Ben-Eli M. U. & Probst G. J. B. (1986) The way you look determines what you see or self-organization in management and society. In: Trappl R. (ed.) Cybernetics and Systems ’86. Reidel, Dordrecht: 277–284. https://cepa.info/6243
The concept of self-organization is reviewed and its implications are explored in relation to management processes and social systems. A world view is taken, emphasizing a descriptive distinction of levels associated with the physical, biological, social, and mental. Self-organization principles, it is argued, are operative in all levels of such a stratified scheme, but they are manifest in different mechanisms and different embodiments. \\Management, planning, design, and other “intervention” type of activities are among the processes through which self-organization is manifest in the social domain. Ultimately they have to do with maintaining, enriching, and amplifying the potential variety of the systems concerned. The operationally critical question involved, it is suggested, is not whether management activities are “man-made” or “natural,” spontaneous” or “planned,” but rather, whether they enhance or supress the potential variety of a system under consideration.
Gomez P. & Probst G. J. B. (1985) Organisationelle Geschlossenheit im Management sozialer Institutionen – ein komplementäres Konzept zu den Kontingenz-Ansätzen. Delfin V: 22–29. https://cepa.info/3736
Excerpt: Soziale Institutionen als organisationell geschlossene Systeme zu interpretieren, führt nicht nur zu einer Reihe neuer Einsichten, sondern auch zu Erklärungen solcher Phänomene, die im Rahmen der Input-Output-Modellvorstellungen nicht angemessen berücksichtigt werden konnten. Wir werden dies am Beispiel von Wirtschaftsunternehmen und kirchlichen Institutionen zu zeigen versuchen. Dabei wird sich herausstellen, dass die beiden genannten Paradigmen ihre volle Leistungsfähigkeit nur dann entfalten können, wenn man das eine als ein Komplement des anderen betrachtet.
Gomez P. & Probst G. J. B. (1989) Organizational closure in management: A Complementary view to contingency approaches. Cybernetics and Systems 20(4): 311–320. https://cepa.info/3961
Probst G. J. B. (1985) Some cybernetic principles for the design, control, and development of social systems. Cybernetics and Systems 16(2–3): 171–180. https://cepa.info/3845
Excerpt: If a firm is to survive and be efficient in a complex environment that is constantly changing in unforeseeable ways, it is necessary for it to constantly adjust and adapt to such a large number of factors that the adaptation can only be carried out by taking into account self-organizing systems processes. We are therefore very much interested in the principles of self-organization that may be found in any viable system. In talking about a system-based approach to management of purposeful social systems, this is probably one of the most important concepts, though it is not the only one.