The Performance of Social Systems

by Parra-Luna, Francisco

• ISBN13: 9780306463099
• ISBN10: 0306463091
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-01
• Publisher: Plenum Pub Corp

Summary

It can be said that the concept of performance of social systems is one of the most relevant, since all social systems - from the family, through the enterprise, to the Nation state - are only interesting in obtaining as high a performance as possible. The difficulties encountered when dealing with the concept of performance have been recognized and few books until now ventured to tackle the task, mainly because of the following three big problems: the lack of a theoretical-operational model; the lack of valid data; and the lack of computer facilities. Today these obstacles have been overcome and this is the first book based on different systemic perspectives (value theory, modelling, observation and quantification) which offers the possibility of defining and working out the concept. The book should be of great interest to sociologists, political scientists, economists, organizational theorists, managers and politicians.

Author Biography

Walter Buckley is professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire Iris Balsamo is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Buenos Aires, Argentina Bruce Buchanan is a retired physician Michael P. Byron is of the Adjunct Faculty at the Palomar Community College in California Vladimir Degtiar is Chief Research Fellow of the Management and Consulting Service, of the Group Decision Support Systems for management in Unity Science Co., and a Senior Research Fellow at the Moscow State University J.L. Elohim is an electronic engineer, retired professor of the University of Mexico, and currently Research Fellow at the University of Vienna, Austria Moises Garcia Jara is an advanced graduate student at the University Complutense of Madrid Martin L.W. Hall is a Consultant at the Values Technology Center in Santa Cruz, California, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside Dario Menanteau-Horta is a professor of Rural Sociology at the University of Minnesota and currently Director of the Center of Rural Sociology and Community Analysis P. Nicolopoulos is Assistant Professor at the University of Piraeus, Greece F. Parra-Luna is professor at the University of Madrid A. Sanchez Sucar is an Aeronautic Engineer in Iberia, S.A., Spain, where he is the Head of the Department of Ecology and Environment Markus Schwaninger is a professor of Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland Karl-Heinz Simon is a professor of the University of Kassel (Germany) and deputy director of the Center for Environmental Systems Research Felix Tretter is a doctor at the District Hospital Haar/Munich in Germany Raf Vanderstraeten is professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands) J.P. van Gigch is Professor Emeritus at the California State University, Sacramento Gerard de Zeeuw is Full Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science of the University of Amsterdam

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(14)
F. Parra-Luna
PART I: A WORLD OF VALUES
Systems thinking and human values: towards understanding performance in organizations	15	(10)
M.L.W. Hall
The role of values in measuring performance of social systems	25	(12)
B. Buchanan
Towards an axiological systems theory	37	(24)
F. Parra-Luna
PART II: SOME MODELS FOR DEFINING SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
Some problems in the observation of performance	61	(10)
G. de Zeeuw
The resolution of dilemmas and conflicts in approaching the performance of social systems through representation, evaluation and quantification	71	(18)
J. van Gigch
A model for measuring the performance of social systems	89	(30)
F. Parra-Luna
The potentialities of the sociocybernetic model in assessing political performance in a non-stable society	119	(12)
P. Nicolopoulos
Criteria of systems performance from a macro-sociological viewpoint	131	(16)
K-H. Simon
Distributed control in social systems	147	(28)
M. Schwaninger
Space of state and performance's optimization: lessons of Russians' failures	175	(26)
V. Degtiar
Conditions for testing performance	201	(16)
I. Balsamo
PART III: OPERATIONAL APPROACHES TO THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL PERFORMANCE
Environmental balance and the performance of social systems	217	(18)
A. Sanchez Sucar
The performance of education systems	235	(18)
R. Vanderstraeten
Performance of health care units and the influence of management	253	(24)
F. Tretter
Indicators of social performance in the heartland of the United States	277	(16)
D. Menanteau-Horta
Global modeling and international performance	293	(36)
M.P. Byron
The performance of the world system: a critical viewpoint	329	(38)
J.-L. Elohim
An exploration into the measurement of social efficiency on the Internet	367	(26)
M. Garcia Jara
Index	393