BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

GROWTH RATE 1)2)

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The relative speed of growth by time unit.

According to K. BOULDING, every system has an optimum or equilibrated rate of growth. He adds: "…(a) higher or lower growth rate may seriously disturb the functioning of the system, even to the point of its collapse and "death". (1956, p.74).

BOULDING gives some examples from botanics and economy. Such abnormalities are obviously very frequent and could be generally named " disturbances of growth rates or rhythms'. They seem to be linked to disruptions of the equilibrium between the relative growth of various functions and structures (or subsystems), induced in some cases by internal causes and in other by environmental factors.

This phenomenon has been reported in quite different fields as, for example, in human biology, physical and mental lags because of a deficient alimentation during childhood; or in management, a crisis of general disorganization provoked by an excessive rate of growth.

Refering themselves to GOETHE (the socalled "Budget Law") and Geoffroy de SAINT-HILAIRE ("Loi de balancement"), R.S. NAROLL and L.von BERTALANFFY write: "… in an organism, there is a characteristic and constant "equilibrium" between the organs and, as we may add, the chemical components as well. So overdevelopment of one part will be corrected by lack in an other part" (1956, p.79).

The subject is thus at the same time closely related to allometric growth.

K. BOULDING again writes: "Growth at any rate… cannot take place without the organism eventually becoming "Iarge" and diseconomies of scale may set in. The ideal rate of growth, therefore, may properly be regarded as a diminishing function of the size of the organization and will eventually diminish to zero" (1956, p.39-40).

This affects organisms as well as organizations, and probably explains the very general transition of systems of many types from growth to dynamic stability. It could also be the basic reason why individuals of any type, limited in size, tend to socialize and form more complex systems on a higher level of organization.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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