The Open System

Open systems science is the methodology employed to manage and solve the problems in systems whose operation involves interaction with the outside world, as opposed to being closed and complete within themselves. This new methodology was first announced at the 20th anniversary symposium of Sony CSL in 2008. Falling outside the direct scope of traditional science, an open system usually consists of multiple subsystems with varying numbers, relations and functions. Throughout the last decades, computer scientists, addressing the problems presented by globalization and the massive expansion in the application of new technologies, began to realize that open systems science could provide some of the solutions they were seeking with regard to complex and dependable systems. Starting with a chapter explaining the basic concept of open systems science, this book goes on to present the work of contributors from a variety of different disciplines, who explain how open systems science can be applied to their field. Including topics such as; biological robustness, the application of open systems methods to develop new drugs, the study of language and meaning, the interdisciplinary field of visual computing and user interfaces as the merger between the real and virtual world, this book explores the directions of science and technology in the 21st century and will be of interest to all those involved in the development and operation of complex interactive systems. IOS Press is an international science, technical and medical publisher of high-quality books for academics, scientists, and professionals in all fields. Some of the areas we publish in: -Biomedicine -Oncology -Artificial intelligence -Databases and information systems -Maritime engineering -Nanotechnology -Geoengineering -All aspects of physics -E-governance -E-commerce -The knowledge economy -Urban studies -Arms control -Understanding and responding to terrorism -Medical informatics -Computer Sciences

This broad, balanced introduction to organizational studies enables the reader to compare and contrast different approaches to the study of organizations. This book is a valuable tool for the reader, as we are all intertwined with organizations in one form or another. Numerous other disciplines besides sociology are addressed in this book, including economics, political science, strategy and management theory. Topic areas discussed in this book are the importance of organizations; defining organizations; organizations as rational, natural, and open systems; environments, strategies, and structures of organizations; and organizations and society. For those employed in fields where knowledge of organizational theory is necessary, including sociology, anthropology, cognitive psychology, industrial engineering, managers in corporations and international business, and business strategists.

A call to action for school and community leaders to reframe educational institutions as open systems that are adaptable and responsive to the needs of students, families, and communities. Landon Mascareñaz and Doannie Tran propose that, even as events of this decade have exposed stress points in existing top-down, closed systems within education and other public institutions, they have also created prime opportunities to rethink and redesign those systems in ways that encourage civic participation and invigorate local democracy. In The Open System, Mascareñaz and Tran argue for a critical revitalization of public education centered in openness, an organization design concept in which an entity receives, considers, and acts on input from the community it serves. As they demonstrate, open education policy improves information flow, increasing opportunity, bolstering public trust, and making room for cocreation and coproduction driven by community partnerships and family engagement. Based on their groundbreaking work with educational coalitions such as the Kentucky Coalition for Advancing Education and Colorado’s Homegrown Talent Initiative, Mascareñaz and Tran introduce six key liberatory moves that can bring about open system transformation. They highlight real-life examples of the types of incremental, specific, and discrete projects that leaders can use to create openness in educational systems at the school, district, and state levels, providing a blueprint for changemaking.

Scholars and laypersons alike regard Jonathan Edwards (1703-58) as North America's greatest theologian. The Theology of Jonathan Edwards is the most comprehensive survey of his theology yet produced and the first study to make full use of the recently-completed seventy-three-volume online edition of the Works of Jonathan Edwards. The book's forty-five chapters examine all major aspects of Edwards's thought and include in-depth discussions of the extensive secondary literature on Edwards as well as Edwards's own writings. Its opening chapters set out Edwards's historical and personal theological contexts. The next thirty chapters connect Edwards's theological loci in the temporally-ordered way in which he conceptualized the theological enterprise-beginning with the triune God in eternity with his angels to the history of redemption as an expression of God's inner reality ad extra, and then back to God in eschatological glory.The authors analyze such themes as aesthetics, metaphysics, typology, history of redemption, revival, and true virtue. They also take up such rarely-explored topics as Edwards's missiology, treatment of heaven and angels, sacramental thought, public theology, and views of non-Christian religions. Running throughout the volume are what the authors identify as five basic theological constituents: trinitarian communication, creaturely participation, necessitarian dispositionalism, divine priority, and harmonious constitutionalism. Later chapters trace his influence on and connections with later theologies and philosophies in America and Europe. The result is a multi-layered analysis that treats Edwards as a theologian for the twenty-first-century global Christian community, and a bridge between the Christian West and East, Protestantism and Catholicism, conservatism and liberalism, and charismatic and non-charismatic churches.

Let us begin by quoting from the Preface to the author's Statistical Physics (Moscow, Nauka 1982; also published in English by Harwood in 1986): '''My God! Yet another book on statistical physics! There's no room on my bookshelves left!' Such emotionsare quite understandable. Beforejumping to conclusions, however, it would be worthwhile to read the Introduction and look through the table of contents. Then the reader will find that this book is totally different from the existing courses, fundamental and concise. ... We do not use the conventional division into statistical theories ofequilibrium and nonequilibrium states. Rather than that, the theory ofnonequilibrium state is the basis and the backbone oftheentirecourse. ... This approach allows us to develop a unified method for statistical description ofa very broadclassofsystems. ... The author certainly does not wish to exaggerate the advantages of the book, considering it asjustthe first attemptto create a textbookofa new kind." The next step in this direction was the author's Turbulent Motion and the Structure of Chaos (Moscow, Nauka 1990; Kluwer Academic Publishers 1991). This book is subtitled A New Approach to the Statistical Theory of Open Systems. Naturally, the "new approach" is not meant to defy the consistent and efficient methods of the conventional statistical theory; itshould be regarded as auseful reinforcementofsuch methods.

Open Systems Handbook, Second Edition provides an easy-to-read, thorough, and management-oriented explanation of the promises, dangers, and realities of open systems. This edition describes specific products and various open systems that have been updated to reflect the events of the mid-1990s. Emerging open technologies that either didn't exist in 1991 or were in their infancy, such as client/server middleware, are also covered. Topics include the definitions and history of open systems, open systems components, end user interaction points, and elements of open systems software. The general communications hardware, visual application development, models of integration, and advantages of open systems are likewise elaborated. This publication is a good reference for computing professionals and engineers working on open systems.

Management, the pursuit of objectives through the organization and co-ordination of people, has been and is a core feature-and function-of modern society. Some 'classic' forms of corporate and bureaucratic management may be seen as the prevalent form of organization and organizing in the 20th century, but in the post-Fordist, global, knowledge-driven contemporary world we are seeing different patterns, principles, and styles of management as old models are questioned. The functions, ideologies, practices, and theories of management have changed over time, as recorded by many scholars, and may vary according to different models of organization, and between different cultures and societies. Whilst the administrative, corporate, or factory manager may be a figure on the wane, management as an ethos, organizing principle, culture, and field of academic teaching and research has increased dramatically in the last half century, and spread throughout the world. The purpose of this Handbook is to analyse and explore the evolution of management; the core functions and how they may have changed; its position in the culture/zeitgeist of modern society; the institutions and ideologies that support it; and likely challenges and changes in the future. This book looks at what management is, and how this may change over time. It provides an overview of management - its history, development, context, changing function in organization and society, key elements and functions, and contemporary and future challenges.

Can we design organizations in a way that creates a space where employees, the organization, and the larger community all thrive? And if so, where can we go for inspiration to help us achieve this goal? In a time of volatile and complex uncertainty, it is time to learn the lessons that nature has compiled from 3.8 billion years of research and development. Nature is an interdependent, dynamic and living system – just like today’s organizations and communities. Kathleen Allen uses nature as a model, mentor, and muse to rethink how leadership is practiced today. Leading from the Roots takes nature as a source of inspiration to help organizations see a new way of leading and designing workplace structure, applying the generous framework found in mature ecologies to human organizations. Kathleen Allen helps shift assumptions, practices, structures, and processes of organizations to become more resilient and nourishing for all, and, along the way, design the way out of workplace dysfunction and drama. “Leading from the Roots provides a powerful new way of thinking about organizations as living systems and delivers practical leadership frameworks for individuals to learn how to unleash the energy and create innovative, effective teams. -Anne Boneparte, CEO Appthority This book is a must read for organizational leaders who are not only committed to their mission, but equally to creating a workplace that attracts and retains the brightest and the best professionals fully enabled to meet that mission. -Caryl Stern, President & CEO UNICEF USA