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Over the last few years after the pandemic times, government, organisations and people in general have started to recognize the relevance or adopting a systemic perspective to understand the grand-challenges humanity faces.
The relevance of systems thinking has been recognized for almost a century. In the past much has been done to improve the performance of public and private organisations, but general public interest has come and gone in waves of interest. Management theories or fads like Just-in-Time, Business Process Reengineering or Lean Manufacturing have capture the attention of managers and public servants in the recent past. Nowadays Data-Analytics and Artificial Intelligence are at the centre of what managers want to learn and understand. However, if little understanding is given to the context and conditions where these relevant ideas are applied the benefits and results from their implementation are likely to be limited as were the case before.
However, we within the systems community have not been able to convince the managerial main stream world about the benefits of adapting systemic principles. The desire for quick-fix solutions, the (not in abundance) abilities required to apply the systemic methodologies, the bottom-line pressures of the business world for the bottom line, and many other elements are not on our side when we want people to open their vision and consider the wider aspects. Decision-makers are looking for answers, systems thinking provide a different set of questions. However, it will be argued in this seminar, the principles of cybernetics around structural cohesion, communication and control can offer some short-terms gains while the wider picture sinks in.
Dr Roberto Palacios‑Rodriguez is a lecturer in Economics and Management Systems at the University of Hull and serves as Director of the Centre for Systems Studies, a research hub devoted to advancing systems thinking to better understand and address complex social challenges. His academic and consultancy work focuses on applying macroeconomics and systems thinking to enterprise decision‑making, with research interests spanning population dynamics, health economics, and public finance. Before joining Hull, he held senior academic and managerial roles at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in Mexico and worked as a researcher within the Mexican Presidential Office (2000–2006). A member of the editorial boards of Systems Research and Behavioral Science and the International Journal of Social Economics, Dr Palacios‑Rodriguez continues to integrate rigorous economic analysis with systemic perspectives to inform policy, business strategy, and societal development.
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