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The purpose of this paper is to present an example of the application of a framework, based on Beer's organizational cybernetics and viable system model, that allowed the top management of a public university to design and implement university policy and actions related to the physical design of the various university campuses.

Based on organizational cybernetics concepts, an heuristic is used by the top management of a public university for designing the strategy and actions related to urban planning issues.

The paper outlines the process that helped the university's new top management to diagnose the situation at the beginning of its mandate and to design pertinent actions. This process starts by clarifying the university identity, purpose and boundaries and is followed by identifying the required structural levels. For each of them the key factors to be considered and actions to be taken are stated. The use of a Recursion Levels‐Key Factors Matrix helped to maintain a coherent and holistic view of the intervention.

This kind of framework can guide leaders of public and private organizations to apply cybernetic concepts to improve their strategic policies' design and actions.

The application of organizational cybernetics and the viable system model to urban planning‐related activities in universities is highly original. The framework here presented, together with the example of its application, can serve as a guide to leaders of other universities as well as other public or private organizations when coping with the complexity they have to face.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a framework, based on Beer's viable system model (VSM) that enables managers of public and private organizations to cope with the complexities faced by their organizations.

Based on concepts from organizational cybernetics (OC) an heuristic is elaborated for the design or diagnosis of any organization, from the point of view of its viability.

An outline of the process that enables managers to diagnose or design the organization they manage is formalized in a structured sequence which, starting with the clarification of an organization's identity, purpose and boundaries, guides the whole process of structure creation and the detailed diagnosis of all its structural components from the point of view of its viability. A taxonomy of frequent pathologies that affect organizations is also presented.

This kind of framework can guide managers to apply the cybernetic concepts for higher organizational performance, thereby overcoming the oft‐bemoaned difficulties in applying these concepts in practice.

The paper tries to fill the gap between the conceptual deep theoretical works in OC by Stafford Beer and other researchers, and the need of managers for a structured process that can guide their application. The framework presented tries to provide that kind of guide. It integrates different components within a single framework, which covers the creation of the general structure, the diagnosis of each particular organization within it, the evaluation of the degree of coherence between organizational levels, and a taxonomy of organizational pathologies to facilitate such a structuring. Another contribution is the introduction of the VSMod software, created precisely to facilitate the implementation of the VSM.