SYSTEM’S VIEW OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION:Managing Systems

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Principles of Management MGT503

Lesson 4.11

SYSTEM'S VIEW OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION

Managing Systems

Another way to look at the manager's job is from the perspective of managing systems.

System:

A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged in a manner that produces a unified

whole. It's a concept taken from the physical sciences and applied to organizations.

The two basic types of systems are

Closed systems are not influenced by and do not interact with their environment.

Open systems dynamically interact with their environment.

Today, when we call organization systems, we mean open systems, that is, an organization that constantly

interacts with its environment.

The systems theory approach is based on the notion that organizations can be visualized as

systems of interrelated parts or subsystems that operate as a whole in pursuit of common goals.

This will be discussed in more detail in the next session.

The major components of a system are:

Inputs:

the various human, material, financial, equipment, and

informational resources required to produce goods and services.

Transformation processes:

the organization's managerial and

technological abilities that are applied to convert inputs into outputs.

Outputs: the products, services, and other outcomes produced by the

organization.

Feedback: information about results and organizational status relative to

its environment.

Open versus closed systems. These are terms indicating the relative degree with which a

system interacts with its environment. While there are very few, if any, completely open or

completely closed systems, we usually view open systems as those having continual interaction with

its environment. Closed systems are those with little interaction and feedback from their

environments.

Two major characteristics of open systems are:

Negative entropy is the ability of open systems to bring in new energy in

the form of inputs and feedback from the environment in order for the

organization to delay or to arrest entropy, the decaying process.

Synergy is the ability of the whole to equal more than the sum of its

parts.

The systems viewpoint suggests that managers are likely to be more

successful if they attempt to operate their units as open systems rather

than as closed system.

Principles of Management MGT503

The Organization as an Open System

Environment

System

Inputs

Transformation

Outputs

Raw

Materials

Employees' Work

Products and Services

Human Resources

Activities

Financial Results

Capital

Management Activities

Information

Technology

Technology and

Human Results

Information

Feedback

Operations

Methods

Environment

Answer to Test Yourself on Management Viewpoints and Theories!!!!

What are some early evidences of management practice?

Some early evidences of management practice are the Egyptian pyramids, the Great Wall of China,

and the status of Venice as a major economic trade center in the 1400s.

Explain why division of labor and the Industrial Revolution were important to the study of

management.

Division of labor increases productivity by increasing each worker's skill and dexterity, saves time

that is commonly lost in changing tasks, and creates labor-saving inventions and machinery. During

the Industrial Revolution, business owners were creating large businesses that required formalized

management practice.

What are the four major approaches to the study of management?

The four major approaches to the study of management are scientific, general administrative,

quantitative, and organizational behavior. Each is correct and makes an important contribution to

our overall understanding of management.

What relevance does scientific management have to current management practice?

Principles of Management MGT503

Scientific management is the use of scientific methods to define the "one best way" for a job to be

done. Its relevance to current management practice is that managers still use many of the

techniques developed by Taylor, the Gilbreth, and other practitioners.

Describe Frederick W. Taylor's contributions to scientific management?

Frederick Taylor defined four principles of management--develop a science for each element of an

individual's work; scientifically select, train, teach, and develop each worker; cooperate with

workers to ensure that all work is done in accordance with the principles of science; and divide

work and responsibility almost equally between management and workers.

Explain Frank and Lillian Gilbreth's contributions to scientific management?

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth studied work arrangements to eliminate wasteful hand and body

motions. They also experimented with the design and use of proper tools and equipment for

optimizing work performance.

Describe Fayol's principles of management and how they compare with Taylor's?

Henri Fayol's principles of management were division of work, authority, discipline, unity of

command, unity of direction, subordination of individual interests, remuneration, centralization,

scalar chain, order, equity, stability of tenure of personnel, initiative, and esprit de corps. In contrast

to Taylor's principles, Fayol's focused on the entire organization and not just the individual worker.

What did Weber contribution to the general administrative theories of management?

Max Weber described an ideal type of organization called a bureaucracy, characterized by division

of labor, a clearly defined hierarchy, detailed rules and regulations, and impersonal relationships.

Rules and controls were to be applied uniformly, avoiding involvement with individual personalities

and preferences of employees.

Explain how the quantitative approach evolved and how it has contributed to the field of

management.

The quantitative approach, also called operations research or management science, is the use of

quantitative techniques to improve decision making, and it evolved out of the development of

mathematical and statistical solutions to military problems during World War II. After the war,

many quantitative techniques that had been used for military problems were applied to the business

sector. The quantitative approach has added another dimension to the evolution of management

practice and thinking and has contributed most directly to management decision making in

planning and control.

What is organizational behavior?

10.

Organizational behavior is the field of study concerned with the actions or behavior of people at

work.

What were some of the contributions of the early advocates of OB?

11.

Early advocates of the OB approach were Robert Owen, who proposed an idealized workplace

where work hours would be regulated, child labor outlawed, public education and meals provided,

and business involved in community projects; Hugo Munsterberg, who created the field of

industrial psychology, the study of individuals at work to maximize their productivity and

adjustment; Mary Parker Follett, who thought that organizations should be based on a group ethic

rather than on individualism to release individual potential; and Chester Barnard, who saw

organizations as social systems that required human cooperation.

Describe the Hawthorne studies and their contribution to management practice.

12.

The Hawthorne studies, conducted at the Western Electric Company Works in Cicero Illinois,

from 1924 through the early 1930s, exposed an experimental group of workers to various lighting

intensities while providing a control group with constant intensity. As the level of light was

increased in the experimental group, the output of both groups increased. The series of studies led

Principles of Management MGT503

to a new emphasis on the human behavior factor and helped change the dominant theme of the

time that employees were not different from any other machines the organization used.

How is globalization affecting the way managers do their jobs?

13.

Management is no longer constrained by national borders, and managers in organizations of all

sizes and types around the world are faced with the opportunities and challenges of operating in a

global market.

What is workforce diversity, and what implications does it have for managers?

14.

Workforce diversity exists when workers are more heterogeneous in terms of gender, race,

ethnicity, age, and other characteristics that reflect their differences. It's an important issue because

as more women, minorities, elderly, and immigrants enter the job market in the first part of the 21st

century, monumental changes are predicted in the workplace.

Discuss the three important themes in the definition of entrepreneurship?

15.

First, is the pursuit of opportunities, because entrepreneurship is about pursuing environmental

trends and changes that no one else has seen or paid attention to.

Second, is innovation, because entrepreneurship involves changing, revolutionizing, transforming,

and introducing products or services or new ways of doing business.

Third, is growth, because entrepreneurs are not content to stay small or to stay the same in size.

How is e-commerce different from e-business, and what are the main forms of e-commerce

16.

transactions?

E-business is more than e-commerce, although e-business can include e-commerce. E-business is a

comprehensive term describing the way an organization does its work by using electronic linkages

with its key constituencies. The main forms of e-commerce transactions are business-to-business,

business-to-consumer, consumer-to-consumer, and government-to-business.

Describe the three categories of e-business involvement.

17.

The three main categories of e-business are: enhanced--using the Internet to enhance but not

replace traditional ways of doing business; enabled--using the Internet to perform its traditional

business functions better, but not to sell anything; total--whole existence is made possible by and

revolves around the Internet.

Why should managers be concerned about innovation and flexibility?

18.

Without a constant flow of new ideas an organization is doomed to obsolescence or failure. Also,

flexibility is required in a context where customers/needs may change overnight, where new

competitors come and go quickly, and where employees and their skills are shifted as needed from

project to project

What is TQM, and how is it affecting manager's jobs?

19.

TQM is a philosophy of management driven by continual improvement and response to customer,

employee, and supplier needs and expectations. It encompasses employees and suppliers as well as

the people who purchase the organization's goods or services. The objective of managers is to

create an organization committed to continuous improvement in work processes.

How does knowledge management fit into the concept of a learning organization?

20.

A learning organization is one that has developed the capacity to continuously learn, adapt, and

change. Knowledge management involves cultivating a learning culture where organizational

members systematically gather knowledge and share it with others in the organization in order to

achieve better performance.

What is workplace spirituality and how is it an issue that managers must deal with?

21.

Principles of Management MGT503

Workplace Spirituality is "a recognition of an inner life that nourishes and is nourished by

meaningful work that takes place in the context of community." Workers, and society in general,

are searching for a deeper understanding of who they are and why they're here on Earth. They want

more than just a steady job and a paycheck. Current research studies looking at the relationship

between workplace spirituality and productivity have shown interesting results. Workplace

spirituality is likely to be manifested in how managers treat employees and how employees'

contributions are respected and valued.

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