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Book : Systems Thinking : Managing Chaos and Complexity (1999)

Summary

From the publisher:

In a nutshell, this book is about systems. This book is written for those thinkers and practitioners who have come to realize that while the whole is becoming more and more interdependent parts display choice and behave independently, and that paradoxes are the most potent challenge of emergent realities.

With a practical orientation and yet a profound theoretical depth, the book offers an operational handle on the whole by introducing an elaborate scheme called iterative design. The iterative design explicitly recognizes that choice is at the heart of human development. Development is the capacity to choose; design is a vehicle for enhancement of choice and holistic thinking. ‘Designers’, in this book, seek to choose rather than predict the future. They try to understand rational, emotional, and cultural dimensions of choice and to produce a design that satisfies a multitude of functions. They learn how to use what they already know and also about how to learn what they need to know.

Content / Structure

Part I Systems Philosophy: The Name of the Devil

Chapter 1 - How the Game Is Evolving

• Imitation
• Inertia
• Suboptimization
• Change of the Game
• Shift of Paradigm
• Interdependency and Choice
• On the Nature of Organization: The First Paradigm Shift
• Mindless Systems: A Mechanistic View
• Uniminded Systems: A Biological View
• Multiminded Systems: A Sociocultural View
• On the Nature of Inquiry: The Second Paradigm Shift
• The Competitive Games
• Mass Production: Interchangeability of Parts and Labor
• Divisional Structure: Managing Growth and Diversity
• Participative Management: Self-Organizing Systems
• Operations Research: Joint Optimization
• Lean Production Systems: Flexibility and Control
• Interactive Management: The Design Approach

Part II Systems Theories: The Nature of the Beast

Chapter 2 Systems Principles

• Openness
• Purposefulness
• Recap
• Multidimensionality
• Plurality of Function
• Structure, and Process
• Recap
• Emergent Property Counterintuitive
• Recap

Chapter 3 Systems Dimensions

• Throughput
• Model of the Process
• Critical Properties
• Measurement and Diagnostic
• Read-Only Memory
• Target Costing
• Membership
• Conflict Management
• From Lose/Lose to Win/Win Environments
• Changing Conflict to Competition
• Decision Systems
• Duplication of Power
• Decision Criteria
• Learning and Control Systems
• Vertical Compatibility
• Horizontal Compatibility
• Temporal Compatibility

Chapter 4 The Sociocultural Model: Information-Bonded Systems Culture

• Social Learning, Development
• Schematic View of Theoretical Traditions
• Systems View of Development
• Multidimensional Modular Design
• Outputs Dimension
• Inputs Dimension
• Markets Dimension
• Internal Market Economy
• Planning
• Learning, and Control System,
• Recap

Part III Systems Methodology: The Logic of the Madness

Chapter 5 An Operational Definition

• Practical Implications
• Separating Problem from Solution
• Recap

Chapter 6 Defining the Problem Formulating the Mess

• Searching
• Mapping
• Telling the Story
• Recap

Chapter 7 Designing a Solution

• Rules of the Game
• Idealized Design
• The System's Boundary and Business Environment
• Purpose
• Functions
• Structure
• Processes
• Measurement Systems
• Realization: Successive Approximation
• Type I Constraints
• Type II Constraints
• Type III Constraints
• Cultural Transformation: Dissolving the Second-Order Machine
• Recap

Part IV Systems Practice: The Gutsy Few

Chapter 8 The Oneida Nation

Desired Specifications

• Systems Architecture
• Governing Body
• Chief of Staff
• Planning
• Learning, and Control System
• Planning
• Learning, and Control Board
• Membership Systems Empowerment
• The Tie That Binds
• Membership Network
• Consensus-Building Process
• Back to the Future
• Performance Criteria and Measures
• Learning Systems
• Learning to Learn (Formal Education)
• Learning to Be (Cultural Education)
• Learning to Do (Professional Education)
• Support Functions
• Advocacy Functions
• Oneida Multiversity
• Performance Criteria and Measures
• Business Systems, Services Sector
• Industry Sector
• Leisure Sector
• Land and Agriculture Sector
• Marketing Sector
• Governance and Intersystems Relationships
• Core Services
• Government Services Division
• Infrastructures Development Division Ordinance Division
• Performance Criteria and Measures
• Governance and Oversight
• External Environment
• Judicial System
• Contextual Analysis
• Contextual Challenge
• Democratic Challenge

Chapter 9 Butterworth Health Systems

Issues

• Concerns, and Expectations
• Design Specifications
• The Architecture
• Market Dimension
• Market Access
• Care System
• Contextual Background
• Desired Specifications of the Care System
• Common Features of Care Systems
• Preventive Care
• Interventional Care
• Viability Care
• Terminal Care
• Output System
• Specialized Health Delivery System
• Shared Services, Core Knowledge
• Shared Services, Need for Centralization
• Control versus Service
• Customer Orientation
• Health Delivery System
• Core Knowledge, and Care Systems Interactions
• The Executive Office
• Epilogue

Chapter 10 The Marriott Corporation

The Environment: How the Game Is Evolving

• Bases for Competition
• Purpose, Principles and Desired Characteristics
• The Architecture
• Product-Market Mix
• Region/Market Operation
• Brand Management
• Core Components
• Core Knowledge
• Critical Processes
• Epilogue

Chapter 11 Commonwealth Energy Systems

Stakeholders' Expectations

• Shareholders' Expectations
• Regulators' Expectations
• Employees' Expectations
• Customers' Expectations
• Suppliers Expectations
• Public Expectations
• Business Environment
• The Changing Game: The Energy Industry
• The Changing Game: COM/Energy
• Design
• Purpose and Strategic Intent
• Core Values and Desired Specifications
• General Architecture
• Core Business Units: Gas and Electric Distribution
• Customer-Oriented Business Units: Energy Supply Systems and Management Services
• Cogeneration and Packages of Energy Supply (Industrial and Commercial)
• Energy Efficienty and Electrotechnologies (Residential and Commercial
• Technology/Supply-Oriented Business Units: Energy Generation and Supply
• Energy Generation (Canal)
• Gas Storage (LNG) Steam services
• Energy Brokerage and International Operations
• Energy Brokerage International Operations
• Shared Services (Performance Centers)
• Service Company Financial Systems
• Executive Office
• Core Knowledge Pool
• Learning and Control System

Chapter 12 Carrier Corporation Expectations

Assumptions, and Specifications

• The Changing Game: In General
• The Changing Game: The HVAC Industry
• Drivers for Change
• Bases for Competition Core Values
• Products and Services
• Core Technology and Know-How
• Sales and Distribution System
• Systems, Markets
• Regional Units
• Area Units Output Units
• Components
• Business Processes
• Decision System
• Performance Measurement and Reward System
• Target Costing and Variable Budgeting System

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Copyright 1999 by Butterworth Heinemann

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