Viable Systems Approach Research Articles

An Integrated SS-VSA Analysis of Changing Job Roles

This paper presents a first attempt at an integrated Service Science (SS) and Viable Systems Approach (VSA) analysis of the real-world phenomenon of changing jobs roles. Changing job roles is important to quality of life and yet understudied by systems scientists. Today, individuals changing jobs multiple times during their working life is the norm. The average person born in the later years of the US baby boom held 10.8 jobs from age 18 to age 42 (BLS [BLS 2008. Number of jobs held, labor market activity, and earnings growth among the youngest baby boomers: Results from a longitudinal survey. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. USDL 08-0860. URL: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf]). The viability of societal systems depends on both entities changing job roles offered and individuals changing job roles filled (Spohrer and Maglio, [Spohrer, J. C., Maglio, P. P. 2010b. Toward a Science of Service Systems: Value and Symbols. In The Handbook of Service Science, Maglio, P. P., Kieliszewski, C. A., Spohrer, J. C., Springer, New York, NY.]). Societal systems interact with their environment via individuals in job roles, and the behaviors and dynamics of these diverse types of viable systems are not easy to explain and predict (Beer, [Beer, S. 1972. Brain of the firm. The managerial cybernetics of organization. The Penguin Press.]). Both Service Science (SS) and Viable Systems Approach (VSA) can be seen as less well known specializations of General Systems Theory (von Bertalanffy, [von Bertalanffy, L. 1968. General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. George Braziller, New York.], Spohrer and Kwan, [Spohrer, J., Kwan, S. K. 2009. Service Science, Management, Engineering, and Design (SSMED): An Emerging Discipline – Outline & References. Int. Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector, 1(3).], Barile [Barile, S. 2009. Management sistemico vitale. Giappichelli, Torino.], Golinelli, [Golinelli, G. M. 2010. Viable Systems Approach (VSA). Governing Business dynamics. Kluwer, Cedam, Padova.]). Like General Systems Theory, these emerging analytic frameworks advocate a worldview and specialized vocabulary that provide a framework for analysis and decision making. Also, these nascent analytic frameworks aim to improve our understanding of complex systems and improve their design. By refining the concept of the identity of a system from SS and VSA perspectives, the contributions of this paper include providing an abstract framework for enumerating all job roles and transitions between job roles as well as a practical recommendation to prepare a next-generation of individuals to compete better in a world of accelerating job role change. Specifically, our analysis of changing job roles will result in a recommendation for increasing the ratio of T-Shaped Professionals (T-SP possess both broad communication skills and deep problem solving skills) to I-Shaped Professional (I-SP possess only deep problem solving skills) in the labor force of nations and businesses to improve their viability in a complex environment of accelerating change (Donofrio et al. [Donofrio, N., Sanchez, C., Spohrer, J. 2010. Collaborative Innovation and Service Systems: Implications for Institutions and Disciplines, in Holistic Engineering Education, Edited by Domenico Grasso.]). [Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]

A VSA-SS Approach to Healthcare Service Systems the Triple Target of Efficiency, Effectiveness and Sustainability

The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the new opportunities that the Viable Systems Approach (VSA) can provide for observing complex service systems and explaining social phenomena through general schemes of interpretation. At the same time, it explores methodological links with the Service Science (SS) approach in order to propose (VSA)'s contribution to moulding a unified vision of complex objects of analysis, and to evidence the many converging elements that emerge from the two perspectives as well as the benefits that derive from different interpretation schemes. In particular, in our paper we analyze healthcare service complexity in a relational perspective, using a VSA-SS conceptual framework to interpret the emergent systems instability in the Italian Health Service. The application of principles and concepts proper to the (VSA) and the SS approaches to articulated service structures, such as healthcare, identifies critical features and interesting new “therapeutic” prospects for healthcare service systems in order to guarantee their viability. The paper proposes an innovative methodological basis for evaluating the level of appropriateness of the healthcare service and, at the same time, evidences the need for achieving a balanced triple target of efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability (EES) in healthcare service systems governance. As a result, a new area of cross fertilization for collaborative research emerges. [Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]

Smart Service Systems and Viable Service Systems: Applying Systems Theory to Service Science

The objective of this paper is to review recent developments in service theory and systems theory with a view to identifying common features between the two. In particular, the study explores the issue of whether so-called ‘smart service systems’ can be understood in terms of the ‘viable systems approach’ of systems theory. The paper begins with a review of recent developments in service theory by examining the fundamental principles of service-dominant logic (S-D logic) and service science (SS). The similarities and differences of the two are explored, with particular emphasis on the common feature of the service system. The study then moves to the realm of systems theory by exploring the main proposals of the viable systems approach (VSA), which is an interdisciplinary systems theory that includes elements derived from resource-based theory, biology, sociology, and mechanics. The paper then draws together service theory and systems theory by examining whether ‘smart service systems’ can be best understood in terms of ‘viable service systems.’ The most important finding of the study is that the VSA provides valuable insights into the design and management of smart service systems, especially with regard to harmonisation, systems governance, and successful value co-creation processes. [Service Science, ISSN 2164-3962 (print), ISSN 2164-3970 (online), was published by Services Science Global (SSG) from 2009 to 2011 as issues under ISBN 978-1-4276-2090-3.]

Linking the viable system and many‐to‐many network approaches to service‐dominant logic and service science

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to combine service science (service science, management and engineering, and SSME) and service dominant (S‐D) logic contributions with the network and systems‐based theories of many‐to‐many marketing proposed by Gummesson and the viable system approach (VSA), proposed by Italian researchers and highly diffused in Italy during the 2000s.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is a conceptual analysis based on recent developments in service science, S‐D logic and network/systems theory.FindingsBeing grounded in network theory, systems thinking and value co‐creation, many‐to‐many marketing is found to be particularly supportive to both service science and S‐D logic. It is also found that VSA, being broad, interdisciplinary and based on systems theory and resource‐based theory, and with strong influences from biology, sociology and mechanics, is a key to the interpretation of complex phenomena. Both many‐to‐many and VSA embrace the whole and the general while still considering the detail and its contextual dependency. Both theories are highly suitable for analysing and designing service systems.Research limitations/implicationsThe network and systemic approach to business offer by many‐to‐many marketing and VSA and applicable to service and the value creation, relationship management and business finalities, are strongly coherent with the one proposed or tacitly implied by service science and S‐D logic.Practical implicationsThe paper helps practitioners to better manage service and to enable efficient behaviour within multiple contexts with multiple actors and optimising inter‐systemic relations.Originality/valueThis is believed to be the only paper to apply network theories and the VSA perspective on service.

Business model design: conceptualizing networked value co‐creation

PurposeA common thread in the modern marketing theories, such as service‐dominant logic and viable systems approach, is the notion value co‐creation: thelocusof value creation is no longer perceived to reside within firm boundaries but value is considered to be co‐created among various actors within the networked market. The evolution of value creation, from value creation by the manufacturing firm to value co‐creation in a network, necessitates a corresponding change in the concepts used to depict value creation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate business models as a broader conceptualization of value co‐creation that captures this change.Design/methodology/approachThe topic is approached by a combination of literature review and interactive research, including interactions with managers from 12 international companies.FindingsBusiness models are defined as configurations of 12 interrelated elements, covering market, offering, operational, and management viewpoints. The effectiveness of a business model in value co‐creation is defined by the internal configurational fit between all business model elements and the external configurational fit between provider's and customers' business models.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper contributes to the understanding on value co‐creation by providing a conceptualization of the business model construct depicting value co‐creation in a network. Of the 12 companies providing the empirical data, ten are within business‐to‐business which limits the applicability to business in general. Further, the paper indicates that within a single firm multiple parallel business models are in use.Practical implicationsA firm can radically improve value co‐creation by designing business models that have a high degree of internal and external configurational fit.Originality/valueThe originality and value of this paper lies in its analysis and discussion of co‐creation of value within a business model.

The Contribute of Viable System Approach in Directing and Managing Inter-Firm Relationships

Today complex service systems represent an emerging model for business experiences and competition, strengthening inter-firms relationships for competitive advantage and long run survival. Studying several foundations of new dominant logics in international literature, it will be interesting to deepen inter-firm relationships in networked context following a theoretical comparison of system framework foundations, analyzing main significant features of Viable System Approach (VSA). System thinking comes from the shift in attention from the part to the whole, implying a perception of reality as an integrated and interacting unicuum of phenomena, where the individual properties of the single parts become indistinct, while the relationships between the parts themselves and the events they produce through their interaction, become more important, seeing that “system elements are rationally connected”. The work then leads to identify the specific contributes of VSA to inter-firms system relationships directing and managing; this paper aims to enforce interpretations about Business Systems and their interactions inside networked context and environmental relationships. They will be highlighted emerging interpretations of inter-firm co-operations following nowadays foundations of System Thinking, Network Theories and Service Logics, considering new related reflections about service value networks and service systems and verifying possible useful contributes deriving from VSA.

Organisational problem solving: A viable systems approach

Organisational problem solving: A viable systems approach