Afterword: Toward an Emery Model of Management: Implications and Prospects of Emery Open Systems Theory

The afterword considers some possible implications of the ideas raised in the four papers in this special issue. Implications for three questions of current debate in systemic thinking are discussed—system ontology, the system-environment relation and the meaning of adaptation, and the role of action research within social science practice. The concept of an Emery model of management as suggested by Fred Emery in the 1960s is revisited and its contemporary relevance discussed in the light of these new contributions and the current state of management, and the possible basis of Emery Open Systems Theory in C.S. Pierce's philosophy of pragmaticism is canvassed. Finally, some questions are posed concerning the future of OST.