Contemporary Perspective Viewpoints

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