| | | Location: Home » Computer Books » Systems Thinking, Second Edition: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture | |
|
|
| Systems Thinking, Second Edition: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture |  | Author: Jamshid Gharajedaghi President and CEO of Interact former director of The Busch Center the research arm of the Systems Sciences Department and Adjunct Professor of Systems Sciences at The Wharton School University of Pennyslvania
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann
Category: Book
List Price: $46.95
Buy New: $38.25
as of 9/7/2010 16:32 CDT details
You Save: $8.70 (19%)
New (21) Used (15) from $24.95
Seller: sbd-
Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 83781
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Pages: 368
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 0750679735
Dewey Decimal Number: 003
EAN: 9780750679732
ASIN: 0750679735
Publication Date: December 19, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780750679732 | | • | Condition: New | | • | Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed |
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The first edition of Systems Thinking was the first book to develop a working concept of systems theory and to deal operationally with systems methodology. The author has been working for the last 5 years to incorporate parallel development in quantum theory, self-organizing systems and complexity theory, the sum of which is included in this new 2nd edition. He has tested these concepts with 200 executive MBA students, and also with Russell Ackoff, one of the founding fathers of systems thinking. Ackoff reported that it was the most comprehensive systems methodology he has seen.
The 2nd edition features the synthesis of holistic thinking (iteration of structure, function and process), operational thinking (understanding chaos and complexity), sociocultural systems (movement toward a predefined order), and interactive design (redesigning the future and inventing ways to bring it about).
Also added are the operational thinking and self-organizing aspect of sociocultural systems, with updates made to the holistic thinking and interactive design parts to incorporate recent new developments.
* Cutting edge thinking incorporates the interaction of holistic thinking, operational thinking, sociocultural systems, and interactive design to develop an all inclusive systems methodology
* Companion website built solely to accompany and compliment the new edition available at www.interactdesign.com
* Operational thinking and self organizing aspects of sociocultural systems added anew, with the holistic thinking and interactive design parts updated to incorporate new developments
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
 This book is bunk! April 16, 2010
J. Resnick (Toronto)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Written in the style of a guru preaching to his would-be followers, this book is so full of jargon and nonsense that it is impossible to even build a critical analysis of the content. The author is more interested in pulling the wool over your eyes than teaching you anything. If you are interested in enlightenment through mysticism, this may be the book for you, but those interested in the rigorous application of systems thinking to business would best look elsewhere.
Horrible book! January 27, 2010
C. Ketter
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Okay, let me first say this book is crap! I am a senior in college and have had a 4.0 the entire time and all of a sudden get stuck with having to read this book in one of my business classes. Firstly, this book is extremely confusing to the point where it makes your mind spin and when you get done reading a page you forget everything you read because you were sitting there trying to comprehend what the author was saying. Like several other people have reviewed, it seems as though the author loathes in seeing how confusing he can make sentences, ideas, and theories to the reader instead of making the points clear and understandable. I have read the first two chapters and do not remember hardly anything because of me having to reread some sentences up to ten times; I think I am going to use this book as toilet paper because it is not worth a plug nickel.
 An excellent practical guide for business practices... May 7, 2009
Yuri Kuzyk (Toronto, Ontario Canada)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have had this book for quite a long time and have read it many times. Each time that I read it I come away with fresh ideas and views on how to apply systems thinking to practical business problems. This book contains a plethora of ideas, views and examples of both good and bad approaches to applying systems thinking to real problems.
I think that every systems engineer should have a copy. Probably all project engineers trying to do NPI in today's fast-paced business environment should also have a copy. I think there is lots of very practical advice and ideas in the book.
The book covers many aspects of systems thinking in business applications from foundations of cybernetics, psychology and philosophy to hands-on approaches to managing teams.
Highly recommended.
Not up to expectations October 11, 2008
Alejandro Picos (Washington DC, USA)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I could not get the essence of this book. There is not a coherent framework, nor ideas are applied in a way that I would find useful. Please try to peruse a copy before purchasing it - in my case it would not make my first cut through the "search inside" feature.
A True Cipher Key To Business Design / Re-Engineering May 15, 2008
Timothy J. Roberts Inc. (SoCal)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is one of the most important books written in the last 30 years. It is about moving beyond process, synthetic and analytical thinking as singular means of improving business. It is a key to understanding that all of these methods are insufficient on their own as a means of creating optimum results, continuous improvement and business development.
We all understand that in the greatest of companies, musical ensembles, theatre troupes, and sports teams, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. However, we remain mystified by that elusive "chemistry" that actually is the necessary final ingredient needed to move beyond simply being very, very good, and becoming extraordinary.
Dr. Gharajedaghi reveals to us that "chemistry" remains elusive because of the way we see it. He demonstrates that it is not an ingredient that we can insert, but it is a product of the interaction and interdependence of the other ingredients that we are using. Additionally, we learn that the ingredients must be put into the right mixing bowl, or operational environment, which he defines in general terms as "context".
With this book, Professor Gharajedaghi provides us with a very clear understanding as to how chemistry can be created and recreated within any organization, and how to sustain it. This book is a key that will allow you to actually implement process improvement theories such as TQM and Lean, that have been at best a disappointment and at worst a failure in corporate America over the last 20 years.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 27
|
|
|
|
. | |
|
