Translational Systems Sciences – serie

This book introduces a Digital Social System Praxis Framework (DSSPF) integrating Computational Media, Evolutionary Systems Thinking and Design Thinking approaches to E-transformation practice, also called Community Informatics Design (CID).

This book introduces a Digital Social System Praxis Framework (DSSPF) integrating Computational Media, Evolutionary Systems Thinking and Design Thinking approaches to E-transformation practice, also called Community Informatics Design (CID).

Service Systems Science

We live in the worlds that we help to create every day. Every activity either supports an existing system or effects some change, however small. But is it possible to consciously create the worlds in which we want to live?This volume brings together systems theorists and practitioners who have worked on that question for decades. It explores connections between design and systems ideas to explain why some efforts have been more successful than others, and what is needed if we are to move forward. It offers reflections on early and large-scale attempts at impacting societal systems, as well as proposals for taking those ideas into the future. Examples date back to the Club of Rome in the 1960s and look forward to the creation of ecologically sustainable systems in the future. They address the need for collaboration and inclusion in settings from communities to corporations. And while theories are presented as support for the examples, they are explained in practical ways meant to be accessible both to students and to general readers.

Characteristics of Japanese visual narratives are depicted in this book, shedding light on cultural, institutional, and industrial aspects of reproducible contents. The book consists of three parts which deal with the Japanese contents industry, the hypervariety industry revolution, and related case studies, respectively. The first part proposes points of view for organizing research on the Japanese contents industry. The authors explain characteristics of the industry from the standpoint of cultural, institutional, and industrial strata. The second part explains the system of revolution in the industry as a hypervariety industry. The Japanese contents industry implicitly predicts the next innovation system, which will be hypervarietal but not top-down or Hollywood style as in the Western economy. The third part provides case studies on phenomena such as the comics market, Akihabara: a cross-cultural town, Cool Japan, and animation.

In this book, the functions and dynamics of enterprises are explained with the use of anthropological methods. The chapters are based on anthropological research that has continued mainly as an inter-university research project, which is named Keiei Jinruigaku, of the National Museum of Ethnology (Japan) since 1993. These studies have a twofold aim: to clarify that enterprises are not only actors in economic activity but also actors that create culture and civilization; and to find the raison d'être of enterprises in a global society. Business anthropology is an approach to the investigation of various phenomena in enterprises and management using anthropological methodology (e.g., participant observations and interviews). Historically, its origin goes back to the 1920s–30s. In the Hawthorne experiments, the research group organized by Elton Mayo recruited an anthropologist, Lloyd W. Warner, and conducted research on human relations in the workplace by observation of participants. Since then, similar studies have been carried out in the United States and the United Kingdom. In Japan, however, such research is quite rare. Now, in addition to anthropological methods, the authors have employed multidisciplinary methods drawn from management, economics, and sociology. The research contained here can be characterized in these ways: (1) Research methods adopt interpretative approaches such as hermeneutic and/or narrative approaches rather than causal and functional explanations such as “cause–consequence” relationships. (2) Multidisciplinary approaches including qualitative research techniques are employed to investigate the total entity of enterprises, with their own cosmology. In this book, the totality of activities by enterprises are shown, including the relationship between religion and enterprise, corporate funerals, corporate museums, and the sacred space and/or mythology of enterprises. Part I provides introductions to Keiei Jinruigaku and Part II explains the theoretical characteristics of Keiei Jinruigaku. In addition, research topics and cases of Keiei Jinruigaku are presented in Part III.

This is the first book that summarizes the 20-year history of service innovation research and combines it with the future need to adopt a systems view in the field of service research. The book emphasizes that the most urgent issues of today’s economies – the development of welfare and sustainability – cannot be solved with innovations in individual service offerings only, and that innovations of service systems are increasingly needed. Various theoretical approaches and perspectives from different disciplines are included, providing a comprehensive view of the current understanding of the nature of service innovation. The book illustrates the achievements of two research traditions, one based on the general innovation theory and the other based on the service marketing theory. Service innovation is considered from the points of view of drivers, processes, practices, and outcomes. The interrelations between actors and systems are analyzed, and the nature of innovation as a new way to co-create value is highlighted. The book promotes the view that users are an important source of innovative ideas and that openness is an important success factor in innovation processes. In addition to the general nature and management of service innovation, some specific topics are included, exemplified by innovations in public services and in knowledge-intensive business services. This volume is highly recommended to readers who seek a state-of-the-art overview of the area of service innovation and its linkages to systems research.

This book formulates an evolutionary and pluralistic view of social systems in the global age, especially with reference to Niklas Luhmann's theory of social systems. Several paired concepts, such as national society/world society, stratification/functional differentiation, diffuse/specific, universalistic/particularistic, and inclusion/exclusion, illustrate the transformation of social structure and its effects on the constructive principles of social systems and the definition of individual identity. Every functional subsystem has become more autonomous and the socio-cultural sources of individual identity have become more diversified than in the past. The book proposes the concept of the “intermediary unit” and discusses its significance and relevance in the social systems theory. In the background of this discussion, the reality is that there is no system of meaning and values that are valid in all areas of the world society that has emerged in the process of functional differentiation and globalization, nor can we design such a system theoretically. The significance of intermediary units is considered; the competition of intermediary units and meaning-value spaces in the actual social process is defined as the politics of meaning; and a new form of pluralism based on the concept of polycontexturality is proposed. These factors seem to make the whole world more and more complex, risky, uncertain, and nontransparent. The evolutionary and pluralistic design principles of social systems including various intermediary units improve our capacity to cope with future risks.

In Part I a wide range of research tools, from mathematical modeling and social simulation to conceptual systems modeling, are adopted to describe, explain, and analyze symbiosis, cooperation, conflicts, and confrontations between agents by identifying them as adaptive complex systems.

When the organisation is seen as a system, what is being optimized for the organisational system to be viable? Starting from this seemingly naïve question, this book is unique, both academically and practically. First, it analyses and presents organisational changes within a unified framework of phase transition. Drawing upon a rich pool of diverse disciplines such as physics, material sciences, biology, geography, philosophy of science, and theories of organisation and management, organisational change is conceived as a process of optimizing or achieving efficiency in allocation of information-processing load within the system. A resulting model of alternating phases of evolutions and revolutions as required by the interaction between the organisation’s internal and external conditions is dogma-free in that the change by itself is no better nor more desirable than the stable state. Second, as the book’s model not only describes the mechanism of the organisational phase transition between evolutions and revolutions but also predicts when those switches are likely, from its discussion a comprehensive guideline for organisational management is derived, encompassing both phases of the organisational evolution and revolution. Third, based on the unified model of organisational change, a new role of leadership is presented in the context of the organisation as an artificial system. Here, the ideal leader is not simply a guardian of the established, stable state nor is it an initiator of constant changes but, rather, is a steward or pastor who identifies the need for phase switch based on observation. The leader then facilitates the switching process between the organisational evolution and revolution as required, moving the organisation towards optimal viability. Combining rigorous theoretical reasoning with practical insights, this book is an ideal companion for both researchers and practitioners of organisational management in today’s rapidly changing world.

This book provides readers the idea of systemically synthesizing various kind of knowledge, which needs to combine analytical thinking and synthetic thinking. The novelty of this present volume is that it takes in the ideas of synthetic thinking in knowledge science to develop systems science further.

This volume applies a systems science perspective to complex policy making dynamics, using the case of Indonesia to illustrate the concepts. Indonesia is an archipelago with a high heterogeneity. Her people consist of 1,340 tribes who are scattered over 17,508 islands. Every region has different natural strengths and conditions. In the national development process all regions depend on one another other while optimizing their own conditions. In addition to this diversity, Indonesia also employs a democratic system of government with high regional autonomy. A democratic government puts a high value on individual freedom, but on the other hand, conflicts of interest also occur frequently. High regional autonomy also often causes problems in coordination among agencies and regional governments. This uniqueness creates a kind of complexity that is rarely found in other countries.These daily complexities requires intensive interaction, negotiation processes, and coordination. Such necessities should be considered in public policy making and in managing the implementation of national development programs. In this context, common theories and best practices generated on the basis of more simplified assumptions often fail. Systems science offer a way of thinking that can take into account and potentially overcome these complexities. However, efforts to apply systems science massively and continuously in real policy making by involving many stakeholders are still rarely carried out. The first part of the book discusses the gap between the existing public policy-making approach and needs in the real world. After that, the characteristics of the appropriate policy-making process in a complex environment and how this process can be carried are described. In later sections, important systems science concepts that can be applied in managing these complexities are discussed. Finally, the efforts to apply these concepts in real cases in Indonesia are described.

This book presents emerging work in the co-evolving fields of design-led systemics, referred to as systemic design to distinguish it from the engineering and hard science epistemologies of system design or systems engineering.

This is the first book to examine the linkages among natural and organizational accidents and disasters in the modern era and clarifies the mechanisms involved and the significance of emerging problems, from the aging of vital infrastructure for the supply of water, gas, oil, and electricity to the breakdown of pensions, healthcare, and other social systems. The book demonstrates how we might check the underlying civilizational collapse and then explore translational systems approaches toward resilient management and policy for sustainability.In Unsafety, the author focuses on the kinds of unnatural disasters and organizational accidents that arise as repercussions of natural hazards. Japan serves as an example, where earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons are common, with the Fukushima nuclear disaster as an outstanding case of this link between natural disasters and organizational accidents. Natural and human-made disasters happen worldwide and cause misery through lossof life; destruction of livelihoods as in agriculture, fisheries, and the manufacturing industry; and interruption of urban life. Unsafety from a disaster in one place increases uncertainty elsewhere, presenting urgent issues in all nations for individuals, organizations, regions, and the state.The author explains that one factor in the Fukushima catastrophe, which followed in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, was the latent deterioration and aging of systems at all levels from the physical to the social, leading through a chain reaction to unsought and unforeseen consequences. Here, the aging of the nuclear reactor system, the breakdown of safety management, and inappropriate instructions from the regulatory authorities combined to create the three-fold disaster, in which technological, organizational, and governmental dysfunction have been diagnosed as reflecting a “systems pathology” infecting all levels.

The present volume illustrates a rich and promising research field in service, service systems sciences, by combining and fusing two strands of sciences: the science of service systems and systems sciences of service. The scale, complexity, and interdependence of today’s service systems have been driven to an unprecedented level by globalization, demographic changes, and technology developments, so that it is absolutely necessary now for us to cultivate a new frontier of service research. In response, service science has emerged during the past decade as a transdisciplinary research field that aims to clarify, analyze, and design the structure and process of service systems. Service science is strongly motivated to prove the science of service systems. To deal with complexity, interactions, and the network of, in, and among service systems, we need to take a more systemic view. Because systems sciences offers a way of thinking in relationships and interaction and theories and models to address complexity, it is legitimate to develop systems sciences of service by explicitly focusing on systemic properties of service and service systems. As a volume of the Translational Systems Sciences series, this book emphasizes, in particular, a translational systems sciences perspective when the authors are approaching service, service systems, and service innovation. Indeed, the book employs systems sciences as a common framework or language not only to approach service in a holistic way but also to take a translational approach aiming to explain, analyze, design, and support service systems and their evolution.

We live in the worlds that we help to create every day. Every activity either supports an existing system or effects some change, however small. But is it possible to consciously create the worlds in which we want to live?This volume brings together systems theorists and practitioners who have worked on that question for decades. It explores connections between design and systems ideas to explain why some efforts have been more successful than others, and what is needed if we are to move forward. It offers reflections on early and large-scale attempts at impacting societal systems, as well as proposals for taking those ideas into the future. Examples date back to the Club of Rome in the 1960s and look forward to the creation of ecologically sustainable systems in the future. They address the need for collaboration and inclusion in settings from communities to corporations. And while theories are presented as support for the examples, they are explained in practical ways meant to be accessible both to students and to general readers.

The research contained here can be characterized in these ways: (1) Research methods adopt interpretative approaches such as hermeneutic and/or narrative approaches rather than causal and functional explanations such as “cause–consequence” relationships.

This is the first book that summarizes the 20-year history of service innovation research and combines it with the future need to adopt a systems view in the field of service research.

This book provides readers the idea of systemically synthesizing various kind of knowledge, which needs to combine analytical thinking and synthetic thinking. The novelty of this present volume is that it takes in the ideas of synthetic thinking in knowledge science to develop systems science further.

This volume applies a systems science perspective to complex policy making dynamics, using the case of Indonesia to illustrate the concepts. In addition to this diversity, Indonesia also employs a democratic system of government with high regional autonomy.

This is the first book to examine the linkages among natural and organizational accidents and disasters in the modern era and clarifies the mechanisms involved and the significance of emerging problems, from the aging of vital infrastructure for the supply of water, gas, oil, and electricity to the breakdown of pensions, healthcare, and other social systems. The book demonstrates how we might check the underlying civilizational collapse and then explore translational systems approaches toward resilient management and policy for sustainability.In Unsafety, the author focuses on the kinds of unnatural disasters and organizational accidents that arise as repercussions of natural hazards. Japan serves as an example, where earthquakes, tsunamis, and typhoons are common, with the Fukushima nuclear disaster as an outstanding case of this link between natural disasters and organizational accidents. Natural and human-made disasters happen worldwide and cause misery through lossof life; destruction of livelihoods as in agriculture, fisheries, and the manufacturing industry; and interruption of urban life. Unsafety from a disaster in one place increases uncertainty elsewhere, presenting urgent issues in all nations for individuals, organizations, regions, and the state.The author explains that one factor in the Fukushima catastrophe, which followed in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, was the latent deterioration and aging of systems at all levels from the physical to the social, leading through a chain reaction to unsought and unforeseen consequences. Here, the aging of the nuclear reactor system, the breakdown of safety management, and inappropriate instructions from the regulatory authorities combined to create the three-fold disaster, in which technological, organizational, and governmental dysfunction have been diagnosed as reflecting a “systems pathology” infecting all levels.

This guide is designed for systems researchers – emerging and seasoned – searching for holistic approaches of inquiry into complexity, which the Systems Sciences provide. The authors share insight into the foundations of research that are not only systematic in terms of rigor, but systemic in perspective, analysis, design, development, implementation, reporting, and evaluation. This guide also explores researcher competencies necessary to conduct sound systems research. Researchers using this guide will gain understanding of what distinguishes systems research from other types of research and why it is important in research today.

This book provides the state of the art in the simulation and gaming study field by systematically collecting excellent papers presented at the 46th International Simulation and Gaming Association annual conference held in Kyoto 17–25 July 2015. Simulation and gaming has been used in a wide variety of areas ranging from early childhood education and school-age children, universities, and professional education, to policy exploration and social problem solving. Moreover, it now been drastically changing its features in the Internet Of Things (IOT) society while taking over a wide variety of aliases, such as serious games and gamification. Most of the papers on which this book’s chapters are based were written by academic researchers, both up-and-coming and well known. In addition, simulation and gaming is a translational system science going from theory to clinical cross-disciplinary topics. With this book, therefore, graduate students and higher-level researchers,educators, and practitioners can become familiar with the state-of-the-art academic research on simulation and gaming in the network society of the twenty-first century.

This book expands the foundations of general systems theory to enable progress beyond the rich heuristic practices available today. It establishes a foundational framework for the development of scientific transdisciplinary systems principles and shows how these can amplify the potential of individuals and teams working in multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary contexts or striving to translate their progress across disciplinary boundaries. Three general scientific systems principles are presented, and their relevance to the design, analysis, management and transformation of systems is explored. Applying lessons from the history and philosophy science, this book disambiguates key concepts of general systemology, clarifies the role of general systemology within the field of systemology, and explains how general systemology supports other forms of transdisciplinarity. These insights are used to develop new perspectives, strategies and tools for addressing long-standing challenges to the advancement and transdisciplinary application of general insights into the nature of complex systems.The material presented in this book includes comprehensive models of the structure of systemology as a disciplinary field, the structure and significance of the general systems worldview, and the role of general systemology as the heart of systems science, systems engineering and systems practice. It explains what a fully-fledged general theory of systems would look like, what its potential is, what routes are available to us to develop it further, and how to leverage the knowledge we have attained so far. Many examples and analogies show how general systemology has the potential to enable scientific discovery, insightful theory building, and practical innovation in all the disciplines as they study, design, nurture or transform complex systems. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to master the concepts, terminology, models and strategies needed to make effective use of current general systems knowledge and to engage in the further development of the philosophy, science, and practice of general systemology.

This book offers a service science perspective on platform orchestration and on collaborative consumption, providing an overview of research topics related to service dominant logic in multi-sided markets. The chapters give an international and multi-disciplinary overview of the current topics of digital service platforms from many angles. This overview helps in filling the gap between service science and recent research of the platform economy and paves the way for future service platform research.Open standards and distributed databases such as blockchain configurations increase the connectivity of business ecosystems as devices and systems exchange data with each other instead of through intermediaries. This exchange opens up opportunities for new value constellations, makes services globally scalable, and connects local service systems as integrated systems of systems. The book brings together established academics from a number of disciplines. This collaboration makes itpossible to provide novel constructs and empirical results that help the reader to understand how value is co-created and orchestrated in the era of digital service platforms. In addition to theory building, practical implications for wider managerial and policy use are highlighted.The topics in this book are related to service platform technologies; organizational capabilities; and strategies and management in the contexts of retail, healthcare, and the public sector. A wide selection of case studies is used to demonstrate the implications of platforms for different service and economic contexts. Combining both theory and practice, this book is highly recommended for readers interested in the service and marketing point of view on the platform economy and for practitioners strategizing for scalable service platforms.Chapters 4 and 10 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This guide is designed for systems researchers – emerging and seasoned – searching for holistic approaches of inquiry into complexity, which the Systems Sciences provide. Researchers using this guide will gain understanding of what distinguishes systems research from other types of research and why it is important in research today.

This book provides the state of the art in the simulation and gaming study field by systematically collecting excellent papers presented at the 46th International Simulation and Gaming Association annual conference held in Kyoto 17–25 July 2015.

This is the first book to introduce the major quantitative tools in risk management taking financial investments and logistics planning as the background: optimization and stochastic programming.

This book presents a general conceptual framework to translate principles of system science and engineering to service design. Services are co-created immaterial, heterogeneous, and perishable state changes. A service system includes the intended benefit to the customer and the structure and processes that accomplish this benefit. The primary focus is on the part of the service system that can reproduce such processes, called here a Service Machine, and methodological guidelines on how to analyze and design them. While the benefit and the process are designed based on the domain knowledge of each respective field, service production systems have common properties. The Service Machine is a metaphor that elicits the fundamental characteristics of service systems that do something efficiently, quickly, or repeatedly for a defined end. A machine is an artifact designed for a purpose, has several parts, such as inputs, energy flows, processors, connectors, and motors assembled as per design specifications. In case of service machine, the components are various contracts assembled on contractual frames. The book discusses Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Emergency Departments (ED) as cases. They illustrate that service machines need to be structured to adapt to the constraints of the served market acknowledging the fact that services are co-created through the integration of producers’ and customers’ resources. This book is highly recommended for those who are interested in understanding the fundamental concepts of designing service machines.