Systems practice in consulting

The paper covers the area of systems thinking and practice in management consultancy primarily in Tata Consultancy Service in India. As the largest consultancy organization in the country, it has the need and opportunity to deal with very large societal systems which are by nature complex. It needs to develop new holistic approaches to execute the assignments. The Systems Engineering and Cybernetic Centre (SECC) was started in 1982 to meet this requirement. The paper described the genesis and the arena of activity of SECC over the years, highlighting the formulation of an interactive consulting paradigm and a multimodeling approach to complex problem solving. The philosophical bases of these are discussed along with systems practice in some typical complex assignments.     

Systems practice in several communities in Philadelphia

Several volunteer community groups in inner-city Philadelphia have been working to improve their blighted neighborhoods. This article describes how they applied Ackoff's interactive planning and Forrester's system dynamics and then details two programs that were implemented as a result. Examples of government efforts and “community development” funding structures are included for contrast. Local and federal government efforts tend to address the symptoms, but not the producers of problems, and are short-sighted because they tend to ignore the context that creates the problem situation. The structures for allocating resources appear to serve the purposes of decision makers who allocate funds, at the expense of the communities that desperately need services. A major point of this article is that such systems approaches as interactive management and system dynamics offer hope for solving seemingly intractable problems that threaten many communities and societies today.     

Systems practice from the start: Some experiences in a biotechnology company

Many specialist biotechnology companies have been founded to exploit new and fundamental discoveries in biotechnology—recombinant DNA and monoclonal antibodies. Celltech Limited, founded by the author and generally accepted as the UK's leading company in this field, was based from the start on a number of key systems ideas. Four of these are described and discussed in this paper: the use of succinct statements checked by the CATWOE mnemonic from soft systems methodology; the establishment of coherent systems for managing strategic matters, operational matters, and the development of people; a project management system using a matrix approach; and an approach to external relations influenced by Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety. The paper is concluded with two ideas arising out of practice: the relation of compartmentation and systems boundaries and a methodological suggestion derived from Jürgen Habermas' characterization of the basis for excellent communications.     

Systems thinking,systems practice,and practical philosophy: A program of research

IfSystems Practice is to serve the cause of socially rational decision making, its understanding of systems approach must open itself up to the communicative dimension of rational practice uncovered by contemporary practical philosophy. This programmatic paper argues that building the bridge between the two traditions of systems thinking and practical philosophy is a key challenge to be faced by the systems community. A three-level framework of rational systems practice is suggested as a point of departure for a program of research.     

系统生物学:系统科学与生物体系统

对近年涌现出来的生物体系统研究新思路———系统生物学进行了概述,简要叙述了系统生物学出现的背景、研究内容和研究方法,以及与生物体系统其他研究方法之间的联系与区别,并提出了对系统生物学进一步研究的意见.     

Systems inquiry in education

The aim of this paper is to highlight the current inadequacies of contemporary education and then to outline a methodological approach by which we can redesign and implement an educational system that is more appropriate to the postindustrial/information age in which we now live. A brief discussion of an application is given in order to exemplify the proposed systemic approach.     

Systems Engineering in China

A short history of Systems Engineering(SE) is described. The reasons why research work moves from Operations Research (OR), Management Science (MS) and Cybernetices to SE in China are given. This paper indicates some facets of the development of SE in China with emphasis on applications of SE.     

系统隐喻、系统方法论的系统体系及全面系统干预

本文分析了系统概念和系统工程方法论,并对系统概念及系统方法论的新进展系统隐喻、系统方法论的系统体系及全面系统干预方法论作了评介.     

Soft Systems Methodology and Systems Maintenance

Business systems maintenance represents a large proportion of the work of IT staff in most organizations. Many methodologies relevant to IT concentrate on systems development and give little attention to systems maintenance. In this paper we discuss the relevance and benefits of the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) to systems maintenance. Payroll administration is then used to provide an outline illustration of the use of SSM for systems maintenance projects. Aspects of the use of SSM for systems maintenance projects are also discussed.     

Systems Thinking and Systems Practice: Working in the Fifth Dimension

This paper describes how a messy organizational problem was tackled using a systems approach which led to a resolution of the problem and to an improvement in the working relationships of the people involved. The example also shows how people who are not familiar with systems thinking, as such, can quickly be helped to develop a shared systemic view of a complex situation using activity modeling. At a deeper level, the paper also shows how the underlying dynamics of the problem situation was altered as a result of using a cooperative, dialogical working method, leading to an improvement in the quality of service provided by that part of the organization. The paper uses Peter Senge's five disciplines of a learning organization, together with various systems concepts, as a framework for describing how the process of change was brought about through the simultaneous management of task and social processes, leading to both individual and organizational learning.     

系统、仿真系统及其理论

主要从基本理论、基本概念、基本方法、演变规律的角度,回顾、分析论述了系统、系统理论、原始系统、仿真系统、相似理论与系统仿真组合理论的基本内容、相互关联和发展概况,从而引出相应结论.     

人—机系统的技术进展

本文从人—机协作的观点探讨进入９０年代以来智能技术在远距操作器、远控机器人、远距呈现、虚拟现实等方面的研究与应用进展。