The Systems Approach - Churchman

Table of Content

• Citation
• Notes on Highlights

Citation

Churchman, C. W. (1979). The systems approach. Dell Publishing Co.

Notes on Highlights

• v - ix: Success of scientific teams in WW II led to “Operations Research” on ever larger endeavors helped by expanding computing capability. As the application of the scientific perspective widened, the activity became a “systems approach” The “system scientist” was interested in characterizing the nature of the system to enable logical and coherent decision making.
• 4: Problems & solutions are overlapping & interconnected
• 11: (system) enthusiast: systems are made up of sets of components that work together for the overall objective of the whole. Systems Approach is a way of thinking about the total systems and their components/
• 14: The Debaters (Advocates of):
  • Efficiency
  • Appliers of science
  • Human Feelings (humanists)
  • Anti-planners
• 16: CWC mingles the scientific approach and the systems approach referencing Taylor, & separating the system scientist from Managers of Systems (whose overriding objective is Efficiency of Operation)
• 17: Efficiency expert - determines how to keep costs within budget
• 18: “Scientific Management” opposed to “Management Science” (bpl) SM addressses local optimization, MS addresses holistic/global optimization.
• 29: “All definers will agree that a system is a set of parts coordinated to accomplish a goal” (bpl) “Goal” here is broadly defined as a conceptual expected outcome rather than an intentional outcome (which makes sense for natural systems).
• 29: Management Science’s aim is to spell out in detail:
  1. spell out in detail, what the whole system is
  2. the environment in which it lives
  3. what its ‘objective’ is
  4. how the ‘objective’ is supported by the activity of the parts
• 29: 5 considerations/aspects Management Scientists believe must be kept in mind when considering systems:
  1. Total system objectives and measurements of the WHOLE system
  2. the system environment - fixed constraints
  3. systems resources
  4. components of the system, their goals, activities and measures of perfomance
  5. the management of the system CWC: This omits mention of people and the future desired state