Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

<p><b>Collaborations are often required to address ‘wicked’ social, economic and environmental problems, but are commonly ineffective, due to complexity inherent in collaborations and the problems they aim to address.</b></p> <p>This study responds to calls from scholars for a systemic approach for understanding and managing collaborations. Here, the Viable System Model (VSM) is used to support collaborative partners of a multi-organisational collaboration to identify critical management functions and communication channels necessary for system effectiveness and viability. Despite its promise in supporting partners to identify and plan for improvements to collaborative working arrangements, the VSM provides little guidance on how to manage multiple perspectives or power imbalances amongst partners during such an intervention. Being able to do so is essential for joined-up thinking, learning, and collective action in multi-organisational settings. This study augments the VSM by embedding it within a Team Syntegrity (TS) process methodology to ensure meaningful engagement and ‘fair dialogue.’In trialling this combination, an action research, multi-methodology approach was followed to answer the question: to what extent can a TS augmented VSM intervention address multiple perspectives and marginalisation processes?</p> <p>The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated drawing on data collected from workshop surveys, interviews, and a document review.</p> <p>The TS augmented VSM intervention supported collaborative partners in this study to collectively understand the purpose of the collaboration and its activities, problem areas that needed to be addressed for the collaboration’s effectiveness and viability, and a suitable structure for the collaboration moving forward.</p> <p>The study is novel in terms of the multi-methodological approach adopted, particularly how the use of TS and VSM lead to mutual benefits. This study demonstrates how the use of one informs the use of the other, and how insights from one may lead to insights from the other. Furthermore, this study suggests an original use of the VSM as a tool to define the ‘system in focus’ and a series of avenues for marginalisation that need to be taken into account in the design of an intervention.</p> <p>The findings are useful for anyone wanting to use the VSM and/or TS to better understand and improve a collaboration’s effectiveness and viability.</p>

Dealing With Pluralism And Marginalisation Processes In Multi-Organisational Collaboration: Augmenting The Viable System Model With Team Syntegrity

<p><b>Collaborations are often required to address ‘wicked’ social, economic and environmental problems, but are commonly ineffective, due to complexity inherent in collaborations and the problems they aim to address.</b></p> <p>This study responds to calls from scholars for a systemic approach for understanding and managing collaborations. Here, the Viable System Model (VSM) is used to support collaborative partners of a multi-organisational collaboration to identify critical management functions and communication channels necessary for system effectiveness and viability. Despite its promise in supporting partners to identify and plan for improvements to collaborative working arrangements, the VSM provides little guidance on how to manage multiple perspectives or power imbalances amongst partners during such an intervention. Being able to do so is essential for joined-up thinking, learning, and collective action in multi-organisational settings. This study augments the VSM by embedding it within a Team Syntegrity (TS) process methodology to ensure meaningful engagement and ‘fair dialogue.’In trialling this combination, an action research, multi-methodology approach was followed to answer the question: to what extent can a TS augmented VSM intervention address multiple perspectives and marginalisation processes?</p> <p>The intervention's effectiveness was evaluated drawing on data collected from workshop surveys, interviews, and a document review.</p> <p>The TS augmented VSM intervention supported collaborative partners in this study to collectively understand the purpose of the collaboration and its activities, problem areas that needed to be addressed for the collaboration’s effectiveness and viability, and a suitable structure for the collaboration moving forward.</p> <p>The study is novel in terms of the multi-methodological approach adopted, particularly how the use of TS and VSM lead to mutual benefits. This study demonstrates how the use of one informs the use of the other, and how insights from one may lead to insights from the other. Furthermore, this study suggests an original use of the VSM as a tool to define the ‘system in focus’ and a series of avenues for marginalisation that need to be taken into account in the design of an intervention.</p> <p>The findings are useful for anyone wanting to use the VSM and/or TS to better understand and improve a collaboration’s effectiveness and viability.</p>

Using the Viable System Model to Understand the Roles of Non-Human Actors in Online Communities

While myriad studies have explored the role of humans in online social media-based communities, fewer studies have examined the roles of non-human actors in those online places. This study uses the actor-network theory and the viable system model to analyze the roles of hashtags communities to gain a better understanding of the larger cybernetic ecosystem in which non-human actors operate. Actor-network theory provides the theoretical understanding that frames this study. The viable system model is a five-tier system based on methods of communication and control in both living and non-living entities. Data sources included fieldnotes, social media profiles, blogs, personal websites, personal communications, interviews, and demographic surveys. Findings suggest that non-human actors have an ability to affect change within the ecosystem, but non-human actors cannot be viewed as viable standalone systems. Viability is only possible when humans participate within the ecosystem at large.

Marco de evaluación de los sistemas de información de una organización manufacturera

El propósito de este trabajo es desarrollar un marco de evaluación de los sistemas de información en una organización manufacturera siguiendo el Viable System Model y el paradigma Lean Manufacturing. Desarrollamos los puntos clave para tal evaluación examinando las necesidades de los agentes de la organización, la conversión de tales necesidades en requerimientos para disponer de datos, la transformación de datos en información, la toma de decisiones basada en conocimiento, la evaluación del rendimiento y la orientación de los esfuerzos de cambio.

Towards viability of academic departments: the power of organizational cybernetics

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use the power of organization cybernetics (OC) to design a flexible viable academic department that is at the risk of losing its viability because of the complexity of the educational environment. Design/methodology/approach The proposed framework is developed based on Beer’s OC and the viable system model (VSM). This study adopts the guidelines for applying the VSM described by Stafford Beer and José Pérez Ríos. Findings The framework presents a comprehensive explanation of the essential functions of a viable academic department. In addition, it determines the basis for an inclusive redesign that can be used to maintain the department’s identity and viability as well. Originality/value Although there are many studies applying the framework of the VSM, in an educational context, most of them limited its usage to the evaluation of the viability of academic departments. They did not use the power of OC to design for systemic viability. Accordingly, the application of OC and the VSM, for the sake of designing a viable academic department, can be considered as highly original.

The Architecture Design of Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure Using Viable System Model Approach

Exponential technological-based growth in industrialization and urbanization, and the ease of mobility that modern motorization offers have significantly transformed social structures and living standards. As a result, electric vehicles (EVs) have gained widespread popularity as a mode of sustainable transport. The increasing demand for of electric vehicles (EVs) has reduced the some of the environmental issues and urban space requirements for parking and road usage. The current body of EV literature is replete with different optimization and empirical approaches pertaining to the design and analysis of the EV ecosystem; however, probing the EV ecosystem from a management perspective has not been analyzed. To address this gap, this paper develops a systems-based framework to offer rigorous design and analysis of the EV ecosystem, with a focus on charging station location problems. The study framework includes: (1) examination of the EV charging station location problem through the lens of a systems perspective; (2) a systems view of EV ecosystem structure; and (3) development of a reference model for EV charging stations by adopting the viable system model. The paper concludes with the methodological implications and utility of the reference model to offer managerial insights for practitioners and stakeholders.

Introducing the VIPLAN Methodology (with VSM) for Handling Messy Situations – Nine Lessons

This paper examines the utility of a novel and relatively unknown approach to handling messy situations. This approach, developed by Raul Espejo, is the VIPLAN Methodology. It is presented as a heuristic and comprises a set of six activities which act as ‘pointers’ to guide thinking and actions. The methodology’s contribution rests upon its explicit focus upon the context within which messy situations are handled. This draws attention to the cybernetics of the situation (Cybernetic Loop), which can be made sense of using the Viable System Model. However, one of the challenges of the methodology is the perception that it is complex and difficult to use. A case-study is used to investigate how the methodology can be operationalised. This reveals a set of nine lessons, which are offered as guidelines to enhance our understanding of how to use the VIPLAN Methodology.