Organizational effectiveness

How could taking an open system or a natural systems approach benefit managers?
What is the open system approach system to management?
The open system management for an organization is a concept that attempts to explain the organizational behaviors by analyzing the structure of the organization (HPS, 2011). The systems approach to management was necessitated by those organizations that made an effort to adopt to the rapid dynamics of the business environment in relation to technological, economical and social dynamisms witnessed over the second half of the twentieth century (Huber, 2011).
The systems approach to organizational management studies an organization in its totality by analyzing its structure, its individuals and its technology within its unique surroundings and environment. Owing to this reasons, the open systems approach to organizational management is sometimes known as the holistic approach to the study and understanding of an organization Huber, 2011). thus in its simplest form, the open systems approach to organizational management can be defined as an open system that refers to an entity that is provided for study or analysis in terms of the organization study and analysis as the whole part of an organization.
When using this approach, to study an organization the following terms and definitions are applied.
? the boundary
This arbitrary line outlines the area to be studied.
? The environment
This is an aspect of incorporating all the issues and influences to the area under the study that are outside the identified system.
? Inputs
This is anything that coexists with the identified system from the environment such as the customer’s orders, power supplies, technological equipments, raw materials and labor.
? Processes
This whole cycle interplays to convert inputs in to outputs. They include production and planning processes as well as marketing of the organizational products and completion of the sales process.
? Output
This refers to anything that leaves the identified system to be transferred to the environment as represented by product and services as well as waste and losses. Thus as a tool of management, the open systems approach to management considers all organization as open systems because the system through one means or the other interacts with its surrounding environment by use of its input and output applications (Larson). Whereby the interaction with the outside environment implies that the system has to be able to adopt to the changes that take place in their environment since an organization that is not able to adapt to change would eventually fail to cope with the prevailing competition hence fizzled out or run in to bankruptcy.
The basis of the open systems approach to management
The open systems approach to management has identified the negative feedback control loop as the most common adaptive mechanism for open systems (Sternberg, 1997). This system as the name “negative feedback control loop’ suggests attempts to eliminate or mitigate the different that have been identified between the desired results and the actual results through the application of the negative feedback control loop where adjustments are made to either the inputs or to the processes in an effort to create out puts that rhyme with the identified targets and objectives of the organization (Starkey, 1991).
How the open systems or a natural systems approaches benefits the manger
The systems offer a great deal of benefits to the mangers in that they provide the managers with a systematic thinking that emerges from the systems dynamics that gives a field of study drawing from different fields such as the mechanical engineering, biology as well as the social sciences (Perrow, 2000). Out of this, the resultant systematic thinking focuses on the processes of interaction, and feedback that flow after one another in an identified system.
In addition, in using the open systems approaches to management, mangers are able to make use of organizational systematic concepts generated from systematic family therapy examples, which include
? Linearity Vs Circularity
With most organizations being systems that are based on feedback, linear thinking bases its understanding of any situation through cause and effect.
? Homeostasis
Organizations and team systems need to find their balance by adjusting their behavior as per the feedback flow. Thus, a management and leadership role dictates that homeostasis should be kept within the vision, objectives and goals of the organization
? Feedback loop
A smooth feedback between various parts of the organization has to be consistent and constantly in smooth flow. All forms of explicit or implicit communication both formal and informal form a feedback that converts part in to a system.
? Connectivity
It achieves balance or homeostasis, which in turn thrives through a continuous feedback. Thus, the management has a role of ensuring connectivity between team members.
? Hermeneutics
Feedback flow leads to events and situations within the organization, which pushes the system in to adjusting accordingly. Thus, the events that happen outside, within or without the organization inevitably affect every event depending on the perspectives of any particular team member (Worley, 2006). Hence, in an organization different people would interpret the same event differently thus, the manger needs an operational system that enables him to create a story that represents the main theme by harmonizing all these differences.
? Cybernetics
This first and second order change allows the manger to resolve gaps between different stories by reconstructing the different interpretations of the same story. Thus if the change is temporary, it is referred to as first order change while if in contrast it sticks with the organization to form part of its goals and objectives, it is defined as second order (Worley, 2006).
In conclusion, different people base the concept of systematic thinking on the idea of the social construction of reality where a system can be interpreted by various understanding. In which case, the concept enables the manager to amalgamate those interpretations in to a story that reflects the reality.

References
High Performance Strategies. (2011). Open Systems Approach, Retrieved on 2 October 2011
From http://www.flowmanagement.net/strategies/2opensystems.htm
Huber, G. (2011). Optimum organization design; an analytic Adoptive Approach
Larson, A. et Al. An open systems approach to supportability

http://www.acq.osd.mil/osjtf

Perrow, C. (2000). An Organizational Analysis of organizational theory
Starkey, K. (1991). Flexibility, Hierarchy, Markets.
Sternberg, E. (1997). The defects of stakeholder theory.
Worley, C. Et Al. (2006). Designing organizations that are build to change