Decision and Control: The Meaning of Operational Research and Management Cybernetics (Stafford Beer Classic Library)

Intended as a definitive statement about holistic science and problem solving, "Decision and Control" elucidates and illustrates the propositions of Operational Research — "the attack of modern science on complex problems arising in the direction and management of large systems of men, machines, materials and money" by scientific modelling — in the management context. Stafford Beer's advocacy of cybernetics offers the most powerful approach to multidisciplinary model building available, and he lays the foundation for a distinctive approach to the epistemology of science, based on the holistic nature of systems.

stafford Beer Is Undoubtedly Among The World's Most Provocative, Creative, And Profound Thinkers On The Subject Of Management, And He Records His Thinking With A Flair That Is Unmatched. His Writing Is As Much Art As It Is Science. He Is The Most Viable System I Know. Dr Russell L Ackoff, The Institute For Interactive Management, Pennsylvania, Usa.

if Anyone Can Make It [operations Research] Understandably Readable And Positively Interesting It Is Stafford Beer —everyone In Management Should Be Grateful To Him For Using Clear And At Times Elegant English And— Even Elegant Diagrams. The Economist Awarded The 1966 Lanchester Prize By The Operations Research Society Of America For The Best Work Published In 1966 In The Field Of Management Science This Book Has Been Regarded As A 'classic' Ever Since.

in The Literature Of Management There Is Nothing To Be Compared With It? Operational Research Quarterly

this Superb Book Is One Of The Very Best I Have Ever Read On Management Science. Management Science

a Brilliant Book? Which Rose Far Above The Ruck Of Jargon-ridden Ephemera. This Is A Study Profound, Wide Ranging, Witty, Graceful And Self-critical Of The Working Of Managerial Systems? The Sunday Times

the Sheer Scale And Scope Of Beer's Book Would Rate It Management Text Of The Year In Any List The Statist

decision And Control Is A Major Work, Both Elegant And Erudite. The Guardian

beer's Imagination And Enthusiasm Stimulate Those With Whom He Works To Seek And Cause Improvements? The Director

Presents the basic approaches underlying Stafford Beera s thinking since the publication of his first book in 1959. Deals with a philosophy of science relevant to management and particularly with the nature of models. Demonstrates all major points through examples quoted of management science applications to industry and government. In so far as the application of science to the process of management is an innovation, Chapter 1 considers the managerial approach to what is novel.