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.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

SUBSTITUTION (Forced) 4)

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A process in an organization through which the highest decision maker forces some definition or action upon the organization, because of the lack of useful response of the members of the organization to some challenge.

In some extreme cases, it is the decision maker himself who is substituted, as in political or military coups. When the challenge is putting the organization in danger (or seems to do) the forced substitution is a quite common reaction. As the substitute authority has generally no better understanding than the one it replaces, the results are seldom satisfactory, specially in a long-term perspective, even if in some extreme cases it can be the only way to avoid great losses, or even total destruction. Forced substitution reflects indeed a very serious flaw in the organization.

In effect, the real and permanent challenge is to enable the stakeholders in the organization to understand and accept their responsabilities and give them the means to do so.

Only Generic Design (WARFIELD), or Unbounded Systems Thinking (MITROFF and LINSTONE), or Co-participative design (Fuschl Group), or similar methods of design or management can prevent this class of disorders.

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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