Systems Thinking for Management Consultants

This book discusses how systems thinking and approaches can aid management consultants in navigating the complexities of client advisory in current realities. It thereby brings to the forefront aspects of holism, flexibility and responsibility - the keys to success in today's world. Management consultants are called in to offer an independent expert view of an organisation/ a situation and are expected to address some of the most pressing problems businesses face. The client does not exist in a silo, but in a complex environment that lies at the intersection of a range of internal and external factors that are often unseen and unpredictable. The organisation itself presents an alien territory that the consultant is expected to acclimatise to within a very short period of time, and come up with solutions that insiders would not have been able to visualise. The book presents a range of ideas, concepts and reference cases that are relevant and topical for consultantsin their daily work. It argues that systems thinking allows holism and flexibility in management consulting while holism is about the ability to encompass the environmental and organisational complexity, flexibility is about the ability to think creatively and adopt different approaches to accommodate this complexity.

With commentaries, case studies, conceptual models and perspectives that cut across multiple industries, sectors and countries, this book is a valuable resource for academics and professionals alike. The book's inner pages and its page on Springer.com contain additional comments providing perspectives of clients, industry experts and academia.

Carries a Foreword by Professor Michael C. Jackson OBE Presents a unique perspective on systems thinking, arguing that systems thinking is at the intersection of holism and flexibility Offers insights that provide the basis for a new systems thinking framework for consultants Draws on the author's extensive consulting experience and lessons learned from experimentation with systems thinking in various sectors, industries, and countries

Auteur

Rajneesh Chowdhury is a management researcher and consultant with focus on organisational development, social impact and corporate reputation. He applies systems thinking in human centred design and change management. He has advised and worked with some of the foremost organisations in India, Canada, USA, UK and Japan. Rajneesh has published widely in several peer-reviewed journals and books; his work brings to the surface the power of critical systems thinking in practice.

Rajneesh currently serves as member of the Editorial Board of Systems Research and Behavioral Science, the official journal of the International Federation for Systems Research. He is also Visiting Fellow at the Faculty of Business & Law at the Open University (UK). In the past, he has been part of several international research and teaching groups.

Rajneesh has completed his MSc in Management Systems from the Centre for Systems Studies (University of Hull, UK) and MA in Sociology from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems (Jawaharlal Nehru University, India).

Contenu

Part 1: SYSTEMS THINKING FOR MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS.- Chapter 1. What is Systems Thinking.- Chapter 2. Critical Systems Thinking for Holism and Flexibility.- Chapter 3. On-ground relevance.- Part 2: FRAMEWORKS FOR CONSULTANTS.- Chapter 4. Microinsurance and Community Engagement.- Chapter 5. Access and Empowerment through electronic Public Health.- Chapter 6. Conceptual framework for technology implementation.- Part 3: Cases to Ponder.- Chapter 7. Healthcare Knowledge Management.- Chapter 8. Project Failure.- Chapter 9. Organizational Collaboration.- Chapter 10. Bracing for the future.