NDLI: The Viable System Model and Its Application to Complex Organizations

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Leonard, Allenna
Copyright Year	2009
Abstract	Stafford Beer’s Viable System Model is the best known of the many cybernetic models he constructed over a career spanning more than 50 years. He explored the necessary conditions for viability in any complex system whether an organism, an organization or a country. Although the model was first applied in his work in the steel industry, many further applications were made during his later work as a consultant. The best known of these was when he was invited by President Salvadore Allende of Chile in 1970 to model the social economy of that country. That experiment was brutally cut short in 1973 by the CIA assisted coup during which Allende was killed and Pinochet’s dictatorship installed. The model itself draws on mathematics, psychology, biology, neurophysiology, communication theory, anthropology and philosophy. It was first expressed in mathematical terms in ‘The Cybernetic Factory’; next it was described in neurophysiological terms in Brain of the firm; and finally according to logic and graphic presentation in Heart of Enterprise and Diagnosing the System for Organizations. This last version is the one that is most accessible. It enables people to address organizational issues in a way that skirts the usual categories and organization charts and gets down to the actual necessary functions, no matter who is performing them. With this model people can get a boost as they diagnose or design an organizations. One aspect is to discover what the organization’s critical variables are and to find or install the homeostats that will show that they are maintaining equilibrium. Within that context, the model will help you ascertain that the principle functions and communications channels are in place and can function effectively. A crucial aspect of the VSM is that it is recursive; that is that the same relationships can be traced from the shop floor to the corporation or from the village to the country. Two examples will be discussed: a small business and the Chilean work from the 1970s. It is hoped that this will encourage people to imagine a world that works much better than it does now and where management is not defeated by complexity.
Starting Page	223
Ending Page	233
Page Count	11
File Format	PDF
ISSN	1094429X
Journal	Systemic Practice and Action Research
Volume Number	22
Issue Number	4
e-ISSN	15739295
Language	English
Publisher	Springer US
Publisher Date	2009-06-04
Publisher Place	Boston
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Viable System Model Stafford Beer Project Cybersyn Sociology Organization/Planning Methodology of the Social Sciences Business/Management Science
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Strategy and Management Management of Technology and Innovation

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

A Set of Conventions, a Model: An Application of Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model to the Strategic Planning Process

The Viable Systems Model Applied to a National System of Innovation to Inform Policy Development

Design Rules for Intranets According to the Viable System Model

Peirce and Beer

The Changing Structural Dynamics of the Scottish Tourism Industry Examined Using Stafford Beer’s VSM

Using the Viable Systems Model to Structure a System Dynamics Mapping and Modeling Project for the Australian Taxation Office

Case Study Application of VSM to Transfer Pricing

Decoding the Japanese Lean Production System According to a Viable Systems Perspective

Developing a Framework for a Viable Research University

The Viable System Model and Its Application to Complex Organizations

Similar Documents

A Set of Conventions, a Model: An Application of Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model to the Strategic Planning Process

The Viable Systems Model Applied to a National System of Innovation to Inform Policy Development

Design Rules for Intranets According to the Viable System Model

Peirce and Beer

The Changing Structural Dynamics of the Scottish Tourism Industry Examined Using Stafford Beer’s VSM

Using the Viable Systems Model to Structure a System Dynamics Mapping and Modeling Project for the Australian Taxation Office

Case Study Application of VSM to Transfer Pricing

Decoding the Japanese Lean Production System According to a Viable Systems Perspective

Developing a Framework for a Viable Research University

The Viable System Model and Its Application to Complex Organizations