World Class Quality and Productivity

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Derived from general system science and cybernetics, systems thinking and systems models give today’s managers new and more effective ways to think about their organizations. The result is better integration of all actions throughout the organization towards a common purpose and better decisions at all levels. Many content that

systems science will become the integrating management philosophy for the future.

Systems Thinking and Systems Models

Management attention focus on such principles and practices as re-engineering, customer value, activity based costing, agile manufacturing, strategic partnering, and many others. Systems science and systems modelling provide a framework and a design for information feedback that helps managers to make such practices effective. It’s a framework that executive management can use to build a successful enterprise in today’s competitive, complex world. Understanding the organization structure of largely self-managing systems changes control from direct (less effective) control to indirect (more effective) control. The system structure itself, following the laws of system behaviour, provides the control with decisions and actions throughout the enterprise coordinated to the achievement of the organization’s goals. With systems thinking, we see our organization differently from the traditional organization-chart view. The organization chart shows people and titles and where each box fits in the hierarchy. It shows who reports to whom, but very little about how the organization works. A System model shows functions and units, not people. The model also includes the information system, communication channels, markets and customers, the external environment, and the interconnectivity among all of these. A systems model shows how the organization works. Executive leadership can develop a systems model for the total organization. This model will define the subsidiary units within the total organization and, using the same model, system models can be developed for each of these units. Larger organizations will have several levels of systems models. Management at each level can use the model and redesign information systems to provide the information needed at all levels for integration, control and continuous improvement.

Use systems thinking and systems models to integrate all organization operations and to