Systems Approaches to Management

By: Michael Jackson

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Paperback | 30 November 2000

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472 Pages

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Systems Thinking is a new paradigm set to revolutionize management practice in the 21st century. Systems Approaches to Management is the most comprehensive guide available to the application of this new paradigm in the field of management. It,

Traces the emergence of holistic thinking in disciplines such as biology, control engineering, sociology and the natural sciences

Details and provides a critique, based upon social theory, of the range of systems approaches, methodologies, models and methods

Offers numerous case studies to illustrate systems thinking applied to management

Introduces critical systems thinking' as a coherent framework that brings unity to the diversity of different systems approaches and advises managers, consultants, scholars and students on their use

Provides an accessible source of inspiration for managers, management consultants, scholars and students £/LIST£ Covers chaos and complexity theory, the learning organization, system dynamics, living systems theory, soft systems methodology, interactive management, interactive planning, total systems intervention, autopoiesis, management cybernetics, the viable system model, operations research (hard and soft), systems analysis, systems engineering, general system theory, sociotechnical systems thinking, the fifth discipline, social systems design, team syntegrity, postmodern systems thinking, critical systems thinking, and much more.
Considers the work of Ackoff, Banathy, Beer, Capra, Checkland, Churchman, Eden, Emery, Flood, Forrester, Friend, Freire, Jackson, Jantsch, Linstone, Luhmann, Mason, Maturana, Miller, Mitroff, Prigonine, Rosenhead, Senge, Stacey, Trist, Ulrich, Varela, Vickers, von Bertalanffy, Warfield, Wheatley, Wiener, and many more.

Industry Reviews

`...the material is presented in a clear, accessible manner, and for the student wishing to gain an introductory knowledge of the applications of systems ideas to management this text is without equal, and fills a long-standing gap in the market. One thing is certain: whatever your interest in the systems domain, this is a must for your bookshelf.'
Steve Clarke in Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 18 (2001)

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Business & Management Business Mathematics & Systems Reference, Information & Interdisciplinary Subjects Research & Information Information theory Cybernetics & Systems Theory Business Strategy Management & Management Techniques Management Decision Making Entrepreneurship / Start-ups Engineering & Technology

Mechanical Engineering & Materials Production & Industrial Engineering

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Published: 30th November 2000

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Introduction	p. 1
Why Systems Thinking?	p. 1
The Systems Tradition	p. 2
The Aim of the Book	p. 4
Why Read This Book?	p. 4
Overviews
Orientation and Structure	p. 11
Introduction	p. 11
Methodology, Methods, and Meta-Methodology	p. 11
Methodology, Theory, and Practice	p. 12
Types of Research	p. 12
Action Research	p. 14
Social Science and Systems Thinking	p. 15
The Structure of Part I	p. 16
System, Systems Thinking and the Structure of Parts II and III	p. 17
Conclusion and the Structure of the Argument	p. 20
Relevant Social Theory	p. 21
Introduction	p. 21
Sociological Paradigms	p. 22
Metaphors of Organization	p. 26
Critical Theory and Habermas	p. 30
Modernism Versus Postmodernism	p. 34
Conclusion	p. 41
Origins in the Disciplines	p. 43
Introduction	p. 43
Philosophy	p. 44
Biology	p. 46
General System Theory	p. 50
Sociology	p. 54
Management and Organization Theory	p. 62
Control Engineering and Cybernetics	p. 67
The Black Box Technique	p. 69
Negative Feedback	p. 70
Variety Engineering	p. 72
The Physical Sciences and Toward Synthesis	p. 75
Chaos and Complexity Theory	p. 81
Conclusion	p. 88
Applied Systems Thinking	p. 91
Introduction	p. 91
The Systems Movement	p. 91
The Development of Applied Systems Thinking	p. 94
Systems Thinking as a Transdiscipline	p. 99
The Status of Applied Systems Thinking	p. 101
Systems Approaches
The Functionalist Systems Approach	p. 107
Introduction	p. 107
Organizations as Systems	p. 108
Barnard's Systems Thinking	p. 108
Contingency Theory	p. 109
Socio-technical Systems Theory	p. 117
Strengths and Weaknesses of 'Organizations-as-Systems'	p. 125
Hard Systems Thinking	p. 127
Operational Research	p. 128
Systems Analysis	p. 130
Systems Engineering	p. 134
Strengths and Weaknesses of Hard Systems Thinking	p. 135
System Dynamics	p. 138
System Dynamics Models	p. 139
System Dynamics Methodology	p. 142
Case Study - An Accident and Emergency Department	p. 145
Senge's Fifth Discipline	p. 147
Strengths and Weaknesses of System Dynamics	p. 153
Organizational Cybernetics	p. 155
Beer's Viable System Model	p. 157
Using the Viable System Model for Diagnosis and Design	p. 163
Case Study - Humberside Window Systems Ltd	p. 166
Organizational Cybernetics - Another 'Fifth Discipline'?	p. 169
Strengths and Weaknesses of Organizational Cybernetics	p. 172
Living Systems Theory	p. 177
The General Theory	p. 178
The Living Organization	p. 180
Methodology and Living Systems Theory	p. 181
Case Studies of the Application of Living Systems Theory to Organizations	p. 182
Strengths and Weaknesses of Living Systems Theory	p. 183
Autopoieses	p. 184
Methodology and Application	p. 185
Strengths and Weaknesses of Autopoiesis	p. 187
Complexity Theory	p. 189
Complexity Theory and Management	p. 190
Methodology and Case Study - Humberside Training and Enterprise Council	p. 196
Strengths and Weaknesses of Complexity Theory	p. 199
A Generic Functionalist Systems Methodology	p. 202
Critique of the Functionalist Systems Approach	p. 204
The Interpretive Systems Approach	p. 211
Introduction	p. 211
Warfield's Interactive Management	p. 212
The Science of Generic Design	p. 213
The Interactive Management Methodology and Consensus Methods	p. 214
Case Study - Community Council of Humberside	p. 219
Strengths and Weaknesses of Interactive Management	p. 221
Churchman's Social Systems Design	p. 222
Philosophy and Methodology of Social Systems Design	p. 222
Strengths and Weaknesses of Social Systems Design	p. 224
Mason and Mitroff's Strategic Assumption Surfacing and Testing (SAST)	p. 226
Philosophy and Principles of SAST	p. 226
SAST Methodology	p. 227
Case Study - Thornton Printing Company	p. 229
Strengths and Weaknesses of SAST	p. 231
Ackoff's Social Systems Sciences (S[superscript 3])	p. 232
The Changing Nature of the World and the Need for Interactive Planning	p. 233
Principles and Methodology of Interactive Planning	p. 235
Models Used in Interactive Planning	p. 238
Case Study - A Black Ghetto's Research on a University	p. 241
Strengths and Weaknesses of Interactive Planning	p. 243
Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)	p. 246
Soft Systems Philosophy and Theory	p. 247
Soft Systems Methodology	p. 251
Case Study - Humberside Training and Enterprise Council	p. 260
Strengths and Weaknesses of Soft Systems Methodology	p. 267
Senge's Soft Systems Thinking	p. 270
Four Other Disciplines of the Learning Organization	p. 270
Strengths and Weaknesses of Senge's Soft Systems Thinking	p. 272
Soft Operational Research, Soft System Dynamics, Soft Cybernetics	p. 272
Soft Operational Research (OR)	p. 273
Soft System Dynamics	p. 276
Soft Cybernetics	p. 277
Strengths and Weaknesses of Soft OR, Soft System Dynamics, Soft Cybernetics	p. 279
A Generic Interpretive Systems Methodology	p. 281
Critique of the Interpretive Systems Approach	p. 282
The Emancipatory Systems Approach	p. 291
Introduction	p. 291
Emancipation as Liberation	p. 292
Critical Operational Research/Management Science (OR/MS)	p. 295
Habermas and the Critical Systems Approach	p. 296
Interpretive Systemology	p. 298
Freire's Critical Pedagogy	p. 299
MacIntyre and the Moral Community	p. 301
Capra's Ecological Sustainability	p. 302
Emancipation as Liberation: the Case of Community OR	p. 304
Strengths and Weaknesses of Emancipation as Liberation	p. 308
Emancipation Through Discursive Rationality	p. 309
Beer's Team Syntegrity	p. 311
Ulrich's Critical Systems Heuristics	p. 315
The Theory and Practice of Boundary Critique	p. 320
Strengths and Weaknesses of Emancipation Through Discursive Rationality	p. 324
Emancipation Through the Oblique Use of Systems Methods	p. 325
A Generic Emancipatory Systems Methodology	p. 328
Critique of the Emancipatory Systems Approach	p. 330
The Postmodern Systems Approach	p. 333
Introduction	p. 333
Intervention in the Spirit of Postmodernism - Taket and White's "Panda"	p. 335
Postmodern Systems Methods	p. 340
A Generic Framework for the Application of the Postmodern Systems Approach	p. 347
Critique of the Postmodern Systems Approach	p. 347
Critical Systems Thinking
The Origins of Critical Systems Thinking	p. 355
Introduction	p. 355
Critical Awareness	p. 356
The System of Systems Methodologies	p. 357
The Engagement with Emancipation	p. 362
The Argument for Pluralism	p. 364
Total Systems Intervention	p. 368
Philosophy and Principles of Total Systems Intervention	p. 368
Creativity	p. 369
Choice	p. 369
Implementation	p. 370
Strengths and Weaknesses of Total Systems Intervention	p. 371
Conclusion	p. 373
Contemporary Critical Systems Thinking and Practice	p. 375
Introduction	p. 375
Three Commitments of Critical Systems Thinking	p. 375
Towards Coherent Pluralism in Systems Thinking	p. 377
The Nature of Pluralism in Critical Systems Thinking	p. 378
The History of Pluralism in Critical Systems Thinking	p. 380
What do Critical Systems Thinkers want from Pluralism?	p. 382
Critical Systems Practice - Tsi Revisited	p. 387
Constitutive Rules for Critical Systems Practice	p. 392
Conclusion and What More Needs to be Done?	p. 392
Critical Systems Practice: Three Illustrative Case Studies	p. 395
Introduction	p. 395
West Newton Council for Voluntary Service	p. 395
The Organization	p. 395
The Problem Situation and What Was Done	p. 398
Theoretical Reflections	p. 404
North Yorkshire Police	p. 406
The Organization	p. 406
The Problem Situation and What Was Done	p. 407
Theoretical Reflections	p. 412
Kingston Gas Turbines	p. 416
The Organization	p. 416
The Problem Situation and What Was Done	p. 416
Theoretical Reflections	p. 419
Conclusion	p. 423
References	p. 427
Index of Authors	p. 441
Index	p. 445
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Systems Approaches to Management

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

Other Editions and Formats

Hardcover

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