Systems Research and Behavioral Science articles from November 2008

Systems Research and Behavioral Science archives from November 2008

Editorial.
November 1, 2008... This edition of Systems Research and Behavioral Science contains a set of papers that powerfully demonstrate the utility of the systems approach in addressing important issues of our time. A greater requirement for interagency working has...

Connecting organizations: developing the idea of network learning in inter-organizational settings.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Social network analysis in management and organizations is burgeoning (Borgatti and Foster, 2003). This type of research studies the social relationships between actors in terms of the individual actors within the networks...

Modest systems psychology: a neutral complement to positive psychological thinking.(Research Paper)(Report)
November 1, 2008... The challenge of modesty to joy "(Feeling)... takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human...

Self-organized patterns in the workplace: obstacles to awareness.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... SELF-ORGANIZATION: UNINTENDED COHERENCE IN THE WORKPLACE Typically, managers aim to design and maintain organizations that are coherent to employees, customers, shareholders and other stakeholders. The organizational coherence that managers...

Socially sustainable work organizations: a chaordic systems approach.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION A work organization can be defined as a socio-technical system (STS) that is purposefully designed and controlled to generate services or products (e.g. Huczynski and Buchanan, 1991). While fulfilling this productive function...

Perspectives on team dynamics: meta learning and systems intelligence.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION The perspective taken in systems intelligence (1) (SI) (Saarinen and Hamalainen, 2004; Hamalainen and Saarinen, 2006, 2007) is the acknowledgement that we are always embedded in and a part of systems involving interaction and...

Risk-aversion in water allocation policies in semi-arid regions.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION One-fifth of the world's population lack access to adequate, clean water supplies. This threatens national security as well as prosperity, prompting Wally N'Dow, a Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Human...

A framework for managing knowledge in strategic alliances in the biotechnology sector.(Research Paper)(Report)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION Although there has been rapid growth in the Australian biotechnology sector in recent years many biotechnology firms face difficulties in developing as viable entities. The development of strategic alliances is often critical...

Firm systems thinking: unifying educational problem solving.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... FIRM SYSTEMS THINKING: UNIFYING EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING A system is defined as a 'set of relationally arranged and interdependent components organized as a definable entity in a given environment in order to attain its specified...

A systemic framework for case-based classroom experiential learning.(Research Paper)
November 1, 2008... INTRODUCTION The systems movement approached the 21st century with education very much on its mind (Udas, 1998). It was argued that the higher education system appears ill-equipped for contemporary challenges (Jenlink, 2001). Public...

Systems intelligence--the way forward? A note on Ackoff's 'Why Few Organizations Adopt Systems Thinking'.(Research Note)
November 1, 2008... With characteristic clarity, Ackoff attacks a key issue of the Systems Thinking movement in his recent Research Note in this journal (Ackoff, 2006). After decades of illuminating studies and after hundreds of intellectually brilliant...

Notes on progress in structuring a research project measuring energy inputs into New Zealand apple production--combining hard and soft systems methods.(Research Note)
November 1, 2008... STUDYING COMPLEX SYSTEMS WITH SCIENTIFIC METHODS--PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS Projects that measure energy use in food chains following the general life cycle analysis (LCA) methodology typically follow one of the two methods (Nielsen and...

The New Science of Sustainability: Building a Foundation for Great Change.
November 1, 2008... The New Science of Sustainability: Building a Foundation for Great Change. By Sally J. Goerner, Robert G. Dyck and Dorothy Lagerroos. Published by Triangle Center for Complex Systems, Chapel Hill, NC., 2008. Distribution by New Society...