University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

Environment Energy company
Management
Figure 1: Energy company and the three strategies for complexity reduction. Source:
Achterbergh & Vriens, 2009 (adapted from Beer 1995).
This is a energy company modelled as a viable system containing a set of viable
systems. It is organized in the (order)streams wind, solar and tidal energy. Each of
these streams is a viable system with its own primary activity activity, , its own management,
its own relevant environment, it its s own attenuators and amplifiers, and its own
input/output relations.
The oval shapes repre represent the primary activities, providing respectively wind, solar,
and tidal energy. The he small boxes on the right side of the oval shapes rep represent the
management of these primary activities. EEach
of the management boxes has its own
attenuators and nd amplifiers (curved single tipped arrows). Each ach of these viable
systems has its own relevant envi environment ronment (the shapes on the left side as part of the
total environment). TThe
he curved arrows represent attenuators and amplifiers, and the
double tipped arrows represent input/output relations between each viable system and
its environment.
Organizations depend on and contribute to a larger environment. Using the viable
system model this larger environment can be modelled as sets of viable systems to
which the organization zation contributes, such as an organizational network, the economy
or the society it is part of (Achterbergh & Vriens 2009). On the basis of the VSM it
can be analyzed zed how the viability of the organization and its contribution to these
systems (networks, society) to which it be belongs longs can be improved by changes in the
organizational design (strategy of upward recursion).
For example, in order to avoid unwanted side side-effects effects of organizational performance
on both society and the ecological environment, societal subsystems can develop
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on both society and the ecological environment, societal subsystems can develop - in
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The performance of an organization can be defined as ‘the set of input/output relations of of an organization to
other societal subsystems, ems, based on its primary activities’ (Teubner, 1985:163). Through their performance
organizations contribute to the realization of the function of a societal subsystem. For example, by way of its
output a company can contribute to the function of the econ economic omic subsystem: ensuring the satisfaction of
future social needs.
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