An Assessment of the Application of ‘Critical Systems Heuristics’ to a Policy Development Process

Through the presentation and analysis of a case study of a policymaking process for the quality assurance of higher education by an external government agency, this paper seeks to highlight the contribution of Ulrich’s critical systems heuristics as a method for enhancing the social rationality of policymaking. It is claimed that the use of CSH enabled the researcher to elicit rich qualitative data that captured different world-views, values and boundary judgments of social actors representing the different groups of stakeholders involved in or affected by the policy. The use of CSH contributed to a policy settlement that involved substantial improvement to the reformulated policies. However, it is argued that, in the context of a new democracy with a weak public sphere, CSH was unable to counter the unequal power relations between the government agency and the universities and the historical-political fractures of South African society that caused divisions within and across Ulrich’s social roles.

A Case of Energy and Ecology System Development and a New Approach to System Dynamics Modeling

1　IntroductionIn our previous subject concerned with the development of energy and ecology systemengineering[1 ] ,we have proposed SD rate variable fundamental in- tree modeling and,then,built the model of this system which totally included six in- trees with this newapproach.But the difficulty in locating all feedback loops is a barrier on the way of ourfurther research on the feedback structure and functions of the complex system.Therefore,a new algebraic method named after SD branch- vec…     

The Design and Discuss of the Traffic and Road Management Information System

Inthetimeswhennewtechnologiesappearincessantly,thecomputerandnettt,orktechnology,whichistheleadingtechllologyof21thcentury,graduallypermeateallwalksoflife.Thepolicedepartment,thestatesecuritydepartment,surpassesvariousgovernmentdepartmentsontheapplicationofcomputertechnology.FOrinstance,the110PoliceAutomaticReportingSystemhasbeensetupandusedillvasturbanareas.AllotherexamplefatthebegillningofINTERNETinChina,thepolicedepartmenthas11adOneeyeoilthecrimeaboutINTERNET.ThePoliceDepartmentof…     

An Approach of the Fuzzy Weighted Inputs to the Generalized Predictive Control

1　 IntroductionAs the representative of a kind of advanced computer control algorithm,generalizedpredictive control (GPC) is of many applications in various domains[1 ] .But to ourdisappointment,it is difficult to establish precision models,which makes GPC algorithmhave only limited robustness since GPC algorithm is still model based algorithm and thereexist such factors as nonlinearity,indefinity,etc,in some real systems.To improve the robustness of GPC algorithm and avoid the weakness …     

An Information Theory Approach to the Data Compression and Imaging System for Synthetic Aperture Radar （SAR）

ＡｎＩｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｏｒｙＡｐｐｒｏａｃｈｔｏｔｈｅＤａｔａＣｏｍｐｒｅｓｓｉｏｎａｎｄＩｍａｇｉｎｇＳｙｓｔｅｍｆｏｒＳｙｎｔｈｅｔｉｃＡｐｅｒｔｕｒｅＲａｄａｒ（ＳＡＲ）￥ＸｉａｏＹｏｎｇｘｉｎ；ＰｅｎｇＨａｉｌｉａｎｇａｎｄＣｈｅｎ...     

The Implementation Technology of a Model Description and Management Tools of Comprehensive Information

ＴｈｅＩｍｐｌｅｍｅｎｔａｔｉｏｎＴｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｙｏｆａＭｏｄｅｌＤｅｓｃｒｉｐｔｉｏｎａｎｄＭａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔＴｏｏｌｓｏｆＣｏｍｐｒｅｈｅｎｓｉｖｅＩｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎＷＡＮＧＳｈｉｐｉｎｇ；ＸＩＡｎｂａｎｇ（ＭａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔＳｃｈｏ...     

Study on the Complexity of Sustainable Development System and Its Management

On the course of history,human beings have liberated production capacity and madeglorious achievements in economic development.However,global environmental pollutionand ecological problem have arisen as a result of irrational development and utilization o…     

A Method of Synthetical Appraisal on "Have both Soft and Hard" Systems

1　IntroductionInappraisalanddecisionmaking,weoftenruninto″HavebothSoftandHard″systems.Atpresent,forconvenience′ssakeonmathematics,Manyappraisalmethodoftentrans-formhardtargetsintosoftfactors.Manyhardtargetsaresoftenedbyman-made,likethis,notonlyth...     

A Historical Perspective on Development of Systems Engineering Discipline:A Review and Analysis

Since its inception,Systems Engineering(SE)has developed as a distinctive discipline,and there has been significant progress in this field in the past two decades.Compared to other engineering disciplines,SE is not affirmed by a set of underlying fundamental propositions,instead it has emerged as a set of best practices to deal with intricacies stemming from the stochastic nature of engineering complex systems and addressing their problems.Since the existing methodologies and paradigms(dominant patterns of thought and concepts)of SE are very diverse and somewhat fragmented.This appears to create some confusion regarding the design,deployment,operation,and application of SE.The purpose of this paper is 1)to delineate the development of SE from 1926-2017 based on insights derived from a histogram analysis,2)to discuss the different paradigms and school of thoughts related to SE,3)to derive a set of fundamental attributes of SE using advanced coding techniques and analysis,and 4)to present a newly developed instrument that could assess the performance of systems engineers.More than Two hundred and fifty different sources have been reviewed in this research in order to demonstrate the development trajectory of the SE discipline based on the frequency of publication.     

A Set of Conventions,a Model: An Application of Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model to the Strategic Planning Process

In contemplating better ways to manage, Stafford Beer says the big problem is that you are not determining absolute facts: you are establishing a set of conventions. Hence his view, that a model is neither true nor false: it is more or less useful. And while this paper suggests Beer’s Viable Systems Model (VSM) is overwhelmingly more, rather than less useful, that the VSM and its founding theories are virtually unknown at the level of everyday management begs the question, why? Over time we have learned about the usefulness of the VSM compared to other management theories, when used in the contest of the organisational strategic planning process. Thus through a sequence of diagrams based on Beer’s original drawings, we show how the VSM came to underpin a process for strategic planning in one organisation. The paper has three aims; to attach an everyday ‘common speak’ understanding to some of Beer’s work, to demonstrate how we have learned to appreciate the usefulness of the VSM and its associated diagrams and conventions and to suggest a link between the Action Research change methodology and Beer’s work.     

Preface——Special Issue to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Journal of Systems Science and Complexity

<正>This special issue is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of Journal of Systems Science and Complexity(JSSC)which is under the auspices of the Institute of Systems Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences.Institute of Systems Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 1979 by scientists Chao-Chih Kwan,Wen-Tsun Wu,Guo-Zhi Xu.In 1981,the Journal of Systems Science     

Enterprise Development and Enterprise Innovation Management Support System Under the Background of Interne

1　IntroductionThe research of Enterprise Management Information System under the background ofINTERNET has been an important problem for discussion in many fields such asmanagement science,natural science and systems engineering.But up to now it onlyfocuses on how to obtain and issue information,it doesn′t cover the innovation enterprisedevelopment under INTERNET facing and the problem how to support the innovation.This paper analyses the reform of enterprise development and discusse…     

An Approach to the Fault Diagnosis and Testability in Analog Circuits at Module Level

ＡｎＡｐｐｒｏａｃｈｔｏｔｈｅＦａｕｌｔＤｉａｇｎｏｓｉｓａｎｄＴｅｓｔａｂｉｌｉｔｙｉｎＡｎａｌｏｇＣｉｒｃｕｉｔｓａｔＭｏｄｕｌｅＬｅｖｅｌＹａｎｇＪｉａｗｅｉ（ＢｅｉｊｉｎｇＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅｏｆＲｅｍｏｔｅＳｅｎｓｉｎｇＥｑｕｉｐｍｅｎｔ，Ｂ...     

System Approach to the Integration of Military and Civilian Productions in China

The author uses system analysis to provide system thinkings of the deepening reform of the management of defence science, technology and industry (DSTI) and investigate the system definition of DSTI, the system reform target, system operational mechanism, institutional structure, coordination and control functions and the orientation of conversion in China.     

A Numerical Scheme to Obtain the RCS of Serated Targets Using CG-FFT

ＡＮｕｍｅｒｉｃａｌＳｃｈｅｍｅｔｏＯｂｔａｉｎｔｈｅＲＣＳｏｆｅｒａｔｅｄＴａｒｇｅｔｓＵｓｉｎｇＣＧ－ＦＦＴTXＡＮｕｍｅｒｉｃａｌＳｃｈｅｍｅｔｏＯｂｔａｉｎｔｈｅＲＣＳｏｆＳｅｒａｔｅｄＴａｒｇｅｔｓＵｓｉｎｇＣＧＦＦＴＷａｎｇＢａｏｆａ＆Ｇ...     

Application of the Constrained Predicated Nets and Interval Logic to Production Systems

1 .INTRODUCTIONDuetotheireconomicsignificanceandclosenesstopersons,productionsystemsmustbemodeledbeforetheirimplementationanduse,thus,amethodwhichspecifies ,analyzesandsynthesizestheproductionsys tems—discreteeventsystems (DES)hasbeenestab lishedanddevelopedstepbystepinrecentyears.DESmethodspecifiestheplantbasedonitsdiscretecharacters,however,intherealworld ,therearefewplantsthatcanbemodeledbypurelydiscretemathe maticalmodelbecausetherearealwayssomecontinu ousparametersforstudyinnearlya…     

Variable Structure Control of Distributed Parameter Systems and Application to the System of Heat Process

ＶａｒｉａｂｌｅＳｔｒｕｃｔｕｒｅＣｏｎｔｒｏｌｏｆＤｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｅｄＰａｒａｍｅｔｅｒＳｙｓｔｅｍｓａｎｄＡｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｔｏｔｈｅＳｙｓｔｅｍｏｆＨｅａｔＰｒｏｃｅｓｓＺＨＡＯＷｅｎｒｏｎｇＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＭａｔｈｅｍａｔｉｃｓ...     

A Robust Output—Feedback Controller for a Class of Uncertain Nonlinear Systems

1　IntroductionRecently,the nonlinear output- feedback control problems are solved successfully by usingbackstepping for a class of nonlinear systems. The partialstate feedback control problemsolved in Jiang and Praly,1996 is more general than the output- feedback control problem.However,the assumptions made in the paper are too restrictive which does not only re-quire the existence of c,γ andψ1 to be ascertained a priori,but also require them to beknown for an unknown system. If c,γ can n…     

A Practical Approach to Modifying Pairwise Comparison Matrices and Two Criteria of Modificatory Effectiveness

This paper presents a theorem,on which an approximation method of modifying com-parison matrices is offered.By this method any positive reciprocal matrix with a large CR can beso corrected that the modified matrix can both tally with the consistency requirement and reservethe most information that the original matrix contains.Two criteria of evaluating modificatoryeffectiveness are also presented.