ABSTRACT
Systems theory is a way to view the world, and has influenced scientific, engineering, management, and other fields of inquiry. Systems theory is used in this book as the paradigm for explaining how enterprise systems work, and prescribing designs for how they should work. Ackoff [1] quotes Albert Einstein, “ Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current patterns of thought.” This chapter is an attempt to change the reader’s pattern of thought. In this chapter, we explain in greater depth what it means to say an enterprise is a system. The chapter presents the principles of systems theory and how they apply to enterprise systems. Then we contrast traditional reductionist thinking with systems thinking. This chapter describes systems dynamics, which provides tools to help apply the systems thinking principles. Using a systems approach we intend to influence how we understand the enterprise, and how to improve the way we do analysis and design of enterprise systems.
