Systems

approaches

Chapter 4
Organization as a
system
 A open, complex set of interdependent parts
that interact to adapt to a constantly changing
environment to achieve its goals (Kreps)
 Metaphor-biological reference
 Input-throughput-output-feedback-
environment
 Balance between the whole & individual parts
is crucial
 Synergy-sum of whole >than sum of parts
 SYSTEMS MODEL
(Kreps)

Environment

Energy
from the Input Transformation Output
Environment

Feedback
 System Basics
 System components
– Hierarchical ordered
– Interdependence
– Permeability
– Equilibrium
– Adaptation
 System processes
– Exchange processes
– Feedback processes
– Transformation processes
System properties

 Holism
– System is more than the sum of its parts
 Negative Entropy
– Ability to sustain and grow
 Complexity
– The more a system grows, the more it
develops
System properties

 Equifinality
-More than one way to achieve a goal or task
 Requisite variety
-Organization has to be as complex as the
environment it is in
Cybernetics Systems
Theory
 Study of regulation and control
 Corrective Feedback to maintain system
 Components
– System goal
– Mechanisms
– Feedback
– System behavior
Weick’s Theory of
Organizing
 Organizations are something individuals
accomplish through interaction
 Organizing
– Not just structure but activities consisting of
communication
– All organizing activities consist of
behaviors that are interlocked through
communication
Weick’s Theory of
Organizing
 Organizing
– All activities are designed to reduce
equivocality
– Enacted environment
– Members construct meaning through
interaction
Weick’s Components
 Environment
 Enactment
– How you make sense of the environment
 Equivocality
– Assembly rules-guidelines to reduce equivocality
– Communication cycles
 Retention
– Causal maps-used to make sense of future
equivocality in the informational environment
New Science Systems
Theory
 Chaos theory
 Order emerges from disorder, not linear
or logical process
 Systems don’t strive for equilibrium
 Complexity and chaotic nature of
organizational systems means
emergence of innovation, form, and
processes
 The Congruence Model
 The higher degree of fit (congruence) among
organizational components, the more
effective the organization. Fit = Alignment of
strategy, work, communication, people,
structure, culture)
 Interdependence is critical
 Transformation = the work & business
processes that convert resources into
offerings (Consider input and output)
 “The greater the total degree of congruence
(fit) among organizational components, the
more effective the organization will be.
 Definitions of Fit
 Individual-Organization (Culture)
– Individual-Work
– Individual-Informal Organization
– Work-Organization
– Work-Informal Organization
– Organization-Informal Organization

*Application to change in organization

(http://www.people.hbs.edu/rdornin/draft-
fifteen.html)
 Congruence Model
(Nadler & Tushman)
Input Output

Informal
Organization

Environment System

Strategy Formal
Work Organization

Resources Unit

History People Individual

Methods for studying
organizational systems

 Modeling techniques

 Network analysis
– Properties of networks and links
– Network roles-more than one role in a
network
Summary