TOPIC 7

OPEN SYSTEM DESIGN ELEMENTS

Open systems theory
• It refers simply to the concept that organizations are strongly
influenced by their environment. The environment consists of other
organizations that exert various forces of an economic, political, or
social nature
• Open systems theory was developed after World War II in reaction to
earlier theories of organizations, such as the human relations
perspective of Elton Mayo and the administrative theories of Henri
Fayol, which treated the organization largely as a self-contained entity.
• Institutional theorists see organizations as a means by which the
societal values and beliefs are embedded in organizational structure
and expressed in organizational change
• Resource dependency theorists see the organization as adapting to
the environment as dictated by its resource providers.
• Although there is a great variety in the perspectives provided by open
systems theories, they share the perspective that an organization’s
survival is dependent upon its relationship with the environment
• Open systems theory has profoundly altered how we understand
schools as organizations and the demands placed upon educational
leaders.
• Treating schools as if they are independent of their environment
would lead to wide misperceptions of the driving factors behind
organizational change.
• Contemporary studies of accountability movements, teacher
professionalization, and instructional leadership all benefit from a
strongly open systems approach to understanding environmental
demands and the resulting adaptation in school policy and its
implementation, or lack thereof.
• Indeed, today scholars are rightfully dubious of work that fails to
consider the rich context in which schools develop.
Any organization can be described as a
“system.”
• A system is a group of components (or parts) that interact with each
other and aredependent on each other to serve a common goal.
• Organizations and other social systems can be “closed” or “open”
systems.
• Closed systems have boundaries that cannot be penetrated by new
information orideas.
• Open systems have permeable boundaries (or boundaries which allow
things to passthrough them)
• Open systems interact with their environments and constantly let in
new informationand ideas so that they can continue to grow.
OPEN-SYSTEM
• An open system is a system that regularly exchanges feedback with its
external environment.
• Open systems are systems, of course, so inputs, processes, outputs,
goals, assessment and evaluation, and learning are all important.
• Aspects that arecritically critically important important to open systems
systems include include the boundaries, boundaries, external external
environment and equifinality.
• Healthy open systems continuously exchange feedback with their
environments, analyze that feedback, adjust internal systems as needed
1. BOUNDARIES

• All systems have boundaries, although the boundaries can be difficult

to identify because systems can be very dynamic. Open systems have
porous boundaries through which useful feedback can readily be
exchanged and understood.
• Closed systems, unlike open systems, have hard boundaries through
whichlittle information is exchanged. Organizations that have closed
boundariesoften are unhealthy. Examples include bureaucracies,
monopolies and stagnating systems.
2. EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
• The external environment includes a wide variety of needs and
influences that can affect the organization, but which the organization
cannot directly control. Influences can be political, economic,
ecological, societal and technological in nature.
• A highly effective organization is regularly exchanging feedback with
its external environment – it is an open system. Healthy organizations
regularly try to understand their environments through use of
environmentals canning, market research and evaluations.
3. OUTCOMES (RESULTS AMONG
CUSTOMERS)
• Outcomes are critically important to the success of an organization.
Outcomesare in regard to the changes, or benefits, that customers
accomplish as a resultof using a particular product or service.
• Outcomes are usually specified in terms of changed:
• 1. Knowledge (usually short-term outcomes).
• 2. Behaviors, notably those that comprise useful skills (often
intermediateoutcomes). 3. Attitudes, values and conditions, such as
increased security, stability or pride(usually long-term outcomes).
4. EQUIFINALITY

• Equifinality means that the same or similar results can be achieved by

using avariety of different processes. For example, management can
achieve the sameresults by using different inputs or by using different
processes with the same inputs.
• In contrast, closed systems have one right way to do things. For
example, in heavily bureaucratic organizations, a person must finish
the necessary procedures regardless of how useful an intended result
will be for the organization – the focus is on doing things right, rather
than doing the right things.