The case for cybernetics

The paper presents an enquiry into the reasons why there are so few published practical examples of the application of cybernetics in management. It takes the case for such an approach as presented in Platform for Change by Professor Stafford Beer and comments on and criticises the separate papers presented in that volume. It is suggested that there may be two main reasons why, in Britain, cybernetic thinking has not yet any real impact on management. The first is a tendency to over state the case and the second is a failure to understand human reactions to the sort of control systems which cyberneticians are suggesting.