Systems Thinking for Business and Management: Principles and Practice

An introduction to applying systems thinking in complex organizational contexts.

Systems Thinking for Business and Management introduces postgraduate and MBA students to systems thinking as a practical and analytical approach for understanding and addressing complex business challenges. Written by Agnessa Spanellis, Umit S Bititci and Melissa Marques-McEwan, this textbook blends theoretical foundations with applied insight to help students think holistically about organizations and their environments.

Structured in four parts, this book explores the fundamentals of systems thinking, models and methods for hard and soft systems, the dynamics of complexity and change, and forward-looking approaches to future systems. This fully updated edition includes new chapters on boundary setting and gamification, alongside expanded global real-world examples that demonstrate how systems thinking can be used to analyse organizations and design effective, sustainable solutions.

This textbook includes:
- Clear explanations of core systems thinking concepts and boundaries
- Coverage of modelling and analysis methods for hard and soft systems
- Insight into systems complexity and organizational change
- Reflective and team-based exercises supported by global real-world examples
- Online resources including lecturer slides and demonstration videos

Systems Thinking for Business and Management equips postgraduate students with the tools and mindset to address complexity and design more effective organizational solutions.

Agnessa Spanellis is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Edinburgh, UK, where she teaches modules on Systemic Approach to Sustainability and Thinking about Business. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals, books and outlets such as The Conversation.

Umit S Bititci is the Acting Executive Dean of Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University and Professor of Business Performance. He has a blend of industrial and academic experience spanning 35 years. He has worked with an international portfolio of companies and public sector organisations and has led several international research and development projects with a research portfolio c.£20m. He has published c.200 papers and regularly appears at international conferences and workshops as guest and keynote speaker.