Information Science Reference Systems Research for Real-World Challenges (Advances in Information Quality and Management)

About the Author Frank Stowell is Emeritus Professor of Systems and Information Systems at the University of Portsmouth. He has a PhD in Organisational Change and his research centers around methods of participative design. He has supervised a number of research projects from modeling complex decision-making in mental health care, knowledge management, through to methods for client-led information systems development. He has been co-chair of a number of research council funded projects notably the Systems Practice for Managing Complexity project, designed to help managers address complex issues, which has developed into a self sustaining network. His latest publication The Managers Guide to Systems Practice (2012, Wiley Chichester) is a text written expressly with the kind of managers in mind who have attended the workshops over the past decade. The text deals with Systems ideas and models that are discussed as potential methods of addressing the complex issues encountered in the workplace. He is past President of the UK Academy of Information Systems and the UK Systems Society (http://www.ukss.org.uk/). He presently occupies the chair of the Council of Information Systems Professors and has recently joined the Board of the World Organisation of Systems and Cybernetics. He has published papers and texts in the field and presented papers at a number of international conferences in Europe and the United States. Prior to his academic career he was employed by central government as a consultant within the Management Systems Development Group and has experience of defining and developing IT supported management information systems. Product Description In a complex and changing world, current scientific approaches to problem solving have drastically evolved to include complexity models and emerging systems. Breaking problems into the smallest component and examining its position inside a system allows for a more regulated and measured technique in investigation, discovery, and providing solutions. Systems Research for Real-World Challenges is an essential reference source that explores the development of systems philosophy, theory, practice, its models, concepts, and methodologies developed as an aid for improving decision making and problem solving for the benefit of organizations and society as a whole. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as complexity models, management systems, and economic policy, this book is ideally designed for scientists, policy makers, researchers, managers, and systematists seeking current research on the benefits and approaches of problem solving within the realm of systems thinking and practice.