Target setting, lean systems and viable systems: a systems perspective on control and performance measurement

The paper starts with a critique of the reductionist approach to control and performance measurement that emphasizes the parts of a system in isolation. The critique provides the basis for a shift in focus to a systems perspective that emphasizes the interactions between the parts of a system. It is argued that this shift is important because the behaviour of a system is a product of the interactions of the parts not the behaviour of the parts in isolation. Two systems approaches to control and performance management are compared and critiqued: Beer's viable system model and Seddon's lean systems. The paper concludes with the advancement of a model for control and performance measurement that not only integrates the work of Beer and Seddon but also compensates for the weaknesses in these approaches through the inclusion of a process of boundary critique.