Michael Christopher Jackson

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 1951) is a British

systems scientist Systems science, also referred to as systems research or simply systems, is a transdisciplinary field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex systems in nature and society, which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, socia ...

consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

and Emeritus Professor of Management Systems and former Dean of

Hull University The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

Business School, known for his work in the field of

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...

and management.

Biography

Jackson studied

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

from 1970 to 1973, where he received his PPE. After spending 4 years in the civil service, he received his MA in Systems in Management at the

Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

in 1978. Jackson spent his academic life teaching at the

, the

University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of ...

, the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

and the

, appointed Professor of Management Systems in Hull from 1989 to May 2012.Emeritus Professor Mike C Jackson
at the Hull University Business School, retrieved Oct 2014. He was Visiting Professor at the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of the Ministry of Education of the Indian Government and are governed by the Instit ...

(New Delhi) and Honorary Professor at the Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru. In 1997 he was an Erskine Scholar at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, New Zealand. Jackson is a past President of the UK Systems Society, of the International Federation for Systems Research from 1996 to 2000, and of the

International Society for the Systems Sciences The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their im ...

in 2001. He has also served on the Council of the Operational Research Society. He is a Fellow of the

British Computer Society image:Maurice Vincent Wilkes 1980 (3).jpg, Sir Maurice Wilkes served as the first President of BCS in 1957. The British Computer Society (BCS), branded BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, since 2009, is a professional body and a learned ...

, the

Chartered Management Institute The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...

, the Cybernetics Society and the Operational Research Society. Jackson is Editor-in-chief of the journal ''

Systems Research and Behavioral Science A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and is exp ...

'', published by John Wiley, and he is on the editorial board of 5 other journals. He has delivered plenary addresses at numerous international conferences, and has undertaken many consultancy engagements with outside organisations, both commercial and non-profit. In 2009, his work was honored from the Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies with their most prestigious

Medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to higher education and business. In 2017 he received the Beale Medal of the UK Operational Research Society for ‘an outstanding lifetime achievement in the philosophy, methodology or practice of OR’.

Work

Jackson's teaching and research interests are

Systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts.Anderson, Virginia, & Johnson, Lauren (1997). ''Systems Thinking Ba ...

, Organizational cybernetics,

Creative problem solving Creative problem-solving (CPS) is the mental process of searching for an original and previously unknown solution to a problem. To qualify, the solution must be novel and reached independently. The creative problem-solving process was originally d ...

Critical systems thinking Critical systems thinking (CST) is a systems thinking approach designed to aid decision-makers, and other stakeholders, improve complex problem situations that cross departmental and, often, organizational boundaries. CST sees systems thinking as e ...

Management science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

and

Systems science Systems science, also referred to as systems research or simply systems, is a transdisciplinary field that is concerned with understanding simple and complex systems in nature and society, which leads to the advancements of formal, natural, socia ...

Publications

Jackson has written 5 books, edited 6 others and has published over 70 articles in refereed journals,including Journal of Management Studies, Omega, Journal of the Operational Research Society, Systems Research, Systems Practice, SCOS, Journal of Information Systems, International Journal of General Systems, International Journal of Information Management, Kybernetes, System Dynamics Review, Organization. Books: * 1991, ''Systems Methodology for the Management Sciences''. * 1991, '' Creative Problem Solving: Total Systems Intervention'', with Robert L. Flood, Wiley. 268 p. * 2000, ''Systems Approaches to Management'', London: Springer 465 p. * 2003, ''Systems Thinking: Creative Holism for Managers'', Wiley. * 2019, ''Critical Systems Thinking and the Management of Complexity'', Wiley. Articles, a selection: * 1993, with Robert L. Flood, "Critical Systems Thinking", in: ''Organization Studies'' Vol 14, p. 613.

Notes and references

External links

Emeritus Professor Mike C Jackson
at the Hull University Business School.
Michael C. Jackson
IFSR Newsletter 34/35 - December 1994. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Mike 1951 births Living people British business theorists British systems scientists Fellows of the British Computer Society Officers of the Order of the British Empire Academics of the University of Hull Alumni of the University of Oxford Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences