Open & Closed Systems

ByMr. Jitendra Kr. Sahoo

Presentation on . . .

Introduction

What is a System ?

• A system is commonly defined as a group of interacting units or elements that have a common purpose. The units or elements of a system can be cogs, wires, people, computers, and so on. Systems are generally classified as open systems and closed systems and they can take the form of mechanical, biological, or social systems.

  

• Open systems refer to systems that interact with other systems or the outside environment . OR

• An open system is a system that regularly exchanges feedback with its external environment.

Example : Living organisms are considered open systems because they take in substances from their environment such as food and air and return other substances to their environment.

• Humans, for example, inhale oxygen out of the environment and exhale carbon dioxide into the environment.

Definition of Open Systems   

History Behind Open System • The concept of an "open system" is originally

developed in thermodynamics, and since the 1950s also in systems theory. Nowadays the concept has its applications in the natural and social sciences.

• An open system can also relate to studying momentum and how objects react from other objects.

History cont…In the natural sciences

• In the natural sciences an open system is one whose border is permeable to both energy and mass. In physics a closed system, by contrast, is permeable to energy but not to matter.

In the natural Sciences Cont…

• Open systems have a number of consequences. A closed system contains limited energies. The definition of an open system assumes that there are supplies of energy that cannot be depleted; in practice, this energy is supplied from some source in the surrounding environment, which can be treated as infinite for the purposes of study. One type of open system is the so-called radiant energy system, which receives its energy from solar radiation – an energy source that can be regarded as inexhaustible for all practical purposes.

History cont…

In the social sciences

• In the social sciences an open systems is a process that exchange material, energy, people, capital and information with its environment.

Open systems contrast with closed systems

• Systems are rarely ever either open or closed but open to some and closed to other influences.Basic characteristics of an open system are environment, input, throughput and output. And some control systems with feedback.

• All systems have boundaries, although the boundaries can be difficult to identify because systems can be very dynamic.

• Open systems have porous boundaries through which useful feedback can readily be exchanged and understood.

• Closed systems, unlike open systems, have hard boundaries through which little information is exchanged.

• Organizations that have closed boundaries often are unhealthy. Examples include bureaucracies, monopolies and stagnating systems.

Boundaries

External environment• The external environment includes a wide

variety of needs and influences that can affect the organization, but which the organization cannot directly control.

• Influences can be political, economic,

ecological, societal and technological in nature.

• A highly effective organization is regularly exchanging feedback with its external environment – it is an open system.

External environment Cont…

• Healthy organizations regularly try to understand their environments through use of environmental scanning, market research and evaluations.

• These organizations often try to influence their external environment, as well, for example, through use of public relations, advertising and promotions, lobbying and advocacy, and educating industry and local leaders.

Outcomes (Results among customers)

• Outcomes are critically important to the success of an organization. Outcomes are in regard to the changes, or benefits, that customers accomplish as a result of using a particular product or service.

• Outcomes are usually specified in terms of changed:

1. Knowledge (usually short-term outcomes). 2. Behaviors, notably those that comprise

useful skills (often intermediate outcomes). 3. Attitudes, values and conditions, such as

increased security, stability or pride (usually long term outcomes).

Overview of an open system in an Organization

What is a Closed System ?

• Closed systems refer to systems having relatively little interaction with other systems or the outside environment.

Example : a watch is an example of a closed system in that it is a relatively self-contained, self-maintaining unit that has little interacts or exchange with its environment.

Closed System Cont…• A closed-system perspective views organizations

as relatively independent of environmental influences.

• The closed-system approach conceives of the organization as a system of management, technology, personnel, equipment, and materials, but tends to exclude competitors, suppliers, distributors, and governmental regulators.

• This approach allows managers and organizational

theorists to analyze problems by examining the internal structure of a business with little consideration of the external environment.

Closed System Cont…• The closed-system perspective basically views

an organization much as a thermostat; limited environmental input outside of changes in temperature is required for effective operation.

Conclusion

• Furthermore, in contrast to closed-systems, the open-system perspective does not assume that the environment is static. Instead, change is the rule rather than the exception.

• The difference between closed-systems and open-systems, then, is in the complexity of environmental interactions. Closed-systems assume relatively little complexity; a thermostat is a simple device dependent mainly on temperature fluctuations. Conversely, open-system such as the human body and modern organizations are more intricately dependent on their environments.

Finally…• The point is that closed-systems versus open-

systems do not represent a dichotomy, but rather a continuum along which organizations are more open or less open to their environments.

The Vacuum System