Practicing Organization Development: A Guide for Leading Change: A Third Edition

WHAT IS SYSTEMS THINKING AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

In the simplest sense, a system is a series of interdependent components (Burke, 1980). For example, organizations may be viewed as social systems because they depend on interactions among people (Katz & Kahn, 1978). In addition, any organization that gives and takes information from the environment is an open system. Organizations take in inputs (customer requirements, raw materials, capital, information, or people), appreciate value through the input of a transformation process (production or service-delivery methods), and release them into the environment as outputs (finished goods, services, information, or people) (see Figure 1.1). This transformation cycle must continue to add value ...