Institute for Advanced Study in
the Integrative Sciences (IASIS)

 










GOALS

  • Illumination of Complexity. To develop products that provide (a) a clear understanding of the nature of complexity, and (b) descriptions of the science and processes required to make complexity manageable in organizations

  • Reform of Higher Education. To study higher education, and show how to apply the results of the study to design the university for the 21st century

  • Creation of Practitioner Networks. To create a worldwide network of practitioners who apply the products, and assist in the refinement of the science and processes



PRODUCTS

  • Published Book. SOCIETAL SYSTEMS: PLANNING, POLICY, AND COMPLEXITY, 1989 (reprint of 1976 edition)

  • Published Book.A SCIENCE OF GENERIC DESIGN: MANAGING COMPLEXITY THROUGH SYSTEMS DESIGN, 2nd Ed., 1994.

  • Published Book.(with A. R. Cárdenas), A HANDBOOK OF INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT, 1994.

  • Book Manuscript. THE WORK PROGRAM OF COMPLEXITY: FROM ORIGINS TO OUTCOMES.

  • Proposal and Plan.THE WANDWAVER SOLUTION: Creating the Great University, 1996.

  • IASIS Inventory, 1996.A document listing 623 computer files, containing a variety of supporting material for the foregoing product descriptions. The Inventory lists 37 Reports available for distribution, 16 papers published in the last few years, 11 Annotated Bibliographies extending through a prolonged period of research, 14 Presentation Packets with multiple transparencies, and 4 Indexes. This Inventory will be updated periodically to reflect new results.

  • IASIS Abstracts, 1996. A document containing abstracts of Reports and Presentation Packets, and a description of Short Courses that support the other IASIS products.

  • Outside Funds. Approximately $1.3 million brought to GMU over a 12-year period from about 30 sponsors, principals being Ford Motor Company and the Defense Systems Management College.

  • Informal Common-Interest Network.Membership includes 5 from Africa, 3 from Asia,3 from Canada, 4 from Europe, 6 or more from Mexico, 2 from South America, and 5 from the USA (details on request). Interactive Management is supported by an Interactive Management List Server managed from The Ohio State University, College of Education.

  • IASIS Products Catalog.The IASIS Catalog lists 3 books, 29 Reports, 11 Presentation Packages, 39 Reprints, and one Software Package which are available for purchase by scholars as of 1996.



CURRENT(1996) STUDENT PROJECTS

  • Methods of Inquiry. Mr. Michael Litzelman and Mr. Duan Qu, both Ph. D. students in TIPP, are being supported to convert methods of inquiry set forth by various philosophers into graphical format to facilitate easy comparisons. (See, for example, The Design of Inquiring Systems,
    by C. W. Churchman.) The intent is to make it much easier to synthesize a new inquiry system that incorporates those components that have been proved in practice, and to disenfranchise those that have been discredited (but are still in use). The ultimate purpose is to enhance processes of inquiry in academia, such as doctoral studies in public policy.

  • The Corporate Observatorium: Reading and Interpreting Problematiques. Professor "Tony" Perino of the Defense Systems Management College, a Ph. D. student at TIPP, is studying means of portraying corporations through the "Corporate Observatorium" (a variation on a theme by H. D. Lasswell), which can benefit significantly by improved methods of reading structural graphics, such as the problematique.



ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE PROJECTS

These projects arise out of queries from other organizations about the material contained in the IASIS products.

  • Applications of Interactive Management to Resolving Complexity.IASIS works with a variety of organizations, to help incorporate in those organizations high-quality processes for designing systems that resolve current complexities which they face. The insights gained from these efforts provide data that help improve the IASIS products. Included organizations are the Ford Motor Company (in the US and in the UK); NASA; the U. S. Department of Defense; the Science and Technology Policy Research Institute in Ghana; the College of Education in The Ohio State University; the University of Cape Town; the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (including the branches in Leon, Chihuahua, and Mexico City); the Center for Social and Organizational Learning at the George Washington University; portions of the University of Humberside, Lincoln University and the City University in the United Kingdom; The Association for Integrative Studies; the International Society for Design and Process Science; and the long-active Asociacion Argentina de Teoria General de Sistemas y Cibernetica, whose founding member, Charles François, expects to publish in 1997, his long awaited Encyclopedia of General Systems and Cybernetics, a ground-breaking endeavor.

  • The Great University.A summary document, reflecting 16 years of intermittent research on "the Great University" has been prepared. It describes a plan for reorganizing and innovating in higher education to make it responsive to the demands of complexity. Attempts are being made to induce universities to consider the "Wandwaver Solution" as a basis for preparing higher education for the needs of the 21st century.

  • Six-Volume Anthology on Education.A recent informal publication: Education Papers by Warfield
    , in 6 volumes, collects the results of research directed by Warfield on educational change at all levels, carried out over the period 1972-1996.

  • Short Courses.A recent publication, IASIS Short Courses Available to Sponsors, describes 8 short courses (3-day minimum, 5-day typical) which offer opportunities to sponsors who wish to resolve complex issues in their organizations, and who wish to join previous sponsors in effecting transfer of the Interactive Management system to their organizations.



CONTACT INFORMATION



Return to IASIS Main Page