Systems Thinking for Business and Management: Principles and Practice

This core textbook provides a practical, holistic introduction to systems thinking.

Blending theory and practice, Systems Thinking for Business and Management reviews the fundamentals and includes a wide range of global cases and examples from business, showing how systems thinking can be applied to real-world organizational contexts. Students will learn to apply their knowledge to solve business system problems, carry out systemic organizational analysis and design solutions to address complex organizational problems. They will build valuable skills in systems analysis, business process modelling, problem solving and decision making.

Features include:

- An evaluation of the different models, theories and frameworks for generic systems, system properties and system classifications
- An overview of the different methods used for modelling and analysing different systems, specifically hard systems, soft systems and complex systems
- Discussion of how system thinkers can imagine and model future systems
- Experiential, engaging pedagogy, such as practical activities and reflective exercises in each chapter
- Online resources to support teaching and learning, such as a customizable set of PowerPoint slides and video links

The book’s approach has been tried and tested over ten years of teaching. It will be an essential text for introductory modules on systems thinking at undergraduate, postgraduate and MBA levels. It will also be of interest to practitioners looking to apply systems thinking to improve their organizations.

Umit S Bititci is Professor of Business Performance at Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, UK. He has worked with an international portfolio of companies and public sector organizations and has led several international research and development projects with a research portfolio c.£20m.

Agnessa Spanellis is Assistant Professor at Heriot-Watt University, UK, where she teaches modules on Systems Thinking, Contemporary Business Technology, Gamification and Ethics of Technology. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals, books and outlets such as The Conversation.