Abstract
A complex system’s identity and viability are directly related and affected by its context. It is important to identify, monitor, and manage (or mitigate risk) of system contextual elements. This chapter defines complex system context with respect to Complex System Governance (CSG) and provides a methodology to define relevant contextual elements for the practitioner to use for risk mitigation and governance. Leveraging the systems of systems engineering (SoSE) methodology as described in Keating and Adams, Overview of the systems of systems engineering methodology [2], and Crownover’s complex system contextual framework (CSCF) [6] this article will help the practitioner identify and evaluate relative importance of contextual elements to maintain the viability and identity of a complex system.
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Notes
- 1.
Event and data regarding the Coca-Cola case were extracted from www.History.com (Klein 2020).
- 2.
Principles and description are quoted from Whitney, et al.’s System Theory as a Foundation for Governance of Complex System journal article [12].
- 3.
Perspective overview taken from [2].
- 4.
If the world views of stakeholders are so different that a satisficing statement cannot be written, a type four error has occurred. A type four error is engaging in a problem solution with incompatible or divergent “philosophical” perspectives. These efforts do not often end well unless the opposing philosophical perspectives are addressed satisfactorily.
- 5.
Descriptions in this table are quoted from Adams and Meyers “Perspective 1 of the SoSE methodology: framing the system under study”. [3]
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Schoenberg, M. (2022). Context in Complex Systems Governance. In: Keating, C.B., Katina, P.F., Chesterman Jr., C.W., Pyne, J.C. (eds) Complex System Governance. Topics in Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality, vol 40. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93852-9_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-93852-9_8
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