Organizational change: models, processes, and implementation strategies

¶ … Open Systems. What would you consider to be the advantages of these characteristics?

One major characteristic of an open system is the importation of energy: "No human organization is self-contained or self-sufficient; thus, it must draw energy from outside to ensure survival. Take the case of a consulting firm that specializes in conducting employee opinion surveys for client organizations" (Von Bertalanffy et al., ). The consulting firm in this example is constantly drawing upon outside energy from the surrounding environment in order to fulfill its obligations and the needs of its customers. The second major characteristic is "negative entropy" which states that all organizations move naturally to the state of disorganization or death, but it is through the concerted action of all involved through importing energy via the environment that one can combat the evolution to this natural state (Von Bertalanffy et al., 1950). Another trait is that of the steady-state and dynamic homeostasis. This trait suggests that homeostasis and a steady state is a marked characteristic of organizations which survive, but that this state does not mean that no progress is occurring. Thus, in order to counteract entropy, organizations need to grow more and attempt control more of their surrounding environment (Von Bertalanffy et al., 1950).

The advantages of these traits are indeed numerous, but many of these advantages revolve around the fact that the force one to engage in strategy and proactivity. "Open system organizational structures promote effective problem solving by clarifying the big picture. Continuous feedback and response results in better understanding, by leadership and management, of the organization's structure within the environment and the interactive dynamics between them. That opens the door for better communication and more feedback. When the system and subsystems have enough feedback, the results can produce more clearly directed planning, intelligent design, useful products and necessary services" (Griffin, 2013),.

2. Why is integration and coordination important to the organizational change process?