Systems Thinking Foundation

A contemporary perspective on management is to perceive an organization as a comprehensive system comprising various components and activities operating within a specific environment. One aspect to consider is that various internal stakeholders may have objectives that differ from the broader organizational goals. Additionally, the organizational system must address external stakeholders who provide necessary resources or consume the resulting outputs. In this context, the development of effective managerial costing systems could be viewed as a complex process that necessitates an integrated mindset, grounded in the recognition of the need for continual feedback facilitation. This chapter serves as the first fundamental literary basis for the book’s three-pillar approach to designing managerial costing systems. It meticulously examines contextual elements of systems theory, systems engineering, and cybernetics—highlighting their relevance and applicability. The development of a systematic framework (or paradigm) that places significant emphasis on stakeholder engagement and continual feedback is proposed.