Systems and Performance

Mid Term Exam

Part I

. “… improving the performance of the parts of a system taken separately will not necessarily improve the performance of the whole.”

      “Systems thinking is holistic, it attempts to derive an understanding of the parts from the behavior and properties of wholes rather than derive the behavior and properties of wholes from those of their parts.”

                                                                                                           Russell L. Ackoff

In a clear and cogent essay of sufficient scope and depth, respond to these two quotes by Russell Ackoff. Be both general and specific in your response and propose examples to demonstrate your explanations and conclusions. Something from your work environment would probably be most useful to your commentary. (15 pts)