SATM 4.7.1 The Black Box Technique

According to Schoderbek et al. (1985, Management Systems: Conceptual Considerations, 3rd ed., Business Publication, Dallas.), the complexity of a system is the combined of the interaction of four main determinants:

• The number of elements comprising of system
• The interactions among these elements
• The attributes of the specified elements of the system
• The degree of organization in the system (i.e., whether there are predetermined rules guiding the interactions or specifying the attributes)

It is extremely important to consider the last two of these factors in judging complexity.

Exceedingly complex system, which are so complicated that they cannot be described in any precise or detailed fashion, cannot be easily examined in order to discover what processes are responsible for system behavior. In cybernetics, a system of this type is called a "black box." Organization and their environments are close to being black box.

According to Ashby (1956, An Introduction to Cybernetics, Methuen, London.) the way not to processed in approaching an exceedingly complex system - a black box - is by analysis. Reductionist analysis of each of the separate parts of the system will never enable whole interactions to be understood. The black box technique of input manipulation and output classification should be employed.

Managers of complex enterprises cannot hope to understand all possible combinations of interactions within the systems under their control. The manager can then manipulate the inputs to try to find regularities in the output. As regularities become established, a more directed program of research can be conducted.

It is also very important not to jump to conclusions about the behavior of a system without observing it for a sufficient length of time (Beer, 1979, The Heart of Enterprise, Wiley, Chichester.)

It is an important tool that managers have to use at all times, because only by working with black boxes can they avoid being overwhelmed by confusing detail. The more conscious they become of this, the more informed will be the way they break down their organizations into black boxes for control purpose.

(Jackson, 2000, Systems Approached to Management, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, NY. P69~70)