ST 1.2 整體論之哲學

希臘古典哲學家亞里士多德推斷身體的各個部分只有在支撐整個有機體時才有意義，並使用這一生物學類比，考慮怎樣將個人與國家連繫在一起。

柏拉圖感興趣的是控制的概念，或掌舵(steersman-ship)技術可以如何應用在船隻和國家上面。船隻必須由舵手安全地駛向港灣。社會如果想要繁榮昌茂，也需要類似舵手的角色。

ST 1.1 系統科學語言簡介

一個系統就是一個複雜的整體(whole)，其功能取決於它的組成部分，以及這些部分之間的相互關係。我們可以看到以下類型迥然不同的系統：

• 物質系統，如：河流系統；
• 生物系統，如：活的有機物；
• 設計出來的系統，如：汽車；
• 抽象系統，如：哲學體系；
• 社會系統，如：家庭；
• 人類活動，如：確保產品品質的體系。

STSP Ch1. The Subject of Systems

We can observe the world, and think about our observations, and so gain knowledge of the world. Western civilization, in particular, has in the last 300 years provided us with a powerful means of observing the world, and thinking about it, and acquiring well-tested knowledge of its regularities: I refer to the method of science.

This book is about a particular way of thinking about the world, one which although broadly a part of the science movement, uses some concepts which are complementary to those of classical natural science.

SATM 6.2.3.2. The Early Stages of Socio-technical Systems Thinking

Socio-technical systems theory sees organizations as pursuing primary tasks that can best be realized if their social, technological, and economic dimensions are jointly optimized and if they are treated as open systems and fitted into their environment.

SATM 6.2.3.1 Introduction to Socio-technical Systems Theory

The second set of empirical investigations that helped shape the organizations-as-systems perspective were those carried out within the socio-technical systems tradition.

SATM 6.2.2.9 Methodology

Donaldson (1996, The normal science of structural contingency theory, in: Handbook of Organizational Studies, S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy and W.R. Nord, eds., Sage, London.), the leading contemporary advocate of the approach, regards the paradigm of contingency theory as providing a basis for research "leading to the construction of a scientific body of knowledge". The theory underpinning the approach is sociological functionalism: Just as biological functionalism explains the way the organs of the human body are structured so as to contribute to human well-being, so sociological functionalism explains social structures by their functions. That is their contributions to the well-being of society.

SATM 6.2.2.8 Recent Developments

One interesting development in contingency theory has been to see the best way to structure an organization as contingent upon the amount of information processing it has to do, which in turn is dependent on the uncertainty and diversity surrounding its basic task.