Defining organization as a system

1. Organisation as a
system
TAWANDA CHISIRI
ESWATINI 2022

2. Organisation as a system Outline
Evolving Organisations
Organisation as a system

3. Evolving Organisation
 Evolution of systems takes place when systems
reproduce and mutate whereby the most fit elements
survive, and the less fit die down
 The study of evolutionary systems is an important
subcategory of Complex Systems

4. Evolving Organisation
Feudalism
Small family organisations, military, church,
craftsmen, master –servant relationship.
Command structure
Challenges ?
Motivation methods ?
Recruitment methods ?

5. Evolving Organisations
First Industrial revolution organisations 1700s
to early 1800s
Assembly lines, telegraph, steam engine
Work is made easier by machines
Challenges death of fulfilling complete work
Motivation ?
Recruitment ?

6. Evolving Organisation
• Pros
• Advancements in production
• Growth in innovations and inventions
• Workers earned higher wages
• Improvements in transportation networks
• Cons
• Deplorable working conditions and child labor
• Unsanitary living conditions and pollution
• Food shortages

7. Evolving Organisation
Second Industrial revolution organisations
 1870-1914 Second Industrial Revolution. While the First
Industrial Revolution caused the growth of industries, such as
coal, iron, railroads and textiles, the Second Industrial
Revolution witnessed the expansion of electricity, petroleum
and steel.

8. Evolving Organisation
Second Industrial revolution organisations
Technological Revolution
Modern Business Management is born
Fredrick Taylor Scientific methods
study of work –supervision , performance
measurement
Challenges ?
Motivation ….birth of job design
Recruitment and selection ?

9. Evolving Organisation
Third Industrial revolution organisations
Digital revolution , internet,
Toyotism ERP JIT LEAN manufacturing
automization
Challenges?
Motivation ?
Recruitment ?

10. Evolving Organisation
Fourth Industrial revolution organisations
 digitalization, digital
transformations,
 personal connected devices, data
analytics,
 AI technologies, automation, and
Industrial IoT.
 Industry automation. Machine learning

11. Evolving Organisation
Evolving Organisations
 Fourth Industrial revolution organisations
 This is the age when lines between the
physical, digital and biological
spheres are challenged and industries
all over the world are uprooted.
 Challenges , motivation recruitment

12. Evolving Organisations
Fifth Industrial revolution organisations
 While the theme of Industry 4.0 revolves around
connectivity through cyber-physical systems,
Industry 5.0—while also aligned with platforms
made possible by Industry 4.0—also addresses
the relationship between "man and machine,"
otherwise known as robots or cobots.

13. Evolving Organisations
Fifth Industrial revolution organisations
Man/machine collaboration:
Collaborative robots enable better precision,
faster execution, personification of products,
and minimization of wastes
Challenges , recruitment motivation

14. Evolving Organisations
Questions to ponder
 What do you think your organisation will look like in
the next 5, 10. 20 years from now ?
 What will die and what will change ?
 Will this change be from internal or external forces ?

15. Organisations as systems
Part 11

16. System Approach
 The system approach to management views the organizations
as a unified, purposeful system composed of integral parts.
 This approach gives managers A way of looking at the
organization as a hole and as a part of the larger external
environment.

17. The function of system
 Convert information, energy (or) materials into a planned out
come (or) product for use: within the system, outside the system
(or) both.
 Facilitate understanding of a complex phenomenon by
encouraging input information and clarifying relationship between
different aspects of the phenomenon.

18. The function of system:
 A useful framework for the planning and controlling function
of management.
 Provide flexible approach to problem solving.
 Increase efficiency of the work flow by outline the task in
complex points in the process. according to proper time,
sequence and specify.
 Useful in evaluating effect and efficiency of the total nursing
system within health organization.

19. THE SYSTEMS APPROACH
System: a collection of parts operating interdependently to achieve a
common purpose.
General systems theory: an interdisciplinary area of study based on the
assumption that everything is part of a larger, interdependent
arrangement.

20. Basic Types of Systems
 Closed systems
Are not influenced by and do not interact with their environment (all
system input and output is internal)
 Open systems
Dynamically interact to their environments by taking in inputs and
transforming them into outputs that are distributed into their
environments

21. The Organization as a System 21

22. The Parts Of System:
1. Inputs – are people, money, information, equipment, and materials
required to produce and organization’s goods or services.
2. Output – the products, services, profits, loses, employee, satisfaction or
discontent, and the like that are produced by the organization.
3. Transformation Process – the organization’s capabilities in management
and technology that are applied to converting inputs into outputs.
4. Feedback – information about the reaction of the environment to the
outputs that affects the inputs.

23. 5-control (Boundaries):
 Can be exerted from inside or outside the system to alter operations
in a manner that ensures achievement of desired outcomes.
 Control are actions taken by system operators to regulate (input,
process, output) elements to improve system functions.
 Control over input regulates (the cost of operation).
 Control over throughput regulates (time, efficiency, safety of
operation).
 Control over output regulates (production quality & quantity).

24. 6.Environment.
is the context within which the system exists .

25. The organization consists of the following three
basic elements (Bakke, 1959):
 Components
 Linking processes
 Goals of organization

26. Components:
There are five basic, interdependent parts of the organizing system:
 The individual
 The formal and informal organization
 Patterns of behavior emerging from role demands of the organization
 Role comprehension of the individual
 The physical environment in which individuals work

27. Linking processes:
 The different components of an organization are required to operate in an
organized and correlated manner.
 The interaction between them is contingent upon the linking processes,
which consist of communication, balance and decision making.

28. Communication: is a means for eliciting action, exerting control and
effecting coordination to link decision centers in the system in a composite
form.
Balance : is the equilibrium between different parts of the system so that
they keep a harmoniously structured relationship with one another.
Decision analysis : is also considered to be a linking process in the systems
approach. Decisions may be to produce or participate in the system.

29. Goals of organization
The goals of an organization may be growth, stability and interaction.
Interaction implies how best the members of an organization can interact with
one another to their mutual advantage.

30. Organisation as a system
Orgtology Perspective
Dualism leadership management
Equilibrium
Projective and receptive parts

32. • Supplying and managing human resources;
• Supplying and managing current and fixed assets; and
• Supplying and managing capital and finance.

35. Process: System:
Recruitment & selection
Discipline management
The Resource System
Performance assessment
Human resource development
The Intelligence System
Labour Relations The Relationship System

36. www.derekhendrikz.com

38.  It is a management model that describes 7 factors to
organize a company in an holistic and effective
way.
 Together these factors determine the way in which
a corporation operates. Managers should take into
account all seven of these factors, to be sure of
successful implementation of a strategy. Large or
small. E.g strategic recruitment
 They're all interdependent, so if you fail to pay
proper attention to one of them, this may affect all
others as well. On top of that, the relative importance
of each factor may vary over time.

40. The Seven Elements
Hard Elements
 Strategy
 Structure
 Systems
"Hard" elements are
easier to define or
identify and
management can
directly influence
them: These are
strategy
statements;
organization charts
and reporting lines

41. The Seven Elements
Soft Elements
 Shared Values
 Skills
 Style
 Staff
"Soft" elements, on the
other hand, can be more
difficult to describe, and
are less tangible and more
influenced by culture.
However, these soft
elements are as important
as the hard elements if the
organization is going to be
successful.

42. Implications of the Systems Approach
 Coordination of the organization’s parts is essential for
proper functioning of the entire organization.
 Decisions and actions taken in one area of the
organization will have an effect in other areas of the
organization.
 Organizations are not self-contained and, therefore, must
adapt to changes in their external environment.

43. Questions to ponder
When recruiting do you seek one
who fits the role, the department or
the system ?

44. Features :
Following are the important features of system approach to management thoughts
1. It considers the organizations as a dynamic and inter-related set of parts. Continuous
and effective interaction of sub systems helps to attain goals of the larger system.
2. It considers the impact of both near and distant future on organizational activities.
3. It integrates goals of different parts of the organization(sub systems or departments)
with the organization as a whole. It also integrates goals of the organization with
of the environment or society in which it operates.
4. It synthesizes the knowledge of different fields of study
5 It enables organizations to frame policies that promote business objectives and social
objectives.

45. Example: Hospital
A general hospital capacity 249 bad
Human power – 479 qualification
The administration of hospital want to develop service to improve quality
care health .
Notes :
- good building
- have good financial
- bank policies
- provide heath care for all population

47. Application: (e.g, quality management)
 System: is the hospital
 Subsystems: are the hospital units
 input : including hospital staff members, supplies, equipment,
financial, patients,…etc
 Thorough put: including all processes leading to patient
health care, nursing care, education program, hospital
activities, and procedures.
 output : result of patient care either successful or failed like
health status improvement ,or disease complications
prevention , patient satisfaction.

48. Cont,
 Feedback : from family, patients, hospital staff.
 Internal environment: forces from inside the hospital like
hospital administration to putting policy.
 External environment : ministry of health that providing
policy & procedure and standards to the hospital.
 To improve the output the hospital has to improve the input
resources.
 Internal & external forces affecting on the hospital by
removing or adding new standards toward improving
hospital quality .

49. Questions to Ponder
You want to improve security in a
troubled region , what components of
the systems will be affected at
organizational level and national level
?

50. References:
 Sapru, R. (2008). The System Approach. In Administrative theories and
management thought (Eastern economy ed.). New Dehli: PHI Learning
 The McKinsey 7-S Framework: Ensuring That All Parts of Your
Organization Work in Harmony. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_91.htm
 The Systems Approach. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2015, from
http://www.introduction-to-management.24xls.com/en132
 Thelen, E., & Smith, L. (1996). Dynamic Systems Theories. In A dynamic
systems approach to the development of cognition and action.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.