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This book describes the neurology of a business as a new dimension of organization and as a basis for success in a complex world. Comparing organizations with living organisms, it places an organization's neurology (control and communication) as a third dimension beside its anatomy (structure) and physiology (process). Overlooked by classical organizational theory, this third dimension offsets its typical drawbacks.
The Neurology of Business introduces Stafford Beer's Viable System Model (VSM) and shows how this helps managers to diagnose, discover, and unleash the potential and performance lying dormant in today's enterprises.
The book is based on numerous consulting projects and management seminars conducted in Europe, America, and Asia. It guides the reader through the diagnosis and design process and illustrates application issues with practical examples. In this way, the book provides managers with the language needed to have meaningful conversations abouthow their organizations are functioning. As such, it will benefit managers in business and nonbusiness organizations, as well as readers interested in general management.
List of contents
Part I. Necessity and Benefits of the Third Dimension.- Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. The Ten Cardinal Mistakes of Organizing.- Part II. The Viable System Model.- Chapter 3. A Model of Steering and Communication.- Chapter 4. Introduction to the Model.- Chapter 5. Russian Dolls.- Chapter 6. Hierarchy and the Redundancy of Potential Command.- Part III. Diagnosis and Design.- Chapter 7. Overview of the Diagnostic Process.- Chapter 8. Diagnosing and Designing the Basic Structure (Step I).- Chapter 9. Mastering Complexity (Excursus).- Chapter 10. Manageable or Not? (Step II).- Chapter 11. Mission-critical Tasks (Step III).- Chapter 12. Centralized or Decentralized (Step IV).- Chapter 13. Diagnosing and Designing the Control Functions (Step V).- Chapter 14. Diagnosing and Designing Communication Channels (Step VI).- Part IV. From Knowledge to Implementation.- Chapter 15. Making the Organization Understandable (Step VII).- Chapter 16. Successful Implementation.- Chapter 17. Quick Diagnoses.- Chapter 18. Balancing Present and Future.
About the author
Martin Pfiffner lives in Switzerland with his wife and daughter. After studying economics, he earned his PhD in systems-oriented management at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He went on to study management cybernetics with Stafford Beer. He has worked as a top-management consultant and speaker for almost thirty years, was a member of the executive board in the Malik Management Group and headed their Management Cybernetics & Bionics division. As a consultant, he has applied Stafford Beer's Syntegration method and Viable System Model in business and nonbusiness organizations across the world. In 2017, he cofounded the Fondation Oroborus in order to disseminate management cybernetics. He is a widely recognized expert in the field of organization and structure and has published several books and articles on management. He has always practiced martial arts and played the guitar in an alternative rock band.
