Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Stafford Beer
Antonius Victor
• P022191019
The model was developed by operations
research theorist and cybernetician
Stafford Beer in his book Brain of the
Firm (1972)
Stafford Beer was Head of the
Department of Operational Research
History
The Metasystem
The job of the metasystem is to provide a service
to the Operational units
.
HOW IT WORKS
System one – the producing
units
System two – coordinates the
producing units
System three – middle
management, defines a
“resource bargain” with the
system ones
System four – does long-range
planning, designs the next
product or service
System five – controls the rate of
innovation, defines the
organization’s value
Quick Guide to VSM
Preliminary Diagnosis
Look at your own organization and
Designing Autonomy examine the units which compose it
Create the right conditions for all the Operational units
to function with as much autonomy as possible.
Information Systems
Create up-to-date information systems.
01 02 03 04
Balancing the Internal
Preliminary Diagnosis Designing Autonomy Information Systems
Environment
List the bits that do things, the co- The perfect information system
1. Maximize autonomy so that the
ordination functions, the accounting would measure everything it needs
vast majority of problems are
and scheduling functions and so on It is essential to create the right to know continuously,
dealt with within the Operational
conditions for all the Operational
units.
Identify the Operational parts, the units to function with as much These measure whatever is seen
2. Examine the exchange of goods
parts which deal with stability and autonomy as possible. as important within each
and services between the
optimization of the Operational Operational units at the end of the
Operational units, and see if
units, the parts which make long 1. Individual Mission Statements. day
improvements may be made.
term plans in the light of 2. Budgets for the resources they
3. Examine the bits of the external
Environmental information, the need to carry out this Mission. The figures are then plotted onto a
environment peculiar to each
Policy Systems. 3. An agreement that they can deci time series so that the trends may
Operational unit and see if
de on their own internal develop be assessed.
changes can be made (perhaps
At the end of this process, you will ment as long as they are workin
they all use the same suppliers
have a large picture which gives a g to the agreed Mission The essence of the VSM approach
and thus benefit from joint
representation of your organisation to information is that you only need
buying).
in its totality. to know if something changes.
Quick Guide to VSM
05 06
Balance with the Environment Policy Systems
Capability
"This is what we could be doing (still
right now) with existing resources, under
existing constraints, if we really worked
02 04
at it.".
03 Ratios
Potentiality Productivity: is the ratio of
actuality and capability;
"This is what we ought to be doing by
Actuality Latency: is the ratio of capability
developing our resources and removing
and potentiality;
"What we are managing to do
now, with existing resources, 01 constraints, although still operating within the
bounds of what is already known to be
Performance: is the ratio of
actuality and potentiality
under existing constraints." feasible."
Measuring performance (2)
VSM Output
VSM diagnosis revealed core shortcomings,
insufficient autonomy of the local mill
such as:
management.
scalable
Criticisms & Possible Limitations
Organizational performance
Change and adaptation
Knowledge management
Complexity management
Resilience,
Corporate governance,
Sustainability
The VSM Applied
• A Case Study Evaluation of the Use of the Viable
System Model in Information Systems Development
(P. Kawalek, 1999)
• S. Beer’s Viable System Model Application in
Furniture Industry-A Case Study (Mikela, 2012)
• The Viable Systems Model Applied to a National
System of Innovation to Inform Policy Development
(Sean Devine, 2005)
• Using Viable System Model To Analyse Indonesia’s
Anti-Corruption Strategy (Nugroho, 2017)
The VSM applied to the Chilean economy
REFERENCES
Beer, S. (1972), Brain of the Firm, Allene Lane, London.
Michael C. Jackson, (2018) Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity
P. Kawalek , (1999). A Case Study Evaluation of the Use of the Viable System Model in Information Systems
Development
Sean Devine, (2005) A Case Study The Viable Systems Model Applied to a National System of Innovation to
Inform Policy Development
Nugroho, (2017) Using Viable System Model To Analyse Indonesia’s Anti-Corruption Strategy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viable_system_model
https://www.esrad.org.uk/resources/vsmg_3/screen.php?page=home