The origin of modern trading corporations in system perspective

To solve large-scale problems of different kind has always implied the compiling and combining of resources with labour. Certain goal can only be attained by cooperation and collaboration resulting in division of labour and specialization. The mediaeval man was well aware of these facts which lay behind his attempts of new social organization, where

The development of organizational theory in system perspective

The industrial revolution and the resulting technological, economical and social development initiated a great interest in organizational questions. But first at the foregoing turn of the century, different organizational schools had been established. The advancement of organizational theory cannot be separated from contemporary scientific and social development. Scientific management and bureaucratic design were brain-childs

The non-avoidable hierarchy in system perspective

To follow the development of modern organizational design is to witness a perpetual attack on the idea of the hierarchical organization. It has been accused from a great variety of perspectives and every new generation has taken the aim of breaking down its vertical boundaries. Instead they have a new revolutionary alternative design just

Organizational design in system perspective

When society changes in many areas, the shape of the organization quite naturally also changes. But like other phenomena in our world, new and old organizational design also exist side by side. We therefore can see old bureaucracies in the best of health as well as new matrix organizations existing simultaneously. A continuum of

Multiple perspectives of management cybernetics

As we already know, systemic and cybernetic scientists use metaphors as a means for explaining and providing insight and understanding into complex phenomena. When it comes to organizations a plethora of metaphors and perspectives have been suggested. Some of them are: Organizations as organisms Organizations as control systems Organizations as brains Organizations as machines

A systems approach in ten points

To conclude this chapter of the complex organization and its management, the following ten points is an attempt to sum up in systemic terms what has been discussed. Organizations change according to processes that take place on its own organizational level. The individual members only set the specific control parameters that define its behaviour

Decision-Making and Decision Aids in system perspective

Systems can be described in terms of inputs transformed into outputs, as a process of fulfilment of  a  purpose,  or the  pursuit of  a  goal.  The last is the equivalent of decision-making and together with monitoring and evaluation it is a basic human activity. As such, it concerns the main components of the cybernetic control

Some concepts and distinctions of Making and Decision Aids in system perspective

In order to understand the nature of decision-making (and the need for computer support) a description of the characteristics of a decision situation must first be given. It can be defined with the items below. A problem exists. At least two alternatives for action remain. Knowledge exists of the objective and its relationship to

Basic decision aids in system perspective

During the past years a number of mainly mathematical techniques have been developed to assist the decision maker. These techniques are called decision aids and their use is intended to maximize the probability that the chosen decision is the best one. Among the better known are the following: decision trees decision matrices linear programming

Managerial problems and needs in system perspective

Today, all kinds of organization are constantly exposed to changes in a dynamic and moving environment. In order to survive they have to predict these changes and be prepared to respond quickly and adequately. When it comes to commercial enterprises, the following major driving forces seem to be the most influential today: Development of

Four generations of computer support in system perspective

During the 1960s, when the first generation of useful all-purpose computers reached the market, a kind of decision support called electronic data processing, EDP, became available. It was designed to do the task of implementing decisions which had already been made. Very large quantities of data were processed, each in accordance with a well-defined

C3I systems

This heading is an acronym for Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence, mainly used as a general concept for a military command structure. The acronym has its origin in the notion of command & control (C2) which has been defined as: ‘In general terms, C2 is everything an executive uses in making decisions and seeing

Some psychological aspects of decision-making in system perspective

In the preceding pages some structural and technical points of decision- making have been discussed. The importance of the psychological factors involved cannot, however, be neglected. One of these is the creative element which more or less influences all steps of the process. Regarding creativity per se, a wise man knows that pessimists underestimate

The future of managerial decision support in system perspective

It is very difficult to provide relevant predictions in such a dynamic field of computer technology as decision support systems. The small examination of the past made here may, however, give some reasonable conclusions for the future. The users of today’s systems differ substantially from the past and are no longer the hard-core computer

Informatics in system perspective

Since the late 1960s, computer science has been an important topic of study in all major universities around the world. This subject has its origin in the pure technological areas of computer engineering (‘computer science’), computer mathematics (‘computing science’) and numerical analysis, etc. Informatics, with its roots in computer science is a concatenation of

Electronic networks

The modern world of today consists, to a great extent, of an artificial milieu created by human beings and structured into large technological systems. The global telecommunications network belongs to one of the most complex of these systems, even if one only considers the physical network with its telephones, exchanges, optical fibre cables, satellites,

Fibre optics, communication and navigation satellites, cellular radio

Modern networks are composed of different channels, of which the three mentioned in the above heading seem to have the greatest potential. Being the least ‘glamorous’, fibre optics have already brought about a silent revolutionary change in the global communication system. The invention of fibre optics in fact neutralized the emerging ‘copper crisis’ during

Internet

When examining electronic networks, the Internet is a good example as it is one of the biggest and most spectacular. It is possible to compare the development of the Internet with earlier, radical infrastructural changes caused for example by the arrival of the railway or the motor car. Viewed in this way, the Internet

Virtual reality

In the same way that a telephone is a tool to facilitate conversation over long distances, the technology of virtual reality, or VR, is primarily a facilitator of a total remote communication experience. A higher, more effective level of communication is now possible by the amalgamation of imaging and computing power. This is something

Cyberspace and cyberpunk

In 1984, a novel was published by the American author William Gibson. Its title was Neuromancer and Gibson was soon considered a promising representative of ‘New Journalism’. This trend was a carefree, conscious mixture of facts from the latest technological and biological achievements and dystrophic prophesies regarding social development. Here the world was recognized