Thursday & Friday May 4th-5th 2006
The Fourth Metaphorum Conference
Liverpool John Moores University, John Foster Building, Liverpool L3 5UZ
May 4th-5th 2006
Conference Co-ordinator: Prof. Maurice Yolles (M.Yolles@ljmu.ac.uk)
Conference Link: Doug Haynes (D.L.Haynes@ljmu.ac.uk)
Registration Form for Booking and accomodation.
Location
Room G.01 (Ground floor room 01), John Foster Building, JMU, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, L3 5UZ. Map. The entrance is opposite the Feathers Hotel (and very close to the Metropolitan Cathedral – known as Paddy’s Wigwam!)
Programme
| 4th May | Chair: M Yolles | |
| 11.00 | Keynote: Raul Espejo | Reflections upon an Organisation’s Boundary and Identity |
| 11.50 | Coffee | Chair: D Haynes |
| 12.00 | Jane Searles | Using POSD with VSM in the probation service |
| 12.30 | Luc Hoebeke | VSM as an action research framework in whole systems innovations |
| 13.00 | Lunch | Chair: A Espinosa |
| 14.00 | Angela Burton/Doug Haynes | Designing a Diagnostic Awareness Chart: creating a chart to focus on business improvement issues for operational managers in a housing context |
| 14.30 | Kaijun Guo et al | Organisational Fitness: from the Viable Systems Model to Organisational Patterning |
| 15.00 | Allenna Leonard | Boundaries and Thresholds: Using the Viable System Model and Team Syntegrity to Explore Distinctions |
| 15.30 | Coffee | Chair: A.Moscardini |
| 16.00 | Leonid Ototsky | Stafford Beer and Viable Systems in the XXI Century |
| 16.30 | Stefan Wasilewski | A work in progress: An application inspired by S Beer |
| 17.00 | José Pérez Ríos | Information and Communication Technologies and Organizational Cybernetics |
| 19.30 | Conference Dinner: | The Valpiriso 4, Hardman Street, Liverpool L1 9AX. Map: Printable .doc |
| 5th May | Chair: P Stokes | |
| 10.00 | Keynote: Patrick Hoverstadt | Applying the Chasm Technology Adoption Lifecycle Model to the VSM & VSM Methodology |
| Chair: M Yolles | ||
| 11.00 | Invited talk: Neil Stewart | Viability and the Synthetic Dyestuffs Industry |
| 11.30 | Coffee | Chair: M Yolles |
| 12.00 | Rod Thomas | Navigating those unfathomable waters: charting management cybernetics onto ordinary language philosophy |
| 12.30 | Ralf-Eckhard Türke | Viability of a rural community in Mozambique |
| 13.00 | Lunch | Chair: R Espejo |
| 14.00 | Tony Bryant | The Lessons of Open Source – Participation, Inclusion, Empowerment |
| 14.30 | Steve Wright | Humour & The Cybernetics Of Popular Arms Control |
| 15.00 – 17.00 | Round Table | R Espejo, P. Hoverstadt, M. Yolles: Enterprise Tools and Approaches … development |
| Programme in Excel .xls format | Printable Programme in .doc format |
| Abstracts (.doc) |
Conference Interest
The interest of this conference is to look towards the application and development of a set of conceptual tools and approaches that can be used to explore, diagnose, and/or enable intervention into social and organisational behaviour, coherences, pathologies, and processes of change and improvement. Such tools and approaches will include a variety of methods and methodologies that are in some way in touch with management cybernetics.
The approach is to be inclusive, interpreting enterprise in the broadest way, and embracing both societal scale social collectives and individuals, and from small to large scale private, public and voluntary sector organisations. There will be a general focus on viability and sustainability. Papers will be encouraged that cover the interests of both theorists and pragmatists: “‘Theory in Practice’ and ‘Practice in Theory‘”. Output from the first of these might inform a continuing agenda for enterprise tools development, while the second might inform a continuing publicising of success stories. A critical approach is also encouraged in which, for instance, an application story is offered that illustrates theoretical and application strengths and inadequacies
Terms of reference
The Conference seeks to take forward the Metaphorum agenda of developing Stafford Beer’s legacy in Management Cybernetics, and in doing so elaborate and enrich the content of its website Tools pages.
DELEGATES LIST
Appropriate papers were selected for a special issue of the journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change.
| Firstname | Surname | Organisation |
| Raed | Al-Qirem | University of Sunderland |
| Robin | Asby | Sigma Two Ltd. |
| Vanilla | Beer | University of Greenwich |
| Antony | Bryant | Leeds Metropolitan University |
| Angela | Burton | JMU / Alternative Housing |
| Peter | Dudley | Integra |
| Raul | Espejo | Syncho |
| Angela | Espinosa | Hull University Business School |
| Nick | Green | Cybernetic Society |
| Kaijun | Guo | LJMU |
| Roger | Harnden | Nascent Form |
| Doug | Haynes | LJMU |
| Luc | Hoebeke | Hobeke, Staes and Partners |
| Patrick | Hoverstadt | Factal Consulting |
| Ian | Kendrick | EUDEMONY Ltd |
| Allenna | Leonard | Complimentary Set |
| Penny | Marrington | Sigma Two Ltd. |
| Alfredo | Moscardini | Sunderland University |
| Annamaria | Mescardini | Sunderland University |
| José | Pérez Ríos | University of Valladolid |
| Jane | Searles | |
| Audrey | Sergeyev | University of Sunderland |
| Neil | Stewart | Imago Management |
| Paul | Stokes | University College Dublin |
| Rod | Thomas | University of Northumbria |
| Ralf’ | Eckhard-Turke | MZSG |
| Jon | Walker | Out of this World |
| Stefan | Wasilewski | Quantum Cybernetics |
| Michelle | Watts | Hull University |
| Steve | Wright | Leeds Metropolitan University |
| Maurice | Yolles | LJMU |