A system is set of components having relation to each other. Broadly, a system can be defines as a set of coherent set of inter-dependant components which exist for some purpose, has stability and has a utility as a whole. The term was popularised since its use in Bertalanffy’s General Systems Theory (GST) and is used to refer specifically to self-regulating systems, that is, the systems which are self correcting through feedback. We are surrounded by systems, which are self-regulating, found in nature including the physiological systems in our body, in local and global eco-systems and in climate. All the systems around us are collection of components which on closer examination appear to be inter-related. Systems theory or systems thinking attempts to study the generic features of all the systems we have around us. For example, Organisational systems theory is the application of concept of systems to the understanding of organisations.
Systems comprise of the following components:
One or more operational processes or mechanisms of transformations
One or more sets of inputs and outputs from agents and
One or more control processes.
The inputs to the systems are the resources from the agents in the environments which can even be other systems. The outputs are the things it supplies back to the agents. The physical flows are the flow of physical or material things which it supplies to and from the environments around it such as plant, machinery, goods etc. There will also be flow of information with the physical flow. Information is defined as what is currently happening in a system, what has happened in the past and what is likely to happen in the future. Processes represent the dynamic and flexible elements of a system. Process is a mechanism of transformation. It consists of an inter-connected set of actions or behaviours required to convert some inputs into some outputs. There are two major processes inside a systems; Operational processes and control processes. Operational process are set to achieve the defined purpose of the system while as control processes maintain the behaviour of the operational processes in desired directions. Control processes ensure continuity through time. They maintain the identity and viability of the system in terms of changes in the environment. Control can be viewed as a system that steers the behaviour of the other operating sub-system. Its is exercised over a system usually through some sort of feedback. Outputs are analysed and fed back to the system to obtain desired outputs. The feedback can either be positive or negative. Though control is exercised primarily thorough a negative feedback sometimes referred to as balancing loop. It monitors the outputs and compares them with the defined levels of outputs. If the outputs vary, the monitoring sub-system initiates an action that reduces the variations. Regulation is also an important aspect of control, it ensures control gets the system back to stability after any disturbance. Adaptation is also very important in a system so that a system adapts to the external environment. There are sub-systems is a coherent part of a system. We can view a systems consists of various levels and even level representing a separate system. The environment and the process which runs a system can itself be treated as a system. To ensure a system is performing at a desired level, there are three measures to do that; efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness sometimes referred to a three E’s.
