Systems Thinking for Business and Management - by Agnessa Spanellis & Umit S Bititci & Melissa Marques-McEwan

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Blending theory and practice, Systems Thinking for Business and Management provides postgraduate and MBA students with a holistic introduction to systems thinking.

With this textbook, students will learn how to apply a systems thinking approach to solve business problems, carry out systemic organizational analysis and design solutions to complex organizational problems. Structured into four parts, Systems Thinking for Business and Management considers:
-The fundamentals of systems thinking, defining what a systems approach is and setting boundaries
-Models and methods, providing an overview of the different methods used for modelling and analysing different systems, specifically hard systems and soft systems
-Systems complexity, understanding the behaviour of complex systems and how change impacts existing systems
-Future systems, approaching contemporary complex issues through innovative games and imagining alternative futures

This fully updated edition includes new chapters on boundary setting in systems and gamification. It also features new and expanded global real-world organizational examples and reflective and team exercises, supported by online resources of PowerPoint lecturer slides and videos to demonstrate exercises.

About the Author

Umit S Bititci is the Professor Emeriti of Business Performance at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, UK. Previously, he served as the Associate Principle for Institutional Performance of Heriot-Watt University and as the Executive Dean and Academic Head of Edinburgh Business School.

Agnessa Spanellis is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Edinburgh, UK. She also teaches on the executive education programme at Trinity College Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and delivers guest lectures on systems thinking for the Edinburgh Earth Fellows at Edinburgh Climate Change Institute.