Abstract
The focus of the discussion in this chapter is the concept of hard systems thinking and the nature and applicability of some of those methodologies which it generates. Hard systems thinking is one of two paradigms which Checkland (1983) argues are possible within the systems movement. The other, soft systems thinking, will be referred to here briefly in order to highlight the distinctions between them. The purpose of the discussion is twofold: first, to establish OR as a methodology grounded in hard systems thinking and to identify some other such methodologies and, second, to establish the limitations on the effective use of such methodologies, which arise from the fundamental assumptions of hard systems thinking. The starting point for this analysis is to consider what hard systems thinking involves.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Keys, P. (1991). Operational Research and Systems Thinking. In: Operational Research and Systems. Contemporary Systems Thinking. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0667-0_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0667-0_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0669-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-0667-0
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