The author thoroughly describes and analyzes the most significant systems methodologies-`organizations as systems,' hard, soft, cybernetic, and critical-and demonstrates the complementary strengths of different systems approaches.
I. Overviews.- 1. The Structure of the Argument.- 2. Theoretical Considerations.- II. Methodological Approaches.- 3. Organizations as Systems.- 4. Hard Systems Thinking.- 5. Organizational Cybernetics.- 6. Soft Systems Thinking.- 7. Critical Systems Thinking.- III. Practical Applications.- 8. Illustrative Case Studies.- 9. Community Operational Research.- IV. Future Prospects.- 10. An Argument for Complementarism.- 11. Creative Problem Solving: Total Systems Intervention.- 12. Conclusion.- References.
