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Systems
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Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems
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Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems

A special issue of Systems (ISSN 2079-8954).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 April 2017) | Viewed by 28111

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. S. Krupanidhi

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Guest Editor
Department of Biotechnology, Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research University, Vadlamudi, Guntur, A P, India, 522213
Interests: Ecosystems; metabolic systems; organisational systems; taxonomic systems; systems biology
Mr. M.G.P.L. Narayana

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Co-Guest Editor
Vice President Chief Scientist, Head, Business Systems and Cybernetics Centre BSCC, Tata Consultancy Services, Plot No 1, Survey No. 64/2, Software Units Layout, Serilingampally Mandal, Madhapur, Hyderabad - 500034,Telangana, India
Interests: Systems engineering; systems science; systems thinking; systems practice; cybernetics; social responsibility; sustainability; ecology; socio-economic systems; qualitative understanding; complex problem solving; management Consulting
Dr. Leonie Solomons

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Co-Guest Editor
Executive Director, Language Matters 7 Vishaka Road, Colombo 4
Interests: Dynamic regulation; filters and thresholds; cybernetics; social responsibility; languages; socio-economic systems
Dr. John J. Kineman

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Guest Editor
Associate Professor, Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder Senior Research Scientist, CIRES, University of Colorado, Boulder Fellow, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Interests: Niche modelling; systems sustainability; whole systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Currently the terms ‘systems’ and ‘sustainability’ are constantly brought to our attention. There are natural systems, man-made systems, and culturally derived systems, all vying for sustainability and some of them are precariously positioned to be of concern to humanity. Thus, a critical need of our times is leadership for sustainability of our complex and dynamic socio-ecological systems wherein we all exist as interconnected systems—i.e., as individuals, as groups and as organisations.

As indicated by Stafford Beer in his book on “Designing Freedom”, systems are dynamic and enduring. Indeed if they were not, they would not be here. Yet our culture pays scant regard to organisations, thinking that they are mere entities. Further, for effective organization of communities, man has, over time, adopted language for communication, business for transactions, music for recreation, governance and politics for smooth functioning, technology for comfort and swiftness, ecopolicy for a sustained green and healthy environment.

Thus, there is an emerging and compelling need to train good leaders oriented to sustain our systems for the long term good of human welfare and its environment.

This Special Issue is dedicated to bring the thought processes concerning the keywords listed below to the limelight and bringing these issues to the attention of those who are involved in fulfilling, refining and streamlining our socio-ecological systems.

We welcome research articles including case-studies, outcomes of experimental science, organisational predictions and simulations from all over the globe. In addition, the authors of the abstracts of submissions to the International Conference on Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems held from 23–25 July, 2016 at Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research University, Vadlamudi, India are solicited to submit their original manuscripts as this Special Issue of Systems is dedicated to this cause.

Prof.S.Krupanidhi
Mr. M.G.P.L. Narayana
Dr. Leonie Solomons
Dr. John J. Kineman
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Systems is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Systems Engineering
  • Systems Science
  • Systems Thinking
  • Systems Practice
  • Systems Education and Competence
  • Cybernetics
  • Social Responsibility
  • Sustainability
  • Ecology
  • Socio-Economic Systems
  • Qualitative Understanding
  • Complex Problem Solving
  • Management Consulting
  • Innovation and Creativity Leadership
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Industry-Academia Relations
  • Systems Sustainability
  • Whole Systems
  • Dynamic Regulation
  • Niche Modelling
  • Metabolic Systems
  • Taxonomic Systems
  • Systems Biology
  • Clinical Systems
  • Organizational Systems
  • Internet of Things
  • Social Network and Green Computing
  • Big data in Sustainability
  • Cloud Computing
  • Habitat Reengineering

Published Papers (3 papers)

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594 KiB  
Article
Examining the Use of Systemic Approach for Adoption of Systems Thinking in Organizations
by Prasad Vemuri and Gene Bellinger
Systems 2017, 5(3), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5030043 - 28 Jun 2017
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 9851
Abstract
The need for systems thinking (ST) in organizations is being increasingly felt, and sustained effort towards nurturing ST in organizations is still rare. Some companies that tried it earlier were not so successful. One of the reasons for this problem is that the [...] Read more.
The need for systems thinking (ST) in organizations is being increasingly felt, and sustained effort towards nurturing ST in organizations is still rare. Some companies that tried it earlier were not so successful. One of the reasons for this problem is that the implementation is done more with a reductionist mindset rather than a systemic mindset. It is no doubt challenging for managers so accustomed to reductionist thinking to cultivate the habits of systems thinking. This paper examines the use of a systemic approach for the successful adoption of systems thinking in organizations. The systemic approach needs a good system model for the systematic guidance of the implementation. The systemic model used in this study is a spirit, mind, and body model (SMB)—a holistic model taken from the spiritual lore which emphasizes the need for the alignment of spirit, mind, and body in order to achieve human excellence. We extended this model for use in an organizational context, and defined the systems of the spirit, systems of the mind, and systems of the body for an organization. Systems of the spirit are related to the leadership system, systems of the mind to the learning and change management systems, and systems of the body to the supporting systems such as tools and technology. We used such a model earlier to explain the suboptimal results in the implementation of capability maturity models (CMM) in software companies in India. In this paper, we used this model to explain the rather unsatisfactory results in the implementation of ST in companies like Ford and the satisfactory results in the implementation of “work out” at GE. “Work out” is a five-step process in which ST is a prominent step. We argued whether “work out” can be a good warm-up step that can prepare the organization for successful ST implementation. The study shows that the SMB framework is helpful in conducting an intelligent discourse about the implementation of ST-like initiatives in companies and has excellent potential for use as a guide for ST implementation in organizations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems)
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1772 KiB  
Article
Identification of Sustainability Key Factors Based on Capturing Dominant Feedbacks of Behavioural Stereotypes in Socio-Economic Systems
by Vladimír Bureš and Fridrich Rácz
Systems 2017, 5(2), 42; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5020042 - 15 Jun 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 9797
Abstract
Sustainability represents a system attribute that is widely investigated in many disciplines. System dynamics is mostly used for modelling specific issues. Not only can this methodology be used for this purpose, it can also be applied for the identification of behavioural stereotypes and [...] Read more.
Sustainability represents a system attribute that is widely investigated in many disciplines. System dynamics is mostly used for modelling specific issues. Not only can this methodology be used for this purpose, it can also be applied for the identification of behavioural stereotypes and consequent designation of variables that shape sustainability of the system. Based on the set of interviews with a sample of socio-economic system representatives, stereotypes are captured and modelled with the help of causal loop diagrams. After several modelling iterations that synchronised the acquired models with the obtained responses, four main key stereotypes were identified-quality, ego, competence, and motivation. Both dominant feedback loops and important multi-input and multi-output variables are used for their description. Thus, the models provide an endogenous explanation of their importance for sustainability and help to identify its key factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems)
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Other

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Concept Paper
A Systems Model to Make, Market, and Lead Your Way towards Sustained Growth
by Raman Kumar Agrawalla
Systems 2017, 5(2), 41; https://doi.org/10.3390/systems5020041 - 01 Jun 2017
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 8027
Abstract
Business enterprises exist in a world that is fiercely competitive, tied with huge global uncertainties. They always encounter increasing pressure on prices and margins. Hence, irrespective of their domain of operations and industry, businesses are naturally concerned about their growth, specifically sustained profitable [...] Read more.
Business enterprises exist in a world that is fiercely competitive, tied with huge global uncertainties. They always encounter increasing pressure on prices and margins. Hence, irrespective of their domain of operations and industry, businesses are naturally concerned about their growth, specifically sustained profitable growth, in today’s world. Marketing is a key business function to market and lead a business towards sustained profitable growth but the problem is it lacks a systems perspective in its operations, strategy, and practice. Further, given the confluence and systemic interactions of various economic, digital, and competitive forces; the challenge for different business functions—including marketing—increases tremendously. In this context, it is important for business enterprises to have a systems perspective to find their ways to growth that will be sustained. This calls for a holistic approach to assimilate and steer the business functions in any enterprise. The present conceptual paper focuses on an important business function for sustained growth in a holistic way and presents a systems model, called ‘Value Based Business Approach (VBBA)-marketing’, which has potential to guide and steer companies and business enterprises to create a path for their sustained profitable growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Leadership for Sustainable Socio-Ecological Systems)
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