The management of coronavirus is usually viewed and commented on from an epidemiological, virological or economic perspective. We will demonstrate that the organisational dimension is equally important in this context. It is too often neglected. In a study which is close to completion, we explore the question of how the organisation for dealing with the Covid 19 crisis is working, how effective it is, and how it could be improved. The focus is on the corona crisis in Switzerland, which is a federalist system. Both our diagnosis and suggestions for design are based on the Viable System Model (VSM). The purpose of our study is to diagnose the status quo and make suggestions for organisational improvements to overcome the corona crisis. The study is also to learn for coping with future pandemics.
Covid19 Pandemic – Dealing with the Unpredictable: Crisis Management in a Federation
Content
Markus Schwaninger
Markus Schwaninger, Emeritus Professor of Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He is an international expert in Organizational Cybernetics and System Dynamics. His methodological position is transdisciplinary.
Research focus: Modelling and development of complex social systems, i.e. private and public organizations: for example, strategic and integrative management, organization design, management systems, organizational transformation and learning, sustainability issues. Long-term effort to build bridges between quantitative and qualitative methods, both in basic and applied research.
Mandates (Selection):
- Academic at IACSYS-The International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences; Board Member;
- WOSC-World Organization of Systems and Cybernetics;
- Fellow of BCSSS-Bertalanffy Centre for the Study of Systems Science;
- Managing editor, System Dynamics Review. Consultant and supervisor.
About 250 publications in 6 languages, including the book Intelligent Organizations published with Springer. For more information on Markus Schwaninger’s publications, please see:
https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/view/pub_alex_user_id/502.html
Recent Webinars
04.09.2024
The Topologies of Prediction: Management, Cybernetics, and Artificial Intelligence
Mark Johnson
AI’s recent advances mean that it is now a fundamental constituent of the environment for all of us, and the challenge for organisations is to adapt to it. This entails a deeper understanding of what the technology is, and this in turn invites a reinspection of cybernetic theory.
26.06.2024
From systems to entrepreneurial ecosystemic organizations. Exploring Haier’s RenDanHeYi.
Emanuele Quintarelli, Krishan Mathis
How can a global manufacturer with tens of thousands of employees not just survive but thrive in turbulent times? Guided by its CEO philosopher, the Chinese white goods appliance leader went through four decades of strategy, business, and organizational reinvention, rewriting everything we knew about management. Based on years of direct collaboration with Haier, Emanuele will conversate with Krishan to explore RenDanHeYi’s ability to get rid of hierarchical control, top-down people management, centralized budgeting, organizational bureaucracy, distance from the market. They will compare the foundational RenDanHeYi’s concepts with VSM pillars to show how more and more enterprises worldwide may embrace unprecedented levels of self-management, entrepreneurial initiative, customer centricity, diffused value sharing, and ecosystemic thinking.
05.06.2024
The heart of the 4th industrial revolution in the brain of Viable System Model.
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Many of Beer and his team’s reflections on the effective incorporation of people into the project considered prototypes for measuring audiences in real time. This view of the common good is especially critical in the main political and sociocultural dilemmas that form part of todays debates regarding the future of ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution.