Understanding Of Systems Theory Research Articles

Game Theory-Based Minimization of the Ostracism Risk in Construction Companies

Strategic and managemerial decision-making in an organization can have a crucial effect for the whole entity; however, it rarely involves the organization’s employees evenly at the different organizational levels. The result is—what is addressed in this paper as—the ostracism risk, namely the risk accruing from the lack of satisfaction of underprivileged employees’ groups during the decision-making process. The ostracism risk could jeopardize the organization’s integrity and therefore requires effective treatment. This paper aims at verifying a conceptual approach, which is proposed as a methodology for assessing the probability of organizational cooperation when deciding under risk, thus minimizing ostracism risk. The proposed approach is based on organizational and human resources management (HRM) theories and is contextualized for construction through the understanding of systems theory. The proposed methodology presents a potential modelling via game theory of a medium-sized construction company that is organized according to Mintzberg’s organizational model. The utilization of the bounded Pareto distribution is presented as an approach of the model’s probabilistic processing, and the potential for estimating the probabilities to adopt a favorable cooperational decision is verified. The paper concludes with the reference to the next steps required for the methodology’s validation and further improvement.

Navigating the ‘shadow of loss’ in mental health social work

ABSTRACTThe human experience of loss has been at the centre of psychoanalytic understandings of the human condition since Freud’s first writings on ‘melancholia’. This essay draws on psychodynamic theory to show how workers who are attuned to the experience of loss in service users can shape their interventions accordingly. By reflecting on how a diagnosis of ‘depression’ might better be understood as the rippling wave of past grief, professionals can utilise the dynamics of projection, transference and containment to help understand the emotional pain of individuals they support. But this essay also suggests that the use of psychodynamic practice works best when it is bolstered by other frameworks – in this case an understanding of systems theory. When the two traditions are utilised together, they provide an understanding of psychic phenomena which can enable social workers to build a basis for effective interventions with service users experiencing mental distress.

Further education in England: the new localism, systems theory and governance

The paper explores the changing forms of governance currently being applied to the English further education sector – changes that emphasise the importance of locality. The paper sets the sector within its socio‐economic and policy context, examining current policy changes that intend to alter the way in which the sector is managed. It relates these changes to their contextual location and to a set of conceptual notions that derive from a particular understanding of systems theory and what has been described as the new localism. It concludes that whilst these changing forms of governance are in continuity with earlier policies that had a regional dimension, they remain set on the terrain of performativity and new public sector management. Nevertheless, there remains a residual potential to develop more democratic forms of engagement in these changes.

MEDIATING WITH HIGH‐CONFLICT COUPLES

Models of mediation based on negotiation assume that participants can think and act rationally, whereas in reality, when individuals are overwhelmed by anger and pain, their capacity for reason and logic diminishes. Family mediators need to appreciate the intensity of the irrational feelings and reactions they see in mediation and to consider their personal impact. Mediators can help to contain family crises by adapting the family crises by adapting the model and methods in this article to fit different levels and patterns of conflict. An understanding of systems theory is particularly helpful in considering the functions of conflict and varying needs to maintain conflict. This article suggests that mediators can use different kinds of nonverbal and verbal communication and surprise those who expect mediators to give them a stock response.

On systems theory and models of heat flow

It is the author's premise that it is possible to gain a better understanding of systems theory and the modeling process by examining the anomalous heat flow model. This examination suggests new areas for research in systems theory. The product of the through and across variables does not yield power, an inductive component does not exist, and the through variable is not measured in the usual way. A closer study of these anomalies has broad implications for the methods of systems theory in general. Among these implications are (1) for every physical phenomenon there is a variable set that provides all of the generic characteristics; (2) every physical system has an alternate formulation using energy flow rate as the `through variable'; (3) physical systems that would normally be modeled using discrete variable sets can be united in a single model; and (4) methodological advances are required in order to deal with random diffusion processes such as heat flow. Further, some insight is gained into the effect of a macroscopic versus a microscopic viewpoint in model building.