BEYOND THE FADS - SYSTEMS THINKING FOR MANAGERS

This paper makes a comparison between research work going on in manage ment science, particularly that taking a systems approach, and the res earch which underlies what is being offered to managers on the market in the form of the so-called management 'fads'-concentrating here on g uru theory, total quality management, business process re-engineering and the learning organization. This comparison proves favourable to th e systems approach which, with its carefully crafted foundations, seem s to offer much more to managers than the fads. Broadening the debate beyond management, a final section discusses the relationship between systems thinking and postmodernism-the latter usually associated with a pessimism about adopting any systemic or systematic approach.