Systems Approaches to Management

Systems Thinking is a new paradigm set to revolutionize management practice in the 21st century. Systems Approaches to Management is the most comprehensive guide available to the application of this new paradigm in the field of management. It,
Traces the emergence of holistic thinking in disciplines such as biology, control engineering, sociology and the natural sciences
Details and provides a critique, based upon social theory, of the range of systems approaches, methodologies, models and methods
Offers numerous case studies to illustrate systems thinking applied to management
Introduces critical systems thinking' as a coherent framework that brings unity to the diversity of different systems approaches and advises managers, consultants, scholars and students on their use
Provides an accessible source of inspiration for managers, management consultants, scholars and students Pds. /LIST Pds. Covers chaos and complexity theory, the learning organization, system dynamics, living systems theory, soft systems methodology, interactive management, interactive planning, total systems intervention, autopoiesis, management cybernetics, the viable system model, operations research (hard and soft), systems analysis, systems engineering, general system theory, sociotechnical systems thinking, the fifth discipline, social systems design, team syntegrity, postmodern systems thinking, critical systems thinking, and much more.
Considers the work of Ackoff, Banathy, Beer, Capra, Checkland, Churchman, Eden, Emery, Flood, Forrester, Friend, Freire, Jackson, Jantsch, Linstone, Luhmann, Mason, Maturana, Miller, Mitroff, Prigonine, Rosenhead, Senge, Stacey, Trist, Ulrich, Varela, Vickers, von Bertalanffy, Warfield, Wheatley, Wiener, and many more.

Overviews. - Orientation and Structure. - Relevant Social Theory. - Origins in the Disciplines. - Applied Systems Thinking. - Systems Approaches. - The Functionalist Systems Approach. - The Interpretive Systems Approach. - The Emancipatory Systems Approach. - The Postmodern Systems Approach. - Critical Systems Thinking. - The Origins of Critical Systems Thinking. - Contemporary Critical Systems Thinking and Practice. - Critical Systems Practice: Three Illustrative Case Studies. - Conclusion.