BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

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SYSTEMS ANALYSIS (Weaknesses in) 1)3)

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Systems Analysis suffers from various weaknesses. Some are methodological, others are conceptual.

As to conceptual aspects R. TOMLINSON and I. KISS state: "One… assumption was that the "hard" part of the problem – which could be expressed in mathematical terms – could usefully be isolated from the human and organizational elements which could thus be eliminated from the analysis. Another false assumption was that implementation was an entirely separate activity from the analysis itself" (1984, p.IX).

From a methodological viewppoint, complex situations and nonlinear processes are many times excessively simplified in order to allow for their study within the framework of current mathematics. H. LINSTONE writes: "The analyst has been caught between two unpalatable choices: solving linear, irrelevant problems and struggling unsuccessfully with nonlinear relevant ones" (1989, p.309).

Obviously, using correct mathematics to solve a ill-stated problem leads to illusory forecasts and to a false security.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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