Abstract
A concept of system waste has been developed, and reported in the literature, to focus explicitly on waste and its reduction. In this study, which is a part of the authors' ongoing research on system waste, an attempt has been made to estimate current and future system waste in education and research (EDR) in India. The concept of system waste, which is defined as “any unnecessary input to and/or any undesirable output from any system,” is complex, multifaceted, subjective and not generally clearly understood. Its study is a fit case for the use of qualitative group problem-solving techniques. Delphi is the technique which has been used here to learn about system waste. A two-round Delphi study was conducted in 1990 in EDR in which teachers, educational administrators, planners, and parents participated. The paper describes the study and its results.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Dajani, J. S., Sineoff, H. Z., and Talley, W. K. (1979). Stability and agreement criteria for the termination of Delphi studies.Technol. Forecast Soc. Change 13, 83–90.
Helmer, O. (1983).Looking Forward: A Guide to Future Research, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Linstone, H. A., and Turoff, M. (eds.) (1975).The Delphi Method: Techniques and Applications, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Makorov, I. M., Vinogradskaya, T. M., Rubchinsky, A. A., and Sokolov, V. B. (1987).The Theory of Choice and Decision Making (trans., by Sokolov, V. B.), Mir, Moscow.
Sushil and Prem Vrat (1989). Waste management policy analysis and growth monitoring: An integrated approach to perspective planning.Int. J. Syst. Sci. 20,(6), 907–926.
Warfield, J. N. (1990).A Science of Generic Design: Managing Complexity Through Systems Design, Vol. I, Inter Systems, Salinas, CA.
Young, B., and Linstone, H. A. (1982). Delphi method. In Olsen, S. A. (ed.),Group Planning and Problem Solving Methods in Engineering Management, John Wiley, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sharma, H.D., Gupta, A.D. & Sushil System waste in education and research: A Delphi study in India. Systems Practice 6, 275–287 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059726
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01059726