Chapter 4 Summary - This is for Dr. Baker\'s class. PDF

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This is for Dr. Baker's class. ...

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Chapter 4: Systems Approaches Summary Organizations do not behave like machines and are not predictable as referenced by the theories in earlier chapters. Instead, there is a new approach called the “systems or organismic metaphor,” this views organizations as not self-sufficient and self-contained machines, but as “complex organisms that must interact with their environment to survive,” (p. 59, Miller). For example, you do not see a lion hunting the same game every time they look for food. Their food source varies based on their environment. The same scenario could be applied to an organization. The status quo usually changes and organizations have to change with the times and what is available. Systems theory originated from the fields of biology and engineering. Ludwig von Bertalanffy adopted a theory that “he believed was as appropriate for the social sciences as it was for biology,” (p. 60, Miller). The 60s and 70s showed attention to the systems metaphor to grasp “the processes of organizational behavior and communication,” (p. 60, Miller). A system is made up of parts and components, which in an organization, are specifically the people and departments that help the organization run. A systems theorist will first will first try to identify the components of a chosen studied system. They then usually look at how the parts work and how they are arranged. Hierarchal ordering, interdependence, and permeability are the three concepts that characterize system components. Hierarchal ordering is based on the idea that “system components are arranged in highly complex ways that involve subsystems and supersystems,” (p. 61, Miller). Think of your brain. Your brain is not just one thing. It is made up of several components we can divide it into. The physical components include water, bones, myelin, blood vessels, neurons, and so forth. The

scientific components are your hippocampus, pineal gland, your frontal lobes, your amygdala, and so forth. The functions of your brain are many, such as determining when you are full, how to speak, how to listen, and how to remember. Lastly, the control mechanisms of your brain are determined by you and your biological makeup. Systems theorists see “hierarchy as the relatively straightforward lines of authority represented by the organizational chart.” The supersystems and subsystems in an organization are made up of people with different power and authority. We see hierarchal ordering in No Hero. The Seals are a part of a larger system (the U.S. Government) who do assigned tasks and risk their lives for their country. They also sometimes worked in conjunction with the U.S. Army, which is another system. Interdependence refers to how something cannot function without the help of something else. Each part of the system relies on another part of the system to get the job done. Think of a courtroom. There can be no trial without the two parties, innocent or guilty, the judge, the attorneys, or the jury. All of these people must show up and work together to run the proceedings of what we call in the U.S. a “fair trial.” Organizations are the same way. Something cannot function without the cooperation and connectivity of its groups. In tribes, a leader cannot function without its followers. This concept of interdependence is seen all throughout the book. Permeability is the action of how organizations must be open to their environment and that they allow material and information to flow freely throughout it to a certain extent. For example, your brain is capable of finding new routes of getting a biological task done even if the original routes have been destroyed. Some people have functioned only having a left brain because your brain is so adaptable. Organizations must have the same degree of being open to other ideas and influences, so that they can change when it is time based on organizational needs and with a changing status quo. However, an organization must be open yet closed so that destructive things

do not occur to the organization. It is a matter of trial and error in a lot of cases. In No Hero, this concept is especially important as we learn that NAVY Seals must be aware of their environment at all times, or else their lives are put on the line. System processes being with the idea that “systems are characterized by input-throughputoutput processes,” (p. 63, Miller). There are two processes that characterize this main process and they are exchange and two types of feedback, one being negative and one being positive. Exchange is related to the permeability of the organization and feedback is the information that “helps to facilitate the interdepending functioning of system components,” (p. 63, Miller). Let’s use the example of Amazon to tie these concepts together. Amazon markets certain products that appeal to certain people (exchange and input). Customers then can add this item to their carts (throughput) and companies receive the information that this customer needs their product to be shipped and they ordered their product because they liked it (throughput again). The customer then receives the product with amazon acting as the middleman to get the product to them (output and permeability, since the companies rely on Amazon to ship their products). The customer can then rate their product experience on Amazon as positive or negative and the companies that market these products can take that positive or negative feedback to either increase their marketing or develop a better product that will meet consumer needs better (feedback, input, and output). There needs to be balanced feedback in an organization to prevent codependence, which is when an organization constricts their permeability in regards to what channels of feedback they will consider. In Tribes and No Hero, feedback is essential in the fact that to keep a tribe going, you have to change your blueprint sometimes, and with the Seals, receiving feedback is the process of learning to become a better Seal.

The system properties are holism, equifinality, negative entropy, and requisite variety. Holism is based on the idea that systems are “more than the sum of their parts” (p. 64, Miller.). Equifinality refers to how the organization can reach the same result using different sets of conditions and processes through its interdependent parts. Entropy itself “is the tendency of closed systems to run down,” (p. 64, Miller). Negative entropy is the opposite of just entropy, which is the ability of an organization to be open to its environment and to sustain themselves and to not close down. Requisite Variety is a matching concept- it states that an organization’s internal working must be as diverse and complicated as its environment. An organization’s ability to evolve and survive depends on how well it adapts to this outside, complicated environment. In Tribes, negative entropy is especially important when we consider how traditional methods in the older status quos are not as successful as having hectics who develop ideas in response to their current environment. “Cybernetic systems theory deals with the process through which physical, natural, and organizational systems are steered toward reaching system goals,” (p. 66, Miller). This theory was developed by Norbert Wiener. The cybernetic system consists of three main components, which are a system goal, mechanisms, and feedback. “The system goal is a target for a particular aspect of system operation,” (p. 67, Miller). Mechanisms control the system’s behavior and sometimes the system’s behavior will not match the system’s goal, and it adjusts according to circumstances. Feedback is the process by which new system goals and mechanisms are either continued or reformed based on the success of a certain system goal and its functions. System behavior is how the system responded to the system goal. Cybernetic theory emphasizes some parts of the original systems theory, such as feedback, and also interdependence. But, it deemphasizes requisite variety in the fact it does not take into account the environment outside

the organization. In No Hero, the men have goals, use their mechanisms in several different ways to get the assigned task done, and use feedback to do the mission better the next time they do it. Karl Weick’s Theory of Organizing emphasizes the fact that organizations exist in an information environment, rather than a physical one. Individuals create this information environment by enactment, which is “that different organizational members will imbue information inputs with different meanings and hence create different information environments,” (p. 68, Miller). People are considered to be a huge part of their environments, and it is not fixed. It is strongly based on equivocality, which is the unpredictability of information in any environment, in this case, an organizational environment. Reducing this factor, according to Weick, was central to the process of organizing. Weick believed that assembly rules and communication cycles help members of an organization make sense of their equivocal environments. Assembly rules are the “procedures that can guide organizational members in set patterns of sensemaking,” (Miller, p. 69). Communication cycles are simply the act of how “organizational members introduce and react to ideas that help to make sense of the equivocal environment,” (p. 70, Miller). Weick’s theory emphasizes interdependence, requisite variety, and permeability. The “New Science” Systems Theory relates to how organizations are not predictable and logical and that “chaos” can result in good innovations for an organization. There are three things that are important to this theory, the first one emphasizing the importance of relationships in organizations, the importance of participation in organizational processes, and the importance of being open to the information environment. The last important point is the appreciation of organizational change and instability. This theory is important as our world continues down paths that have caused increased complexity.

There are four methods for studying organizational systems: network analysis, analyzing properties of networks and network links, and analyzing network roles. Network analysis is when somebody studies the maps of relationships in an organization. The properties of networks are the components that keep a certain network flowing. It involves the first concept of network content, which is the information that is flowing through the network, and a second concept is network mode, which is the how network links are maintained though the chosen communication medium. The third concept is the density of the network, which is how many interconnected relationships are in the network. Lastly, a network’s level of analysis is when people will look at the “connections among individuals within a given organization,” (Miller, p. 74). In Tribes, the density of a network can be either big or small. As long as the tribe is full of fans, the network density can be as big or small as it needs to be. The properties of network links are strength, symmetry, and multiplexity. The strength of a link is how successful the link is, despite what challenges it goes through. Symmetry refers to whether two people involved in a network link share the same kind of relationship to one another. Lastly, multiplexity refers to how many different kinds of content flow through a network link. This concept is seen in No Hero, the men must maintain strong, similar relationships to keep the symmetry of their network strong. “Network roles define the ways in which individuals are connected with each other,” (p. 74, Miller). There are four main vocab words tied to this concept. The first one is an isolate, which refers to a person who works by themselves in a network. Group members are highly connected groups of individuals who work together in a network. A bridge is somebody who links the group members to individuals outside of the group. Lastly, a liaison is somebody who talks to a chosen number of people in the network who has different connections within the network. In

both Tribes and No Hero, we see that group members who are highly connected are directly related to the success of a SEAL mission and whether or not a tribe can be successfully formed....