Management & Entrepreneurial Cybernetics By Alex Stuart,
Ronny Bull, Chaitanya Pinnamaneni In order of presentation
Slide 2
What is Management Cybernetics? Stafford Beer described
Cybernetics as the science of effective organization Tony Gill
suggests that Management Cybernetics implies both effective
organization and steersmanhip This in turn implies that Management
Cybernetics is the cybernetics of control and organization
Slide 3
Wikipedias definition Management cybernetics involves the study
of what things do and how they interact with one another, not just
what they are. It is a field of knowledge which can help us to gain
further knowledge in situations where we cannot obtain any concrete
knowledge It helps us achieve the right approach to complexity It
is the realization of ones own responsibility, with which one can
make others aware of their own responsibilities It is an approach
that does not completely eradicate complexity, but shows the ways
in which it can be best handled It provides the chance to maintain
long-term acceptance It is an approach that everyone understands
when they apply it to their own situation It is an approach that
everyone has already practiced, whether they realize it or not
Slide 4
The Father of Management Cybernetics In 1959, Stafford Beer
published Cybernetics and management which introduced this field of
study Management Cybernetics relies on the Viable System Model
which he created in the 1960s
Slide 5
Management Cybernetics Ashby in Introduction to Cybernetics
remarks that cybernetics should exhibit parallels between society,
the brain, and the machine Beer focused on this idea and attracted
the attention of managers and management scientists Beer attempted
to replicate what he observed in nature
Slide 6
Management Cybernetics Beer also incorporated ideas from
Forresters systems dynamics, especially the concept of dynamical
feedback loops The Viable System model relies heavily on this and
is able to describe entire systems The Viable System model also
relies on Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety
Slide 7
First and Second Order Cybernetics
Slide 8
Ashbys Law of Requisite Variety Only variety absorbs variety
Three properties: Complexity, Variety, Adaptation Goal: management
of complexity
Slide 9
Black Box One or more inputs and one or more outputs Gill
explains Process managers set performance targets, monitor the
output against these targets and take corrective action (feedback)
to alter the inputs so the output better meet the set
requirements
Slide 10
Black Box Corrective Action Process Managers Inputs
Disturbances Outputs Performance Targets Performance
Monitoring
Slide 11
Beer explains Feedback
Slide 12
Ouroboros Greek symbol that represented feedback Defined as
Returning information to the origin to correct a systems
behavior
Slide 13
Reductionism Wikipedia defines Reductionism as an approach to
understanding the nature of complex things by reducing them to the
interactions of their parts, or to simpler or more fundamental
things Examples: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Descartes
Duck
Slide 14
Organizational Chart Orders Obedience Peons Boss Peons
Slide 15
Organizational Chart Organization is based upon a hierarchical
design where the man with the money is the man on top Authoritarian
design Horizontal communication is difficult Orders travel
vertically downwards and obedience travels upwards Blame is easily
placed, and employees are only familiar with their local work
area
Slide 16
Traditional Business Organization Method Decide objective Make
plan Organize Execute Supervise
Slide 17
Viable Systems Model
Slide 18
Slide 19
Slide 20
Based on observations of nature Identity Planning Management
Audit Coordination Operation Complexity
Slide 21
Viable Systems Model
Slide 22
Recursive by nature e.g. human body,
cells->tissues->organs etc. Management is separate from
operations due to the difference between processing energy &
materials and information Information is the key to having control
and thus the key to management
Slide 23
Advantages over the Organizational Chart All communication
lines are accessible Maximum desirable autonomy of the operations
Standardized model everyone knows their part Holistic and
systematic approach Works for any type of organization including
government and businesses
Slide 24
Examples of Viable Systems
Slide 25
The U.S. Government The government exhibits many traits of
Management Cybernetics The government was originally modeled from
the bottom up; for the people by the people The State Politics
Economics Law
Slide 26
Traffic Light Example
Slide 27
Climate example
Slide 28
US government
Slide 29
References Stafford Beers Lectures Presented by Javier Livas at
http://wn.com/Stafford_Beer http://wn.com/Stafford_Beer Management
Cybernetics by Tony Gill http://www.phrontis.com/syncho/MC1.pd f
http://www.phrontis.com/syncho/MC1.pd f
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/e n/Management_cybernetics
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/e n/Management_cybernetics