SATM 6.2.3.2. The Early Stages of Socio-technical Systems Thinking

Socio-technical systems theory sees organizations as pursuing primary tasks that can best be realized if their social, technological, and economic dimensions are jointly optimized and if they are treated as open systems and fitted into their environment.

SATM 6.2.3.1 Introduction to Socio-technical Systems Theory

The second set of empirical investigations that helped shape the organizations-as-systems perspective were those carried out within the socio-technical systems tradition.

SATM 6.2.2.9 Methodology

Donaldson (1996, The normal science of structural contingency theory, in: Handbook of Organizational Studies, S.R. Clegg, C. Hardy and W.R. Nord, eds., Sage, London.), the leading contemporary advocate of the approach, regards the paradigm of contingency theory as providing a basis for research "leading to the construction of a scientific body of knowledge". The theory underpinning the approach is sociological functionalism: Just as biological functionalism explains the way the organs of the human body are structured so as to contribute to human well-being, so sociological functionalism explains social structures by their functions. That is their contributions to the well-being of society.

SATM 6.2.2.8 Recent Developments

One interesting development in contingency theory has been to see the best way to structure an organization as contingent upon the amount of information processing it has to do, which in turn is dependent on the uncertainty and diversity surrounding its basic task. 

SATM 6.2.2.7 The Managerial Subsystem

Management is clearly a functional imperative of efficient and effective organizations, since come management is needed to balance the pulls exerted by the other subsystems and fit the organization into its environment.

SATM 6.2.2.6 Environment

The survival of organizations as open systems depends upon some degree of exchange with outside parties. The higher the degree of environmental uncertainty and turbulence, the more the structure of an organization needs to be adaptive with fluid role structures, co-ordination achieved by frequent meetings, and considerable lateral communication.

SATM 6.2.2.5 Size

A considerable amount of empirical research attempting to discover the link between contextual variables and various structural aspects of organizations. They wanted to know how variables such as origin, ownership, size, charter, technology, market, location, and dependence correlated with internal factors like specialization, standardization, formalization, and centralization.

Increased size seemed to bring about decreased centralization but increased structuring of activities (standardization, specialization, and formalization). It follows that size is a very significant variable that managers need to take into account when designing organization structures.

(Jackson, (2000) Systems Approaches to Management, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers. NY. P113)

SATM 6.2.2.4 The Technical Subsystem

The type of structure one should choose for an organization, to get maximum efficiency, will depend on the kind of technology employed to bring about the transformation process. Obviously, the "one best way" traditional approach was not being applied. Furthermore, there seemed to be no connection between business success and what traditional theory considered to be the best organizational structure.

SATM 6.2.2.3 The Human Subsystem

The role of human beings in organizations is accorded a special status within most contemporary theories of management. Individuals are seen to possess certain needs that must be satisfied if they are to be attracted and encouraged to stay within the organization and if they are to be motivated to give of their best.

SATM 6.2.2.2 The Goal Subsystem

The goal subsystem obviously is closely interrelated to other internal subsystems. Choice of goal will have an effect on the technical, human, and managerial subsystems and also upon the best structure to employ. Similarly, each of the other subsystems will affect the nature of the goals pursued and the way they are pursued.

SATM 6.2.2.1 Introduction to Contingency Theory

By about 1970 the contingency approach to the study of organizations and their management had become the established paradigm in organization theory. 

SATM 6.2.1 Barnard's Systems Thinking

Barnard produced in 1938 an early systems account of the nature of organizations, called The Functions of the Executive. Barnard used a mechanical model to advise executives on how they should sustain organizations in equilibrium by the careful manipulation of inducements to stakeholders.

SATM 6.2 Organizations-as-Systems

"Organizations-as-systems" thinking had its theoretical roots and developed within the disciplines of sociology and management and organization theory. That it has two strands: one dominated by the mechanical analogy and the other by the organismic analogy.

SATM 6.1 Introduction the Functionalist Systems Approach

When functionalist perspective is adopted, systems appear as objective aspects of a reality independent of us as observers. Using the methods of the natural sciences, they are examined in order to discover the laws that govern the relationships between their parts or sub-systems.

SATM 5.5 The Status of Applied Systems Thinking

It seems to be the case that the shelf life of management "fads" is diminishing. "Total Quality Management" (TQM) had a long run but was eventually overtaken by "Business Process Reengineering" (BPR), wich had its today before being replaced by the "Learning Organization", which had its moment, and so on. It is also widely accepted that change programs based on TQM, BPR, "Rightsizing", "knowledge Management", or whatever, fail, in the great majority of cases, to bring the benefits expected.

Systems thinking as a practical approach to problem-solving. Why we should grand high status to applied systems thinking. There are five arguments we might reasonably make at this stage.

SATM 5.4 Systems Thinking as a Transdiscipline

Systems thinking is then a general term used to denote the theories, methodologies, models, tools and techniques, which are based on systems ideas and concepts and are employed by those who argue for a systems approach.

SATM 5.3 The Development of Applied Systems Thinking

Jackson and Keys (1984, Towards a system of systems methodologies, J. Opl. Res. Soc. 35:473.) sought to provide a "system of systems methodologies" - an alternative framework that would serve a similar purpose to Burrell and Morgan's grid in organizational analysis (1979, Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis. Heinemann, London.) but would be more suited to the language, concerns and internal development of the management and systems science. It was designed to related different systems methodologies to each other on the basis of the assumptions they made about the nature of problem situations or "problem-contexts." In fulfilling this role the system of systems methodologies (SOSM) had an important impact on the establishment of pluralism as an element in critical systems thinking. In order to understand this we need to consider the two axes upon which the SOSM is constructed (see Figure 5.2)

SATM 5.2 The Systems Movement

The use of systems ideas in the "problem-solving" mode is worthy of recognition as an independent endeavor fo first ranking important in systems thinking. A contemporary map of the systems movement, based upon this revision of Checkland's guidelines; must therefore show three initial distinctions, as in Figure 5.1.

SATM 5.1 Introduction of Applied Systems Thinking

Inevitably the discussion is in terms of systems methodology. Methodology look at the principles behind the use of models, methods, tools and techniques to provide understanding and, usually in the case of systems thinking, to bring about change.

SATM 2.3 Methodology, Theory, and Practice

We can establish some further important distinctions if we consider the relationships between the concepts of methodology, theory and practice. A good starting point is Checkland's summary of the elements he sees as necessary in any piece of research (Checkland and Holwell, 1998, Information, Systems and Information Systems, Wiley, Chichester.) In Figure 2.1 we see three such elements.