Systems and Organizational Cybernetics
From System Dynamics and the Evolution of Systems Movement A Historical Perspective
Origins
The systems movement has many roots and facets, with some of its concepts going back as far as ancient Greece. What we call ”the systems approach” today materialized in the first half of the twentieth century. At least, two important components should be mentioned, those proposed by von Bertalanffy and by Wiener.
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, an American biologist of Austrian origin, developed the idea that organized wholes of any kind should be describable, and to a certain extent explainable, by means of the same categories, and ultimately by one and the same formal apparatus. His General Systems Theory triggered a whole movement, which has tried to identify invariant structures and mechanisms across different kinds of organized wholes (for example, hierarchy, teleology, purposefulness, differentiation, morphogenesis, stability, ultrastability, emergence, and evolution).
Norbert Wiener, an American mathematician at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, building on interdisciplinary work, accomplished in cooperation with Bigelow, an IBM engineer, and Rosenblueth, a physiologist, published his seminal book on Cybernetics. His work became the trans-disciplinary foundation for a new science of capturing, as well as designing control and communication mechanisms in all kinds of dynamical systems. Cyberneticians have been interested in concepts such as information, communication, complexity, autonomy, interdependence, cooperation and conflict, self-production (”autopoiesis”), self-organization, (self-) control, self-reference, and (self-) transformation of complex dynamical systems.
From System Dynamics and the Evolution of Systems Movement A Historical Perspective
Roots
Along the tradition which led to the evolution of General Systems Theory (Bertalannfy, Boulding, Gerard, Miller, Rapoport) and Cybernetics (Wiener, McCulloch, Ashby, Powers, Pask, Beer), a number of roots can be identified, in particular:
- Mathematics (for example, Newton, Poincaré, Lyapunov, Lotka, Volterra, Rashevsky);
- Logic (for example, Epimenides, Leibniz, Boole, Russell and Whitehead, Goedel, Spencer-Brown);
- Biology, including general physiology and neurophysiology (for example, Hippocrates, Cannon, Rosenblueth, McCulloch, Rosen);
- Engineering, including its physical and mathematical foundations (for example, Heron, Kepler, Watt, Euler, Fourier, Maxwell, Hertz, Turing, Shannon and Weaver, von Neumann, Walsh); and
- Social and human sciences, including economics (for example, Hume, Adam Smith, Adam Ferguson, John Stuart Mill, Dewey, Bateson, Merton, Simon, Piaget).
From System Dynamics and the Evolution of Systems Movement A Historical Perspective
Levels of Organizations
In this strand of the systems movement, one focus of inquiry is on the role of feedback in communication and control in (and between) organizations and society, as well as in technical systems. The other focal interest is on the multidimensional nature and the multilevel structures of complex systems. Specific theory building, methodological developments and pertinent applications have occurred at the following levels:
- Individual and family levels (for example, systemic psychotherapy, family therapy, holistic medicine, cognitivist therapy, reality therapy);
- Organizational and societal levels (for example, managerial cybernetics, organizational cybernetics, sociocybernetics, social systems design, social ecology, learning organizations); and
The level of complex technical systems (systems engineering).
From System Dynamics and the Evolution of Systems Movement A Historical Perspective
Mathematical/Quantitative Strand
As can be noted from these preliminaries, different kinds of system theory and methodology have evolved over time. One of these is Jay W. Forrester’s theory of dynamical systems, which is a basis for the methodology of System Dynamics. In SD, the main emphasis is on the role of structure, and its relationship with the dynamic behavior of systems, modeled as networks of informationally closed feedback loops between stock and flow variables. Several other mathematical systems theories, for example, mathematical general systems theory (Klir, Pestel, Mesarovic & Takahara), as well as a whole stream of theoretical developments, which can be subsumed under the terms ”dynamical systems theory” or ”theories of non-linear dynamics,” for example, catastrophe theory, chaos theory, complexity theory have been elaborated. Under the latter, branches such as the theory of fractals (Mandelbrot), geometry of behavior (Abraham) and self- organized criticality (Bak) are subsumed. In this context, the term ”sciences of complexity” has also been used. In addition, a number of essentially mathematical theories, which can be called ”system theories,” have emerged in different application contexts, examples of which are discernible in such fields as:
- Engineering, namely information and communication theory and technology (for example, Kalman filters, Walsh functions, hypercube architectures, automata, cellular automata, artificial intelligence, cybernetic machines, neural nets);
- Operations research (for example, modeling theory and simulation methodologies, Markov chains, genetic algorithms, fuzzy control, orthogonal sets, rough sets);
- Social sciences, economics in particular (for example, game theory, decision theory); and
- Ecology (for example, H. Odum’s systems ecology).
Qualitative System Theories
Examples of essentially non-mathematical system theories can be found in many different areas of study, for example:
- Economics, namely its institutional/evolutionist strand (Veblen, Myrdal, Boulding);
- Sociology (for example, Parsons’ and Luhmann’s social system theories, Hall’s cultural systems theory);
- Political sciences (for example, Easton, Deutsch, Wallerstein);
- Anthropology (for example, Levi Strauss’s structuralist-functionalist anthropology);
- Semiotics (for example, general semantics (Korzybski, Hayakawa, Rapoport)); and
- Psychology and psychotherapy (for example, systemic intervention (Bateson, Watzlawick, F. Simon), fractal affect logic (Ciompi)).
Quantitative and Qualitative
Several system-theoretic contributions have merged the quantitative and the qualitative in new ways. This is the case for example in Rapoport’s works in game theory as well as General Systems Theory, Pask’s Conversation Theory, von Foerster’s Cybernetics of Cybernetics (second order cybernetics), and Stafford Beer’s opus in Managerial Cybernetics. In all four cases, mathematical expression is virtuously connected to ethical, philosophical, and epistemological reflection. Further examples are Prigogine’s theory of dissipative structures, Mandelbrot’s theory of fractals, Kauffman’s complexity theory, and Haken’s Synergetics, all of which combine mathematical analysis and a strong component of qualitative interpretation.
System Dynamics vs Managerial Cybernetics
At this point, it is worth elaborating on the specific differences between two major threads of the systems movement: the cybernetic thread, from which Managerial Cybernetics has emanated, and the servomechanic thread in which SD is grounded [Richardson 1999]. As Richardson’s detailed study shows, the strongest influence on cybernetics came from biologists and physiologists, while the thinking of economists and engineers essentially shaped the servomechanic thread. Consequently, the concepts of the former are more focused on the adaptation and control of complex systems for the purpose of maintaining stability under exogenous disturbances. Servomechanics, on the other hand, and SD in particular, take an endogenous view, being mainly interested in understanding circular causality as a source of a system’s behavior. Cybernetics is more connected with communication theory, the general concern of which can be summarized as how to deal with randomly varying input. SD, on the other hand, shows a stronger link with engineering control theory, which is primarily concerned with behavior generated by the control system itself, and the role of nonlinearities. Managerial cybernetics and SD both share the concern of contributing to management science, but with different emphases and with instruments that are, in principle, complementary. Finally, the quantitative foundations are generally more evident in the basic literature on SD, than in the writings on Managerial Cybernetics, in which the mathematical apparatus underlying model formulation is confined to a small number of publications [e.g., Beer 1962, 1981], which are less known than the qualitative treatises.
Positivistic Tradition
A positivistic methodological position is tendentially objectivistic, conceptual–instrumental, quantitative, and structuralist–functionalist in its approach. An interpretive position, on the other hand, tendentially emphasizes the subjectivist, communicational, cultural, political, ethical, and esthetic: the qualitative, and the discursive aspects. It would be too simplistic to classify a specific methodology in itself as ”positivistic” or as ”interpretative.” Despite the traditions they have grown out of, several methodologies have evolved and been reinterpreted or opened to new aspects (see below).
In the following, a sample of systems methodologies will be characterized and positioned in relation to these two traditions:
- ”Hard” OR methods. Operations research (OR) uses a wide variety of mathematical and statistical methods and techniques––for example of optimization, queuing, dynamic programming, graph theory, time series analysis––to provide solutions for organizational problems, mainly in the domains of operations, such as production and logistics, and finance.
- Living Systems Theory. In his LST, James Grier Miller [1978], identifies a set of 20 necessary components that can be discerned in living systems of any kind. These structural features are specified on the basis of a huge empirical study and proposed as the ”critical subsystems” that ”make up a living system.” LST has been used as a device for diagnosis and design in the domains of engineering and the social sciences.
- Viable System Model. Stafford Beer’s VSM specifies a set of control functions and their interrelationships as the sufficient conditions for the viability of any human or social system [cf. Beer, 1981]. These are applicable in a recursive mode, for example, to the different levels of an organization. The VSM has been widely applied in the diagnostic mode, but also to support the design of all kinds of social systems. Specific methodologies for these purposes have been developed, for instance, for use in consultancy. The term viable system diagnosis (VSD) is also widely used.
Interpretative Tradition
The methodologies addressed up to this point have by and large been created in the positivistic tradition of science. However, they have not altogether been excluded from fertile contacts with the interpretivist strand of inquiry. In principle, all of them can be considered as instruments to support discourses about different interpretations of an organizational reality or alternative futures studied in concrete cases.
- Interactive Planning. IP is a methodology, designed by Russell Ackoff [1981], and developed further by Jamshid Gharajedaghi, for the purpose of dealing with ”messes” and enabling actors to design their desired futures, as well as bring them about. It is grounded in theoretical work on purposeful systems, reverts to the principles of continuous, participative, and holistic planning, and centers on the idea of an ”idealized design.”
- Soft Systems Methodology. SSM is a heuristic designed by Peter Checkland [1981] for dealing with complex situations. Checkland suggests a process of inquiry constituted by two aspects: a conceptual one, which is logic based, and a sociopolitical one, which is concerned with the cultural feasibility, desirability, and the implementation of change.
- Critical Systems Heuristics. CSH is a methodology, which Werner Ulrich [1996] proposed for the purpose of scientifically informing planning and design in order to lead to an improvement in the human condition. The process aims to uncover the interests that the system under study serves. The legitimacy and expertise of actors, and particularly the impacts of decisions and behaviors of the system on others – the ”affected” – are elicited by means of a set of boundary questions.
All of these three methodologies (IP, SSM, and CSH) are positioned in the interpretive tradition. They were designed to deal with the qualitative aspects in the analysis and design of complex systems, emphasizing the communicational, social, political, and ethical dimensions of problem solving. Several of them mention explicitly that they do not preclude the use of quantitative techniques.
Key People:
- Markus Schwaninger
- Stafford Beer
- Werner Ulrich
- Raul Espejo
- Peter Checkland
- John Mingers
- M C Jackson
- Peter Senge
- Russell Ackoff
- C. West Churchman
- R L Flood
- J Rosenhead
- Gregory Bateson
- Fritjof Capra
- D C Lane
- Ralph Stacey
- James Grier Miller
- Hans Ulrich
Key Sources of Research:
System theory and cybernetics
A solid basis for transdisciplinarity in management education and research
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access System%20Theory%20and%20Cybernetics_%20A%20Solid%20Basis.pdf
Intelligent Organizations: An Integrative Framework
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access Intelligent%20Organizations_An%20Integrative%20Framework.pdf
System Dynamics and the Evolution of the Systems Movement
Markus Schwaninger
Methodologies in Conflict: Achieving Synergies Between System Dynamics and Organizational Cybernetics
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access Integrative%20Systems%20Methodology%20-%20Methodologies%20in%20Conflict%202004_.pdf
System dynamics and cybernetics: a synergetic pair
Markus Schwaningera and José Pérez Ríos
Click to access System%20Dynamics%20and%20Cybernetics_SDR_2008.pdf
Managing Complexity—The Path Toward Intelligent Organizations
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access Managing%20Complexity%20-%20The%20Path%20Toward%20Intelligent%20Organizations.pdf
Design for viable organizations: The diagnostic power of the viable system model
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access Design%20for%20Viable%20Organizations_06.pdf
Contributions to model validation: hierarchy, process, and cessation
Stefan N. Groesser and Markus Schwaninger
Click to access 233_Contributions%20to%20Model%20Validation_SDR%2028-2,%202012.pdf
A CYBERNETIC MODEL TO ENHANCE ORGANIZATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
MARKUS SCHWANINGER
System Dynamics and Cybernetics: A Necessary Synergy
Schwaninger, Markus; Ambroz, Kristjan & Ríos, José Pérez
System Dynamics and the Evolution of Systems Movement
A Historical Perspective
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access DB52_Schwaninger_historical.pdf.pdf
System Dynamics in the evolution of Systems Approach
Markus Schwaninger
The Evolution of Organizational Cybernetics
Markus Schwinger
Click to access The%20Evolution%20of%20Organizational%20Cybernetics.pdf
Operational Closure and Self-Reference: On the Logic of Organizational Change
Markus Schwaninger and Stefan N. Groesser
Click to access 235_Operational%20Closure%20and%20Self-Reference_SRBS%202012.pdf
Model-based Management: A Cybernetic Concept
Markus Schwaninger
2015
Click to access 254_Model-Based%20Management_A%20Cybernetic%20Concept-SRBS-2015.pdf
THE VIABLE SYSTEM MODEL
A BRIEFING ABOUT ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Raul Espejo 2003
Click to access INTRODUCTION%20TO%20THE%20VIABLE%20SYSTEM%20MODEL3.pdf
A complexity approach to sustainability – Stafford Beer revisited
A. Espinosa *, R. Harnden, J. Walker
2007
Click to access 57043bc708ae74a08e2461d9.pdf
THE SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE: METHODS AND MODELS FOR THE FUTURE
Allenna Leonard with Stafford Beer
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.20.9436&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Stafford Beer
The Viable System Model:
its provenance, development, methodology and pathology
2002
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456.2285&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Cybernetics and the Mangle: Ashby, Beer and Pask
Andrew Pickering
Click to access 544529760cf2f14fb80ef419.pdf
What Can Cybernetics Contribute to the Conscious Evolution of Organizations and Society?
Markus Schwaninger
Click to access What%20can%20Cybernetics%20Contribute%20to%20the%20Conscious%20Evolution….pdf
Fifty years of systems thinking for management
MC Jackson
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.511.6731&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Introducing Systems Approaches
Martin Reynolds and Sue Holwell
Click to access systems-approaches_ch1.pdf
A review of the recent contribution of systems thinking to operational research and management science
John Mingers
Leroy White
Click to access EJOR-Systems_version_1_sent_Web.pdf
Managing Complexity by Recursion
by Bernd Schiemenz
Hard OR, Soft OR, Problem Structuring Methods, Critical Systems Thinking: A Primer
Hans G. Daellenbach
Click to access Daellenbach.pdf
Anticipatory Viable Systems
Maurice Yolles
Daniel Dubois
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.195.2167&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Second-order cybernetics: an historical introduction
Bernard Scott
Glanville R. (2003)
Second-Order Cybernetics.
http://www.univie.ac.at/constructivism/archive/fulltexts/2326.html
Systems Theory, Systems Thinking
S White
Click to access Systems%20Theory%20-%20Systems%20Thinking%20Baltimore%20talk%2010022012.pdf
Theoretical approaches to managing complexity in organizations: A comparative analysis
Estudios Gerenciales
Volume 31, Issue 134, January–March 2015, Pages 20–29
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0123592314001843
Helping business schools engage with real problems: The contribution of critical realism and systems thinking
John Mingers
Click to access Tackling%20Real%20Problems%20EJOR%20Rev1%20sent.pdf
Only Connect! An Annotated
Bibliography Reflecting the Breadth and Diversitv of Svstem.sThinking
David C. Lane
Mike C. Jackson
Click to access 548f08000cf2d1800d861f3f.pdf
The greater whole: Towards a synthesis of system dynamics and soft systems methodology ☆
David C. Lane Rogelio Oliva
Click to access 54d9e2e20cf2970e4e7d06ae.pdf
Viewpoints which Matter 