The use and application of Stafford Beer's 'Viable System Model' as a diagnostic tool
Master Thesis
1999
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University of Cape Town
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Abstract
This research project is about one of the many tools available to the manager to evaluate an organisation, Stafford Beer's Viable System Model. The model as derived in his book 'The Heart of Enterprise', is reviewed in depth as part of the research. The model is then used to diagnose two organisations, a network marketing organisation, a growing and successful enterprise, and an engineering jobbing shop, an enterprise struggling to survive. It is shown how the successful enterprise conforms to the Viable System Model and the struggling one does not. The network marketing company is further examined to identify elements that contribute to its success and it is shown that these elements do not exist in the engineering jobbing shop. A proposal is then put forward on how to reorganise the engineering jobbing shop and implement the elements of success identified in the network marketing organisation. The research concludes by acknowledging that while it is beyond the scope of this research to categorically conclude that an enterprise must conform to the Viable System Model to be viable, the two specific companies researched here do suggest this. This is in agreement with Stafford Beer's contention that for an organisation to be viable it must at the very least conform to the Viable System Model. It is further concluded that the research demonstrates the usefulness of the Viable System Model in the evaluation of an organisation.
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Smart, M. 1999. The use and application of Stafford Beer's 'Viable System Model' as a diagnostic tool. University of Cape Town.