Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice PDF
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Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice Edited by Keith Ellis Amanda Gregory and University of Humberside Hull, England Bridget R. Mears-Young Gillian Ragsdell and University of Hull Hull, Eng/and Springer Science+Business Media, LLC Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data On file Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the United Kingdom Systems Society, on Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice, held July 10-14, 1995, in Hull, England ISBN 978-1-4757-9885-2 ISBN 978-1-4757-9883-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-9883-8 © Springer Science+Business Media New York, 1995 Ursprünglich erschienen bei Plenum Press, New York in 1995 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1995 109 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher PREFACE The systems movement, now 40 years old, is made up of many associations of systems thinkers from different disciplines all over the world. The United Kingdom Systems Society (UKSS) was formed in 1978. Today it has over 300 members and is committed to the development and promotion of "systems" philosophy, theory, concepts and methodolo gies for improving decision making for the benefit of organizations and wider society. The first UKSS International Conference was held at the University of Hull in July 1989. Since then we have held International Conferences at the Universities ofHuddersfield (1991) and Paisley (1993). The UKSS International Conferences are now an established biannual event and this, our fourth international conference, will be jointly hosted by the Universities of Hull and Humberside. Systems science is considered to be a trans-discipline which promotes critical and effective intervention in complex organisational and social problem situations. As such it traverses "hard", through "soft" to "critical" systems thinking and methodologies. Yet, despite the currently robust state of the UKSS the systems movement cannot be described as an international movement: different subdisciplines are at different stages of development and are often engaged in pursuing their own particular interests and themes with little "conversation" between the subdisciplines despite their common interest in systems. Consequently, it may be argued that the future of the systems movement depends upon our ability to address the question: "How can the various disciplines of the systems movement work together in addressing the problems which faee the human race?" We feel that the systems movement is facing a crisis. The age of the different disciplines working independently is gone. The role of the trans-disciplines, such as the systems movement, as the means by which communication across the disciplines may be facilitated, is becoming increasingly important. Our concern for this crisis, and the important role being bestowed on the systems movement, is reflected in our choice of the conference theme "Critical Issues in Systems Theory and Practice". This volume contains many important papers which have been selected for the contribution they are likely to make to the debate on how the subdisciplines might best come together and on the critical issues which will effect this process. We urge that this is not a sterile, inward-looking debate but one which will help us, the members of the systems movement, to take the steps necessary to make a creative and useful contribution to the difficult age in which we live. Keith Ellis Amanda Gregory Bridget R. Mears-Young Gillian Ragsdell v PROGRAMME COMMITTEE Keith Ellis, I Amanda Gregory, I Bridget Mears-Young,2 and Gillian Ragsdel12 I University of Humberside 2 University of Hull ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Programme Committee would like, on behalf of the United Kingdom Systems Society, to thank a variety of people and institutions for their help in the organisation of this conference. We are grateful to Professor Roger King, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Humberside; Professor Bob Flood, Head of the Department of Management Systems and Sciences; University of Hull, and Professor Mike Jackson, Dean of the School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Humberside, for their encouragement and generos ity. Our thanks go to Mr. Peter Wood, Secretary to the Lord Mayor of Hull, and to Councillor Paddy Doyle, Leader of the Hull City Council, for their giving their support to the conference. Our gratitude also goes to Gillian Purdey, Hull Conference Bureau; Yootha Eden brow, University of Humberside: and Melissa Ward, University of Hull, for their assistance and guidance on the organisation and promotion of the conference. We owe a special debt to Doreen Gibbs for her commitment to the project as a whole and for her work in putting this volume together. Finally, we could not have managed the compilation of these proceedings without the help of our managing editor, Joanna Lawrence of Plenum Publishing Company. We should also like to extend our thanks to those organisations and institutions which have sponsored this conference: Ernst and Young Hull City Council University of Hull University of Humberside vii viii Programme Committee Co-sponsoring societies: International Advisory Committee: Dutch Systems Society Dr. Evelyne Andreeswsky (France) European Systems Union Prof. Rodriguez Delgado (Spain) Hellenic Systems Society Prof. Wojceck Gasparski (Poland) rnternational Society for the Dr. David B. Keever (USA) Systems Sciences Polish Systems Society Prof. Alfonso Rivas (Mexico) Spanish Systems Society Dr. Norma Romm (UK with special responsibility for South Africa) Dr. Julie Travis (Australia) Dr. Ioanna Tsivacou (Greece) Prof. Gerard de Zeeuw (Holland) CONTENTS Plenary Papers I. Systems Theory and Management Thinking Peter Checkland 2. Total Systems Intervention: Critical Success Factors for a Systems-Based Problem-Solving System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 15 Robert L. Flood 3. The Will to Systems: From Making Sense to Enframing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 25 Ramses Fuenmayor 4. The Holographic Organization: An Introduction to a Values-Based Relational System for the Future (VBRS) ..................................... 35 Brian P. Hall 5. Why Is Systemic Thinking "Difficult to Sell"? ............................ 45 Enrique G. Herrscher 6. Interactive Management: Framework, Practice, and Complexity .............. 51 F. R. Janes 7. What Is This Thing Called CRITICAL Systems Thinking? .................. 61 Gerald Midgley 8. Does 'Information Systems' Need Systems? .............................. 73 Frank Stowell 9. Demands Imposed on Systems Science by Complexity ..................... 81 John N. Warfield Student Papers 10. Application of Multicriteria Analysis to Ranking and Evaluation of Water Development Projects: The Case of Jordan ........................... 89 B. AI-Kloub ix x Contents II. Have You Been Talking to Yourself, Rene? ............................... 95 Tony Brauer 12. The Ambiguities in our Understanding of Participation and the Implications of This for Methodology ............................................ 101 Mandy Brown 13. A Soft Systems Approach to Integrating Information Systems Planning and Development ................................................... 109 Sharon Dingley 14. A Systems Study of the Scope and Significance of Information Systems in the Management of the Colombian Coffee Industry ....................... 115 L. F. Garcia-Montoya 15. The Critical Systems Thinking (CST) as a Path for Acknowledging Human Dignity in the Organizations ....................................... 121 R. Garcia and S. Motta 16. The Management of Change in Prisons: Toward a Process of Postmodem Systems Thinking ............................................... 125 Catherine Gaskell 17. Merging the World Views of Systems Science and Human Values: The Organizational Perspective ........................................ 131 Martin L. W. Hall 18. Communication in Decision Support: Prospects and Limitations .............. 137 H. A. Higgo 19. Information System Development: Selection of Development Methodologies ... 143 M. E. James 20. A Knowledge-Based System for the Synthesis of Parts in a Design Product: The Wind .......................................................... 149 Manolya Kavakli 21. Stability Indicators: A Tool for Organizational Planning and Control in Carbocol 159 Clemencia Morales Montejo 22. The Case for Critical Creativity in TSI: A Necessity, a Practical Possibility, or a Contradiction of Terms? .......................................... 165 Gillian Ragsdell 23. A Theoretical Framework for the Development of a Social Accounting System .. 173 Alfonso Reyes 24. Exploring the Notion of Change in Business and Organizational Systems ....... 179 Francis Stickland 25. The Philosophical Foundations of CRITICAL Systems Thinking: Beyond Habermas, toward Foucault ....................................... 187 Nestor Valero-Silva Contents xi 26. Operationalizing TSI: The Critical Review Mode .......................... 193 Jennifer Wilby Systems Methodology and Practice 27. Learning to Love and Leave Ackoff: Does Interactive Planning Succeed within the Bounds of "Complexity"? ...................................... 20 I Sam Agyeman 28. A Framework for Analyzing SSM-Based Studies .......................... 207 A. Barnden, R. Smith and R.B. Watson 29. System(s) Engineering: Organization versus Practice ....................... 215 J. C. Boarder 30. A System Engineering Framework and Its Evaluation ...................... 221 J. C. Boarder and J. Laming 31. Systems for Philosophy ............................................... 227 Bill Cameron 32. Memorization Processes in Hierarchical Organizations: A Systems Perspective versus the Bureaucracy Pattern ..................................... 233 H. Dragomirescu 33. The Resource-Based Theory of the Growth of the Firm: A Systems Perspective .. 239 Elizabeth Garnsey 34. Structuration and Enacted Social Systems ................................ 245 Elizabeth W. Garnsey and Seamas B. Kelly 35. Soft Systems Methodology: Modes of Practice ............................ 251 M. G. Haynes 36. Systemics Applied to the Study of Organizational Fields: Developing a Systemic Research Strategy for Research in Organizational Fields ................ 259 Jon-Arild Johannessen 37. Teleology and the End of Systems Thinking .............................. 265 lain Munro 38. Social Autopoiesis: A Quantitative Approach ............................. 269 F. Parra-Luna 39. New Developments in the Use of Systems Thinking in the Analysis of Failures .. 277 Geoff Peters and Joyce Fortune 40. Theories that Create Coherence in Practice and Other Stories ................ 283 Martha Yahl 41. Metaphor and the Gap between Theory and Practice ........................ 287 Heather Watson and Trevor Wood-Harper
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