A system theoretic approach to the management of complex organizations: Management by exception, priority, and input span in a class of fixed‐structure models

This paper makes two main points: (1) ensembles can be used in certain circumstances to represent the perspective of a manager facing a complex organization, and (2) some management strategies can be formalized as equivalence relations over control system unit functions. The preceding assertions are developed in the context of approximating coarse‐grained models, namely binary switching nets which are taken to mimic in some degree organizations whose control system structures are fixed but unknown in their details. Using both empirical evidence and combinatorial results, we illustrate some of the possibilities of this modeling approach in formalizing the notions of management by exception, management by priority and management by input span. Copyright © 1979 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Duke Scholars

Author Alan E. Gelfand Statistical Science