The most difficult questions facing organizations today do not have scientifically or mathematically provable solutions. Many answers that do exist depend upon time and circumstance.

Systems Architecting of Organizations: Why Eagles Can't Swim tackles a very difficult dilemma: how do even highly respected organizations maintain their vaunted excellence, accommodate the new world of global communications, transportation, economics and multinational security, and still survive against stiff competition already in place? As they are finding out, depending upon the circumstances, the demands of excellence on the one hand, and of change on the other, can be cruelly irreconcilable.

This book does not just describe business strengths and weaknesses. First, it identifies potential weaknesses, then offers guidelines and insights to address them. Its approach is architectural and heuristic. Second, this book is about maintaining success in a dynamic world, not about achieving it in a static one; few are clear on what to do and not to do in the face of major change.

Systems Architecting of Organizations: Why Eagles Can't Swim helps professionals gain new perspectives when reviewing their own organizations and to see problems and opportunities previously not apparent.

Features

Presents an architectural and heuristic approach to maintaining organizational excellence in the face of change. Identifies factors that can lead to excellence in one field or period of time, but to potential weaknesses in another, then offers insights for addressing them. Introduces systems architecting tools, and highlights the importance of relationships, policies, structures, and constraints in complex systems and organizations. Contains sections on treating organizations as systems, an architect's perspective, internal constraints and opportunities, foundations of organizational architecting, and change. Of interest to engineers, managers, administrators, and executives.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Systems Architecting of Organizations: Why Eagles Can't Swim does not just describe business strengths and weaknesses. First it identifies potential weaknesses, then offers guidelines and insights to address them. Its approach is architectural and heuristic. Second, this book is about maintaining success in a dynamic world, not about achieving it in a static one; few are clear on what to do and not to do in the face of major change.

The author's approach to the subject is unique in two ways: First, it is architectural and heuristic. It identifies factors inherent in an organizations structure and purposes that can lead to excellence in one field but to weakness in another, then provides guidelines and insights to address them. Second, the book is about maintaining success in a dynamic world, not about achieving it in a static one.

Preface.- Because of the Outside World.- The Meanings of Excellence, Organization, Systems, Complexity, and Architecting.- The Necessity of Excellence in Complex Systems.- Serious Attempts at Defining Excellence.- The Extraordinary Field of Complex Systems.- Value Added in Complex Organizations.- The Delicate Balance of the United States Government.- The Marketplace and Other Battlegrounds. Because of the Inside World.- The Excellence Assumption and the Hardware Goofs List.- Different Objectives, Different Structures, and Different Management (include CEOs).- Incompatibility of Organizational Structures.- Policy and Procedural Sets.- Assumptions Stated and Unstated.- Architecting the Response.- Problem Solving in Complex Organizations.- Tools of the Art.- To Reorganize or Not to Reorganize, That Is the Question.- Diagnosis and Reorganizing with Incomplete Information.- Structural Factors and the Skilled Specialist.