Stuart Umpleby
Encyclopedia
Stuart Anspach Umpleby is an American cybernetician and a professor in the Department of Management and Director of the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning
in the School of Business at the George Washington University
.
In the 1960s, while a student at the University of Illinois, Umpleby worked in the Institute of Communications Research, The Biological Computer Laboratory and the Computer-based Education Research Laboratory (the PLATO system). From 1967 to 1975 he and other students developed computer conferencing systems and other applications for time shared computers.
After moving to George Washington University, he was the moderator from 1977 to 1980, of a computer conference on general systems theory supported by the National Science Foundation
. Between 1982 and 1988 he arranged scientific meetings involving American and Soviet scientists in the area of cybernetics and general systems theory.
From 1975 to present he has been a professor in the Department of Management at The George Washington University
, where he teaches courses ranging from cybernetics
, systems theory
, and system dynamics
to the philosophy of science
, cross-cultural management, and organizational behavior. From 1994 to 1997 he was the faculty facilitator of a Quality and Innovation Initiative in the GW School of Business.
He is a past president of the American Society for Cybernetics
(ASC). In 2007 Stuart Umpleby was awarded The Wiener Gold Medal of the American Society for Cybernetics for outstanding lifelong contributions to both cybernetics and the ASC.
In 2010 he was elected an Academician in the International Academy of Systems and Cybernetic Sciences, an honor society created by the International Federation for Systems Research.
He is twice divorced and has two sons.
and systems theory
, the philosophy of science
, and management methods. Other interests have been demography, the year 2000 computer crisis, academic globalization, and the transitions in the post-communist countries.
and Ross Ashby
in the Biological Computer Laboratory
at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. With Heinz von Foerster and Leo Steg he organized the first Gordon Research Conference
on cybernetics in 1984. He worked to develop and promote second order cybernetics or biological cybernetics. He also helped to create social cybernetics. He provided an example of the amplification of management capability. He clarified the nature of information in descriptions of the physical relationships among matter, energy, and information.
And he has pointed out that George Soros's reflexivity theory is quite compatible with cybernetics.
, constructivism
, and pragmatism
by combining world, description, and observer.
Building on the work of E.A. Singer, Jr., C. West Churchman
, and Russell L. Ackoff
, Umpleby has suggested that, since managers are part of the system they seek to influence, methods rather than theories might be the most effective way to structure knowledge of management.
published an article in Science showing that if demographic trends of the past two millennia continue, world population
would go to infinity in approximately 2026. Although contested in the 1960s, the equation proved remarkably accurate, indeed even conservative, until the early 1990s.
Discussions of the doomsday equation revealed that demographers and natural scientists have fundamentally different ways of dealing with estimates and that these differences are not generally known by the public, science journalists, or other scientists.
, viewing it as an opportunity to test social science theories using a before and after research design.
Continuing the work with computer-based communications media, Umpleby has experimented with applications of the internet. Currently he is developing the idea of academic globalization, since it is now possible for academics to collaborate via the internet with colleagues in foreign countries for purposes of education, research or community service.
had described the transition from capitalism
to socialism
to communism
, there were no theories to guide the transition from communism to capitalism. Umpleby refuted this claim by organizing meetings in 1990 in both Washington, DC, and Vienna, Austria, to discuss the theories of economic, political, and social development that could guide the transformation of socialist societies.
Since 1994 the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University, which Umpleby heads, has hosted over 150 visiting scholars supported by the U.S. Department of State. Most of these scholars have come from the former Soviet Union
and Southeast Europe. While on campus the scholars work with professors in their fields. They also learn process improvement
and group facilitation methods, so they can be more effective in introducing changes when they return home. In this way Umpleby has experimented with ways to encourage the use of participatory methods in other countries. He has found that the Participatory Strategic Planning methods developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs not only improve the effectiveness of organizations but also lead to more humane management practices and build mutual trust among the participants.
Articles and papers, a selection:
Organizational learning
Organizational learning is an area of knowledge within organizational theory that studies models and theories about the way an organization learns and adapts....
in the School of Business at the George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
.
Biography
Umpleby attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he received degrees in engineering in 1967, in political science in 1967 and in 1969, and a PhD in communications in 1975.In the 1960s, while a student at the University of Illinois, Umpleby worked in the Institute of Communications Research, The Biological Computer Laboratory and the Computer-based Education Research Laboratory (the PLATO system). From 1967 to 1975 he and other students developed computer conferencing systems and other applications for time shared computers.
After moving to George Washington University, he was the moderator from 1977 to 1980, of a computer conference on general systems theory supported by the National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
. Between 1982 and 1988 he arranged scientific meetings involving American and Soviet scientists in the area of cybernetics and general systems theory.
From 1975 to present he has been a professor in the Department of Management at The George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, where he teaches courses ranging from cybernetics
Cybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
, systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
, and system dynamics
System dynamics
System dynamics is an approach to understanding the behaviour of complex systems over time. It deals with internal feedback loops and time delays that affect the behaviour of the entire system. What makes using system dynamics different from other approaches to studying complex systems is the use...
to the philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, cross-cultural management, and organizational behavior. From 1994 to 1997 he was the faculty facilitator of a Quality and Innovation Initiative in the GW School of Business.
He is a past president of the American Society for Cybernetics
American Society for Cybernetics
The American Society for Cybernetics is an American non-profit scholastic organization for organization for the advancement of cybernetics as a science and the interdisciplinary collaboration and synthesis of cybernetics. The society contributes to the cooperation around the research and...
(ASC). In 2007 Stuart Umpleby was awarded The Wiener Gold Medal of the American Society for Cybernetics for outstanding lifelong contributions to both cybernetics and the ASC.
In 2010 he was elected an Academician in the International Academy of Systems and Cybernetic Sciences, an honor society created by the International Federation for Systems Research.
He is twice divorced and has two sons.
Work
Umpleby's research interests are in the fields of cyberneticsCybernetics
Cybernetics is the interdisciplinary study of the structure of regulatory systems. Cybernetics is closely related to information theory, control theory and systems theory, at least in its first-order form...
and systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
, the philosophy of science
Philosophy of science
The philosophy of science is concerned with the assumptions, foundations, methods and implications of science. It is also concerned with the use and merit of science and sometimes overlaps metaphysics and epistemology by exploring whether scientific results are actually a study of truth...
, and management methods. Other interests have been demography, the year 2000 computer crisis, academic globalization, and the transitions in the post-communist countries.
Cybernetics
In the early 1970s Umpleby studied cybernetics with Heinz von FoersterHeinz von Foerster
Heinz von Foerster was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy. Together with Warren McCulloch, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann, Lawrence J. Fogel, and others, Heinz von Foerster was an architect of cybernetics.-Biography:Von Foerster was born in 1911 in Vienna, Austria,...
and Ross Ashby
William Ross Ashby
W. Ross Ashby was an English psychiatrist and a pioneer in cybernetics, the study of complex systems. His first name was not used: he was known as Ross Ashby....
in the Biological Computer Laboratory
Biological Computer Laboratory
The Biological Computer Laboratory was a research institute of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was founded on 1 January 1958 by the then Professor of Electrical Engineering Heinz von Foerster...
at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. With Heinz von Foerster and Leo Steg he organized the first Gordon Research Conference
Gordon Research Conferences
Gordon Research Conferences are international scientific conferences organized by a non-profit organization of the same name. The conference topics cover frontier research in the biological, chemical, and physical sciences, and their related technologies. The conferences have been held since...
on cybernetics in 1984. He worked to develop and promote second order cybernetics or biological cybernetics. He also helped to create social cybernetics. He provided an example of the amplification of management capability. He clarified the nature of information in descriptions of the physical relationships among matter, energy, and information.
And he has pointed out that George Soros's reflexivity theory is quite compatible with cybernetics.
Philosophy of Science
Following his work on biological cybernetics and social cybernetics Umpleby suggested a way of unifying the philosophies of realismPhilosophical realism
Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief that our reality, or some aspect of it, is ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs, etc....
, constructivism
Constructivist epistemology
Constructivist epistemology is an epistemological perspective in philosophy about the nature of scientific knowledge. Constructivists maintain that scientific knowledge is constructed by scientists and not discovered from the world. Constructivists claim that the concepts of science are mental...
, and pragmatism
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
by combining world, description, and observer.
Building on the work of E.A. Singer, Jr., C. West Churchman
C. West Churchman
Charles West Churchman was an American philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley...
, and Russell L. Ackoff
Russell L. Ackoff
Russell Lincoln Ackoff was an American organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Ackoff was a pioneer in the field of operations research, systems thinking and management...
, Umpleby has suggested that, since managers are part of the system they seek to influence, methods rather than theories might be the most effective way to structure knowledge of management.
Management Methods
Umpleby recently has worked to further develop the Quality Improvement Priority Matrix, a method for determining priorities for improvement and for monitoring perceived improvement.Demography
In 1960 Heinz von FoersterHeinz von Foerster
Heinz von Foerster was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy. Together with Warren McCulloch, Norbert Wiener, John von Neumann, Lawrence J. Fogel, and others, Heinz von Foerster was an architect of cybernetics.-Biography:Von Foerster was born in 1911 in Vienna, Austria,...
published an article in Science showing that if demographic trends of the past two millennia continue, world population
World population
The world population is the total number of living humans on the planet Earth. As of today, it is estimated to be billion by the United States Census Bureau...
would go to infinity in approximately 2026. Although contested in the 1960s, the equation proved remarkably accurate, indeed even conservative, until the early 1990s.
Discussions of the doomsday equation revealed that demographers and natural scientists have fundamentally different ways of dealing with estimates and that these differences are not generally known by the public, science journalists, or other scientists.
Year 2000 Computer Problem
From 1997 to 2000 Umpleby worked on the Year 2000 Computer ProblemYear 2000 problem
The Year 2000 problem was a problem for both digital and non-digital documentation and data storage situations which resulted from the practice of abbreviating a four-digit year to two digits.In computer programs, the practice of representing the year with two...
, viewing it as an opportunity to test social science theories using a before and after research design.
Academic Globalization
Between 1977 and 1980 he was the moderator of a computer conference on general systems theory supported by the National Science Foundation. This project was one of nine "experimental trials of electronic information exchange for small research communities". About sixty scientists in the United States, Canada, and Europe interacted for a period of two and a half years using the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES) located at New Jersey Institute of Technology.Continuing the work with computer-based communications media, Umpleby has experimented with applications of the internet. Currently he is developing the idea of academic globalization, since it is now possible for academics to collaborate via the internet with colleagues in foreign countries for purposes of education, research or community service.
Transitions in Post-Communist Countries
With the collapse of communism in 1989 many social scientists both in Russia and the West said that, although Karl MarxKarl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
had described the transition from capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
to socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
to communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, there were no theories to guide the transition from communism to capitalism. Umpleby refuted this claim by organizing meetings in 1990 in both Washington, DC, and Vienna, Austria, to discuss the theories of economic, political, and social development that could guide the transformation of socialist societies.
Since 1994 the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning at The George Washington University, which Umpleby heads, has hosted over 150 visiting scholars supported by the U.S. Department of State. Most of these scholars have come from the former Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and Southeast Europe. While on campus the scholars work with professors in their fields. They also learn process improvement
Process improvement
In organizational development , process improvement is a series of actions taken by a process owner to identify, analyze and improve existing business processes within an organization to meet new goals and objectives. These actions often follow a specific methodology or strategy to create...
and group facilitation methods, so they can be more effective in introducing changes when they return home. In this way Umpleby has experimented with ways to encourage the use of participatory methods in other countries. He has found that the Participatory Strategic Planning methods developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs not only improve the effectiveness of organizations but also lead to more humane management practices and build mutual trust among the participants.
See also
- Conceptual systemConceptual systemA conceptual system is a system that is composed of non-physical objects, i.e. ideas or concepts. In this context a system is taken to mean "an interrelated, interworking set of objects".- Overview :...
- CyberneticistCyberneticistA cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics.Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician rather than a physicist.On the other hand, Nicolas...
- Glossary of systems theoryGlossary of systems theory-A:* Adaptive capacity: An important part of the resilience of systems in the face of a perturbation, helping to minimise loss of function in individual human, and collective social and biological systems....
- Management cyberneticsManagement cyberneticsManagement cybernetics is the field of cybernetics concerned with management and organizations. The notion of cybernetics and management was first introduced by Stafford Beer in the late 1950s-Cybernetics and Complexity:...
- Mental Health Research Institute (Michigan)Mental Health Research Institute (Michigan)The Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan is an interdisciplinary research institute, which played a key role in the development of general systems theory...
- New CyberneticsNew CyberneticsNew Cybernetics is a study of self-organizing systems according to Peter Harries-Jones , "looking beyond the issues of the "first", "old" or "original" cybernetics and their politics and sciences of control, to the autonomy and self-organization capabilities of complex systems"...
- Russell L. AckoffRussell L. AckoffRussell Lincoln Ackoff was an American organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Ackoff was a pioneer in the field of operations research, systems thinking and management...
- Principia CyberneticaPrincipia CyberneticaPrincipia Cybernetica is an international cooperation of scientists in the field of cybernetics and systems science, especially known for their Principia Cybernetica Web website...
- The Institute of Cultural Affairs InternationalThe Institute of Cultural Affairs InternationalThe Institute of Cultural Affairs International is an International Non Governmental Organization which works to influence development policy through a worldwide network of national ICA organizations that implement human development programming within their countries...
Publications
Stuart Umpleby has written and edited several articles, several special issues of the journal Cybernetics and Systems, papers and a book:- 1991. Stuart Umpleby and Vadim Sadovsky (eds.). A Science of Goal Formulation, Taylor & Francis, 255 pages.
Articles and papers, a selection:
- 1983. "A Group Process Approach to Organizational Change." in Horst Wedde (ed.), Adequate Modeling of Systems, Springer-Verlag, pp. 116-128.
- 1986. "Methods for Making Social Organizations Adaptive." in Robert TrapplRobert TrapplRobert Trappl is an Austrian scientist, and Professor at the Center for Brain Research, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, known for his work in the field of cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence.- Biography :...
(ed.) Power, Autonomy, Utopia: New Approaches toward Complex Systems, Plenum Publishing, pp. 133-138. - 1987. [ftp://ftp.vub.ac.be/pub/projects/Principia_Cybernetica/Nodes/Cybernetics_glossary.txt "ASC Glossary on Cybernetics and Systems Theory"]. By Stuart Umpleby (ed.) from the American Society for Cybernetics.
- 1990. [ftp://ftp.vub.ac.be/pub/projects/Principia_Cybernetica/Papers_Umpleby/Science-Cybernetics.txt "The Science of Cybernetics and the Cybernetics of Science"]. In: Cybernetics and Systems. Vol 21/1: 109-121.
- 1999. "The Origins and Purposes of Several Traditions in Systems Theory and Cybernetics". With Eric B. Dent (1999). In: Cybernetics and Systems: An International Journal, 30:79-103, 1999.