Systems Approaches to Management

Rating:
Summary: Quite a remarkable book
Review: This is a remarkable book. Inspite of a rather stodgy title, Jackson traces the various origins of systems thinking to their sociological foundations and implications. Extensive attention is given to systems approaches outside of the normal functionalist approaches ususally found in the US. I was at first intrigued and then delighted with his examination of critical thought and post-modernist approaches to systems approaches. Implications of Foucault and Kant for organizational theory are explored. Extensive applications of Jurgen Habermas's thought are made. It does make many of the other material (e.g., Senge's Fifth Discipline) seem quite shallow indeed. It is a bit more rigorous than most of the 'organizational theory' shelf!
This book deserves a place in any organizational theory class. It is an excellant example of exploring the various foundations, competing meta-theories and implications of organizational and management approaches.

Rating:
Summary: Quite a remarkable book
Review: This is a remarkable book. Inspite of a rather stodgy title, Jackson traces the various origins of systems thinking to their sociological foundations and implications. Extensive attention is given to systems approaches outside of the normal functionalist approaches ususally found in the US. I was at first intrigued and then delighted with his examination of critical thought and post-modernist approaches to systems approaches. Implications of Foucault and Kant for organizational theory are explored. Extensive applications of Jurgen Habermas's thought are made. It does make many of the other material (e.g., Senge's Fifth Discipline) seem quite shallow indeed. It is a bit more rigorous than most of the 'organizational theory' shelf!
This book deserves a place in any organizational theory class. It is an excellant example of exploring the various foundations, competing meta-theories and implications of organizational and management approaches.