MBAC 423 Resources

The BBC’s Open University has an excellent section on systems thinking titled Systems Practice Managing Complexity. It includes interviews, examples and exercises.

The Web Dictionary of Cybernetics and Systems is a useful starting place when you encounter a word or phrase that is unfamiliar. An interface to this and a lot of other online dictionaries is provided by OneLook Dictionaries.

Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Doubleday Currency, 1990 and the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategy and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, Doubleday Currency, 1994. These books do a good job of describing systems thinking in very practical terms and putting it in a larger context. Pages 87-190 of the Fieldbook are especially useful. If you are lost this is a good place to go for help.

Peter Checkland and Sue Holwell, Information, Systems and Information Systems: Making Sense of the Field, Wiley, 1998. This book covers a particular approach to systems thinking known as the soft systems method. This book contanis a fascinating case study on the use of radar to win the Battle of Britain. (Another version of that material is available in An Information System Won the War (this is a pdf file that you can download only when you are logged into Case’s network). The book as a whole is a bit opague, but the application of these ideas directly to information systems may interest some of you.

Russell L. Ackoff, Creating the Corporate Future, Wiley, 1981. This book applies some of the same ideas specifically to the design of business organizations. Ackoff introduces a process he calls idealized design which is especially useful in dealing with unanticipated futures.

Airline industry slides

Archtype slides

Systems Thinking Resources The BBC’s Open University has an excellent section on systems thinking titled Systems Practice Managing Complexity. It includes interviews, examples and exercises. The Web Dictionary of Cybernetics and Systems is a useful starting place when you encounter a word or phrase that is unfamiliar. An interface to this and a lot of other online dictionaries is provided by OneLook Dictionaries. Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Doubleday Currency, 1990 and the Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategy and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, Doubleday Currency, 1994. These books do a good job of describing systems thinking in very practical terms and putting it in a larger context. Pages 87-190 of the Fieldbook are especially useful. If you are lost this is a good place to go for help. Peter Checkland and Sue Holwell, Information, Systems and Information Systems: Making Sense of the Field, Wiley, 1998. This book covers a particular approach to systems thinking known as the soft systems method. This book contanis a fascinating case study on the use of radar to win the Battle of Britain. (Another version of that material is available in An Information System Won the War (this is a pdf file that you can download only when you are logged into Case’s network). The book as a whole is a bit opague, but the application of these ideas directly to information systems may interest some of you. Russell L. Ackoff, Creating the Corporate Future, Wiley, 1981. This book applies some of the same ideas specifically to the design of business organizations. Ackoff introduces a process he calls idealized design which is especially useful in dealing with unanticipated futures. Airline industry slides Archtype slides