Systems Thinking in Europe

The theme ofthe conference at which the papers in this book were presented was'Systems Thinking in Europe'. Members of the United Kingdom Systems Society (UKSS) were conscious that the systems movementflourishes notonly in the UK, America and the Antipodes, but also in continental Europe, both East and West, and in the USSR, a nation increasingly being welcomed by the European comity. Membership of the UKSS had not perhaps had the opportunity, however, of hearing important new ideas from continental Europe, and this conference provided an opportunity to do so. Some interesting papers are to be found here from both the West and the East, if the editors may be forgiven for perpetuating what may be an increasingly irrelevant dichotomy. One lesson to be learned from this conference, though, is that systems thinking is truly international. This is not to say that there is one systems paradigm unifonnly applied, however. Perhaps the core of systems thinking is that one is interested in complex 'wholes' with emergent properties, to which cybernetic ideas can be applied. Examples of such systems thinking can be found in these proceedings, for example in the section entitled "Applications of Systems Thinking". Attempts to bring about change with these ideas, however, have given rise to a diversity of approaches, as is evidenced by the papers dealing with the application of methodologies in the 'hard' and 'soft' systems traditions. Front Matter....Pages i-xii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Transformation Theory....Pages 3-13 Systems Approach as a Style: A Hermeneutics of Systems....Pages 15-27 Action and Structure in Problem Solving....Pages 29-41 Implementing Total Quality Management Through Total Systems Intervention: A Creative Approach to Problem Solving in Diagnostic Biotechnology (PTE) LTD....Pages 43-59 Five Commitments of Critical Systems Thinking....Pages 61-71 A Scenario-Based Approach to Strategic Information Systems Planning....Pages 73-87 Information Management....Pages 89-97 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Applications of Systems Thinking: Introduction....Pages 101-101 The Design of European Industrial Systems: A Systemic Investigation....Pages 103-107 Modelling Medica: A Technology Transfer Systems Approach to the Evaluation of a European Community Funded Research Project in Medical Informatics....Pages 109-114 The Social System of National Health Care and System of Human Society....Pages 115-118 Systems Thinking in Organizational Analysis and Design....Pages 119-125 Theories of Autonomous Systems: A Comparative Analysis....Pages 127-133 Cybernetic Aspects of the Management Systems Engineering....Pages 135-137 Systems Evolution in Modern Systems Research and a Formal Model for Evolving Systems....Pages 139-144 Organizational Closure and the Quantum View of Organizations....Pages 145-150 Landscape Ecology as an Operational Framework for Environmental GIS: Zdarske Vrchy, Czechoslovakia....Pages 151-158 Introducing Geographical Information Systems into British Local Government: Developments in Kirklees Metropolitan District....Pages 159-164 Taking Systems Thinking into Schools....Pages 165-169 Health and Safety Legislation — Threat or Opportunity?....Pages 171-175 Front Matter....Pages 99-99 Examination of the Concept of ‘Key Factor for Success’ from A Systems Thinking Perspective....Pages 177-182 A Systematic Approach to Learning from Past Experiences in Diagnostic Problem-Solving Environment....Pages 183-188 Interdisciplinarity and Self-Organization in Computational Neuroepistemology....Pages 189-195 Systems Thinking in Poland....Pages 197-199 Old Confusion in New European Systems Thinking....Pages 201-206 A Unified Systems Hypothesis....Pages 207-214 Front Matter....Pages 215-215 Applications of Methodology (Both Hard and Soft): Introduction....Pages 217-218 Systems Thinking and Investigation of Digestive Secretion....Pages 219-224 Variable Receptive Field System Transformation and Its Applications to Visual Field....Pages 225-230 An Experimental Approach to The Description of Contour Segments using the Fourier-Bessel Transform....Pages 231-236 Self-Organization in Rural Economic System....Pages 237-242 A System Dynamics Approach to Assessing the Impact of Management Information Systems....Pages 243-249 Stella Modelling Process for a Manpower Strategy....Pages 251-258 An Urbanistic Project Based on General Systems Theory....Pages 259-264 Analysis and Design of Socio-Economic Systems....Pages 265-271 Are all Failures Systems Failures?....Pages 273-278 Use of the VSM to Assist in the Establishment of an Engineering Consortium....Pages 279-284 How Can We use a “Hard” Method in a “Soft” way? Lessons Learnt from Cases Using “Rating Chart Methods”....Pages 285-290 Untangling the Perception Web: A Methodology....Pages 291-296 Untangling the Perception Web: An Application....Pages 297-302 Front Matter....Pages 215-215 Systems Practice: An Application of “Soft” Systems Thinking in the Context of IS Planning for Small Business....Pages 303-309 Soft Systems in Software Design....Pages 311-317 A First Step Towards the Automation of SSM?....Pages 319-325 The Need for Tool Support for Soft Systems....Pages 327-331 Tools Supporting Soft Systems....Pages 333-338 Front Matter....Pages 339-339 Problem Structuring and Critical Systems Thinking : Introduction....Pages 341-342 A Generic Model for Scenario Analysis and Modelling....Pages 343-348 A Problem Structuring Method....Pages 349-354 Levels of Problem Structuring and Problem Definitions....Pages 355-360 A Multiple Criteria Approach to Complex Situations....Pages 361-369 The Role of the Analyst and the Choice of the Methodology....Pages 371-376 The Use of Social Paradigms in the Analysis of Team Behaviour During Organisational Change....Pages 377-382 A Brief Introduction to Complementarism....Pages 383-390 Participatory Research: An Emancipatory Methodology for Systems Practice....Pages 391-395 The Sacred and Profane in Critical Systems Thinking....Pages 397-405 Critical Systems Thinking: Real Fiction?....Pages 407-412 The Critical Systems Methodologies and the “Truth of Invariability”....Pages 413-419 Interpretive Critical Ideologies for Research Methodologies....Pages 421-425 Community Operational Research and the New Public Health Movement....Pages 427-433 Which Evaluation Methodology When? A Contingency Approach to Evaluation....Pages 435-441 Front Matter....Pages 339-339 The Systematization of Practice....Pages 443-448 Timeo Danaos et Dona Ferentes : A Philosophical-Cum-Epistemological Critique of the Critical Systems Perspective....Pages 449-454 Front Matter....Pages 455-455 Information Systems: Introduction....Pages 457-458 The Nature of Information Systems and the Role of Practice....Pages 459-464 Intellectual Information Systems in Organizational Management....Pages 465-467 Information Systems as Linguistic Systems: A Constructivist Perspective....Pages 469-474 The English Language as a System and Elements of Its Logic....Pages 475-480 Data Bases, Knowledge Bases and Intelligent Information Systems....Pages 481-485 The Human-Centred Paradigm in KBS Design Theory....Pages 487-492 The Appreciative Inquiry Method....Pages 493-497 Systems Perspective for Knowledge Representation....Pages 499-504 Systemic Metaphor Analysis for Knowledge Based System Development....Pages 505-510 A Systems Based Modelling Technique for KBS Construction....Pages 511-516 Front Matter....Pages 517-517 Information Systems Development : Introduction....Pages 519-520 Soft Systems and Strategic Planning....Pages 521-526 Breaking the Mould — The Effective Use of Information Technology in Organisations....Pages 527-533 Towards an Evolutionary Theory of Information Systems Planning....Pages 535-540 Planning Implementation Steps for Co-Operative Processing Systems....Pages 541-545 Client Participation in Information System Design....Pages 547-551 The use of a Systems Approach to Develop an Improved Method for the Design of Computer-Augmented Work Systems....Pages 553-558 Front Matter....Pages 517-517 Investigations to Prepare for the Provision of Information Services for Dance, with Special Reference to Computerised Information Handling....Pages 559-564 Grafting a “Soft Front End” Onto a Hard Methodology — Some Questionable Assumptions....Pages 565-569 Integrating Hard and Soft Systems Thinking: The Use of the ‘Current Activities Description’ in Opium....Pages 571-576 Information System Development and Soft Systems Thinking: Towards an Improved Methodology....Pages 577-581 Influence Diagrams in Information Systems Research....Pages 583-590 Conclusions from Action Research: The Multiview Experience....Pages 591-596 Ambitious Projects....Pages 597-602 Implementation of Project Management Systems Through Prototyping....Pages 603-608 Back Matter....Pages 609-612