Showing papers on "Social system published in 1993"

Discourse, Dynamics, and Social Change:

Abstract: The Problem of Cultural Dynamics Which aspects of social and cultural change are in principle predictable and which are not? How can we usefully model the dynamics of such complex systems as human communities? What is the role of discourse, and of culturally and historically specific semiotic formations generally, in co-determining the processes of social change? How are discursive, semiotic practices and material, ecosystem processes inextricably linked in the dynamics of social systems?

Diagnosing the human threats to information technology implementation: a missing factor in system analysis illustrated in a case study

Abstract: Information technology (IT) implementation is likely to be a complex and difficult process involving both the technical and social systems of an organization Much of the theory and practice of organizational IT implementation assumes that organizational decisions--whether technical or social--are consequences of individuals and organizational units objectively collecting, evaluating, and applying information in a rational manner to make choices on behalf of the organization However, recent data from case studies on IT implementation suggest that rationality may be the exception, rather than the rule One important limitation, then, of traditional research and systems analysis methods is that they fail to account for the human factors that impact IT implementation As a result, there is no systematic way to incorporate what we might learn from individual action and practice into the model A theoretical perspective and research methodology that successfully encompass and expand the normative approach in mainstream science is "action science" Action science is a theory of action that helps explain how, and why, individuals behave as they do; and how their actions impact their organizations In this paper, our primary goal is to employ an action science perspective to understand how a large financial services firm was inhibited from implementing a major IT effort in a timely, effective, and error-free way because of the thought and action routines of those charged with designing and implementing the system In particular, we look for disagreements and other, unproductive action routines among these individuals, and evidence of their inability to surface and discuss them We also review two published studies of IT implementation to show that the level of analysis required by action science is implied, but not made explicit in them We conclude with a discussion of what constitutes a descriptively adequate account of an IT implementation and the barriers to the production of such an account We also suggest a competing framework, based on action science, for designing and managing organizational IT change

Constructing the Social System

Abstract: Barber constructs a provisional, generalized, substantive theory of the social system, which he uses as the starting point and focus of his specialized researches. In this collection of his major writings in social system theory, Barber shows how he has used and developed such a framework over the last fifty years and demonstrates the application of social system theory and its contribution to these areas.

Domains of interaction between a social system and its environment

Abstract: This paper offers insights about the role of complexity in the interaction between a social system and its environment. For this purpose it clarifies, from the viewpoint of the individuals constituting these social systems, the complementarity between their domain of observation, or informational domain, and their domain of action, or operational domain.

Exploring a critical systems perspective

Abstract: This paper explores the possibilities for a synthesis of recent developments in social theory and systems thinking within a critical systems framework. This approach is neither behavioural nor interpretive but an alternative synthesis from a critical stance. The paper is a defence of systems thinking against charges of scientism and an attempt to extend the approach to encompass interpretive perspectives. The focus is on constitutive processes or ways in which participants contribute through their expectations and interactions to maintaining and changing the social systems of which they form part. Systems thinking applied to social life can be a methodology without positivist preconceptions and can be used to explore the interlocking of objective and subjective dimensions of the social world. It is argued that traditions of systems dynamics have been neglected in social theory and provide a potentially fruitful approach to the analysis of conflict and change. A critical systems approach can be us...

Czechoslovak Education within the Broader Social Framework.

Abstract: Czechoslovakia is a country in transition. At present, all economic, political, and social systems, and science and culture proceed through radical changes. These changes are also influencing the whole educational system. Therefore it is necessary briefly to characterize the wider social context in which education in Czechoslovakia is now developing.

The Work Ethic and Our National Culture

Abstract: A work ethic is people's attitude to work—imprinted in a complex of moral values and norms, embodied in categories and examples of the culture, and expressed in human behavior, above all in the sphere of labor activity. In my understanding, a work ethic is a component part of the socioeconomic genotype (SEG) of a society. A SEG is a kind of information mechanism of "social inheritance" that ensures the reproduction of the structure and principles of a particular social system's functioning, regulation, and learning process. It comprises a system of values, a set of motivations, and a paradigm of economic management and administration, and in its manifest form it is reflected in the contours of the regulation and administration of socioeconomic processes, including legal, administrative, economic, and moral norms and incentives. A SEG itself is based on the system of social interests and on the particular society's culture.

Love as a Medium of Communication

Abstract: The high complexity of modern societies is maintained by “love” as well as “power” or “money”, which are called “generalized symbolic media of communication” by Niklas Luhmann. Based on Luhmann's theory of media, this paper tries to make clear the roll of love as a medium of communication in the process of industrialization and modernization of societies.The media-theoretical model of social change does not assign the mechanism of social change to the micro level (psychological system) or the macro level (social system), but to the media of communication which link each level through thier meanings. That is, the theory assumes that the semantical change of media gives rise to the change of social structures. Based on this assumption, this paper explains that the birth of modern families in Western societies, whith is a distinctive feature of industrialization and modernization, was a fulfillment of the autonomy of love as a medium of communication through its semantical changes.

Time and Space

Abstract: …[I]t is a basic mistake to identify time and social change, and we can now pursue this further by looking more closely at temporal aspects of the constitution of social systems. In the context of doing so, I want to lodge a further claim, which is that most forms of social theory have failed to take seriously enough not only the temporality of social conduct but also its spatial attributes. At first sight, nothing seems more banal and uninstructive than to assert that social activity occurs in time and in space. But neither time nor space have been incorporated into the centre of social theory; rather, they are ordinarily treated more as ‘environments’ in which social conduct is enacted. In regard of time, this is primarily because of the influence of synchrony/diachrony differentiations: the assimilation of time and change has the consequence that time can be treated as a sort of ‘boundary’ to stable social orders, or at any rate as a phenomenon of secondary importance1 The suppression of space in social theory derives from different origins, probably in some part from the anxiety of sociological authors to remove from their works any hint of geographical determinism.

A Surprising Union? — Soft Systems Analysis and Sociometry

Abstract: Communication has long been regarded as an important factor in the performance and behaviour of organisations, existing in theory as depicted by formal organisation charts, and in practice by a mixture of formal and informal patterns. the perspective of organisations as social systems has similarly a well written history. the approach then of a social analysis of communication patterns to understand or predict behaviour of organisations is therefore a logical result.

From Social Engineering to Synergetics

Abstract: Social engineering is a word growing in prominence since the turn of the last century. The concept has a metaphorical ring to it. One gets the impression that there is some economist or other social scientist working in a laboratory refining some tool or machinery to be used in the social system. But such a metaphoric interpretation is wrong. Until very recently the social and economic sciences and policies have had little or no experimental support.