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AbstractMany observers find that humankind is in crisis due to lack of holism and due to too much reductionism—in human thinking, insight, decision‐making and action—caused by increasingly narrow specialization per professions and disciplines. Systems theory surfaced good five decades ago to fight this problem. But it keeps losing its battle, including in its own arena. Specialization is unavoidable, but it is frequently not enough. Good three decades of experience of this contribution's author have demonstrated that his concept of the 'dialectical system' and 'law of requisite holism/realism' can offer a response. It shows a way towards holism/realism as an overarching worldview, which is capable of providing room for many systems theories and specialized/traditional theories to work together, because they are interdependent, that is, needing each other. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The purpose of this study is to introduce Sustainable Socially Responsible Society 6.0 as a new concept that is supposed to extend 'Corporate Social Responsibility' to the entire society for humankind to gain a new chance to survive beyond the dangerous neoliberalism that abuses the market and democracy to the benefit of very few humans—the richest one percent and a few around them—and beyond Society 5.0. This study aims to define the framework conditions of 'Well-being Society 6.0', where humans can both achieve and define their targeted quality of life, including work–life balance, etc. Mulej's Dialectical Systems Theory provides requisite (i.e., sufficient and necessary) integrity/holism of approach that leads to a Sustainable Socially Responsible (SSR) Society without overlooking the necessity of personal, including managerial, responsibility. Most humans try to satisfy their basic survival needs by management, which is requisitely holistic ; it can and shall contribute to setting the framework conditions, foremost with non-technological innovation management. The Economy for the Common Good can contribute to SSR Society 6.0, including 'Well-being society'. In addition, in 2019–2021 humankind is experiencing the 'new Corona Virus' crisis, killing millions, but also enabling a crucial step toward a well-being society by returning worldwide economic governance from neoliberalism to Keynes-based state capitalism with no loud objections.

AbstractHumankind requires social responsibility (SR) via its global bodies United Nations (in UN Global Compact) and International Standards Organization (in ISO 26000), for humankind to avoid global crises and extinction caused by Social irresponsibility (SI), resulting from un‐systemic behavior, i.e., over‐specialization and poor holism that interdisciplinary creative cooperation should replace, which pioneers of Systems Theory (Bertalanffy) and Cybernetics (Wiener) required and practiced several decades ago. Ports, providing logistic services, present potential SR or SI. The now‐a‐days technology causes more ports' SI than SR by waste, air, water, and land pollution. SI is nearly unavoidable, if process is not handled with systemic behavior (SB), including a (requisitely) holistic approach of any process participants. Authors present a stepwise regression statistical modeling research on a port, applying systems approach in a mathematical way, to study a chance of port's SB leading to SR rather than SI damaging local people. SR and SB are difficult to measure; they prevent problems and costs. SI causes measurable problems and costs to indirectly express (lacking) SR and SB.

Slovenia, like most countries of the modern world, spends too much on its public health care and supplies too little public health care services for the government, economists, politicians, and citizens to be happy. The many reforms of the public health care, e.g. in Slovenia, seem to be inefficient, one after the other, in solving this problem. Reforms have been conceived with a too poor consideration of the law of the requisite holism in decision preparation, decisions making and decision implementation. The article tackles procedure of implementation of reforms as inventions are supposed to become innovations in the public health care organization and management, rather than reforms' content. Combination of the absorption capacity, innovation promotion and diffusion is suggested for the requisite holism of implementation.

Some of the Main Factors of Innovative Renewal of Companies' Operations
Problems cannot be solved by the mentality that has caused them, such as neglecting the non-technological innovation. Often, innovative renewal of companies' operations is urgently needed. Overcoming the consequences of the global economic and financial crisis cannot be successful without innovation of the values, culture, business ethics and norms of all their important stakeholders. We suggest a new synergy of methods aimed at renewal of business processes in an innovative way by using the dialectical systems theory approach. We combine BSC, ISO 9000, the method 'learning company' and USOMID. Literature so far has not made it clear that those approaches can complement each other and jointly contribute to renewal of business operations according to the requirement of the requisite holism.

AbstractThe article introduces the Quantified Dialectical Systems Theory (DST), which is one of the cases of new systems theories. It arises from the need for the appropriate knowledge about the basics of both systems theory and the applied computer supported qualitative and quantitative methods that can help individuals or groups in researching important complex decision‐making problems; among them we emphasize the multi‐criteria decision‐making (MCDM) ones. Moreover, the article presents the framework procedure for MCDM, based on assigning weights, which we developed by following the original procedures of several MCDM methods, adapted mainly by the conclusions of experts in practice regarding the suitability of different multi‐criteria methods, and own experience. We demonstrate how the DST's guidelines defining the subjective starting points can be followed when approaching MCDM problems step‐by‐step, as well as the DST's guidelines concerning implementation of starting points. In the efforts to support creating and decision‐making it helps a lot, if the application of theory can take place in an informal style. This article introduces ways of incorporation of informal systemic thinking and the DST's guidelines in the framework procedure for MCDM when solving several real‐life complex problems, presented by example cases. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Innovativeness as Precondition for Business Excellence in Public Utility (Communal) Companies
This article presents a new business excellence model for PUC (communal), especially in countries in transition as one way to business excellence. The new model has proven successful in a multinational company's daughter company in Slovenia in practice as well as in comparison with companies performing the same activity. We are aware that there are no universal models for success, but there are tools which make it easier to reach. Of course, one single tool will not make a company successful. It must have a unique (original) and requisitely holistic business model to succeed. And talking about unique, i.e. different from others, brings us to innovativeness - the main topic of this research as the background of business excellence, including the PUC. The presented new model has been evolving over ten years and proved successful in practice.

Current global economic crises call for social responsibility to replace neo-liberalistic, one-sided and short-term criteria causing monopolies of global enterprises. Humanity's existence is endangered under the threat of global capitalism, unless the positive concept 'everyone's social responsibility impacts everyone in society' becomes the basis of the new socio-economic order. This concept must be realized together with related concepts of 'interdependence' and 'holism,' embodying the principles of accountability, transparency, ethical behavior, and respect for stakeholders--to support the

Background: Knowledge plays a crucial role in supporting the European Union model based on economic growth, social responsibility, and sustainable development. To improve companies' performance, one must reflect on new forms of knowledge and develop new indicators to measure them. Objectives: The goal of the paper is to investigate the impact of the selected factors of knowledge on companies' performance in Slovenia. Methods/Approach: A questionnaire was created and sent to small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovenia. The principle axis factoring method was used to identify the factors of knowledge and of companies' performance, and a regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the selected knowledge factors on companies' performance. Results: The establishment of scientists' collaboration with companies has a positive impact on companies' performance, but the obstacles to the establishment of scientists' collaboration with companies do not have any impact. Conclusions: The results could be useful for governments and companies in the adoption of measures aimed at strengthening scientists' collaboration with companies. Further research can be oriented toward the common synergy index (e.g., the knowledge triangle).

The authors have been researching the theory and practice of BPR (business process reengineering) since early nineties. In the paper, their own definition of the steps toward a successful BPR is briefed and applied as a background of the author's benchmarking of management concepts of ISO 9000, TQM, BPR, and 20 Keys. These are the most influential management concepts in Slovenian organisations, as a case of the countries that are now new members of European Union. BPR was found supported most of all. The presented management concepts are compared on the basis of clearly defined criteria, such as targets, initiative, IT role, customer role, degree of BPR, role of implementation, and management, HRM, and rate of project implementation. Results may allow for a wider application of BPR concept offered here anew in different countries as business environments in a similar stage of economic development. ; Autori su istraživali teoriju i praksu BPR-a (business process reengineeringa) od ranih devedesetih. U ovom članku iznose vlastitu definicija koraka prema uspješnom BPR-u, koja se primjenjuje kao čimbenik benchmarkinga management koncepata ISO 9000,TQM, BPR i metode 20 ključeva. Ovo su najutjecajniji koncepti managementa u slovenskim poduzećima, što se iznosi kao slučaj zemlje - nove članice Europske unije. BPR je bio najviše podržan od svih predstavljenih metoda. Analizirani koncepti managementa uspoređeni su temeljem jasno definiranih kriterija, kao što su ciljevi, inicijativa, uloga informacijske tehnologije, uloga potrošača, stupanj BPR-a, uloga implementacije i managementa, upravljanja ljudskim potencijalima i stupanj implementacije projekta. Rezultati ukazuju na mogućnost šire primjene BPR-a u različitim zemljama čija su poslovna okruženja u sličnoj fazi ekonomskog razvoja.

Background: Knowledge plays a crucial role in supporting the European Union model based on economic growth, social responsibility, and sustainable development. To improve companies' performance, one must reflect on new forms of knowledge and develop new indicators to measure them. Objectives: The goal of the paper is to investigate the impact of the selected factors of knowledge on companies' performance in Slovenia. Methods/Approach: A questionnaire was created and sent to small and medium-sized enterprises in Slovenia. The principle axis factoring method was used to identify the factors of knowledge and of companies' performance, and a regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of the selected knowledge factors on companies' performance. Results: The establishment of scientists' collaboration with companies has a positive impact on companies' performance, but the obstacles to the establishment of scientists' collaboration with companies do not have any impact. Conclusions: The results could be useful for governments and companies in the adoption of measures aimed at strengthening scientists' collaboration with companies. Further research can be oriented toward the common synergy index (e.g., the knowledge triangle).

AbstractAshby[1] said that the fight against (too much) diversity is possible only by developing diversity. This is expressed also in the title of this conference and paper. Both need a methodological support. A phenomenological systems theory does not provide it. We have been developing an alternative paradigm on the basis of the "Dialectical System " notion. Fifteen years of development on this basis are briefed in the paper.