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The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a systems approach can be used to facilitate the development of an organizational performance measurement system.

Based on a review of the literature, the paper introduces the implications for applying a systems approach to organizational performance measurement. To demonstrate the transition from theory to practice, a case study is provided to show how a sustainable development performance measurement system was developed at a Canadian electric utility. The case study involved extensive consultation with over 25 experts.

The paper finds that a systems approach is useful in developing the process and that a set of formal systems criteria is useful in developing the structure and content of a performance measurement system. These concepts are highlighted throughout the case study example.

The case study section was based on findings from a single organization. Further work is required to validate the findings within other organizations.

The paper shows how a robust sustainable development performance measurement system may be developed at an electric utility. The overarching emphasis on integration of the system with the case utility's mainstream initiatives demonstrates that a performance measurement system must build on what the organization already has in place. The systems‐based approach and formal systems criteria used in the paper may be transferable to other organizations.

The paper shows that a systems approach provides both the structure and flexibility needed to guide the design, implementation, and evolution of a sustainable development performance measurement system within existing organizational infrastructure.

Respecting the growing importance of interdependence of knowledge, values and social responsibility, the purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of knowledge-cum-values management and to show how some soft systems approaches can support interdependence of knowledge and human values resulting in socially responsible innovative behavior, hence in success.

The selected soft systems approaches are used to double-check the usefulness of the requisitely holistic approach to knowledge-cum-values management and innovation. The applied methodology for qualitative analysis is the Dialectical Systems Theory.

One-sidedness, unlike the requisite holism, causes oversights and hence disables innovations as a new users’ benefit. Requisitely holistic knowledge-cum-values management prevents one-sidedness and therefore many oversights; hence it is a valuable driver of innovation. It is supported by social responsibility (exposing the systemic behavior by suggesting interdependence and holistic approach to one’s responsibility for one’s influences on society). By including values and by enabling consideration of interdependence of human values and knowledge, some soft systems approaches support innovative behavior with social responsibility.

Research is limited to theoretical findings resulting from authors’ previous empirical studies. The novel concept “knowledge-cum-values” erases the human dangerous one-sidedness resulting from the irrational rationalistic division of the two. Social responsibility supports informal use of some soft systems theories and diminishes this danger.

The practical application of the selected soft systems approaches and social responsibility offers great possibilities for managers to improve the holism of their innovation processes, driven by knowledge-cum-values management. Fewer oversights are possible and lead to fewer mistakes and more success in the invention-innovation-diffusion processes. No human is rational or emotional only, either as a creator or as a consumer, but this fact is disregarded in the management literature.

Social responsibility shall be considered as an important novel soft-system approach and part of organizational innovative behavior aimed to replace the one-sided approaches prevailing so far and causing crises: the overseen attributes do not cease, but they still impact life and are out of control.

The contribution introduces the new, still insufficiently researched concept of knowledge-cum-values management; it highlights new ways of attaining the requisitely holistic knowledge-cum-values management that enhances enterprise’s innovation capacity by requisite holism, supported by social responsibility.

Deployment of knowledge management systems (KMSs) suffers from low adoption in organizational reality that is attributed to a lack of perceivable added value for people in actual work situations. Poor task/technology fit in the process of knowledge retrieval appears to be a major factor influencing this issue. Existing research indicates a lack of re-contextualizing stored information provided by KMSs in a particular situation. Existing research in the area of organizational memory information systems (OMISs) has thoroughly examined and widely discussed the topic of re-contextualization. The purpose of this paper, thus, is to examine how KMS design can benefit from OMIS research on approaches for re-contextualization in knowledge retrieval.

This paper examines OMIS literature and inductively derives a categorization scheme for KMS according to their strategy of re-contextualizing knowledge. The authors have validated the scheme validated in a multiple case study that examines the differentiatory value of the scheme for approaches with various re-contextualization strategies.

The classification scheme allows a step-by-step selection of approaches for re-contextualization of information in KMS design and development derived from OMIS research. The case study has demonstrated the applicability of the developed scheme and shows that the differentiation criteria can be applied unambiguously.

Because of the chosen case study approach for validation, the validation results may lack generalizability.

The scheme enables an informed selection of KMSs appropriate for a particular OMIS use case, as the scheme’s attributes serve as design rationale for a certain architecture or constellation of components. Developers can not only select from various approaches when designing re-contextualizaton but also come up with rationales for each candidate because of structured representation. Hence, stakeholders can be supported in a more informed way and design KMSs more effectively along organizational change processes.

The paper addresses an identified need for systematic characterization of KMS approaches and systems intending to meet the objectives of OMISs. As such, it allows streamlining further research in this field, as approaches can be judged according to their originality and positioned relative to each other.

To propose an evaluation model for the quality implementations in higher education through an analysis of quality systems and program evaluation using a systems approach.

Theoretical background, research and practice of the quality systems in higher education and program evaluation are analysed in conjunction with the concepts of systems approach. The analysis leads to a systems approach‐based program‐evaluation model for quality implementation in higher education.

The three concepts, quality systems in higher education, program evaluation and systems approach, are found to be consistent and compatible with one another with regard to the goals and organizational structure of the higher education institutions. The proposed evaluation model provides a new perspective for higher education management for the effective and efficient implementation of the quality systems and program improvement.

The implementation of the model in a real university setting is necessary for the clarification of the processes.

The study provides a constructive analysis of higher‐education‐related concepts, and a new dimension of quality systems and program evaluation is developed in the model. The approach comprises three subsystems; “social system”, “technical systems”, and “managerial system”. The evaluation of quality in higher education requires inquiry of the components of the systems.

This paper proposes an innovative evaluation model integrating the systems approach into quality tools. The model is claimed to be the first in integrating the three approaches.

This paper aims to use systems mapping as a tool to develop an organisation-wide approach to public mental health to inform strategic direction within a national public health agency.

Two workshops were facilitated with internal staff from a wide range of public health policy teams working in small groups to produce paper-based maps. These were collated and refined by the project team and digitised.

The approach engaged a range of teams in forming a shared understanding and producing a complex system map of the influences on population mental health and well-being, where current policy initiatives were addressing them and what the gaps and priorities were. Participants valued the approach which led to further study and organisational commitment to the whole system working as part of national public mental health strategy.

The approach was limited to internal stakeholders and wider engagement with other sectors and community members would help further the application of complex system approaches to public mental health.

It was a valuable process for developing a whole-organisation approach and stimulating thinking and practice in complex system approaches. The paper provides a practical example of how to apply systems mapping and its benefits for organising public mental health practice.

A mixed two‐level system is considered for parts distribution. Three approaches are studied for the division of the total item set S into subsets S⊂1 and S⊂2. The subset S⊂1 includes items directly served by the company to the end‐users and subset S⊂2 includes items served through dealers. These approaches are dealer item‐based, company item‐based and system‐based. The systems approach is compared with the two item‐based approaches from the dealer′s and company′s point of view. A market sensitivity model is developed in the systems approach, which considers the effect of customer service (primarily average delivery time and number of items in set S⊂2) on the captured market share. Optimisation of total expected profit, based on a system′s approach, leads to higher profit levels and to a larger subset S⊂2 than obtained from the two item‐based approaches.

In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.

To explore the usefulness of the cybernetic approach to support development programs by offering a theoretical framework that helps us to re‐understand development and measuring systems.

The paper presents a summary of Beer's theory for organisational development and measuring systems, shows examples of application in design and implementation of socio‐economic development programs in Colombia, and uses them to explore the usefulness of the approach in this field.

Analysis of the reported examples shows a clear indication of the usefulness of Beer's approach to design and measure development programs. It reveals an important field for applied research that could benefit from further applications of the approach.

The experiences analysed here showed the strength or alliances between government, universities and development agencies, for applied research. It makes clear that more long‐term oriented projects are required to fully implement innovative approaches like the one described.

Applying a cybernetic approach in this field implies changing from top‐down to bottom‐up design; wider involvement of stakeholders to agree on critical measurements; changes from emphasis in technological and managerial improvements, to improvements in learning and self‐control tools for the developing communities.

Even if there has been agreement on the convenience of experimenting with more holistic approaches to socio‐economic development, few researchers show the potential of the cybernetic approach, as this paper does.