Diagnosing and Redesigning a Health(y) Organisation: An Action Research Study

Diagnosing and Redesigning a Health(y) Organisation: An Action Research Study

Christoph Rosenkranz (Goethe University, Germany), Marcus Laumann (Arvato Distribution GmbH, Germany) and Roland Holten (Goethe University, Germany)
Copyright: © 2009 |Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/jitsa.2009010103

Abstract

The problem of linking and coordinating different subunits of an organisation is a central part of management. One prerequisite is to design the communication within the organisation in an effective way. Based on an action research study carried out at a site of a logistics service company, this paper sketches how organisations can be analysed and redesigned by using cybernetic thinking, and shows how organisational problems have been identified and solved for this company. By applying the concept of variety as a measure for complexity, the usefulness of the concept for the analysis of organisations and information systems is explored. We combine the Viable System Model with a conceptual modelling approach from Information Systems Research and show how the analysis and design of information and communication channels has successfully been carried out. Building on Language Critique, we propose theoretical implications of this approach.

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