Cybernetics and business processes: using the viable system model to develop an enterprise process architecture

This paper argues that the tenets of business process redesign (BPR) are largely consistent with cybernetic principles. Although proponents of BPR often advocate the ideas of systems thinking, whether explicitly or implicitly, they tend to do so in the absence of a formalized systems theoretical framework. The viable system model (VSM) developed by Stafford Beer is a rigorous application of cybernetics to the issues of management and organizational design. The VSM is proposed here as a guide to the organization of business processes according to cybernetic principles. The use of the VSM as a diagnostic aid for investigating viability is illustrated through a case study of a pharmaceutical company. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Cornwallis Emmanuel Ltd.