Title: Systems theory as a foundation for governance of complex systems

Authors: Kaitlynn Whitney; Joseph M. Bradley; Dale E. Baugh; Charles W. Chesterman Jr.

Addresses: Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA ' Leading Change, LLC, 1133 Belmeade Dr., Virginia Beach, VA 23455 Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA ' Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, 116 Commodore Lane, Smithfield VA 23430 Norfolk, Virginia, USA ' Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, Old Dominion University, 201 Sinclair Street, Norfolk, VA 23505 Norfolk, Virginia, USA

Abstract: The broad set of propositions identified in systems literature (circa 1900-2000s) provides an adequate, largely comprehensive subset of the complete set of all systems theory propositions. Discoverers' induction can then be applied to integrate common ideas among propositions in order to produce a set of generalised laws (axioms). A proposal for a systems theory construct resting on an axiomatic set supported by unified systems theory propositions was presented by Adams et al. (2014). This paper refines the work of Adams et al. using discoverer's induction and further describes the axioms provided and their role in complex systems.

Keywords: systems of systems; complex systems; systems theory; system governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSSE.2015.068805

International Journal of System of Systems Engineering, 2015 Vol.6 No.1/2, pp.15 - 32

Received: 22 Oct 2014
Accepted: 27 Oct 2014
Published online: 13 Apr 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article