The Systemic Approach: Concepts, Method and Tools

The advent of the systemic approach heralded a turning point in the history of science and its application to the organization, and to production. The approach, which considers phenomena and problems as systems, only really began to distinguish itself from the classical analytical approach in the mid-twentieth century, but its origins are much older. The systemic approach, as it is currently called, can be considered as a general scientific paradigm, such as the Matter of Life or Society. It offers a generic way to construct and present valid, relevant and rational representations of the most diverse, changing situations. The general system theory, which was conceived by von Bertalanffy (General system theory. Foundations, development, applications. Georges Braziller, New York, 1968), encapsulates these ideas and entails a theoretical and practical method: modelling.