April 2019
Intermediate to advanced
728 pages
28h 12m
English
Content preview from Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity
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Type A Systems Approaches for Technical Complexity
In certain circumstances … a mechanical mode of organization can provide the basis for effective operation. But in others it can have many unfortunate consequences. It is thus important to understand how and why we are engaging in mechanistic thinking; and how so many popular theories and taken‐for‐granted ideas about organization support this thinking
(Morgan 1986, p. 22)
Technical complexity, as I define it here, occurs when you seek to design a complex system to achieve a predefined purpose by organizing the various components and subsystems (of machines, materials, money, and people) in the most efficient way possible. A certain kind of systems approach, which has come to be known as “hard systems thinking,” addresses the issues arising from technical complexity by providing the specialist knowledge and techniques which will enable the predefined purpose to be achieved in an optimum manner. It includes individual methodologies such as:
- Operational Research, Systems Analysis, Systems Engineering (Hard Systems Thinking)
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