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An Organizational Cybernetics Framework for Designing a Viable Higher Education System

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Abstract

The Viable System Model (VSM) is an Organizational Cybernetics framework mainly used to handle systems complexity. The fundamental role of the VSM is to steer the mechanisms of a complex system to achieve its purposes and maintain its viability. The purpose of this study is to use the VSM to attempt to develop a framework for a viable higher education system. The developed framework is based on the principles of Beer’s Organizational Cybernetics and then augmented with the phases of applying the VSM described by José Pérez Ríos. The proposed framework not only presents a thorough explanation of the principles of a viable higher education system but also gives the basis for a thorough redesign that can be used to help the top universities’ management to diagnose and maintain the viability of their systems.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to express our sincere gratitude to prof. José Pérez Ríos for his honorable guidance throughout the research. This study would have never been conducted without his professional assistance. There is no end to our acknowledgment for his help. Also, we wish to acknowledge the supportive cooperation and significant help of Prof. Bernard Scott by answering our questions on the Research Gate. Special thanks go to the reviewers, especially prof. John Walker, for their valuable comments and guidance.

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  1. Department of Socio-Computing, Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Sahar Saeed Rezk

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  1. Sahar Saeed Rezk
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  2. Shahinaz Gamal
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Correspondence to Sahar Saeed Rezk.

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Rezk, S.S., Gamal, S. An Organizational Cybernetics Framework for Designing a Viable Higher Education System. Syst Pract Action Res 33, 703–724 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-019-09505-9

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