Systems Thinking: Foundation, Uses and Challenges

$210.00

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Series: Management Science – Theory and Applications
BISAC: SCI064000

Systems-thinking, a holistic approach that puts the study of wholes before that of parts, is an effective means of dealing with real-world situations. Emphasizing the interrelationships between the system’s components rather than the components themselves, systems thinking allows us to increase our personal and professional effectiveness, and transform our organizations. Specifically, systems thinkers are able to conceptually analyze the system without knowing all the details, metaphorically recognizing the forest through the trees. They can see beyond the surface to the deeper patterns that are really responsible for creating behavior.

This book provides a wealth of knowledge about systems thinking, enables readers to deeply understand what systems thinking is, and why it is so important in their work. Readers will learn the conceptual foundations of systems thinking, as well as its tools and the proper ways to use them. These tools will facilitate defining problems and designing solutions in an environment increasingly characterized by chaos and complexity. Since systems thinking is not a discipline, but rather an interdisciplinary conceptual framework used in a wide range of areas, this book presents the applications of systems thinking in different domains, including systems engineering, project management, healthcare, psychology and education.

The editors, who are experts in the field of systems thinking due to numerous studies they conducted on this subject, have skillfully created a multidimensional view on systems thinking, including theory and practice, research and application, in a wide variety of fields. Therefore, this book will be useful for researches and practitioners, as well as suitable for beginners and specialists alike. (Imprint: Nova)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: Systems Thinking: Definitions, Perspectives and Dimensions

Part 1: Systems Thinking Foundations

Chapter 1. Towards Praxis in Systems Thinking
Martin Reynolds (The Open University, UK)

Chapter 2. Do Systems Exist in the Real World?
Hillary Sillitto (INCOSE Fellow; Visiting Professor, Universities of Strathclyde and Bristol; Edinburgh, Scotland, UK)

Chapter 3. Model for Describing the Systems Thinking Factors
Sigal Koral Kordova and Moti Frank (Faculty of Management of Technology, HIT- Holon Institute of Technology, Holon, Israel)

Part 2: Systems Thinking in System Dynamics

Chapter 4. Strategic Management and Systems Thinking: Developing an Archetypical Model
George Papageorgiou and Andreas Hadjis (European University Cyprus, Department of Management and Marketing, Nicosia, Cyprus)

Chapter 5. Dynamic Systems with Multiple Elements
Yumin Zhang (Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, MO, USA)

Part 3: Systems Thinking in Systems Engineering and Project Management

Chapter 6. Insights Based on an Empirical Study of Systems Thinking Development
Heidi L. Davidz (Aerojet Rocketdyne, West Palm Beach, FL, USA)

Chapter 7. Assessing Systems Thinking Skills in Systems Engineers
Moti Frank (Faculty of Management of Technology, HIT-Holon Institute of Technology, Israel)

Chapter 8. Systems Thinking in the Systems Engineering Process: New Methods and Tools
Tom McDermott and Dane Freeman (Georgia Tech Research Institute, Atlanta, Georgia, USA)

Chapter 9. Integrating Project Management and Systems Engineering
Michael Masin, Yael Dubinsky, Michal Iluz, Evgeny Shindin, and Abraham Shtub (IBM Research – Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel, and others)

Chapter 10. Implementing Systems Engineering and Advanced Project Management in Large and Complex Projects: The Case of a New Airport Operational Readiness Project
Ori Orhof (Orhof Consulting Ltd., Israel)

Part 4: Systems Thinking in Healthcare and Psychology

Chapter 11. Integrated Models in Healthcare Systems
Ron S. Kenett and Yifat Lavi (KPA Group, Raanana, Israel, Hebrew University School of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel, Center for Risk Engineering, NYU Tandon School of engineering, New York, USA and University of Turin, Italy)

Chapter 12. A System Thinking in Medicine and Health Care: Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) approach for Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
Moshe Leshno and Yoram Menachem (Tel-Aviv University, Israel)

Chapter 13. Holistic versus Analytic Cognitive Style: Individual, Organization and Cultural Differences
Eli Vakil (Department of Psychology and Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel)

Part 5: Systems Thinking in Education

Chapter 14. Systems Thinking in Special Education: A Case Study
Haim Shaked and Chen Schechter (Bar Ilan University, School of Education, Israel, and others)

Chapter 15. Identity Economics, System Thinking, and Education
Eli Goldstein (Department of Economics, Ashkelon Academic College, Israel)

Chapter 16. Bureaucratic or Systems Thinking Organizational Profile: Perceptions of Principals and Teachers
Tamar Chen-Levi (Bar Ilan University, Israel)

Chapter 17. Model-Based Systems Thinking: Science Teachers Employ Object-Process Methodology to Comprehend Scientific Texts
Dov Dori, Rea Lavi and Yehudit Judy Dori (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, and others)

Index


This book presents the applications of systems thinking in different domains, including systems engineering, project management, healthcare, psychology and education. The editors, who are experts in the field of systems thinking due to numerous studies they conducted on this subject, has skillfully created a multidimensional view on systems thinking, including theory and practice, research and application, in a wide variety of fields. Therefore, this book will be useful for researches and practitioners, suitable for beginners and specialists alike.

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