| 1. |
- Bai, Guohua, et al.
(författare)
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Coping with System Sustainability : A Sociocybernetics Framework for Social-Economic System Architecture
- 2012
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley Blackwell. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 29:3, s. 263-273
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper proposes an epistemological model based on cybernetic principles and activity theory to interpret two levels of problems that are intertwined in our social-economic system, namely the liveability and sustainability problems. In the first part of the paper, important principles and concepts from related fields of cybernetics and activity theory are introduced for later construction of a model. In the second part, a model is constructed based on the introduced concepts. To validate the proposed model, the current economic crisis is studied in the third part. An important contribution of the proposed model is a theoretical understanding of the two levels problems, and how to construct macro social-economical policies to avoid similar crisis in the future.
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| 2. |
- Edwards, Mark G.
(författare)
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A metatheoretical evaluation of chaordic systems thinking
- 2014
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 31:2, s. 160-180
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper presents a metatheoretical evaluation of chaordic systems thinking (ChST) as it applies to organizational transformation. The diversity of approaches to transformation means that it is rich territory for metatheoretical research. ChST can be regarded as a metatheoretical attempt to integrate conceptual lenses so that a richer conceptualisation of transformation can be developed. ChST aims to be an integrative and innovative theoretical contribution to understanding change. How might these claims be evaluated? A metatheoretical method called metatriangulation is applied here to evaluate the ChST framework. A review and analysis of 20 ChST texts was performed and found that the approach shares several lenses with other theories of organizational transformation, but it also omits some important lenses and only partially described others. Recommendations for the further development of ChST are presented. Although important for developing novel insights, metatheoretical research is rarely performed systematically. This paper presents an original approach to building and evaluating overarching frameworks for organizational transformation.
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| 3. |
- Edwards, Mark G.
(författare)
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Misunderstanding metatheorizing
- 2014
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 31:6, s. 720-744
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Metatheorizing is an important but generally poorly understood genre of social science inquiry that has particular relevance to systems research. In this paper, I define and present the major characteristics of metatheoretical research, discuss why it is neglected as a form of research and how it is often misunderstood and inadequately represented in the systems and management science literature. I illustrate the discussion with some examples of misunderstanding of metatheorizing from the systems science literature. I also make some recommendations for how researchers can improve their own metatheorizing and so, hopefully, help this important form of research become more widely acknowledged and critically appreciated.
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| 4. |
- Jönhill, Jan Inge
(författare)
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Inclusion and exclusion : a guiding distinction to the understanding of issues of cultural background
- 2012
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 29:4, s. 387-401
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Claims for equal rights and action against discrimination because of cultural background are current issues within the multicultural global society. How can society today manage cultural differences making differences? The main aim of this article is to contribute to the understanding of issues of immigration and cultural background or diversity. It is argued that such issues may be analyzed fruitfully through the use of inclusion and exclusion as a guiding distinction, in the sense it has been developed in systems theory by Niklas Luhmann and others. It is shown how inclusion and exclusion operates in different contexts. One conclusion is that in modern society, it is never only a case of a simple division into (full) outsider-ship and insider-ship, respectively. Another conclusion is that discrimination is not structurally inherent in modern society as such, but that it is a possible outcome primarily because of the characteristics of organizations.
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| 5. |
- Kapsali, Maria
(författare)
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Equifinality in Project Management Exploring Causal Complexity in Projects
- 2013
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 30:1, s. 2-14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Surveys reveal that the majority of innovation projects do not achieve their goals and waste resources. Notorious examples are the National Health Service's National Programme for IT project and many multibillion European Union funded projects. Academics and practitioners suggest that this failure is because conventional project management methods fail to capture the serendipitous, evolutionary and experimental nature of complex innovation projects. Results from previous research based on European Union healthcare innovation projects revealed that we need to develop a robust method based on the systems thinking construct of equifinality to understand and manage complex causality in projects. This paper critically evaluates how equifinality has been used in management research, the reasons for the discontinuous application of systems thinking and equifinality and examines the ways to embed equifinality in project management, arguing how holism, control, boundary management and causal complexity are critical to the application of system thinking in project management.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Midgley, Gerald, et al.
(författare)
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Systemic mediation : Moral reasoning and boundaries of concern
- 2013
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 30:5, s. 607-632
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper outlines a new systemic mediation approach, based on the idea that the most important thing for many participants in mediation is to have their moral reasoning understood and appreciated. This is frequently more important to people than financial reparation. We compare our mediation approach with others to demonstrate that many previous approaches share the assumption that once the interests of a participant have been identified, these should not be questioned. In contrast, our systemic mediation approach encourages participants to explore their own and other people's moral frameworks to enable critical reflection on their interests. Indeed, the concept of an 'interest' can be reframed as the boundary that a participant uses to delimit his or her concerns, and boundaries can be shifted in response to moral reasoning. Our mediation approach aims to generate both personal insights and improvements in mutual understanding. The mediator plays a facilitative role but cannot be neutral: the morality of the mediator unavoidably influences his or her facilitative interventions. Therefore, personal reflection by the mediator on his or her own moral framework is essential, so that its influences can be made visible and the facilitator can thereby be held accountable for them in dialogue with his or her peers. Tools are provided in our systemic mediation approach to support reflection on moral frameworks and boundaries of concern, and a practical example of their use in Colombian mediation practice is provided.
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| 8. |
- Runardotter, Mari
(författare)
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Organizational cooperation for cultural heritage—A viable systems approach
- 2011
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : Wiley. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 28:1, s. 77-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper provides a good example of organizing in order to establish cooperation and responsibility for digital preservation. This is explored in relation to the Viable System Model (VSM) with accompanying theories, and builds on empirical material from a governmental authority, analyzed in two iterations. The first was based on the VSM, to reach understanding of the authority's situation. The second iteration focused on the VSM theories around responsibility and cooperation. I have found that digital preservation work is facilitated e.g. when one department deals with one preservation process (collect, preserve or make accessible), when personnel have a holistic perspective on the authority, and when communication and coordination channels are established. I additionally have found that the VSM focus on processes and functions, instead of departments or entities, is advantageous since this clarifies what is actually done, as well as who among personnel is doing what.
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| 9. |
- Strumsky, Deborah, et al.
(författare)
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Complexity and the productivity of innovation
- 2010
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 27:5, s. 496-509
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Innovation underpins the industrial way of life. It is assumed implicitly both that it will continue to do so, and that it will produce solutions to the problems we face involving climate and resources. These assumptions underlie the thinking of many economists and the political leaders whom they influence. Such a view assumes that innovation in the future will be as productive as it has been in the recent past. To test whether this is likely to be so, we investigate the productivity of innovation in the United States using data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The results suggest that the conventional optimistic view may be unwarranted.
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| 10. |
- von Schéele, Fabian, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive Time Distortion on the Performance of Economic Organizations
- 2014
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Ingår i: Systems research and behavioral science. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 1092-7026 .- 1099-1743. ; 31:1, s. 77-93
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper introduces a novel conception of an economic organization, where its Total Profit Equation accounts for the phenomenon of cognitive time distortionthis being understood as the discrepancy between physical and cognitive time. Cognitive time distortion is unconditionally inherent in all human beings and everything they do, and typically produces economic inefficiencies as well as human stress; all this may now be conceptualized, detected, and acted upon. The novel Total Profit Equation as introduced here, including its underlying Total Revenue Equation and the Total Cost Equation, echoes a call of the founders of Systems Sciences that non-trivial systems manifest several kinds of temporal experiences. This call has largely been ignored by the various disciplines that study organizations and their management, particularly economic organizations, where the temporal experience of economic organizations is reduced to physical time. In this sense, this contribution offers an alternative to remedy that reductionism. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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