OBJECTIVES (Multiple)
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2328 ▶ |
| Object type | General information, Human sciences |
S.S. SANGUPTA and R.L. ACKOFF consider that: “Perhaps the most important problem in the normative analysis of man-nachine systems is the one presented by the multiplicity of objectives” (1965, p.44).
As noted by these authors, this is at least a two-sided problem: It depends on optimization criteria at the management level, but also, in not very decentralized systems, of sub-systems decision makers and even, in some cases, on individual participants objectives.
However, according to SANGUPTA and ACKOFF: “… it is not the existence of multiple objectives but the uncoordinated pursuit of these that typically causes conflicts within an organization”. And: “The complexity that arises out of the pursuit of multiple objectives is due to the fact that there are interactions among the goals that are defined either for the system or its subfunctions” (Ibid.).
As stated by T.R. BURNS and L.D. MEEKER: “… multiple objectives cannot be satisfied simultaneously… No one course of action or outcome will maximize the achievement of — or possibly even manage to accomplish — all the objectives” (1976, p.114).
All this suggests that policies should be based on a sound perception by all the members of the organization of the objectives, not only those of the managers, but also those of the other members of the organization. Moreover, a good understanding of the global organization as a system and in systemic terms is a must, as well as at least a minimal consensus.
J.G. MILLER taxonomy of subsystems and translevel hypothesis could be very useful to such a discovery.
See also
Heterarchy and Holography as a metaphor