Abstract
The idea of the world as ‘messy’, and problems as ‘wicked’ and ‘ill-structured’ is a ‘quiet’ recurrent theme in the literature of Management Science, broadly defined, and in some degree the literature of the Social Sciences, It is to be sure a poorly defined idea but one which has of some value in understanding the development of Management Science. It is also an idea which, it will be argued, has profound significance and also presents a major challenge for future intellectual developments in the Management Science arena.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ackoff, R. L., (1979), “The Future of Operational Research is Past”, J. Opl. Res. Soc., 30: 93–104.
Boulding, K. E., (1956), “General Systems Theory - The Skeleton of Science”, Management Science, 2 (3).
Beer, S., (1979), “The Heart of Enterprise”, Wiley, Chichester.
Checkland, P. B., (1981), “Systems Thinking, Systems Practice”, John Wiley, Chichester.
Churchman, C. W., (1967), “Wicked Problems”, Management Science, Vol. 14, No 4, December.
Eden, C., and Huxham, C., (1988), “Action Oriented Strategic Management”, J. Opl. Res. Soc., 39: 889–899.
Mason, R. O., and Mitroff, I. I., (1981), “Challenging Strategic Planning Assumptions”, New York, Wiley.
Rittel, H. W. J., and Webber, M. M., “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning”, Chapter 12 in R. L. Ackoff (Ed), Systems and Management Annual 1974, New York, Petrocelli, pp219–33.
Schumacher, E. F., (1977), “A Guide for the Perplexed”,Jonathan Cape.
Weaver, W., (1948), “Science and Complexity”, American Scientist, 36.
Emery, F. E., (1981), “The Emergence of Ideal-Seeking Systems”, in F. E. Emery Systems Thinking, Vol Two, Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1989 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ledington, P. (1989). On the Concept of Mess. In: Jackson, M.C., Keys, P., Cropper, S.A. (eds) Operational Research and the Social Sciences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0789-1_34
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0789-1_34
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8083-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0789-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive