Some aspects of the usefulness of living systems theory in a municipal organization

This article is mainly based on articles in international professional jour nals forming the author's dissertation paper entitled 'Informatics and Syst ems Science Applications for Analysis and Structural Improvement of a Munic ipal Organization'. The article may be seen as an attempt to relate certain concepts of LST (living systems theory) to the activities of a municipal o rganization mainly represented by the capital of Sweden. This article deals partly with concepts of indicators of fulfilment of an activity's desired outcome according to its main purpose and the difference between these conc epts with consideration of a municipal organization. However, a most import ant part of the article is devoted to giving an example of the implementati on of the critical subsystems in a restructuring and planning process where zero-base budgeting together with breakthrough thinking have vital roles t o play Thus, through a coupling of the principles of the critical subsystem s to the principles of zero-base budgeting and using breakthrough thinking it could be possible to achieve an effective investigation of a municipal o rganization and its problems. The article also deals with certain paradigmi c influences in society which also can influence a municipality. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.