Systems Thinking: Managing Chaos and Complexity: A Platform for Designing Business Architecture, Third Edition

In a global market economy, a viable business cannot be locked into a single form or function anymore. Rather, success is contingent upon a self-renewing capacity to spontaneously create structures, functions, and processes responsive to a fluctuating business landscape. Now in its third edition, Systems Thinking synthesizes systems theory and interactive design, providing an operational methodology for defining problems and designing solutions in an environment increasingly characterized by chaos and complexity.

The current edition has been updated to include all new chapters on self-organizing systems, Holistic, Operational, and Design thinking. Gharajedaghi covers recent crises in financial systems and job markets, the housing bubble, and environment, assessing their impact on systems thinking.

• Four NEW chapters on self-organizing systems, holistic thinking, operational thinking, and design thinking
• Covers the recent crises in financial systems and job markets globally, the housing bubble, and the environment, assessing their impact on systems thinking

About the Author

As a managing partner of INTERACT (The Institute for Interactive Management), Jamshid Gharajedaghi has more than 35 years of experience with the practice of systems methodology in design and the development of business architecture, planning, learning, and control systems. His work has taken him into corporations and government agencies around the world for both private and public concerns.

Mr. Gharajedaghi was formerly the Director of the Research Center and Adjunct Professor of Systems Sciences at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1979–1986). He began his career with IBM's World Trade Corporation where he served as a senior systems engineer (1963–1969). He left IBM to become CEO of the Industrial Management Institute (1969–1979). He has held teaching positions at Villanova School of Business (Executive MBA 1999 to present); The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (1977–1986); IBM Education Centers (1965–1969); and the University of California, Berkeley (1961–1963).

He received his engineering degree from the University of California, Berkeley (1963) and completed more than 1,800 hours of professional training in systems engineering at the IBM Education Centers in the UK, Germany, and France. From this early training in information systems, his interests led him to operations research, behavioral sciences, and, finally, to the development and application of systems thinking and interactive design.

He has been a member of: the Research Board of the International Systems Institute, United States (1983–1992); the Governing Body of the Asian Productivity Organization, Japan (1972–1979); the Board of Trustees for AZAD University, Iran (1976–1979); and Regional Chairman of the Society for General Systems Research, Asia (1975–1979).

Mr. Gharajedaghi has been involved with the following sponsoring organizations to redesign businesses, product(s), and/or processes:

• Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA)
• ANGLOVAAL, Ltd. (South Africa)
• Armco (Latin American Division)
• Butterworth Health System
• Carrier Corporation
• Chrysler Corporation
• Clark Equipment Company
• Commonwealth Energy Systems
• Edgars Stores, Ltd. (South Africa)
• Ford Motor Company Health Care Forum
• Marriott Corporation
• Martin-Marietta Corporation
• Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
• NYNEX Science & Technology, Inc.
• Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
• Super Fresh Food Markets United Food & Commercial Workers' Union

He was the project manager for two internationally acclaimed projects: New Economic Order, a United Nations project; and Goals for Mankind, a Club of Rome project.

Mr. Gharajedaghi has written several books, including Prologue to National Development Planning and Towards a Systems Theory of Organization. He is the author of numerous published articles in various international scientific and management journals.