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1 – 10 of 56Pedro Pablo Cardoso Castro and Angela Espinosa
The purpose of this is to explore the potential of the combined use of the viable system model (VSM) and social network analysis (SNA) to identify organizational pathologies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this is to explore the potential of the combined use of the viable system model (VSM) and social network analysis (SNA) to identify organizational pathologies.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a well-documented case study based on an academic consultancy intervention and Action Research Project, participative methods for the diagnostic of the VSM and questionnaires for the collection of connectivity data for the SNA were used to develop a heuristic to integrate these two tools and identify organizational pathologies.
Findings
This study provides empirical evidence of the benefits of the combined use of SNA to enhance the identification of organizational pathologies in VSM interventions, by providing an additional qualitative and quantitative framework for the interpretation of findings coming from VSM organizational diagnostics.
Research limitations/implications
This work explores some analytic routines of SNA frequently used in management. The validation is constrained to the nature of the data set from a case study. The document invites to a discussion of further and more advanced applications on the integration of the VSM and SNA.
Practical implications
The enhanced identification of organizational pathologies can contribute to the emerging new interest in applications of the VSM in management, providing robustness to the structural analysis of organizations.
Originality/value
This paper proposes a guideline to exploit the potential of the combined use of SNA and VSM. It opens new avenues for the study of organizational pathologies.
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Iffat Sabir Chaudhry and Angela Espinosa
Despite being a seminal explanation of the workforce emotional experiences, capable of mapping the path from the antecedents to consequences, affective events theory (AET) only…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite being a seminal explanation of the workforce emotional experiences, capable of mapping the path from the antecedents to consequences, affective events theory (AET) only offers a “macrostructure” of a working environment. To date, little is known about the universal features of the work environment that may guide the understanding of imperative work aspects triggering employees’ emotions at work. Hence, the study proposes and validates that Stafford Beer’s viable system model (VSM) can provide a holistic view of the organizational work environment, enabling a comprehensive understanding of work events or factors triggering workforce emotions.
Design/methodology/approach
First, the VSM structural layout is used to fill in the “macrostructure” of the “working environment” in AET to diagnose the functional and relational aspects of the work and the related work events occurring within. Using a deductive approach, 31 work events were adopted to determine the impact of VSM-based work environment events on the employees’ emotional experiences and subsequent work attitudes (job satisfaction) and behaviors (citizenship behavior). To field test the proposed nexus of VSM and AET, the survey was conducted on two hundred and fifteen employees from 39 different organizations. PLS-SEM tested the explanatory power of the suggested VSM’s systemic approach for understanding the affective work environment in totality.
Findings
The findings confirmed that the VSM metalanguage provides a holistic view of the organizational functioning and social connectivity disposing of affective work events, helpful in assessing their aggregate influence on employees’ emotions and work-related outcomes.
Practical implications
The findings identify how employees' emotions can be triggered by everyday work operations and social relations at work, which can affect their extra-role behaviors and necessary work-related attitudes.
Originality/value
The study utilized Beer’s VSM framework based on the systemic principle of “holistic view” for ascertaining the affective work environment and its related features holistically, which filled in well the macrostructure of “work environment features” with micro-structures of organizational inter-related aspects which are yet to be known in AET – a seminal explanation for managing workforce emotions.
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While there is some agreement on the usefulness of systems and complexity approaches to tackle the sustainability challenges facing the organisations and governments in the…
Abstract
Purpose
While there is some agreement on the usefulness of systems and complexity approaches to tackle the sustainability challenges facing the organisations and governments in the twenty-first century, less is clear regarding the way such approaches can inspire new ways of governance for sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to progress ongoing research using the Viable System Model (VSM) as a meta-language to facilitate long-term sustainability in business, communities and societies, using the “Methodology to support self-transformation”, by focusing on ways of learning about governance for sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
It summarises core self-governance challenges for long-term sustainability, and the organisational capabilities required to face them, at the “Framework for Assessing Sustainable Governance”. This tool is then used to analyse capabilities for governance for sustainability at three real situations where the mentioned Methodology inspired bottom up processes of self-organisation. It analyses the transformations decided from each organisation, in terms of capabilities for sustainable governance, using the suggested Framework.
Findings
Core technical lessons learned from using the framework are discussed, include the usefulness of using a unified language and tool when studying governance for sustainability in differing types and scales of case study organisations.
Research limitations/implications
As with other exploratory research, it reckons the convenience for further development and testing of the proposed tools to improve their reliability and robustness.
Practical implications
A final conclusion suggests that the suggested tools offer a useful heuristic path to learn about governance for sustainability, from a VSM perspective; the learning from each organisational self-transformation regarding governance for sustainability is insightful for policy and strategy design and evaluation; in particular the possibility of comparing situations from different scales and types of organisations.
Originality/value
There is very little coherence in the governance literature and the field of governance for sustainability is an emerging field. This piece of exploratory research is valuable as it presents an effective tool to learn about governance for sustainability, based in the “Methodology for Self-Transformation”; and offers reflexions on applications of the methodology and the tool, that contribute to clarify the meaning of governance for sustainability in practice, in organisations from different scales and types.
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To explore the usefulness of the cybernetic approach to support development programs by offering a theoretical framework that helps us to re‐understand development and measuring…
Abstract
Purpose
To explore the usefulness of the cybernetic approach to support development programs by offering a theoretical framework that helps us to re‐understand development and measuring systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a summary of Beer's theory for organisational development and measuring systems, shows examples of application in design and implementation of socio‐economic development programs in Colombia, and uses them to explore the usefulness of the approach in this field.
Findings
Analysis of the reported examples shows a clear indication of the usefulness of Beer's approach to design and measure development programs. It reveals an important field for applied research that could benefit from further applications of the approach.
Research limitations/implications
The experiences analysed here showed the strength or alliances between government, universities and development agencies, for applied research. It makes clear that more long‐term oriented projects are required to fully implement innovative approaches like the one described.
Practical implications
Applying a cybernetic approach in this field implies changing from top‐down to bottom‐up design; wider involvement of stakeholders to agree on critical measurements; changes from emphasis in technological and managerial improvements, to improvements in learning and self‐control tools for the developing communities.
Originality/value
Even if there has been agreement on the convenience of experimenting with more holistic approaches to socio‐economic development, few researchers show the potential of the cybernetic approach, as this paper does.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of organizational closure as developed by Stafford Beer in his viable systems model, defined as System 5.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of organizational closure as developed by Stafford Beer in his viable systems model, defined as System 5.
Design/methodology/approach
The author refers to his experiences of multi‐stakeholder platforms and confronts them with the original texts of Stafford Beer. He takes the stance of a reflective practitioner.
Findings
The identity function, defined as organizational closure, only can be embodied at the boundary of a system, defined by an observer. Identities are not essential characteristics but changing attributions by different observers. Multiple identities are the norm.
Practical implications
The author develops the required characteristics of representatives participating in the organizational closure or System 5 activities.
Originality/value
The author gives an alternative way of thinking about identity different from the mainstream essentialist way of defining identity. He explores the consequences of this way of thinking for governance and governing bodies. He clarifies in this way the fundamental tension between participative and representative democracy.
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Angela Espinosa and Mike C. Jackson
There has been considerable agreement among researchers and practitioners, working on development issues, that unless we improve the education infrastructure in less‐developed…
Abstract
There has been considerable agreement among researchers and practitioners, working on development issues, that unless we improve the education infrastructure in less‐developed countries they will never be able to improve their development indices. Innumerable educational reform programs in many different countries, over the last century, have been driven by this aim but few have had the desired impact on local educational systems in terms of coverage, quality and equity. Taking as an example a project recently undertaken in Colombia, we argue in this paper that a significant reason for this may well be the inappropriate theoretical paradigms and methodological approaches underpinning the majority of educational reform programs.
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The purpose of this paper is to introduce innovative systems that are currently being developed worldwide. They include reviews of Artificial life machines; Poker‐playing “bots”;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce innovative systems that are currently being developed worldwide. They include reviews of Artificial life machines; Poker‐playing “bots”; Advanced systems to harness a human's electrical field; “smart beer mat”; computer vision surveillance system; robotic systems for gastric surgery; future combat systems.
Design/methodology/approach
General review and survey of selected research and development topics.
Findings
Illustrates the multi‐and trans‐disciplinary nature of cybernetics and systems. Aims to further research and development activity.
Practical implications
The choice of reviews provides an awareness of the current trends in these areas of endeavour but are necessarily selective.
Orginality/va1ue
The reviews are selected from a global database and give a studied assessment of current research and development initiatives.
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