Ulrich's Home Page: Readings

Recommended readings Would you like to know more about critical systems heuristics (CSH) and its philosophical underpinnings, or about my related research programs on "critical systems thinking for professionals & citizens" and on "critical pragmatism"? Here you find a list of recommended readings, both for a first introduction and for further study.

Some of the recommended readings may be available for download on this web site (see the page "Downloads") or on other web sites; links to these can be found in the complete list of my publications (see the page "Publications"). Of other readings, reprints may be available, see the page "Hard Copies."

^{I
wish you a good reading experience.} Werner Ulrich

Complete List of Publications

(a) Introductory Readings

Critical systems heuristics. In H.G. Daellenbach and R.L. Flood (eds.), The Informed Student Guide to Management Science, London: Thomson, 2002, pp. 72-73. [ISBN 1-86152-542-7]

Boundary critique. In H.G. Daellenbach and R.L. Flood (eds.), The Informed Student Guide to Management Science, London: Thomson, 2002, pp. 41-42. [ISBN 1-86152-542-7]

Critical heuristics of social systems design. European Journal of Operational Research, 31, No. 3, 1987, pp. 276-283] [ISSN 0377-2217]

Systems Thinking as if People Mattered: Critical Systems Thinking for Citizens and Managers. Working Paper No. 23, Lincoln School of Management, University of Lincolnshire & Humberside, June 1998, 19 pp. [ISBN 1-86050-146-X]

Can we secure future-responsive management through systems thinking and design? Interfaces, 24, No. 4, 1994, Special Section in Celebration of C.W. Churchman's 80 years, ed. by E. Koenigsberg and J.P. van Gigch, pp. 26-37. [ISSN 0092-2102] Rev. version, 20 March 2009. [HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/frm.html
[PDF] http://www.oocities.org/csh_home/downloads/ulrich_1994.pdf

A Primer to Critical Systems Heuristics for Action Researchers. Centre for Systems Studies, University of Hull, Hull, UK, 31 March 1996, 58pp. [ISBN 0-85958-872-6]

A brief introduction to "Critical Systems Thinking for Professionals & Citizens." Werner Ulrich's home page, 21 April 2003.
[HTML] http://www.oocities.org/csh_home/cst_brief.html
[PDF] http://www.oocities.org/csh_home/downloads/ulrich_2003b.pdf

A brief introduction to critical systems heuristics (CSH). ECOSENSUS project web site, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK, 14 October 2005.
[PDF] http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/ecosensus/publications/ulrich_csh_intro.pdf (also accessible via http://kmi.open.ac.uk/projects/ecosensus/about/csh.html )
[PDF] http://oocities.com/csh_home/downloads/ulrich_2005f.pdf

The art of boundary crossing. Ulrich's Bimonthly (formerly Picture of the Month), May 2006.
[HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/picture_may2006.html

A plea for critical pragmatism. (Reflections on critical pragmatism, Part 1). Ulrich's Bimonthly, September-October 2006.
[HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/bimonthly_september2006.html

Philosophy for professionals: towards critical pragmatism. Viewpoint, Journal of the Operational Research Society, 58, No. 8 (August), 2007, pp. 1109-1113. [ISSN 0160-5682] [HTML] http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jors/journal/v58/n8/ (restricted access)

The greening of pragmatism. Three reflections on the past, present, and future of critical pragmatism. Part (i): The emergence of critical pragmatism. Part (ii): Current issues in developing critical pragmatism – a methodological trilemma. Part (iii): The way ahead. Ulrich's Bimonthly, March-April, May-June, and September-October 2007. [HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/bimonthly_march2007.html
[HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/bimonthly_may2007.html
[HTML] http://oocities.com/csh_home/bimonthly_september2007.html

(b) Basic Book

Critical Heuristics of Social Planning: A New Approach to Practical Philosophy. Second, unchanged paperback reprint edition, New York and London: John Wiley & Sons, 1994 [ISBN 0-471-95345-8 (still in print)]. Original edition Bern, Switzerland, and Stuttgart, Germany: Paul Haupt, 1983. 504 pp. [ISBN 3-258-03219-X (out of print)]

(c) Readings for Further Study

Systems thinking, systems practice, and practical philosophy: a program of research. Systems Practice, 1, No. 2, 1988, pp. 137-163. [ISSN 0894-9859]

Some difficulties of ecological thinking, considered from a critical systems perspective: a plea for critical holism. Systems Practice, 6, No. 6, 1993, pp. 583-611. [ISSN 0894-9859]

Reflective practice in the civil society: the contribution of critically systemic thinking. Reflective Practice, 1, No. 2, 2000, pp. 247-268. [ISSN 1462-3943 print, ISSN 1470-1103 online]

The quest for competence in systemic research and practice. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 18, No. 1, 2001, pp. 3-28. [ISSN 1092-7026 print, ISSN 1099-1743 online]

A philosophical staircase for information systems definition, design, and development: a discursive approach to reflective practice in ISD (Part 1). JITTA, Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 3, No. 3, 2001 (Special issue: the role of dialogue in information systems development, ed. by M. Metcalfe), pp. 55-84, http://jitta.org/ (30 November 2001). [ISSN 1532-4516]

Critically systemic discourse: a discursive approach to reflective practice in ISD (Part 2). JITTA, Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 3, No. 3, 2001 (Special issue: the role of dialogue in information systems development, ed. by M. Metcalfe), pp. 85-106, http://jitta.org/ (30 November 2001). [ISSN 1532-4516]

Beyond methodology choice: critical systems thinking as critically systemic discourse. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 54, No. 4 (April), 2003, pp. 325-342. Abstract, HTML full text and PDF file available on-line at
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jors/journal/v54/n4/. [ISSN 0160-5682]

Critically Systemic Discourse, Emancipation, and the Public Sphere. Faculty of Business and Management Working Papers, No. 42, University of Lincolnshire & Humberside, Hull and Lincoln, UK, October 2000, 48 pp. [ISSN 1465-2838]

Obituary: C. West Churchman, 1913-2004. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 55, No. 11 (Nov.), 2004, pp. 1123-1129. [ISSN 0160-5682]
[HTML] http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jors/journal/v55/n11/ (restricted access)

Rethinking critically reflective research practice: beyond Popper's critical rationalism. Journal of Research Practice, 2, No. 2 (October), 2006, article P1. [ISSN 1712 851X].
[HTML] http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/64/63.

Critical pragmatism: a new approach to professional and business ethics. In L. Zsolnai (ed.), Interdisciplinary Yearbook of Business Ethics, Vol. I, Oxford, UK, and Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang Academic Publishers, 2006, pp. 53-85. [ISSN 1661-5999]

(d) Additional Readings in German Language

Systemrationalität und praktische Vernunft – Gedanken zum Stand des Systemansatzes. Introduction to C. West Churchman: Der Systemansatz und seine „Feinde," transl. by W. Ulrich. Bern, Switzerland, and Stuttgart, Germany: Paul Haupt, 1981, pp. 7-37. [ISBN 3-258-02991-1]

Management oder die Kunst, Entscheidungen zu treffen, die andere betreffen. Zum Begründungsproblem der Managementlehre als angewandter Wissenschaft. Die Unternehmung, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für betriebswirtschaftliche Forschung und Praxis, 38, No. 4, 1984, pp. 326-346. [ISSN 0042-059X]

Systemtheorie der Planung. In N. Szyperski (ed.), Handwörterbuch der Planung, Stuttgart: Poeschel, 1989, columns 1971-1978. [ISBN 3-7910-8020-2]

Aufgabensteuerung in der öffentlichen Verwaltung. Überlegungen zur Umsetzung des Verfassungsauftrags der Überprüfung der Staatsaufgaben im Kanton Bern. VOP, Fachzeitschrift für öffentliche Verwaltung, 17, No. 3, 1995, pp. 148-156.

(e) Additional Readings in Spanish Language

Diseño de sistemas para resolución de problemas. Teoría General de Sistemas al Día, No. 7. Buenos Aires, Argentina: Associación Argentina de Teoría General de Sistemas y Cibernética, 1990, 12 pp. [Spanish translation of “The design of problem-solving systems,” orig. in Management Science, 23, No. 10, 1977, pp. 1099-1108.]

Una crítica al pensamiento cibernético: la experiencia chilena (proyecto CYBERSYN). Traducido y comentado por Gustavo González; Ernesto Lleras; Mauricio Wiesner. Memos de Investigación, No. 36. Bogotá, Colombia: Universidad de los Andes, Centro de Estudios e Investigaciones de la Facultad de Ingenería (CIFI), March 1989, 30 pp. [Spanish translation of “A critique of pure cybernetic reason: The Chilean experience with cybernetics,” Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, 8, 1981, pp. 33-59.]

Last updated 27 Mar 2009 (first published 6 Feb 2003)
Layout last modified 18 April 2009

Home

Top / Menu

Site Map