If we were to redesign an MBA program to fully embrace business as a system, it would need to:
- Eliminate silos between business functions—integrating finance, operations, marketing, and leadership into a single system-focused framework.
- Teach decision-making based on system optimization, not local efficiency.
- Use real-world methodologies like TOC, Lean, Deming’s System of Profound Knowledge, and Systems Thinking to analyze and improve organizations.
🎓 MBA in Systemic Business Management (SBM)
A Two-Year MBA Curriculum Designed for Systems Thinking
Central Theme:
✅ Business is a system of interdependent processes, not a collection of independent departments.
✅ Decisions must optimize the whole system, not just individual parts.
✅ Continuous learning, feedback loops, and systemic change drive long-term success.
📅 Year 1: Foundations of Systemic Thinking in Business
The first year builds core knowledge while ensuring every course connects to the idea of business as a system.
📌 Term 1: Foundations of Systems Thinking in Business
1️⃣ Introduction to Systems Thinking in Business
- Key frameworks: TOC, Lean, Deming, Cybernetics, and Viable System Model
- Feedback loops, constraints, and unintended consequences.
- Case Study: How Toyota’s Lean System works holistically.
2️⃣ Decision Science & Complex Problem-Solving
- How mental models and biases affect system-wide decision-making.
- Thinking Processes from TOC: Current Reality Tree, Future Reality Tree.
- Case Study: How Amazon uses systems thinking for logistics and operations.
3️⃣ The Economics of Flow: Value Creation in Business Systems
- Why throughput matters more than cost-cutting.
- The flow of money, products, and services through a business system.
- Case Study: Why Southwest Airlines' systemic approach outperforms competitors.
📌 Term 2: The Interconnected Functions of a Business System
4️⃣ Operations & Supply Chain as a System
- Lean, TOC, and Demand-Driven MRP (DDMRP) principles.
- Managing constraints across global supply chains.
- Case Study: Zara’s fast fashion supply chain as a system.
5️⃣ Finance Beyond Cost-Cutting: Throughput Accounting & Long-Term Value
- Why traditional cost accounting leads to bad decisions.
- Throughput Accounting (TOC) vs. traditional accounting.
- Case Study: Tesla’s financial system—why it works differently.
6️⃣ Customers as a System: Marketing, Sales, and Customer Flow
- Marketing and sales as part of the operational system—not separate silos.
- Demand-driven systems: How pricing, branding, and service impact operations.
- Case Study: How Apple integrates marketing, supply chain, and customer experience.
📌 Term 3: Managing Human Systems & Organizational Flow
7️⃣ People Systems: Leadership, Culture, and Learning Organizations
- Peter Senge’s learning organization principles.
- Organizational psychology and system-wide motivation.
- Case Study: How Netflix structures itself as a system.
8️⃣ Beyond Bureaucracy: Agile, Holacracy, and Adaptive Business Models
- How organizations can be self-regulating systems.
- The failure of traditional command-and-control management.
- Case Study: How Haier’s "Microenterprise Model" replaced hierarchy.
📅 Year 2: Applying Systemic Thinking to Business Challenges
The second year shifts toward application, requiring students to work in teams on real-world business challenges.
📌 Term 4: Systems Thinking in Real-World Applications
9️⃣ Strategy as a System: The Role of Ecosystems, Networks, and Platforms
- Business ecosystems vs. competitive strategy (Beyond Porter’s Five Forces).
- How Apple, Google, and Amazon use ecosystem strategy.
- Case Study: The battle of open vs. closed systems (Android vs. iOS).
🔟 Resilience, Risk, and Crisis Management as a System
- Why companies fail when they optimize for efficiency instead of resilience.
- How feedback loops create financial crises, supply chain disruptions, and market crashes.
- Case Study: Why Toyota recovered from COVID-19 faster than competitors.
📌 Term 5: Systems Thinking in Innovation and Business Transformation
1️⃣1️⃣ The Future of Work: AI, Automation, and Systemic Change
- How AI and automation impact organizational systems.
- Why automation without systems thinking causes chaos.
- Case Study: The rise (and struggles) of fully automated warehouses.
1️⃣2️⃣ Sustainability as a System: People, Planet, and Profit
- Why most sustainability efforts fail without systemic alignment.
- Circular economy models and regenerative business strategies.
- Case Study: How Patagonia designed its business system for sustainability.
📌 Term 6: Capstone – The Systemic Business Challenge
- Students work in teams to analyze and optimize a real business system.
- Companies submit real-world problems (e.g., supply chain bottlenecks, poor product-market fit, broken workflows).
- Teams present TOC-based solutions using system diagrams, feedback loops, and constraint analysis.
🎯 What Makes This MBA Unique?
✅ No isolated courses. Everything is interconnected.
✅ Every course ties back to systems thinking and flow.
✅ Emphasis on real-world applications, not just theory.
✅ Uses TOC, Lean, Deming, and Systems Thinking methodologies.
✅ Prepares leaders to manage complexity, not just optimize parts.
Final Thought: The Future of MBA Education
🚀 This MBA would create leaders who understand how businesses truly function—as interconnected, adaptive systems.