International Society for the Systems Sciences: Journals ISSS
Not a member yet
1073 research outputs found
Sort by
HAZAN-OZBEKHAN MODEL LIKE SOLUTION FOR SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
No full textCommunications systems offer different kinds of transmission and reception in voice, audio, video, broadband data, etc., this systems provide an efficient service and are have the best technology. To achieve this,we shown a proposed continuous improvement through technology management in the Mexican satellite system, like a way to improve user services to get them with speed, quality, less cost, security, etc.. This new proposals are based on the needs of the country, private and public institutions. This involves national and international managing of the aspects technological, political, social and economic. This paper shows too, like are deploy the work of George Steiner, Russell Ackoff, HazanOzbeckhan to detect the Mexican satellite system problems
DIALOGUE: CREATING SHARED MEANING AND OTHER BENEFITS FOR BUSINESS
No full textThis qualitative, phenomenological study explores the process of dialogue built upon the method described by the physicist David Bohm. The study specifically explores the use of the process in business environments as a means to understanding its effects on the business. It describes the dialogue process and explores how it shifts both individuals and a group to a collective, shared understanding. This study describes the experiences of individuals who have facilitated and participated in dialogue processes in a business environment, and their personal accounts of those experiences. The author interviewed six professionals: three external consultants and three internal employees, for the study. It seeks to explore those experiences and show the benefits of shared meaning to business organizations. The findings of this study explain the challenges of introducing the process into a fast paced, task-oriented culture and the courage required by managers and subordinates to suspend roles and status. They explain how, when groups explore their own thinking and behavior together, as experienced in a dialogue circle, group awareness moves toward a shared understanding of problems and issues relevant to the group. They show how the participants of a dialogue process foster an awareness of systems thinking. Participants begin to operate from a position that acknowledges how their decisions affect other parts of the organization. The findings demonstrate the way the process allows the group to access what emerges as new possibilities for future action. The study identifies this state as presence, the necessary capacity for harnessing a group’s emerging future
How can the educational system enhance the capability of system thinking?
No full textClimate change requires a reduction of the use of fossil resources – on the same time we still use more and more of them. – On one hand everyone wants to earn as much money as possible and on the other hand we want the government to pay for social security, education and other common needs. – Husband and wife are annoying each other and everyone blames the other one for being guilty. These are just a few examples to demonstrate, how helpful system sciences could be in solving such problems. Looking back at our own school time we recognised, that in fact already children are able to think in systems in a certain way. Always when children or people in general learn anything new, they connect it to something they already know. Before we enter school, we are used to interdisciplinary learning, in school we start to section our knowledge into subjects. The main flaw is represented by the fact that most of the exercises are set up in a manner that children are trained to unlearn system thinking. When we are adults, it is quite hard to change our thinking pattern. It is paradox that we try to learn something being an adult that we already knew as a child. Therefore we want to search for methods how to enhance the capability of system thinking during education in general. Another reason why we chose this topic is that we are kind of specialists on it, because we just came from school and are attending the university. During our education we got to know methods to include system thinking and we want to share our experiences with you. Further more we looked for projects or methods, which already exist. For example: 1. “Netzwerk” – network, a project of interdisciplinary learning at a school in Austria 2. “Umweltsystemwissenschaften” – environmental-system sciences – a study course at the University of Graz, Austria 3. The experimental game “Schule als Staat”, in English: “a school transformed into a state” which took place at a school in Germany 4. Ecopolicy® - the cybernetic strategy game by Frederic Vester To evaluate these methods we asked users about their experience with them. In general we dealt with the following questions: How does the method work in general? What are the important points you should remember while introducing system thinking into educational systems? What are frequent problems that occur and which solutions can be found? Using this knowledge, we thought about ideas how to include system thinking in our education in a better way and wrote them down. Further more we made an analysis how system thinking in schools would affect our education and in the end the whole society
THE RECURSIVE FOCUS OF THE VSM TOWARDS THE JOINED ENDEAVOURS TO THE IMPLEMENTING OF THE GPS IN THE STATE OF MEXICO
No full textThis research paper shows how to enhance the productivity levels of the trucking industry through a proposal of applying the viable system model (VSM) methodology so as to link the GPS system implementation to the specific case of the State of Mexico. Nowadays it is a very well known fact that the trucking industry suffers from an awful disorder in its logistic operations. Thus, we do consider that the transportation companies must work harder in order to join the stakeholders endeavours to reach the solutions of their essential problems. Certainly, this research makes up a viable proposal to organize all the participating elements in the logistics of the trucking network for commercial, farming, and livestock farming markets in particular. Notwithstanding, the current model´s application was compared with the ideal VSM model which allowed us to identify the weaknesses and strengths regarding financial productivity. That is why we can conclude that the trucking industry needs some viable patterns which correspond to the specific features of each market demand. We hope that this model can be implemented in the trucking industry under study to reach a better management and control of all the supplying chain processes in this logistic activity. Moreover, the VSM model offers the possibility to improve the duty with the GPS system implementation in every recursión level. In fact not only the VSM model does state the possibility to maintain the current system in a separated way, but also its identity to face the environmental changes for considering the variety of likely states into a great diversity. Meanwhile the viability reasoning applies its properties by means of Ashby´s law of requisite variety and thus it will allow us to manage the system´s complexity
SYSTEM DYNAMICS IN ACTION: THE WORSE-BEFORE-BETTER SCENARIO IN THE CITY HOSPITAL - EFFECTS OF BUDGET DISTRIBUTION TO THE TRAINING & EDUCATION DEPARTMENT ON SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM PROFITS
No full textA major public city hospital is affected by the ongoing transformation in the Swiss health care system due to cost reduction pressure, mergers & acquisitions and the mandatory introduction of Diag­nosis Related Groups (DRG) by the year 2012. Facing scarce financial and personal recourses, a System Dynamics research project investigates how changes in budget allocation to the training and education department can affect the net profits of the hospital. The model simulation indicates that neither a massive cut, nor a massive increase of budget lead to the best profits in the long-term. Rather a carefully implemented adjust­ment of the budget at a small scale of plus 10% is suggested to realize an increase of the long-term profits. The results of the long-run simulation are counterintuitive and are ex­plained by means of systems approach archetypes like the worse-before-better scenario, information delays, level effects and limits to growth
General Systems and the Process of Creating a Painting
No full textThis paper describes the developmental procedure Pam uses as a watercolor artist, and points out some of the general systems factors that play roles in her process. The discussion compares the forms of these factors in Pam's process with their general descriptive definitions. These descriptive definitions are from the published work of Vincent Vesterby from 2007 to 2010, and from current work.Twenty-two general systems factors were identified in relation to portrait painting: (1) initiator, (2) consequent-existence, (3) self-identity, (4) transformation-point, (5) situation, (6) situation-development, (7) precursor, (8) structural-logic, (9) general-factor, (10) design-archetypes, (11) psychological-archetypes, (12) combinatorial-enhancement, (13) bonding-coherence, (14) organizational-coherence, (15) template, (16) direct-transitional-factor-development, (17) sequentially-direct-precursor, (18) reality-referent, (19) feedback, (20) self-organization, (21) deep-structure, and (22) emergence.Many of these factors play roles at the spatial, temporal, and material foundations of reality, at the foundations of all that exists. That they are also present and playing their roles in the creation of art, which requires the extraordinary complexity of living systems, conscious awareness, culture, and creativity, demonstrates the universality of general systems.  
Design and manage local organic food supply chains: Benefits of using Soft Systems Methodology
No full textLocal organic food supply chain partners face uncertainties such as poor collaboration, communication and information sharing that cannot be reduced through the application of traditional, quantitative supply chain design and management techniques. Such techniques are known to improve supply chain coordination and efficiency, but they do not adequately consider major aspects of local organic food supply chains such as ethics, sustainability and human values that influence decision making and thus, supply chain activities. Supply chain design and management approaches suitable to small-scale, local organic food enterprises are lacking and need to be developed.
The aim of this paper is to suggest Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) as a new and suitable approach to design and manage local organic food supply chains. We illustrate how SSM can be used to reduce uncertainties within local organic food supply chains based on a German case study within the organic cereal sector. This illustration serves to identify benefits of using SSM compared with ad hoc, pragmatic and less structured approaches. Organisation of thought, intervention and change, as well as action-oriented, meaningful and participatory decision making are the major benefits. SSM is a promising alternative to traditional supply chain design and management techniques, and an approach to enable long term collaboration, coordination and communication along local organic food supply chains
A COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS VIEW OF RESILIENCE IN A PROJECT TEAM
No full textThis research paper follows the theoretical paper, Group Development: A Complex Adaptive Systems Perspective (Edson, 2010) presented at the 54th Meeting of the International Society for the Systems Sciences in Waterloo, Canada. This case study explored resilience in a project team through analysis of group development from a complex adaptive systems perspective. Three research questions focused on the team’s consciousness of a need to change under adversity, its response through adaptive action, and its potential for innovation through creative destruction. The study used flexible design and mixed methods by applying grounded theory coding techniques to understand a retrospective case study. The subject was the CUSD2009 Team of approximately 200 students and faculty members, which designed and built a solar house over a 2-year period for an international competition with 19 other teams sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. Data analysis used a multilevel approach consisting of coding the data through the lenses of two models and a theory. Relationships between models of group development, the complex adaptive cycle, and complex adaptive systems theory were established theoretically and empirically. Results of the 3 research questions indicated that the team exhibited agency through the following: (a) collective consciousness of a need for change to maintain the team’s function toward the project goals, (b) collective action to make necessary changes, and (c) emergence of innovation through creative destruction entailing renegotiation of group norms in response to an adversity. The multilevel analysis culminated in an integrated systems perspective with conclusions about resilience in project teams, specifically the role of environmental feedback. Implications for future research using complex adaptive systems as a theoretical foundation for studying group development and resilience include organizational culture, inflection points, nested adaptive cycles, emergence of leadership, and emergence of innovation. This research contributes a deeper understanding of project team resilience in organizational systems such as companies, non-profits, governmental, and non-governmental entities by revealing the importance of environmental feedback and organizational learning to build adaptive capacity
A SYSTEMIC APPROACH TO IMPROVING PROJECT MANAGEMNT PERFORMANCE.
No full textThis paper describes how a systemic approach to problem solving was applied to improve project management performance in a UK unitary local authority. This will detail the background to the problem, the approach taken, how a solution was implemented and iterated in practice. The starting position applied Vickers concept of appreciation reviewing the history and status of project management within the organisation with wide consultation and reflection to ascertain why despite previous interventions project delivery was poor. As part of this enquiry positive deviance was looked for and an appreciation of the reasons for such deviance. Following this appreciative inquiry a systemic framework was designed which built on successes and addressed identified areas of weakness. The framework comprised three elements: 1. A methodology to ensure that projects undertaken are the right ones and they are done in the right way. 2. A learning and development suite of activities to improve competence. 3. A network of project managers to share good practice and lessons learned. The framework is principles based to enable it to be applied in differing contexts and disciplines. In the context described in this paper the framework is built on good practice identified from project management and on a suite of learning and development activities to raise organisational capacity and capability to deliver projects successfully. The methodology element was built on both academic and project management association’s Body of Knowledge together with personal experience and knowledge of project management gained from my Master’s degree studies 2003-5, certification as PRINCE2 and MSP practitioner and 25 years delivering projects in different sectors. The second element involved the design and refinement of a suite of learning and development workshops based on the strategic requirement of the organisation. The main component is the licensed project managers development programme (LPMDP) a systemic approach to learning and development which created a learning environment. This programme is aimed at increasing learning ability and uses enquiry based and self-directed learning which is a radical departure from the traditional form of training usually encountered within project management and the UK local government sectors. The LPMDP emphasises the systemic nature of project management stressing context and perspective. The intention is to create a body of project managers who are adaptive in delivering projects having garnered thorough understanding of the activities and knowledge of the purpose of their projects. The learning and development suite of workshops are designed with the intention of creating learners not knowers and to be transformative rather than transmissive with exercises designed to elicit information from the delegates and for them to learn from each other. Action research was chosen as the research method during the implementation of the proposed framework, observing how this works in a unitary authority and evaluate the findings before iterating again. A key element in this method is that the process is iterated and the framework evolves over time. Using action research involved me as practitioner and the research is interpretive and subjective being based largely on interviews and observations. I am aware of my influence as a participant in the learning and development programme as a facilitator and my working within the boundary of the framework; this is a position which soft systems research argues is best. This research has the potential for application throughout the public sector at a time when funding and value for money within the sector is coming under increasing pressure. The requirement to deliver projects showing a good return on investment is a key priority in the sector at the present time with budgets being greatly reduced following the Comprehensive Spending Review of 2010
The All-in-One Model ∞
No full textHow to put all together is always a big question asked by systems science researchers. We have quite a few approaches to probe the question, and the best one of them is to use models. The purpose of this paper is to show that the All-in-One Model ∞ may be the simplest one. First of all, we have to inquire into the General Systems Theory(GST) or Theory of Everything(TOE). There drive us to the question whether there has the General Systems Model(GSM) or Model of Everything(MOE). It will be useful, to begin with, to make a distinction between three levels of models of theory. The three levels look like a upside-down triangle(▽). The most upper level is full of every kind of models of disciplinary theory, for example, Easton’s politics system model. The middle level is the models of multi-disciplinary theory, or trans-disciplinary theory. Parsons’s social systems model, Holling’s adaptive cycle model and CAS(Complex adaptive Systems) model are notable examples. The lowest level is the model of General Systems Theory, or Theory of Everything. Miller’s living system mode, Wilber’s AQAL model and Ritzer's Integration Model are the illustrations of the same point. There are considerable evidences to prove that the All-in-One Model ∞ may be the simplest one in the lowest level. This article choses some representativeness of models of theory from the three levels, like Cybernetics, Game theory, Systems dynamics, Beer’s VSM, Checkland’s SSM, Flood and Jackson’s TSI, etc., and uses the All-in-One model ∞ to explain them and prove the generative appliance to all models of theory. In the end of article, we propose that All-in-One model ∞ can be used widely in image search engine of www, and open a new method for image searching