Viable systems approach


The viable systems approach is a systems theory in which the observed entities and their environment are interpreted through a systemic viewpoint, starting with the analysis of fundamental elements and finally considering more complex related systems. The assumption is that each entity/system is related to other systems, placed at higher level of observation, called supra-systems, whose traits can be detected in their own subsystems.
The fundamental unit of analysis is a system made up of many parts or structures. In this sense, every entity as a system can be considered a micro-environment, made up of a group of interlinked sub-components which aim towards a common goal.
The viable system model was first proposed by Anthony Stafford Beer. In general terms, a viable system is finalized toward its vitality throughout viable behavior based upon consonant and resonant relationships.

Systems thinking

Systems thinking contributed in a significant manner to the creation of a new conception of phenomenological reality, as a synthesis of philosophical, sociological, mathematical, physical and biological approaches, influencing culture and its prevalent values founded on the axiomatic corpus of Cartesian thought, has set off a paradigm revolution, moving on from a reductionist-mechanistic approach to reality, and modifying the traditional investigation model. Having rapidly spread to all areas of study, the systems approach has become the result of reflection, theoretical contribution, and formalisation, creating an epistemological approach to research and to the study of a complex reality.
The origins of systems theory go back to the 1950s when a group of scholars from various scientific and social fields developed an interdisciplinary theory based on the concept of systems. Their systems viewpoint rejected the idea that certain phenomena could be fully understood exclusively through an analytical approach, especially when the investigated subject consisted of complex phenomenon characterized by significant interaction among its components, as with the firm. In such a case, full understanding could be achieved through a global vision of the subject in question—a systemic vision—by applying a research method of this organized complexity.
Systems thinking comes from the shift in attention from the part to the whole, implying a perception of reality as an integrated and interacting unicuum of phenomena, where the individual properties of the single parts become indistinct, while the relationships between the parts themselves and the events they produce through their interaction, become more important.
The systems approach does not coincide with the holistic approach and is not in opposition to the analytical-reductionist approach. Rather, it is an approach which, placing itself within a continuum with reductionism and holism at its extremities, is able to reconcile the two. From the analysis of the elementary components of a phenomenon, it is always possible to arrive at, and then explain, a phenomenon in its entirety.

Description

The VSA is a scientific approach to business theory that has become increasingly prominent in Italian academic circles in the past decade. Based upon system theory, VSA focuses on the analysis of relationships among socio-economic entities in search of viable interacting conditions. According to VSA, every entity can be considered a system of many parts or structures, made up of a group of interlinked sub-components, with the aim of realising a common goal.
The viable systems approach proposes a deep analysis of the structure/systems dichotomy, proposing that every system represents a recognisable entity emerging from a specific changing structure. Since a system originates from its structure, its evolution derives from the dynamic activation of static existing basic relationships. A structure can be studied, a system should only be interpreted ". This means that the static structure brings up the recognition of various possible systems dependant on the finalities and final goal; e.g., a human being is composed by many components assembled within a physical structure, but in the dynamic view man and women may be eating, sleeping, playing tennis or bridge, and all of these are different possible system behaviors.
Another important VSA proposal is represented in the following figure, derived from Beer's first conceptualization of the decision making area and operating structure. Basically, VSA advances upon Stafford Beer's proposal, based upon the distribution of numerous managerial and operative decisions within the operating structure area. The management system can limit the real decision making to strategic and high level issues, involving every decision maker. In a similar way, we may say that the operating area of a human being involves the decision of going to jog, requiring the person to wear a sport outfit and running shoes; on the other hand, the decision about pursuing higher education, starting a new venture, or practicing within an existing business, may be relegated within the higher control system.

In addition, the viable systems approach introduces the conceptual matrix. This is based upon an iterative process of conception and realization of a viable system. It starts from an idea that needs to be framed within a logical model, then expressed in a physical structure. Once the physical structure is defined it can relate with external resources and systems, embracing them within an extended structure that, via its dynamics, can give birth to numerous specific structures and eventually end up to be a viable system. This recursive process may represent the development of a business just as much as an industrial district.

VSA origins

Starting from this theoretical basis, the VSA has integrated several multidisciplinary contributions, applying them to the observation of complex entities. Principally, it has developed its theory around several key concepts derived by other disciplines: from system thinking, from natural and ecological sciences ; from chemical and biological disciplines, from sociology and psychology, and from information technology. VSA enables an analysis of the relationships that exist among an enterprise's internal components, as well as an analysis of the relationships between enterprises and other systemic entities in its environmental context.
According to VSA, an enterprise develops as an open system that is characterised by:
Some founding concepts of the VSA should be made clear to the reader :
  1. a viable system lives; that is, its aim is to survive within a context which is populated by other systems;
  2. every context is subjectively perceived by a viable system's top management from analyzing its environment distinguishing and identifying its relevant supra-systems in relation with its objective;
  3. context defines the potential of viable systems, within which are a few higher-level systems able to constrain top management decisions;
  4. the system's structural definition and the level of consonance between its evolved components, define a given system's effectiveness
  5. a viable system has the capability of dynamically adjusting its structure: hence we may refer consonance to the system's attempt to correctly interpret contextual signals, and resonance to the expression of the associated adaptive behavior; a system is stable if it satisfies external expectations and needs displayed by relevant supra-systems.

    Fundamental concepts

VSA applications