Applications of Systems Thinking and Soft Operations Research in Managing Complexity: From Problem Framing to Problem Solving

✍ Scribed by Anthony J. Masys (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 320
• Series: Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book captures current trends and developments in the field of systems thinking and soft operations research which can be applied to solve today's problems of dynamic complexity and interdependency. Such ‘wicked problems’ and messes are seemingly intractable problems characterized as value-laden, ambiguous, and unstable, that resist being tamed by classical problem solving. Actions and interventions associated with this complex problem space can have highly unpredictable and unintended consequences. Examples of such complex problems include health care reform, global climate change, transnational serious and organized crime, terrorism, homeland security, human security, disaster management, and humanitarian aid. Moving towards the development of solutions to these complex problem spaces depends on the lens we use to examine them and how we frame the problem. It will be shown that systems thinking and soft operations research has had great success in contributing to the management of complexity.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Introduction....Pages 1-9
Front Matter....Pages 11-11
Using Systems Modelling to Examine Law Enforcement Collaboration in the Response to Serious Crime....Pages 13-34
Managing Complexity in Organizations Through a Systemic Network of Projects....Pages 35-69
Family of Related Systemic Elements (FoRSE™) Matrix: Big(ger) Picture Thinking and Application for Business and Organizations....Pages 71-87
Front Matter....Pages 89-89
Disentangling Wicked Problems: A Reflexive Approach Towards Resilience Governance....Pages 91-106
Post-disaster Reconstruction—What Does It Mean to Rebuild with Resilience?....Pages 107-129
‘Black Swans’, ‘Dragon Kings’ and Beyond: Towards Predictability and Suppression of Extreme All-Hazards Events Through Modeling and Simulation....Pages 131-141
“Unproblemising” the Technical Complexity of Shelter in Post Disaster Reconstruction....Pages 143-171
Front Matter....Pages 173-173
Supporting Intelligence Analysis Through Visual Thinking....Pages 175-202
The Benefits of a Systems-Thinking Approach to Accident Investigation....Pages 203-226
Systems Theory as a Foundation for Discovery of Pathologies for Complex System Problem Formulation....Pages 227-267
Soft Social Systems and Shocks: An Experiment with an Agent Based Model....Pages 269-290
System Failure? Why Humanitarian Assistance Can’t Meet Its Objectives Without Systems Thinking—and Why It Finds It so Hard to Use It....Pages 291-305
Using First Nations Systems Thinking to Operationalize Sustainable Development....Pages 307-322

✦ Subjects

Statistical Physics, Dynamical Systems and Complexity; Operation Research/Decision Theory; Methodology of the Social Sciences; Security Science and Technology; Simulation and Modeling