From Machines to Systems

1. From Machines to Systems

2. Systems Theory comes from Biology originally • Views organizations as organisms • Capable of life, growth, sickness, death • Interacting with the environment

3. A System is made up of parts that are: • Hierarchical • Smaller within larger • Admissions is a subsystem of Lewis, which is a subsystem of Catholic universities and so on

4. Parts are. . . • Interdependent • The functioning of one component depends on all other components of the system • What other components of Lewis are necessary for us to have class online?

5. Parts are . . . • Permeable to each other • Materials and information flow into and out of the parts • O2 moves from the lungs into the blood; CO2 from blood to lungs • Info about athletes flow from faculty to athletics department • Permeable as a whole system to the environment • Food service companies bring food • Professors give presentations to the community

6. System parts engage in PROCESSES! Most Basic Process is: Input Output Identify the primary input and output of LU. What is the throughput? Throughput, i.e. Transformation

8. What about FEEDBACK? NEGATIVE - corrective – stop doing that Leads to stability POSITIVE - continue doing that Leads to growth and change

9. System Properties • Holism – a system is more than the sum of its parts • The way parts function interdependently with each other so that one may stimulate the other in ways it would not have done alone • Often used to describe sports teams that exceed what people would think they are capable of or another difficult complex achievement such as a space shuttle mission

10. System Properties • Equifinality – a system can reach the same final state from differing starting points and by a variety of means. This is due to interdependence. • Two colleges now have business degrees online (final state) • One of them had a strong on site business degree for decades (starting point) • The other did not have any business programs prior to going online and hired a company to do it for them (starting point)

11. System Properties • Negative Entropy – Since entropy means deterioration and death, this phrase actually means life and growth. Life is gained through permeability with the environment. • How does the time of year affect greeting card production? • How will a general population decrease in the Midwest and projected drop in high school graduates affect Lewis?

12. System Properties • Requisite Variety – the need to adapt to the environment • Simple environment simple system • Water Algae • Complex environment complex system • Chicago, IL, USA Real estate company

13. Implications A systems perspective of organizations highlights the complexities of organizational communication. How an organizational responds to a rhetorical situation is an example of permeability with the environment. Its response impacts all members of the organization (interdependence and hierarchy). The complexity of the response must match the complexity of the situation (requisite variety). There may be multiple strategies for responding (equifinality).