Modeling for viability

Abstract

One of the attractive features of enterprises is their viability. However, it is not easy to measure and control values of attributes that could indicate the level of enterprise viability. Moreover, an enterprise usually is a system of systems that has to function as an ecosystem both from functional and from structural viewpoints. One of the means for modeling for viability is St. Beer’s Viable Systems Model. However, this model ecosystemically considers viability only from the functional perspective. In reality the organizations still have their structural units that strive for their own viability even they do not directly resemble the functions prescribed by the Viable Systems Model. The paper suggests to not neglect this striving for viability and proposes a novel approach for modeling structural units to move towards a possibility to estimate their viability in the enterprise.