Analyzing Value of an IS

Systems Theory

            Systems are everywhere around us. They are a critical part of our existence as human beings. Without systems, the world would fall apart. The idea of the systems theory is that it is a “configuration of parts connected and joined together by a web of relationships.” (1) Information systems is not the only type of system available to us. Systems make up how we function as human beings. We have a family system. It is a web of connections that function off of each other. The web starts with the originators of the family system are parents, and branches down to children, and grandchildren, etc. In addition to branching downward, it branches off to the side. Brothers and sisters, Cousins, nieces and nephews started the web and grew it, until the web of family members became so vast that it extended into other countries. In a biblical sense, human beings came from a single man. So if you are a believer in that, you could say that God was the originator of the first and greatest system of all time.

            If we have access to how the greatest system of all time functions, It would be ignorant not to take that knowledge and apply it to every aspect of life in general. So that’s exactly what system theorist accomplished. They looked into how we as humans build networks, they looked into biology and how ecosystems functioned and applied it to business. That being said, theorists had to start somewhere.       The systems approach was first proposed under the name of the General Systems theory by a biologist names Ludwig con Bertalanffy. Bertalanffy noticed that all systems that made up the world were connected. If you separate an animal from its environment, it will die. He noticed that everything in one system affected the system as a whole, and that whole system affected the systems surrounding it. (2) He also noted that each system was made up of inputs, and outputs. In order for a system to function, there needed to be something going in, and something coming out. The figure below illustrates this:

(2)

           

           

           

            Even though this is an information systems class, I think that it is important to look at other aspects of how systems function in order to obtain a better understanding of how systems in general work. I did a little research into the Behavioral Approach System. The Behavioral Approach System regulates how and why humans work towards something they desire. I found an article in the schools database that talks about how the behavioral approach system affects an individual’s performance in the workplace. The system is comprised of three parts. Work mastery approach, Rewarding climate, and work performance as outcome. Mastery approach orientation focuses on task learning and the development of competence. When an individual masters a new skill, understands the tasks, he bumps up his standards for improvement. That is where the rewarding climate comes into play. After the master approach is taken, a reward is given, and that individual works harder to accomplish work performance as an outcome. The input for this system is the reward after an individual masters a skill, and the output is the better performance from that individual to accomplish a goal. (3)

This system is important in the business world because it needs to be recognized by managers. When an individual has something to work for and a goal that they want to reach, naturally they will work harder. There are so many aspects of Systems theories that can be applied to the business world in order to make things run smoother. This was just one of them. In order to create a good system you need to look at social, psychological, and humanistic aspects of how humans function and how businesses run. Once you incorporate all of this knowledge and information into your system, you can really make an incredible one.

Sources:
1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_theory
2: http://pcp.lanl.gov/SYSAPPR.html
3. http://www.sciencedirect.com.library.ramapo.edu:2048/science/article/pii/S0191886909005182#sec1.1