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Diana R. Jones

Argosy University

B7628 Leading Change and Innovation

Module 6-61A

Systems Theory Relative to Organizational Innovation

Dr. Stevel Beckford

June 20, 2010

 The goal of any viable organization is and should always be that of

maintaining long-term viability. To remain viable organizations must be constantly

reinventing to attain competitive advantage. According to Peter Senge (2003)

learning organizations are organizations where people continually expand their

capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive pattern of

thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free and where people are

continually learning to see the whole together. Senge states, the dimension that

distinguishes a learning organization from a more traditional organization is the

mastery of certain basic discipline. One such discipline is that of systems theory.

Systems Theory

System Theory was first elaborated by a biologist Ludwig Von Bertalanfty.

Bertalanfyty called his theory a general science of wholeness. His basic point was

that systems theory places emphasis on the holistic nature of organisms and their

functions, that no individual operates in isolation and that members are dynamically

interdependent and that the whole is greater than the sum of parts. Organizations

are viewed as open systems continually interacting with their environment.

Organizations also adapt to their environment. The importance of an organization

viewed as a group outweighs the deepest understanding of individual members.

According to Connor and Caple (2005) a group can never be replicated nor can its

environment.

Systems theory views the organization structure as an established pattern of

relationships among parts of the organization. Systems theory provides a general

analytical framework for viewing an organization. In the context of system theory,

an organization has main three characteristics that include: role of communication,

system, subsystem and super-system, and five main sub-systems.

ac Role of Communication ± Communication mechanism must be in place for

organizational system to exchange relevant information with its environment.

ac Systems, Sub-systems, and Super-systems ±Systems are a set of

interrelated parts that turn input into output through processing. Sub-

systems do the processing. Super-systems provide the survival for the other

systems.

ac Dive main types of sub-systems ±

rc Production sub-system- assembly line ensure throughput

rc Supportive sub-system-Operations Manager ensure raw material etc. is

available

rc Human Resources sub-system- responsible for social relationships and

training

rc Managerial sub-system- coordinate, adjust, control and direct subsystem

According to Scott Poole, system theory in an organization is simply a set of

elements standing in interrelation. System theory is not a prescriptive management

theory; it is simply a tool to broaden view of examining and understanding

organizational behavior and functions. Organizations cannot separate from their

environment and organization teams and sub-systems cannot operate in isolation.

 References

Connors, J., & Caple, R. (2005). A Review of Group System Theory. Journal for

Specialists in Group Work, 30(2), 93-110

Senge, Peter. (1990). 
  


The art and Practice of the Learning

Organization. (1990).