title: Empathy, connectedness and organisation

authors: Pavlovich, Kathryn

subjects: connectedness

abstract: In this paper, we conceptually explore the role of empathy as a connectedness organising mechanism. We expand ideas underlying positive organisational scholarship and examine leading-edge studies from neuroscience and quantum physics that give support to our claims. The perspective we propose has profound implications regarding how we organise and how we manage. First, we argue that empathy enhances connectedness through the unconscious sharing of neuro-pathways that dissolves the barriers between self and other. This sharing encourages the integration of affective and cognitive consciousness which facilitates the ability to find common ground for solution building. Second, empathy enhances connectedness through altruistic action. In giving to others, feelings of joy and harmony are activated. This in turn allows personal freedom to be enriched and transcendence from the rational ego-self is reduced to develop a more expansive, integrated and enlightened state underlying connectedness. Finally, empathy enhances connectedness which results in sharing the quantum field of coherence where there is little separation between self and other. This means living beyond self-interest in a coherent world based upon interdependent wholeness rather than atomization and separation. Empathy allows us to find that state of coherent connectedness.

text: Empathy, connectedness and organisation In this paper, we conceptually explore the role of empathy as a connectedness organising mechanism. We expand ideas underlying positive organisational scholarship and examine leading-edge studies from neuroscience and quantum physics that give support to our claims. The perspective we propose has profound implications regarding how we organise and how we manage. First, we argue that empathy enhances connectedness through the unconscious sharing of neuro-pathways that dissolves the barriers between self and other. This sharing encourages the integration of affective and cognitive consciousness which facilitates the ability to find common ground for solution building. Second, empathy enhances connectedness through altruistic action. In giving to others, feelings of joy and harmony are activated. This in turn allows personal freedom to be enriched and transcendence from the rational ego-self is reduced to develop a more expansive, integrated and enlightened state underlying connectedness. Finally, empathy enhances connectedness which results in sharing the quantum field of coherence where there is little separation between self and other. This means living beyond self-interest in a coherent world based upon interdependent wholeness rather than atomization and separation. Empathy allows us to find that state of coherent connectedness.

year: 2011

title: Simplified system dynamics: a methodology for corporate modelling

authors: Craig, Grahame David

abstract: This thesis deals with the development and application of a methodology for constructing corporate planning models. The methodology is based on a framework of general systems concepts consisting of elements from the System Dynamics and Input-Output approaches to the modelling of complex systems. These concepts permit the use of explicit and efficient procedures for constructing corporate planning models, which support each of the conceptual, verbal, graphical and mathematical phases of the model abstraction process. 

Support for the model programming and computational phases is provided by a system of interactive computer programs, written in the ‘BASIC’ language, for a Digital PDP 11/70 timesharing computer. The technical details of these programs and their use, are contained in the Appendices.

Discussion of the methodology is preceded by reviews of both management science and corporate planning, which focus on their respective development histories, future development directions, and their inter-relationship. These reviews provide a foundation for examining the role of computer-based models in corporate planning. In particular, the importance of modelling in resolving the conflicts and problems of corporate planning is established.

Following appraisal of a selection of systems-based modelling methodologies, including System Dynamics, a simplified version of this methodology is presented. This version permits the construction of more open models in which priority is accorded to representation of the structured, mechanistic relationships of the system being modelled.

Introduction of the matrix algebra concepts of Input-Output Analysis enables systems to be represented as vectorised networks, which in turn facilitate the construction of less aggregated models. 

A series of ten applications of the simplified System Dynamics methodology, involving the construction of both financial and non-financial models, is then presented. These applications, together with a comparative study using a typical ‘non-systems’ approach to the construction of a benchmark financial model, provide the basis for assessment of the methodology. This assessment is made in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, and of some recent technological advances in computing. 

As a systems approach to corporate modelling, the methodology is found to meet the needs of corporate planners more closely than any of the existing systems methodologies. The representation of systems as open vectorised networks facilitates model-building and the construction of more flexible, understandable models. These advantages increase markedly as the scale of models constructed with the methodology increases.

The weaknesses of simplified System Dynamics are found to relate directly to the limitations of the current version of the computer software system which supports it. This software system must therefore be upgraded if these weaknesses are to be eliminated. This upgrading should proceed in a manner which takes maximum advantage of the data base management and graphics capabilities of modern time-sharing computers.

text: Simplified system dynamics: a methodology for corporate modelling This thesis deals with the development and application of a methodology for constructing corporate planning models. The methodology is based on a framework of general systems concepts consisting of elements from the System Dynamics and Input-Output approaches to the modelling of complex systems. These concepts permit the use of explicit and efficient procedures for constructing corporate planning models, which support each of the conceptual, verbal, graphical and mathematical phases of the model abstraction process. 

Support for the model programming and computational phases is provided by a system of interactive computer programs, written in the ‘BASIC’ language, for a Digital PDP 11/70 timesharing computer. The technical details of these programs and their use, are contained in the Appendices.

Discussion of the methodology is preceded by reviews of both management science and corporate planning, which focus on their respective development histories, future development directions, and their inter-relationship. These reviews provide a foundation for examining the role of computer-based models in corporate planning. In particular, the importance of modelling in resolving the conflicts and problems of corporate planning is established.

Following appraisal of a selection of systems-based modelling methodologies, including System Dynamics, a simplified version of this methodology is presented. This version permits the construction of more open models in which priority is accorded to representation of the structured, mechanistic relationships of the system being modelled.

Introduction of the matrix algebra concepts of Input-Output Analysis enables systems to be represented as vectorised networks, which in turn facilitate the construction of less aggregated models. 

A series of ten applications of the simplified System Dynamics methodology, involving the construction of both financial and non-financial models, is then presented. These applications, together with a comparative study using a typical ‘non-systems’ approach to the construction of a benchmark financial model, provide the basis for assessment of the methodology. This assessment is made in terms of its strengths and weaknesses, and of some recent technological advances in computing. 

As a systems approach to corporate modelling, the methodology is found to meet the needs of corporate planners more closely than any of the existing systems methodologies. The representation of systems as open vectorised networks facilitates model-building and the construction of more flexible, understandable models. These advantages increase markedly as the scale of models constructed with the methodology increases.

The weaknesses of simplified System Dynamics are found to relate directly to the limitations of the current version of the computer software system which supports it. This software system must therefore be upgraded if these weaknesses are to be eliminated. This upgrading should proceed in a manner which takes maximum advantage of the data base management and graphics capabilities of modern time-sharing computers.

year: 1982

title: Waikato Taniwharau: Prioritising competing needs in the management of the Waikato River

authors: Morgan, Te Kipa Kepa Brian

subjects: Mauri

abstract: The Waikato River system is New Zealand’s longest river and has significant spiritual relevance for the Waikato-Tainui people and other river iwi, who regard it as an indicator of their mauri or well-being, and central to their identity. The Waikato has also been the focus of on-going tensions between Māori cultural and spiritual values and beliefs, and national engineering objectives. The Waikato River was the primary source of food, transportation and communications link for the region and of pivotal military significance in the New Zealand land wars of the 19th Century. The river system is also a strategic asset for power generation and the flow has been extensively modified with the engineering of dams, lakes, tunnels and canals used to generate one sixth of New Zealand's total electrical generating capacity via the Waikato and Tongariro Power schemes. 
Large scale deforestation in combination with altered hydrologic characteristics have resulted in siltation of the once navigable river. The Waikato is impacted upon by numerous sources of pollution including; Arsenic from a Geothermal Power Station; nutrient enrichment from fertilizer and effluent spreading practices in dairy farming; more than 80 point source discharges to the main stem; and 1,600 discharges to its tributaries. 
The river system contains numerous fish types and has an international reputation for fishing. More than twenty communities extract and treat its waters for potable use including Auckland City. Historic practices resulted in significant adverse impacts on water quality and the mauri of the Waikato. The river is now administered by a regional council. These attributes make the Waikato River a complex management challenge: a contemporary relevance of the widely known metaphor; Waikato Taniwharau (Waikato with hundreds of guardians). 
Aotearoa New Zealand is currently resolving policy issues for the effective management of its fresh water resource. A national survey of opinion in 2005 distilled public priorities for fresh water management. The Freshwater for a Sustainable Future consultation identified many concerns and that the management of these resources is not being carried out in a sustainable manner. The Land and Water forum acknowledged many of these issues in the National Policy on Fresh Water (2010). The New Zealand government is currently preparing to sell down its 100% control of the hydro generation assets on the river, through a sale of shares in the State owned Enterprises that manage these assets. 
During the initial public consultation, responses from Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, indicated that there existed significant dissatisfaction with past management and a lack of confidence in future policy and water management decision making. The dissatisfaction manifested as broad opposition to and indifference towards participation in consultation. In subsequent years, some Māori groups have nevertheless chosen to engage in research processes seeking improvements on past practice. A Decision Making Framework (DMF) developed in 2004 has been adopted in several of these proposals due to its ability to balance the competing priorities of engineers representing the dominant western worldview and Māori, the Tangata Whenua (people of the land). 
The Mauri Model DMF is unique in its approach to the management of water resources as the framework offers a transparent and inclusive approach to considering the environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of decisions being contemplated. The Mauri Model DMF is unique because it is capable of including multiple-worldviews and adopts mauri (intrinsic value or well-being) in the place of money based assessments of pseudo sustainability using Cost Benefit Analysis. 
The Mauri Model DMF does this using a two stage process that first identifies participants’ worldviews and inherent bias regarding water resource management, and then facilitates transparent assessment of selected sustainability performance indicators. The assessment can then be contemplated as the separate environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the decision, collectively as an overall result; or the priorities associated with different worldviews can be applied to determine the sensitivity of the result to different cultural contexts or worldviews. 
A sustainability assessment for the Waikato River is presented within the context of new co-management aspirations that require decision making to reflect the values of both the Government and the Waikato-Tainui peoples. How might the Mauri Model contribute in the complex context of co-management of the Waikato River? Three existing resource uses are assessed to illustrate the contribution that alternative frameworks can make to an enhanced understanding of the challenges that the new co-management regime will need to overcome.

text: Waikato Taniwharau: Prioritising competing needs in the management of the Waikato River The Waikato River system is New Zealand’s longest river and has significant spiritual relevance for the Waikato-Tainui people and other river iwi, who regard it as an indicator of their mauri or well-being, and central to their identity. The Waikato has also been the focus of on-going tensions between Māori cultural and spiritual values and beliefs, and national engineering objectives. The Waikato River was the primary source of food, transportation and communications link for the region and of pivotal military significance in the New Zealand land wars of the 19th Century. The river system is also a strategic asset for power generation and the flow has been extensively modified with the engineering of dams, lakes, tunnels and canals used to generate one sixth of New Zealand's total electrical generating capacity via the Waikato and Tongariro Power schemes. 
Large scale deforestation in combination with altered hydrologic characteristics have resulted in siltation of the once navigable river. The Waikato is impacted upon by numerous sources of pollution including; Arsenic from a Geothermal Power Station; nutrient enrichment from fertilizer and effluent spreading practices in dairy farming; more than 80 point source discharges to the main stem; and 1,600 discharges to its tributaries. 
The river system contains numerous fish types and has an international reputation for fishing. More than twenty communities extract and treat its waters for potable use including Auckland City. Historic practices resulted in significant adverse impacts on water quality and the mauri of the Waikato. The river is now administered by a regional council. These attributes make the Waikato River a complex management challenge: a contemporary relevance of the widely known metaphor; Waikato Taniwharau (Waikato with hundreds of guardians). 
Aotearoa New Zealand is currently resolving policy issues for the effective management of its fresh water resource. A national survey of opinion in 2005 distilled public priorities for fresh water management. The Freshwater for a Sustainable Future consultation identified many concerns and that the management of these resources is not being carried out in a sustainable manner. The Land and Water forum acknowledged many of these issues in the National Policy on Fresh Water (2010). The New Zealand government is currently preparing to sell down its 100% control of the hydro generation assets on the river, through a sale of shares in the State owned Enterprises that manage these assets. 
During the initial public consultation, responses from Māori, the indigenous peoples of Aotearoa New Zealand, indicated that there existed significant dissatisfaction with past management and a lack of confidence in future policy and water management decision making. The dissatisfaction manifested as broad opposition to and indifference towards participation in consultation. In subsequent years, some Māori groups have nevertheless chosen to engage in research processes seeking improvements on past practice. A Decision Making Framework (DMF) developed in 2004 has been adopted in several of these proposals due to its ability to balance the competing priorities of engineers representing the dominant western worldview and Māori, the Tangata Whenua (people of the land). 
The Mauri Model DMF is unique in its approach to the management of water resources as the framework offers a transparent and inclusive approach to considering the environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of decisions being contemplated. The Mauri Model DMF is unique because it is capable of including multiple-worldviews and adopts mauri (intrinsic value or well-being) in the place of money based assessments of pseudo sustainability using Cost Benefit Analysis. 
The Mauri Model DMF does this using a two stage process that first identifies participants’ worldviews and inherent bias regarding water resource management, and then facilitates transparent assessment of selected sustainability performance indicators. The assessment can then be contemplated as the separate environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the decision, collectively as an overall result; or the priorities associated with different worldviews can be applied to determine the sensitivity of the result to different cultural contexts or worldviews. 
A sustainability assessment for the Waikato River is presented within the context of new co-management aspirations that require decision making to reflect the values of both the Government and the Waikato-Tainui peoples. How might the Mauri Model contribute in the complex context of co-management of the Waikato River? Three existing resource uses are assessed to illustrate the contribution that alternative frameworks can make to an enhanced understanding of the challenges that the new co-management regime will need to overcome.

year: 2013