Boardman / Sauser Systems Thinking

Coping with 21st Century Problems
Erscheinungsjahr 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4200-5492-7
Verlag: Taylor & Francis
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 240 Seiten

Reihe: Industrial Innovation Series

By examining the links and interactions between elements of a system, systems thinking is becoming increasingly relevant when dealing with global challenges, from terrorism to energy to healthcare. Addressing these seemingly intractable systems problems in our society, Systems Thinking: Coping with 21st Century Problems focuses on the inherent opportunities and difficulties of a systems approach. Taking an engineering systems view toward systems thinking, the authors place a high value on the thinking process and the things applied to this process. In the hopes of initiating critical thinking and encouraging a systems response to problems, the book provides pragmatic mechanisms to understand and address co-evolving systems problems and solutions. It uses several contemporary and complex societal issues, such as the Iraq war, the Google phenomenon, and the C2 Constellation, to illustrate the concepts, methods, and tools of a system as well as the meaning of togetherness in a system. The text also interweaves the meanings of complexity, paradox, and system to promote the improvement of difficult situations. Featuring a holistic, nonlinear way of looking at systems, this book helps readers better organize and structure their thinking of systems in order to solve complex, real-world problems.

Zielgruppe

Systems, industrial, project, manufacturing, production, software, and management science engineers; graduate students in engineering; business and program managers and planners; R&D professionals.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Boardman, John

Sauser, Brian

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Betriebswirtschaft Management

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Perspectives

If You Leave Me Now

Areas of Perspective

Perspectives on Google

Returning to Iraq

Concepts

Just a Thought

What’s the Big Idea?

The Conceptagon

Engineering

Pressed into Action

The Way We Were

Quite another Story

Dynamics

Thinks Can Only Get Better

Soft

Breakfast @ Tiffs ‘n’ Ease

Softly, as I Lead You

Into Great Issues

Evolution

From Prose to Picture

Going off the Rails

Normal Service Will Never Be Resumed

Postlude

Togetherness

Common Causes

An Intelligent Community?

The Madder of All Wars

Principles for Togetherness

Of

Social Networks

Order Forms

Technology Networks

Less Auto, More Mobile

The Price and Prize of Togetherness

The System of Systems Debate

Essential Characteristics

Back to Biology

Paradox

Make My Joy Complete

The World of Both

System Paradoxes

Bothersome Bovines

Complex

Life’s Rich Tapestry

Sides of Bacon

A Weakness Stronger than Strength

Ready, Fire, Aim

Snowballs and Seesaws

Significant Others

Postlude

Index

A “Time to Think” section and Endnotes appear at the end of each chapter.