infonet-economy

The purpose of this article is to make a contribution to a more effective management for supply chains and networks, which we are subsuming under the title supply systems. We conceive of supply systems management as the design, control, and development of logistics along the value chain or in value networks. In this article, we concentrate on control, i.e., the regulation and steering of supply systems from production to customer and vice versa, with the help of system dynamics modeling and simulation. Traditionally, supply chain management has been heavily supported by discrete event simulation and optimization models on very detailed levels. Established tools, e.g., Manufacturing Resources Planning, Enterprise Resources Planning, and Production Planning Systems, have emphasized highly specialized functions, such as the planning for optimal capacity use and achievement of delivery goals, via the sequencing, scheduling, and dispatching of individual orders, or the global allocation of resources but without the possibility to evaluate different outcomes of the allocation process. In the quest for efficiency and effectiveness, new approaches to control, which lead beyond these functions of disposition, are needed. We present a model that combines two systemic methodologies that operate on higher levels of aggregation and complement each other: system dynamics to model and simulate the supply chain and cybernetic control to apply control-theoretical concepts, namely proportional, derivative, and integral control, in a combined mode as well as according to a recursive logic of distributed control. This way, substantial improvements in both efficiency and effectiveness can be achieved, and ultimately organizational viability can be enhanced.

The purpose of this article is to draw lessons for transdisciplinary modelling endeavours in social contexts. The chosen approach is to explore a research project that was part of the Swiss National Science Foundation's ‘Swiss Priority Programme Environment' (SPPE). The project focused on ecological issues and was realised in collaboration with local actors from a Swiss municipality. The case study design is used to analyse methodological issues related to the study of complex dynamic challenges. For example, for the purpose of policy design and learning, pertinent examples of the roles of heuristic frameworks and of simulation models are examined. Another challenge is to involve problem owners in the inquiry process. Furthermore, the transdisciplinary approach, in order to gain a better understanding, is addressed. These issues will be illustrated by means of system dynamics modelling and analysis of current challenges in the realm of solid waste management. Finally, the chapter makes several recommendations to researchers who want to investigate multifaceted, dynamically complex issues together with practitioners.

The Viable System Model by Stafford Beer embodies a theory about the preconditions of organizational viability. This theory has been discussed extensively by the academics and professionals of organizational cybernetics. The theoretical claim of the Viable System Model (VSM) is bold. It asserts to specify the necessary and sufficient preconditions for the viability of any organization. The empirical evidence, to date, amounts to a substantial corpus of case studies from applications that support the claim of the theory. The present contribution leads beyond the status quo. Its purpose is to test the theory empirically, on the grounds of a broad survey and pertinent quantitative analysis. The available data support the hypotheses and therewith corroborate the theory of the VSM. This implies that the VSM is a reliable orientation device for the diagnosis and design of organizations to strengthen their vitality, resilience, and development potential.

The authors advocate building a bridge between two systems approaches, namely system dynamics (SD) and the viable system model (VSM), which is the main exponent of organizational cybernetics (OC). Such a synthesis is aimed at opening a path towards a better capability of actors to deal with complex issues in both organizations and society. Given their respective strengths - modeling and simulation of content issues in the case of SD, and providing a viable organizational context in the case of OC - a combination of the two approaches is claimed to be potentially fertile. That argument gets twofold support. Firstly, the complementarity of SD and the VSM is cogently shown. Secondly, the authors refer to examples of synergy development through a combination of the two approaches.

It is widely accepted that any well designed organizational process includes a control mechanism through which management decides which aspects of the process performance are to be measured and how these measurements are to be used to change the level of resources utilized in the process. Little is known, however, about the best ways to design such a control mechanism for typical service sector processes. The focus of this research is to study how a variety of control mechanisms performs in managing a business process. The goal is to identify control mechanisms that are effective in different types of environments. This requires modeling both levels, the business process (object level), and the control system (meta level). The fundamental question we ask here is why control systems so often founder. We address the logical aspect of modeling only, not the socio-logical aspects of model use and of implementation. The scenarios for which we try to establish optimal control systems are ones of stationary, dynamic, and turbulent demand patterns. For this purpose we have designed a generic system dynamics model of a business process. The extensive simulation experiments realized with this model corroborate some of the generally acknowledged, basic principles of control, while refuting some of the usually accepted common-sense knowledge about management and organization. The pertinent reflections also lead to some substantive conclusions concerning the design of control systems.

This paper relies on complexity theory to gain new insights into the
dynamics of high-technology markets. We are making use of the Pólya process model to explain these dynamics. This classical model highlights the "mechanism" of positive feedback, which gives rise to the phenomenon of path dependence and lock-in. Implications for management in high-technology markets are derived. Finally, some recommendations for the design of business innovations are given.

One of the sections of the the 47th Conference of the International Society for the System Sciences (ISSS) in Crete was dedicated to the methodology and applications of Team Syntegrity (TS). TS is a methodology to make the discourse of large groups effective, which is particularly useful in the context of conversations about the future. This contribution is centred on a Team Syntegrity event in which members of the conference initiated a dialogue on the future of ISSS. The paper provides a report and a reflection about that event, and an outlook on how to embark on an ongoing discourse about that vital concern of the Society.

Urban development in fast-growing cities is one of the huge challenges of our time, and several projects of technical cooperation are dedicated to this issue. The aim of this paper is to help project managers to enhance their capability of dealing effectively with the formidable complexities inherent in this kind of project. For this purpose, we explore the potential of Organizational Cybernetics and Social Systems Theory in a relatively new area of application. We have developed a set of conceptual tools that are helpful in coping with dynamic complexity in change and development projects. These tools have in common an inherent logic deriving to a great extent from Stafford Beer's Viable System Model and the St Gall framework for systemic management. The application of the tools is illustrated by a state-of-the-art case study from the realm of Technical Co-operation - the revision of the Urban Master Plan for the City of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. However, the toolkit is in principle also applicable to any complex project of change or development.