Contemporary Perspective Viewpoints

Systems Viewpoint

inputs: the people, money, information, equipment, and materials required to produce an organization’s goods or services
transformational processes: the organizations capabilities in management and technology that are applied to converting inputs into outputs
outputs: the products, services, profits, losses, employee satisfaction or discontent, etc., produced by the organization
feedback: information about the reaction of the environment to the outputs, which affects the inputs

closed systems: organizations that have little interaction with their environment; receive little external feedback
open systems: organizations that continually interact with their environment; have the potential to produce synergy
complexity theory - the ultimate open system: recognizes that all complex systems are networks of many interdependent parts that interact with each other according to simple rules

emphasizes that a manager’s approach should vary according to (be contingent on) the individual and the environmental situation
- most practical because it addresses problems on a case-by-case bases; no one best way to manage an organization
  - managers make decisions that are best for employees; not necessarily based on a single theory

learning organization: organization that actively creates, acquires, and transfers knowledge within itself and is able to modify its behavior to reflect new knowledge
- gives employees the power to solve problems autonomously, as well as to benefit from the experience of their peers
key features:
- continous learning
- knowledge generation and sharing
- systems thinking
- learning culture
- workplace flexibility

to create a learning organization, managers must perform 3 key functions or roles:
1. build a commitment to learning
2. work to generate ideas with impact
3. work to generalize ideas with impact

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