Systems Research and Behavioral Science articles from March 1997

Systems Research and Behavioral Science archives from March 1997

The Autopoiesis of Social Systems: Assessing Luhmann's Theory of Self-Reference.
March 1, 1997... Many systems scholars are familiar with recent trends in social theory, including expository critiques of the classics, discussion of metatheorizing (Ritzer, 1990) and continuing controversy of the role of positivism (Turner, 1990). While such...

Working with Heterogeneity: A Pluralist Strategy for Evaluation.
March 1, 1997... INTRODUCTION Our experience in evaluation has been that we need to find ways of working in situations which have a high degree of variety, and in which acceptance and respect for difference is important. Such situations display a high...

The Kennedy Assassination, Unidentified Flying Objects, and Other Conspiracies: Psychological and Organizational Factors in the Perception of "Cover-up"(*).
March 1, 1997... INTRODUCTION Robert J. Groden introduces his lavish book, The Killing of a President, by noting that `The horror and shock that followed in the wake of the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy are overshadowed only by the even more...

Information Systems Strategic Planning: A Model for Implementation in Changing Organizations.
March 1, 1997... INTRODUCTION Information systems are not technical systems which have behavioural and social consequences, rather they are social systems which rely to an increasing extent on information technology for their function. (Land and...

A Cybernetician before Cybernetics(*).(Heinz von Foerster)
March 1, 1997... Many have remarked that there are several Heinz von Foersters. This impression, I think, is largely due to the fact that he is not only a good listener but also interested in very many things. Whatever we individually discuss with him is, at...

Strategic Management Support Systems.(Review)
March 1, 1997... Strategic Management Support Systems. By Christine Fidler and Simon Rogerson. Published by Pitman Publishing, London, 1996, 334 pp., 19.99 [pounds sterling], ISBN 0 273 61418 5 (paperback) This book examines the role of information systems...

The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex.(Review)
March 1, 1997... The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. By Murray Gell-Mann (Part XIII of Design of the Modern Inquiring System(1)). Published by W.H. Freeman, New York, 1994, ISBN 0 7167 2725 0 (Note: the French translation of...

General Systems Theory.(Review)
March 1, 1997... General Systems Theory. By Lars Skyttner. Published by Macmillan Press, London, 1996, ISBN 0 333 61833 5 Lars Skyttner is a young Swedish systemicist who has written a highly readable account of what a person seeking to learn about the...