Stafford Beer's VSM: a model for holistic management of business operations

In 1979, Kenneth Boulding, a founder and first president of the Society for General Systems Research, wrote that the movement "survives precariously in the academic community". Over the next quarter century system science advanced to become a well-established science. Yet business people know little about how this new science, embodied in the VSM, can improve company structure and management. This paper describes 30 years of experience applying the VSM to improve company performance. The essence of the VSM can easily be understood and used to improve business performance, and to achieve sustainability through the years ahead.