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.