International Society for the Systems Sciences: Journals ISSS
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Systems & Design Thinking: A Conceptual Framework for Their Integration
No full textThis paper explores the relationship between Systems and Design Thinking. It specifically looks into the role of Design in Systems Thinking and how looking at the world through a systems lens influences Design. Our intention is to show the critical concepts developed in the Systems and Design Thinking fields, their underlying assumptions, and the ways in which they can be integrated as a cohesive conceptual framework.While there are many important distinctions that must be considered to understand the similarities and differences of these concepts, gaining a complete understanding of these factors is more than can be covered in this paper. Nevertheless, the most critical classifying variable used to distinguish these concepts will be discussed in order to make their integration possible. This variable, the recognition of purposeful behavior, will be used to develop a conceptual vision for how a combined approach can be used to research, plan, design and manage social systems.Systems in which people play the principle role
Mass media and urban tribes, Analysis of their relations By Viable System Model Stafford Beer´s.
No full textIn the last 60 years (1950-2010), the influence of the mass media and advertising over individual decisions-making processes has deepened, in terms of age range to which have targeted advertising and that expanded for almost the entire Western world. With this, leading to the culture diversity, naturally given, toward one only culture standardized prevailing in the whole West nowadays. Only in the last 20 years (1990-2010) we have been witnesses of how advertising has been directing its efforts toward a public increasingly helpless of resisting the suggestion of advertising, transforming them into the new triggers in purchasing decisions. In the 60's were the women, then the young people during 70's, and then were children in the 80's and during the 90's over early childhood, almost from the when we learn to speak (3 years). (4) Achieving brand loyalty among very young children and the brands of products for this age group. From this perspective, urban tribes (5) have taken control of the lives of young people. Offering a false freedom, at moment of choose "How to be yourself" from options given in the market as a "catalogue of predesigned Identities" (6). The short-term vision, characteristic among adolescents, make imperceptible to them, the various strategies of compulsion to consume that the mass media is using on them. Isolated into a vision of short term, the adolescents are prisoners in a system of beliefs (7) predesigned by advertisers in response to emotional shortcomings and / or psychological present in our society and that beats most strongly among adolescents making them highly dependent on the urban tribe than they belong. The great fallacy of this and abuse in our opinion, is the false freedom that young people, they think have gained at the moment of integrating some urban tribe, because they have used their "freedom of choice" (6) at the choose some option between of the catalogue of available urban tribes, taking decisions that benefit only the tribe in the short term, while longer to decide according to their own benefit in the long term, leaving the studies, breaking family relationships, in short, Mortgaging the future of youth in exchange for an quick existential solution when they choose for a predesigned identity, imposed by the pressure of the group or tribe and that nowadays is offered by the mass media in the "free market." A phenomenon so complex, it requires a holistic conceptual framework that can make explicit its components and relations between them and the relationship with internal and external environment. In particular, the VSM provides a way to analyze communication’s problems thus clarifying; how, when and where, repair and control into the organization, helping to identify strategies to improve decision-making. Given the recursive nature of the VSM, is possible navigate within the phenomenon, through her different recursion’s levels and all its different components for each recursion’s level. Thereby help to the young population to understand the role than they have adopted, as consumption entity when they assume any of these subcultures. The punctually will be help to define more assertive and effective policies by health authorities, education and government in general and also help to someone person among young people to see themselves inside of a consumption dynamic and thus can leave the domain and enter to a meta-domain, with more wisdom and consciousness
Equifinality in Project Management
No full textProjects are the best means of creating and diffusing innovation in complex and risky environments. However, surveys reveal that the majority do not achieve their goals and waste huge amounts of resources. Notorious examples are the NHS NPfIT project which has massively overspent its initial budget by £10 billion in addition to lagging behind completion by several years, and many multibillion EU funded projects involving innovations that were abandoned after the pilots.
Research from academics and practitioners in the past two decades suggests that this failure is the result of using conventional project management methods, which fail to capture the serendipitous, evolutionary and experimental nature of the activities in innovation projects. Therefore the question remains as to the best method to manage projects that involve high levels of change.
The results of my previous research based on multiple EU healthcare innovation projects revealed that a key concept taken from system thinking is most suitable to be developed into a method that helps managing change in projects. This concept, called equifinality, refers to the fact that similar results can be achieved flexibly through different trajectories and in spite of initial circumstances. However a robust method based on equifinality has not yet been established, which is the basis for this proposal. The research question is: How can the system thinking concept of equifinality be applied to current project methods, so as to empower project managers in the handling of change, thereby improving the achievement of their goals?
This paper critically assesses the ways equifinality has been explored in previous research in other fields of management like operations and manufacturing, the discontinuous application of system thinking in management research and explores methods based on multiple case studies and triangulation through which equifinality can be explored further in project management. The issues of holism and interdisciplinarity are discussed as critical to the application of system thinking in project management.
This research does not only provide a new theoretical framework. By taking a concept from one theoretical field (system thinking ) and applying it to another (project management), it proves that academia will benefit substantially because by crossing its disciplinary boundaries theory will be enriched through a more holistic way of organizing, improving both the relevance to practice of explanatory rigour of theory and method
A Systemic Intervention Approach to Research on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
No full textThis paper presents a systemic intervention approach as a way to overcome the methodological challenges involved in research on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL). These challenges include how to choose between qualitative and quantitative analysis, and between predictive and descriptive studies. In addition, there is a lack of agreement in the research community regarding the appropriate methods and measures to analyze several dimensions of the learning process, including the cognitive, motivational, social and technological dimensions. The final challenge is a need for further research on how participants should engage in defining and re-defining learning purposes, interests and outcomes. The up-front focus of systemic intervention is on the process of making boundary judgments during inquiry. Therefore, it facilitates questioning about whose views and what issues should be considered pertinent in an analysis. Definitions of improvement, the purposes of inquiry, the context of application of methods, and participants’ roles are all important in systemic intervention. The focus is on both the issues ‘out there’, and the identities and roles of the people (including the researcher) who get to frame those issues. In addition, the systemic intervention approach advocates methodological pluralism: mixing methods from different traditions (quantitative and qualitative; predictive and descriptive) to address the purposes of multiple stakeholders. In line with this focus on methodological pluralism, a design for CSCL research will be presented that includes the use of several methods drawn from other methodologies (Critical Systems Heuristics, Interactive Planning, Social Network Analysis, Formative and Summative Tests and Content Analysis). This methodological design will be used in future research to analyze and reflect on both a Colombian CSCL case study and the roles and identities of the people who participate in it
Fukushima Nuclear Disaster 3.11: System Pathology of Social Organizations
No full textThe magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11, 2011, were unavoidable natural disasters, but we consider the subsequent breakdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plants to be a catastrophe created by avoidable human errors – an organizational disaster. We review the mistakes that have led up to the present nuclear crisis, and recommend several steps to avoid similar crises in the future. This speech considers the “Fukushima nuclear accident” as an organizational disaster. Furthermore, we discuss problems of the nuclear power plant system of Japan. These include issues of (i) the Fukushima nuclear station’s irrational location in a quake-prone and tsunami-prone area, (ii) the business ethics inherent to operating ageing reactors, (iv) the social responsibility required for organizational management, (v) non-rational governance of nuclear policy in extending the longevity of nuclear reactors, and (vi) the dynamics of system pathology in dealing with socio-biological hazards based on ageing technology, ambiguous management and fuzzy nuclear policy
Public Acceptance of Electric Vehicles in Toronto
No full textHabitants of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) currently suffer from extreme commutes due to urban sprawl, lack of major roadways, and insufficient public transit. As gas prices continue to increase, people are constantly looking for ways to reduce their fuel costs and reduce carbon emissions, and battery electric vehicles can reduce both of these needs. The lack of charging infrastructure is causing “range anxiety” – fear of being stranded without power. As public charging stations become more common, range anxiety should be alleviated and allow for wider public acceptance. Currently there are three main categories of electric vehicles: gasoline/diesel hybrid electric vehicle, plug-in electric hybrid, and battery electric vehicles. All of these vehicles have the common parts: electric motor, inverter, and battery. There are 3 levels of battery charging: Level 1 charging is from a common electrical 110V outlet, and may take up to 20h to fully charge a depleted pack; Level 2 charging uses a 220V (washing machine) outlet, and will require 4-6 hours; Level 3 charging will complete in less than 30 minutes, and will be similar to a gas station. Based on the acceptance of hybrid electric vehicles, early adopters aged 40 to 50 with at least a bachelors degree should adopt the technology first. Car sharing programs, taxis, and delivery trucks will also quickly adopt electric vehicles into their fleets because it is more economical than gasoline cars. Each of the 44 wards in Toronto were scored on population, age, household income, level of education, and number of daily auto trips. According to the normalized score, the first wards to adopt electric vehicle technology are wards 23, 22, 25, 27, and 16. Infrastructure should be built in these wards to accelerate public acceptance. In the near future, automakers should: retrain their staff to service electric vehicles, focus on reducing car weight and size to maximize vehicle range, continue battery research and development, and determine how to properly dispose of batteries. The Toronto government should follow lead of other governments and regulate gasoline prices, and provide tax incentives and subsidies to electric vehicles and infrastructure to promote adoption
ANALYSIS OF CHINA'S ECONOMY SYSTEM FAILURE
No full text Volume of real estate market in some China’s large cities decreased sharply in 2010. Based on rational reconstruction of some basic economic thought and analytical narrative of the real estate price bubble ,I conclude that it should be contributed to a big gap between demand and supply, and financial crisis would break out in the coming few month in China. I make proposal that government should be reducing state-owned share. 
A Transdisciplinary World Model
No full textThe complexities and non-linearities of the world system are increasing the mismatch between the way we think about the world and the actual behaviour of the world. In systems science this is summarised by expressions like unintended consequences, counter intuitive outcomes, emergent properties, synchronous failures and unpredictable knock-on effects. This whole field has been summed up as the global problematique. Increasing the match between our espoused world models and the behaviour of the real world in policies, strategies and decisions requires a major shift to holistic transdisciplinary approaches This paper will describe the innovation and pilot testing of a transdisciplinary approach to stimulating systemic interconnected thinking about complex issues from the global level (for example climate change) to the local level (for example increasing resilience in a village community). The approach is based on a world system model which is designed to promote holistic and transdisciplinary conversations across twelve key dimensions of sustainable communities. The model serves several purposes ranging from a ‘World Game’ that groups of people can play to strategic workshops which challenge decision making beyond conventional scenario planning methods, to ways of mapping global impacts of climate change. The paper will summarise some of these application experiments but also describe some of the main foundations from systems thinking that underpin the model. These include multi-factor modelling, variety engineering, feedback coupling, and non-linear behaviour.
Towards a framework for the observation, understanding, and management of socio-ecological systems: Insights from socio-ecological, institutional, and complexity theory.
No full textStudies about human vulnerabilities to global socio-ecological changes abound; there is precise information on the risks that need to be urgently addressed to prevent major crises. In Latin America, the Andean region has been signaled as one with major risks. Nevertheless, current methodologies for observation, understanding, and management of socio-ecological systems are incomplete and insufficient, since these are developed without exchange and conversation between various relevant theoretical fields. Based upon a multi-paradigmatic approach, the aim of the paper is to set up the basis for an integral methodology for supporting self-management of socio-ecological systems by its key actors, mostly inspired in contributions from socio-ecological, institutional, and complexity theories. The article: 1) integrates the fields in discussion building a framework to observe and understand the phenomenon; 2) discuss the bases for a methodology to support communities from vulnerable SES to self–organise and agree on strategic actions and responsibilities; 3) develops a preliminary empirical analysis from a Colombian case study, highlighting the questions derived from this analysis. It happens in the context of the Fuquene Lake socio-ecological system, placed on Colombian Andean Eco-region
GST PARADIGM FOR BUSINESS
No full textBusiness is defined using General Systems Theory (GST) as a paradigm. As GST theory has been used and abused for over sixty years, the article first reviews GST to establish a basic substrate upon which the author’s views are based. Much of the literature in the field, in an attempt to develop GST into a polished, all-encompassing theory, includes every aspect and nuance that could be encountered. While the quest for this goal sheds new light on the theoretical side of GST, to the average business practitioner, or especially to the average student, applying GST to the study or evaluation of a business as a practical matter becomes more of a daunting challenge as the theory becomes more complicated. This article presents the business paradigm in the simplicity of the original concept of general systems theory, as offered by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, using the trusted, established concepts of business organization and management that have been studied, researched, applied, and taught for many years. The marriage of these business concepts to the explanatory power of general systems theory provides a model that is easy to understand, teach, and apply. The resulting business definition reflects von Bertalanffy’s concept of the applicability of GST to organizations