Ethical skill development as an imperative for emancipatory practice

Total Systems Intervention (TSI) as a form of Critical Systems Thinking has been subject to criticism concerning the actual application of its emancipatory commitment. The emancipatory potentials of TSI or other systems-oriented change efforts may possibly be improved through their linkage to employee ethical skill development. Acknowledging a “strategic twist” in consulting efforts to encourage greater emancipatory practice and a more communicative ethic, an agenda for consultants is suggested to provide incremental emancipatory potentials for organizations with many apparently coercive characteristics.     

Dealing with coercion: Critical Systems Heuristics and beyond

This paper begins with an introduction to the philosophy and methodology of Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH). Following this, various citicisms of CSH are reviewed. One particularly important criticism is that CSH should not be seen as a replacement for other systems approaches, but as complementary to them. It is this idea of complementarity that has led several Critical Systems thinkers to take CSH, along with a number of other systems methods, and try to show that they are most appropriately used in different contexts. CSH, it is said, is at its most useful when we are confronted with coercive situations. However, in this paper it is argued that coercion is usually characterised by closure of debate. Therefore CSH, which depends upon the possibility of communication (or arbitration) between stakeholder groups, becomes redundant when coercion is experienced. It is further argued that coercion can only be addressed adequately by widening our definition of systems practice to include campaigning and direct political action. There is still considerable scope for developing these areas in the systems domain.     

Emancipation and truth in critical systems methodologies

This paper deals with the need for stakeholders to participate actively in organizations, so that systems methodologies can be applied in a critical fashion with the objective of arousing the emancipatory interest. It discusses the meaning of emancipation in the labor movement tradition and the emergence of the apathy of working people toward it. Critical Systems Thinking is obliged to face this apathy in its attempt to motivate the emancipatory interest.     

Groundwork of a Sartrean Input Toward Informing Some Concerns of Critical Systems Thinking

Research under way by this author seeks to return to von Bertalanffy's philosophical deliberations believing that they can provide an input which is as yet untapped and which provides a journey through phenomenological and existential ideas. The motivation for the research stems from three interlinked areas. First, in examining the beginnings of Critical Systems Thinking, a justification is found for its embrace of diverse inputs which began with Critical Theory and Habermas. A main conclusion is that any diversity must have one thing in common: it must not violate systemicity. This leads to an examination of the initial Habermasian incorporation, where one finds that a question which directly leads Critical Systems Thinking to consider critical awareness, social awareness, and human emancipation remains unanswered. An answer is provided, but this answer comes from an as yet untapped source in the field, the work of Jean-Paul Sartre. The appearance of Sartre in providing what is deemed to be an important answer begs the further question of whether he can inform Critical Systems Thinking without violating systemicity. A return to von Bertalanffy, in the third section, shows that no such violation is pending since a reading of his philosophical deliberations paves the way for an input from Sartre, first through the phenomenological tradition and then through its existential variant. In the process, the systemic nature of both Sartre's approach and ethical concerns unfolds.     

Critical systems thinking,paradigms, and the modelling space

Inquirers explore situations from their ownWeltanschauung and model them through a paradigm. A relationship between Weltanschauung and the paradigm is explored, as is that between paradigms and situations. Within the context of Critical Systems Thinking, exploration of how paradigms and their coordination, and thus the methodologies that they entertain, can be used within the action of complementarism.     

Total systems intervention and human inquiry: The search for a common ground

Total Systems Intervention (TSI) is an approach to intervening in problem situations which has much to offer where complex interacting issues need to be addressed by the complementary use of intervention methodologies. That such an approach has much in common with Action Research (AR) has been recognized, with much recent effort being devoted to the relationship between AR and Critical Systems Thinking (CST), the theoretical endeavor underpinning TSI. This paper further develops this line of debate and relates AR or Human Inquiry (HI) more directly to TSI, using an information systems intervention to enhance the study. The outcome is a demonstration of how TSI implicitly uses techniques informed from the field of Action Research, and how a more thorough synthesis of HI with TSI might serve to improve the overall intervention process.     

Critical considerations in the development of systems thinking and practice

This paper is concerned with the development of ‘Systems Thinking.’ In particular, it considers and critiques ‘traditional Systems Thinking’ within the framework of Critical Systems Thinking. Before embarking on such a venture it is necessary to derive a base context from which to develop argument and analysis. Therefore the outline of this paper is as follows: A contextual setting for Systems Thinking, Theoretical Considerations, Soft Systems Thinking and Methodology, and A Critical Systems Thinking (CST) approach. The account of the development of Systems Thinking is followed by a synopsis of a theoretical framework for Systems Thinking which will allow us to gain an understanding of contemporary views. The paper then goes on to review SSM and CST in order to provide a platform for a critique of traditional forms of Systems Thinking. The final section briefly discusses the applicability of CST to the ‘real-world’ context by outlining some current studies being undertaken by the author.     

PART 2: Critical Systemic Praxis to Address Fixed and Fluid Identity and Politics<Superscript>1</Superscript> at the Local,National and International Level

This paper argues for a model of systemic governance that can take account of diverse identities and political positions (Deleuze and Guattari in Bogue, 1989). Participatory Action Research can assist in working with diverse viewpoints when managing and making policy decisions across many organizations locally, nationally and internationally. Understanding the point of view of ‘the other’ and the recursive nature of identity and politics is the first step towards sustainable governance. Enabling multiple viewpoints to be heard is both an idealistic and sustainable end and a means to manage risk. Accountability needs to ‘sweep in’ and ‘unfold’ (Churchman, 1979a,b, 1982) social, cultural, economic and environmental factors (adapting Elkington, 1997, drawing on Banathy, 1996, 2000; Laszlo, 1991; Laszlo, and Laszlo, 2004). Participatory governance needs to address questions about fixed and fluid politics and identity. These questions address cultural norms, bonds and boundaries (Elias and Lichterman, 2003) to guide reflection on cases that strive to achieve accountability. Experiential learning through participatory action research with the most marginalised in society and listening to significant others (whose systemic praxis) is the basis for the theory on systemic governance.¹Paper is drawn from forthcoming book entitled: “Systemic Governance: Working and re-working the conceptual and geographical boundaries of governance and international relations” (2005) and parts of the paper were presented at the 49th Annual Conference of the International Systems Sciences Asilomar 2004. A more detailed version of the case study on the hijab has been submitted for consideration as a publication on human rights and governance to Systems Research and Behavioural Science October 2004. References to Churchman’s work have also been made in Critical Systemic Praxis for Social and Environmental Justice (2003)Kluwer.     

The Ontological Constitution of Bounding-Judging in the Phenomenological Epistemology of von Bertalanffy's General System Theory

An analysis of the current presentation of boundary judgments in the Critical Systems literature highlights a general result: that the activity of bounding has been, implicitly or explicitly, considered as an epistemological issue. By arguing that knowledge is not produced singularly by bounding, the paper informs this general result. This, in turn, informs other results, which have emerged in current understanding. In particular, the paper argues (a) the reason why knowledge indeed never attains the status of "objective or right" knowledge, (b) how critique is dependent on some positing of knowledge, and (c) the exact place where critique is actioned. von Bertalanffy's attempted systems epistemology is considered at length because it explains and informs the epistemological conclusions seen to have been drawn in the current Critical Systems literature. von Bertalanffy's attempt requires the support of Husserlian phenomenology, especially Sartre's understanding of it. This requires an in-depth discussion of the phenomenological understanding of consciousness. Since the conclusions stem from von Bertalanffy, the paper reconsiders the status of General System Theory in Critical Systems Thinking.     

Human Development in Saudi Education: a Critical Systemic Approach

This paper is drawn from PhD research funded by the Saudi government on the policy and governance of Saudi schools (Algraini 2017. A critical systemic approach to human development in education: a case study of the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia). The aim of this article is to address human development challenges using the Critical Systems Heuristics approach. The results show that the central policy framework limits the opportunity for teachers and learners to contribute to shaping the curriculum and the process for human development. The Saudi Ministry of Education needs to: a) develop policy that takes into account the structure and the processes that shape education outcomes and b) to represent the voices of service users and service providers who have different and overlapping views.     

关键链项目群进度管理的定量分析

论文从定量的角度,分析了项目群中一种资源以及多种资源的"多任务"情形,对关键链进度计划问题建立了数学模型,并引入遗传算法,使"多任务"现象转化成具有相应优先权的排序基因或染色体,对最优化进度和延迟成本构建了相应的算法.最后,通过算例证实此方法可以得出最优排序,同时能提供较多的替代方案,为关键路径法演变成关键链技术提供了定量支撑.     

泡沫随机临界时点超指数膨胀模型:中国股市泡沫的检测与识别

传统的泡沫模型都是假设泡沫是指数膨胀的, 无法显著地将泡沫和同样是指数增长的基本面引起的高速价格增长区分开来, 使得泡沫检验的有效性遭到置疑. 泡沫超指数膨胀模型可以克服这一缺陷, 它认为泡沫是一种本质上快于指数增长的更快膨胀, 具有一个理论上的有限时间终结点. 引入了最新的一类超指数膨胀模型——均值回复平稳随机临界时点模型. 它将泡沫的检验和识别转化为1)检测"非线性非平稳的股价序列是否潜含均值回复的平稳临界时点序列"; 2)估计正反馈效应指数和潜在临界时点. 利用它对中国股市2005年中期至2007年后期的投机泡沫实证分析表明, 该模型能够有效的检验中国股市泡沫的存在性, 并能识别29个行业板块间泡沫的膨胀强度和稳定性大小. 同时, 模型对于中国股市的泡沫破灭也有良好的预警效果. 最后分析了模型的政策含义.     

Critical Systems Thinking and “new social movements”: A perspective from the theory of communicative action

The purpose of this paper is to review recent developments in critical theory on the political function of the public sphere and the emancipatory potential of new social movements. This work is shown to be relevant to systemic decisions made under conditions of public conflict. Normative models for the self-understanding of actors engaged in self-limiting emancipatory struggles in modern societies are reviewed and related to the concerns of Critical Systems Thinking.     

Expanding the framework for monitor and control in Soft Systems Methodology

Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) has been criticized for its interpretivistic stance by, among others, Critical systems thinkers. By locating problems inherent in the techniques of SSM, this paper proposes an expanded theoretical framework, concerning measure of performance in the conceptual models. The expansion is based on the theories behind Multi-Modal Methodology and has resulted in a new model of performance indicators for the design.     

Developing the methodology of TSI: From the oblique use of methods to creative design

During the last 13 years, a dialogue has been conducted in the Critical Systems literature on the subject of choice betwen methods. However, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, researchers went in two separate directions. One direction involved an exploration of the “creative design of methods.” This is when the problem situation is understood in terms of a series of systemically interrelated research questions, each of which might need to be addressed using a different method, or part of a method. A synthesis is generated that allows each individual research question to be addressed as part of a whole system of questions. The other research direction involved the development of “Total Systems Intervention” (TSI), a meta-methodology that, amongst other things, encourages the creative exploration of the problem situation prior to the choice of methods. One of the latest innovations in TSI is a theory of the “oblique” use of methods. This is the use of methods for purposes other than those they were originally designed for. However, it is argued here that all the case studies that have been subject to an “oblique” interpretation can be better explained if they are seen as examples of the creative design of methods. We can therefore bring together the two strands of research that have hitherto been pursued separately in the Critical Systems literature. it is suggested that TSI can be enhanced by an understanding of the creative design of methods because the latter allows us to explain the purposive, flexible, and responsive way in which TSI is most successfully used in practice.     

The observer's role and the process of critical review

The intention in this paper is to present a framework of critique which can be used to evaluate OR and determine (1) whether it is possible for OR to address its missing systemic, interdisciplinary components and (2) whether OR might address the practical (human) considerations often found in complex problem situations. The discussion begins with hierarchy theory and the work of C. West Churchman and moves towards incorporating those insights into a process of critical review (Wilby, 1996) as practiced within Total Systems Intervention (Flood and Jackson, 1991a, b; Food, 1995; Flood and Romm, 1996).     

Pyramids or Silos: Alternative Representations of the Systems Thinking Paradigms

This paper is written from the perspective of a practitioner-researcher coming to terms with methodologically or theoretically pluralist practice. Common depictions of the relationship between the hard and soft paradigms are discussed, including the influence of the problem of paradigmatic incommensurability. The consequences of different ways in which this relationship is depicted are examined, in light of various perspectives on the relationship of Critical Systems Thinking to these paradigms. Alternative models of this relationship are provided, followed by discussion of how these models can be extended to combinations of other paradigms in different contexts.     

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Versus Outsourcing—Critical Perspectives

This article presents a case example involving the renaming of an organizational change process from BPR to outsourcing. The paper discusses the important ramifications of such a name change in that the recognition of outsourcing allowed an organizational commitment to counseling and termination advice. The paper discusses two ways of looking at the name change, one from a critical theory perspective and one from a realist perspective. It demonstrates how theory can provide useful yet markedly different interpretations of such organizational events. Critical theory operates from within what can be termed the transitive epistemological dimension, whereas critical realism tends to emphasize the importance of ontological issues. Each has important things to say about the situation and improves our understanding overall.     

Towards a critique of Critical Systems Thinking within a foucauldian framework: A “demystification process” or an “instrumental use” of Critical Theory

Critical Systems Thinking is an approach which aims at providing a coherent platform to guide systems practitioners through the numerous systems paradigms and systems methodologies currently available. However, it claims not only that it can provide an efficient way for choosing the appropriate methodology based on proper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, but also that it is grounded within a commitment to critique, complementarism, and emancipation. Furthermore, it has claimed to be deeply rooted in the ideas of Habermas and Foucault. Considering recent research in Foucault's philosophy, this paper attempts to provide of CST a critical examination which can be extended to other areas of the management and systems sciences. In the context of this examination, the conclusion has been reached that CST has at least two options. The first is to redefine itself as a demystification process (of cherished concepts such as emancipation, complementarism, intervention and so on), if it wants to remain somehow ‘inspired’ by Critical Theory. The second one is to redefine its ‘critical’ claims so as to become aligned with managerial activities such as business consultancy and intervention, openly acknowledging an application of Critical Theory that is instrumental, if such an influence indeed exists.