Title: The whole system is broke and in desperate need of fixing: Notes on the Second Industrial Revolution

Authors: Ian I. Mitroff, Susan Mohrman

Addresses: Harold Quinton Distinguished Professor of Business Policy Research Scientist, Center for Effective Organizations Graduate School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. ' Harold Quinton Distinguished Professor of Business Policy Research Scientist, Center for Effective Organizations Graduate School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA

Abstract: Today there is virtually no problem, from technological to economic, whose various aspects can be considered in isolation one from another. The world in which we live is a complex highly-interconnected system, yet most people are still trying to solve problems with the mentality and tools appropriate only for a simpler, mechanistic, view of the world. The result is occasional catastrophic failure. The authors describe the challenge to managers of adapting a holistic or systems view.

Keywords: holistic view; systems approach; systems failures; second industrial revolution; Ohio Savings and Loans; Bhopal; chemical explosions; Union Carbide; globalisation; internationalisation; catastrophic failure; interconnectedness; unexpected events.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.1986.026098

International Journal of Technology Management, 1986 Vol.1 No.1/2, pp.65 - 75

Published online: 27 May 2009 *

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