IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/srbeha/v32y2015i5p522-533.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

General Systems Theory: Its Present and Potential

Author

Listed:
  • David Rousseau

Abstract

In the first part of this paper, I present a brief overview of contemporary research addressing key questions about General Systems Theory (GST), such as what it is, what form it might take, whether developing it is a realistic prospect, how close we are to having it and what practical activities could help us develop it further. In the second part, I consider the early general systemists' ambition to leverage GST to build a ‘better world’, and address the question of what could be meant by this, from a systems perspective. I argue that GST should have a key role in working towards such a world. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • David Rousseau, 2015. "General Systems Theory: Its Present and Potential," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 522-533, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:32:y:2015:i:5:p:522-533
    DOI: 10.1002/sres.2354
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2354
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/sres.2354?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kenneth E. Boulding, 1956. "General Systems Theory--The Skeleton of Science," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 197-208, April.
    2. David Rousseau & Jennifer Wilby, 2014. "Moving from Disciplinarity to Transdisciplinarity in the Service of Thrivable Systems," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 666-677, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mykolas Simas Poškus & Lina Jovarauskaitė & Audra Balundė, 2021. "A Systematic Review of Drivers of Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Technology Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-11, July.
    2. Sharfuddin Ahmed Khan & Muhammad Shujaat Mubarik & Simonov Kusi‐Sarpong & Himanshu Gupta & Syed Imran Zaman & Mobashar Mubarik, 2022. "Blockchain technologies as enablers of supply chain mapping for sustainable supply chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3742-3756, December.
    3. Gerald Midgley & Jennifer Wilby, 2015. "Learning across Boundaries: Exploring the Variety of Systems Theory and Practice," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 509-513, September.
    4. Battaglia, Daniele & Galati, Francesco & Molinaro, Margherita & Pessot, Elena, 2023. "Full, hybrid and platform complementarity: Exploring the industry 4.0 technology-performance link," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    5. Rafael Martínez-Peláez & Marco A. Escobar & Vanessa G. Félix & Rodolfo Ostos & Jorge Parra-Michel & Vicente García & Alberto Ochoa-Brust & Pablo Velarde-Alvarado & Ramón A. Félix & Sandra Olivares-Bau, 2024. "Sustainable Digital Transformation for SMEs: A Comprehensive Framework for Informed Decision-Making," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(11), pages 1-25, May.
    6. Xing, Yunfei & Wang, Xiwei & Qiu, Chengcheng & Li, Yueqi & He, Wu, 2022. "Research on opinion polarization by big data analytics capabilities in online social networks," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lu, Jinfeng & Dimov, Dimo, 2023. "A system dynamics modelling of entrepreneurship and growth within firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3).
    2. Jin P. Gerlach & Ronald T. Cenfetelli, 2022. "Overcoming the Single-IS Paradigm in Individual-Level IS Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 476-488, June.
    3. George Kleiner, 2015. "State — Region — Field— Enterprise: Framework of Economics System Stability of Russia. Part 1," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(2), pages 50-58.
    4. Avner Engel & Shalom Shachar, 2006. "Measuring and optimizing systems' quality costs and project duration," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 259-280, September.
    5. Justin R. Hall & Selen Savas-Hall & Eric H. Shaw, 2023. "A deductive approach to a systematic review of entrepreneurship literature," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 987-1016, September.
    6. Masechaba Nthunya & Nien-Tsu Tuan & Corrinne Shaw & Ian Jay, 2017. "A Systemic Exploration of Lesotho’s Basic Education through Interactive Management," Systemic Practice and Action Research, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 257-276, June.
    7. Ahmet Ilhan, 2020. "Comparison of Organizational Theory in the Axis of the "Pandemonium" Metaphor in Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Approaches," Eurasian Journal of Business and Management, Eurasian Publications, vol. 8(4), pages 292-304.
    8. Barile, Sergio & Carrubbo, Luca & Iandolo, Francesca & Caputo, Francesco, 2013. "From 'EGO' to 'ECO' in B2B relationships," jbm - Journal of Business Market Management, Free University Berlin, Marketing Department, vol. 6(4), pages 228-253.
    9. M C Jackson, 2009. "Fifty years of systems thinking for management," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 60(1), pages 24-32, May.
    10. Andreas Hieronymi, 2013. "Understanding Systems Science: A Visual and Integrative Approach," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 580-595, September.
    11. Luoma, Jukka, 2016. "Model-based organizational decision making: A behavioral lens," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 816-826.
    12. David C. Lane, 2022. "Fons et origo: reflections on the 60th anniversary of Industrial Dynamics," System Dynamics Review, System Dynamics Society, vol. 38(3), pages 292-324, July.
    13. George Kleiner, 2015. "State — Region — Field — Enterprise: Framework of Economics System Stability of Russia. Part 2," Economy of region, Centre for Economic Security, Institute of Economics of Ural Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, vol. 1(3), pages 9-17.
    14. Dimov, Dimo & Pistrui, Joseph, 2024. "Dynamics of entrepreneurial well-being: Insights from computational theory," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    15. Stephens, William & Hess, Tim, 1999. "Systems approaches to water management research," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 3-13, March.
    16. Jim Spohrer & Alessio Giuiusa & Haluk Demirkan & David Ing, 2013. "Service Science: Reframing Progress with Universities," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 561-569, September.
    17. Jungell-Michelsson, Jessica & Heikkurinen, Pasi, 2022. "Sufficiency: A systematic literature review," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    18. Ya Li & Zhichang Zhu & Catherine M. Gerard, 2012. "Learning from Conflict Resolution: An Opportunity to Systems Thinking," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 209-220, March.
    19. Lenz, Rainer, 2008. "Culture as an individual process: Deficits of national cultural theories in management of cultural diversity," MPRA Paper 26629, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Thomas W. Ferratt & Jayesh Prasad & Harvey G. Enns, 2012. "Synergy and Its Limits in Managing Information Technology Professionals," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1175-1194, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:srbeha:v:32:y:2015:i:5:p:522-533. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/1092-7026 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.