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 £/LIST£ 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.

`...the material is presented in a clear, accessible manner, and for the student wishing to gain an introductory knowledge of the applications of systems ideas to management this text is without equal, and fills a long-standing gap in the market. One thing is certain: whatever your interest in the systems domain, this is a must for your bookshelf.'
Steve Clarke in Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 18 (2001)