-solving processes, the book enriches current knowledge about systems thinking and provides useful instruments through which both researchers and practitioners can effectively understand the multiple variables able to influence decisions and actions within a firm’s configuration. The book is aimed at both postgraduate students and researchers interested in the multiple dimensions of systems thinking.

A Complexity Approach to Sustainability
A Complexity Approach to Sustainability

Author: Angela Espinosa

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 390

ISBN-13: 1848165277

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A major challenge of our times is to understand and manage the increasing complexity of socio-economic reality. This has immediate relevance for sustainable development. The impact of recent contributions from systems and complexity sciences in addressing this issue has not filtered down into effective practice ? notably, there remain problems caused by the legacy of competing paradigms and the application of their associated methodologies. This book argues the urgency for the application of analytical tools that embody the principles of complexity management. The authors describe a theoretical framework based on complexity science with a focus on organisational and second order cybernetics, one that presents a powerful new insight into the concept of sustainability. The book also describes actual applications of the ideas in the area of organisational, societal and environmental management, and reflects upon the impact of such an approach on current practice.

The Viable System Model
The Viable System Model

Author: Raul Espejo

Publisher:

Published: 1989-09-08

Total Pages: 496

ISBN-13:

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This book concerns the management of social organizations, offering ways to think about complex situations. It will be of interest to management scientists, organization experts, information scientists and computer experts.

Organizational Systems
Organizational Systems

Author: Raul Espejo

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2011-04-01

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 3642191096

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Organizational Systems clarifies the application of cybernetic ideas, particularly those of Beer's Viable System Model, to organizational diagnosis and design. Readers learn to appreciate the relevance of seeing the systemic coherence of the world. The book argues that many of the problems we experience today are routed in our practice of fragmenting that needs to be connected as a whole. It offers a method to study and design organizations and a methodology to deal with implementation problems. It is the outcome of many years of working experience with government offices as well as with all kinds of public and private enterprises. At a more detailed level this book offers an in depth discussion of variety engineering that is not available either in the primary or secondary literature.

Design and Diagnosis for Sustainable Organizations
Design and Diagnosis for Sustainable Organizations

Author: Perez Rios Jose

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-01-11

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 3642223184

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How can organizations and their managers face the tremendous complexity of the current environment? How can their compliance with the requirements of sustainability be evaluated? And how can new organizations be structured to ensure their viability? This book addresses these questions in a very practical way, essentially combining systems theory with cybernetics to help managers to evaluate and shape organizations by making accessible the wealth of knowledge contained in these fields. Importantly, it also provides guidelines for its practical application.

Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking
Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking

Author: Josep M. Coll

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-07-13

Total Pages: 158

ISBN-13: 1000401812

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Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking explores a radical new conception of business and management. It is grounded on the reconnection of humans with nature as the new competitive advantage for living organizations and entrepreneurs that aspire to regenerate the economy and drive a positive impact on the planet, in the context of the Anthropocene. Organizations today struggle in finding a balance between maximizing profits and generating value for their stakeholders, the environment and the society at large. This happens in a paradigm shift characterized by unprecedented levels of exponential change and the emergence of disruptive technologies. Adaptability, thus, is becoming the new business imperative. How can, then, entrepreneurs and organizations constantly adapt and, at the same time, design the sustainable futures they’d like? This book uniquely explores the benefits of applying Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking to sustainable management. Grounded in Taoist and Zen Buddhist philosophies, it offers a modern scientific perspective fundamentally based on the concepts of bio-logical adaptability and lifefulness amidst complexity and constant change. The book introduces the new concept of the Gaia organization as a living organism that consciously helps perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. It is subject to the natural laws of transformation and the principles of oneness, emptiness, impermanence, balance, self-regulation and harmonization. Readers will find applied Eastern systems theories such as the Yin-Yang and the Five Elements operationalized through practical methodologies and tools such as T-Qualia and the Zen Business model. They are aimed at guiding Gaia organizations and entrepreneurs in leading sustainable transformations and qualifying economic growth. The book offers a vital toolkit for purpose-driven practitioners, management researchers, students, social entrepreneurs, evaluators and change-makers to reinvent, create and mindfully manage sustainable and agile organizations that drive systemic transformation.

Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide
Systems Approaches to Managing Change: A Practical Guide

Author: Martin Reynolds

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-03-10

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1848828098

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In a world of increasing complexity, instant information availability and constant flux, systems approaches provide the opportunity of a tangible anchor of purpose and iterate learning. The five approaches outlined in the book offer a range of interchangeable tools with rigorous frameworks of application tried and tested in the ‘real world’. The frameworks of each approach form a powerful toolkit to explore the dynamics of how societies emerge, how organisations create viability, how to facilitate chains of argument through causal mapping, how to embrace a multiplicity of perspectives identifying purposeful activity and how to look for the bigger picture across multiple disciplines. Systems Approaches offers an excellent first introduction for those seeking to understand what ‘systems thinking’ is all about as well as why the tools discussed herein should be applied to management and professional practice. This book provides a practical guide, and the chapters stand alone in explaining and developing each approach.

Critical Systems Thinking
Critical Systems Thinking

Author: Robert L. Flood

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-08-28

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 0585346518

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This volume offers comprehensive treatment of the latest developments in critical systems thinking and practice. The book features contributions by researchers at the prestigious Centre for Systems Studies at the University of Hull, England. The emphasis is on rigorous analysis of the wide range of approaches to problem solving reported in the research literature. This work will enhance the studies of researchers and students in the areas of systems problem solving, action research, management science, and operational research.

The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking
The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking

Author: Ray Ison

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-03-05

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1351026887

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The Hidden Power of Systems Thinking: Governance in a Climate Emergency is a persuasive, lively book that shows how systems thinking can be harnessed to effect profound, complex change. In the age of the Anthropocene, the need for new ways of thinking and acting has become urgent. But patterns of obstacles are apparent in any action, be they corporate interests, lobbyists, or outdated political and government systems. Ison and Straw show how and why failure in governance is at the heart of the collective incapacity to tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies. They go beyond analysis of the problem and demonstrate how incorporating systems thinking into governance at every level would enable us to break free of historical shackles. They propose 26 principles for systemic governance. This book will be inspiring reading for students applying their systemic methods, specialists in change management or public administration, activists for ‘whole system change’ and decision makers wanting to effect challenging transformations. It is for anyone with the ambition to create a sustainable and fair world.