Russell L. Ackoff

A concept of corporate planning

Abstract In this article, Professor Ackoff develops a new concept of planning, Adaptive Planning—in a systematic way and attempts to exploit the management and behavioural sciences to the fullest. He discusses the nature of planning, the parts of the planning system, and the different philosophies of planning—which he calls satisficing, optimizing, and adaptivizing. He concludes that “at the present time satisficing planning is the only one of the three approaches to which we can normally adhere completely.”

An Approximate Measure of Value

Selection of an optimum decision depends on two types of measures: (1) the efficiency of a course of action for an outcome; (2) the importance or weight of the outcomes. That course of action that maximizes the expected total weighted efficiency (effectiveness) is optimum. A method for estimating importance on a scale of value is provided. It is based on actual or verbal choices of decision-makers. The method can be applied to any number of objectives or outcomes, and to any number of decision-makers. Reliability of the results can be measured. Operations Research , ISSN 0030-364X, was published as Journal of the Operations Research Society of America from 1952 to 1955 under ISSN 0096-3984.

Scientific method : optimizing applied research decisions

Scientific method :optimizing applied research decisions , Scientific method :optimizing applied research decisions , مرکز فناوری اطلاعات و اطلاع رسانی کشاورزی

Science in the Systems Age: Beyond IE, OR, and MS

I believe we are leaving one cultural and technological age and entering another; that we are in the early stages of a change in our conception of the world, a change in our way of thinking about it, and a change in the technology with which we try to make it serve our purposes. These changes, I believe, are as fundamental and pervasive as were those associated with the Renaissance, the Age of the Machine that it introduced, and the Industrial Revolution that was its principal product. The socio-technical revolution we have entered may well come to be known as the Resurrection.

The Systems Revolution.

Abstract In this paper the author brings together a number of ideas which are presented more fully in his forthcoming book—Redesigning the Future (John Wiley and Sons, New York): This synthesis amounts to a digest of Part 1 of that book. The article is organized into 5 parts: The Systems Revolution; The Self-Control Problem; The Humanization Problem; The Environmentalization Problem and Science in the Systems Age.

Presidents' Symposium: OR, A Post Mortem

This note traces the devolution of operations research from its original state as a market-oriented profession through the stage of output orientation to its current status as largely input-oriented, and points out that this descent has taken the profession away from the most important needs of the organizations it could serve.

Reflections on systems and their models

Distinctions are drawn between deterministic (e.g., mechanistic), animate (e.g., organismic), social, and ecological systems and models. Historical examples of applying models of one type to systems of another type are provided and the current consequences of such mismatches affecting social systems are discussed.

Idealized design: Creative corporate visioning

Corporate visions are frequently illusions or delusions. To be effective, a vision should consist of an operationally meaningful description of the organization its stakeholders would have if they could have any organization they wanted--without constraints. It should be a consensus formulation in which all the stakeholders or their representatives have had a hand. Such a description is an idealized design of the organization involved. How such a vision/design can be formulated and used, and its effects on the organization are discussed here.

National Development Planning Revisited

We argue that the principal obstructions to national development of less-than-well-developed countries are cultural, not economic or technological. Furthermore, such countries tend to mistake activity for change, and self-imposed constraints for ones that are externally imposed. We propose concepts of development and planning that are intended to overcome these obstacles. The concepts involve an idealized redesign of the system planned for by all those who will be affected by it. A means for launching such a planning effort-a crusade for development-is suggested.

A Systemic View of Transformational Leadership

A systemic view of transformational leadership is developed. Initially the terms “administration,” “management,” and “leadership” are distinguished. Leadership as an aesthetic function is then discussed. Growth, visions, and strategy continue discussions. It is then argued why leadership cannot be taught. Ways of viewing the world as systems that underpins transformational leadership are then set out. The paper concludes with a discussion of systemic transformation.