System Concepts:

Definitionof a System
Characteristics Of System
Elements Of The System
Types Of The System
The Systems View and Systems
Thinking
Subsystems
Organizational Efficiency And
Effectiveness
Introduction
◦ The term ‘system’ is a commonly used word.
One speaks of an educational system,
computer system, system of theology, and
many others.
◦ An information system is, as its name
implies, a special type of system. System
theory (or concept) provides a useful
framework for describing and understanding
many organizational phenomena including
features of information systems and how
they may be analyzed and designed
What is system?
The word system is derived from the Greek
word “systema” which means the organized
relationship among the functioning units.
However, the word system always comes
with an adjective, whenever we talk about a
system such as educational system,
political system, accounting system etc.
But if we carefully analyze these systems,
we can find that there are some features
common to all the systems.
These are the characteristics of the system
which help us to understand the working
definition of the word system.
Definition of a System.
◦ Since a system is a subjective concept, there is no
unanimously accepted definition of a system. In order
to study this phenomenon more closely, we can start by
adopting the following definition:
◦ A system is an organized assembly of components
with special relationships between the components.
◦ A system is an orderly grouping of independent
components linked together according to plan to
achieve a specific objective.
◦ The system does something, i.e. it exhibits a type of
behaviour unique to the system or has a specific
objective or purpose.
◦ Each component contributes specifically towards the
behaviour of the system and is affected by being in the
system. If a component is removed, it will change the
system behaviour.
◦ Someone has identified the system as being of special
CHARACTERISTICS OF SYSTEM

The characteristics of the system are

◦ 1. Basic components
◦ 2. Interaction and structure
◦ 3. Goal
◦ 4. Behavior
◦ 5. Life cycle
1. Basic components
As per the definition of system, the
functioning units means the basic elements
of the system which are interrelated. These
are the basic components of the system.
So, these basic elements are nothing but the
identifiable and moving parts of the system.
 Following are some examples of system and
its basic components.
I. Educational system: Students, teachers,
books, computers.
II. Computer system: Monitor, CPU,
keyboard.
 Interaction and structure
An important feature of the system is the basic
components must interact among themselves.
It is not only collection or grouping of elements.
If an organization is considered as a system,
then purchase department must interact with
stores and production department, production
with Inventory and so on. Also, they are
interdependent on each other.
This interrelation activity of the components
makes the system dynamic.
Such a relationship among the components
which define the boundary between the system
and environment is known as the structure of
the system
 Goal
 Inorder to achieve the goal of the system we should first
understand the meaning of
◦ I. Central objective
◦ II. Integration
◦ III. Synergistic effect
 I.Central Objective : Central objective means the common
goal, because without a common goal, a system will start
moving in all directions. As a result, coordination among all
the parts (Components) will be lost.

 II.
Integration: This is combined work of all the components in
order to achieve the goal of the system. There must be
coordination among all parts of the system.
 So, in order to have such coordination the system must work
as a ‘whole’, integrating all its activities to achieve the desired
result.
III.Synergistic effect: From the
integration concept it is clear that the
system has to be viewed as ‘whole’
rather than just as sum of its parts.
This integrating effect is called as
synergistic effect.
4. Behavior:
Behavior is the way the system reacts to its
surrounding environment.
Behavior is determined by the procedures
designed to make sure that components
behave in ways that will allow system to
achieve common goal.
For example: If we touch an object which is hot,
the nervous system makes our body to
withdraw immediately from the hot source.
So, heat is input from environment, reaction is
the behavior and instruction in the nervous
system (how to react) is the procedure.
Procedure describes what ought to be done
and behavior describes what is actually done.
5. Life cycle:
Every system has life cycle and
according to human life it has birth that
is evolution, life, aging, repairs and
finally the end of the existence of the
system (death).

So, finally we can define system as

follows.
◦ A System is an integrated collection of the
components which satisfy functions
necessary to achieve the system goals and
which have relationship to one another that
defines structure of the system.
 1.3 ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM
 All the characteristics of the system are determined by the system

elements, their properties and relationships. The system elements

are
 1. Input

 2. Processor

 3. Output

 These elements are common to all systems. These are the elements

by which all systems are described. They are set in a fixed position
which helps the system analyst to design & work with system more
easily.
 1. Input: It is defined as energizing or the start up component on which
system operates. It may be raw material, data, physical source, knowledge or
any energy to decide the nature of output.
 2. Processor: It is defined as the activity that makes possible the
transformation of input to output. When data is processed through
computer it is processed through logical steps. However, these steps are
required to be instructed in series to the computer.
 3. Output: It is the end result of the operation. In other words, it is the
purpose or the main objective for which the system is designed. Though
output is largely dependent on input, its nature or format may vary vastly
from the input. For example: If data keyed is in numerical form it may display
output which is in form of graph or pictorial form.
Following model represents a system with its elements
which keeps the system in equilibrium.
 In order to build any system only the knowledge of its elements
does not serve the purpose, there should be fundamental clarity
of some important concepts which are essential to build the
efficient system & to keep it in equilibrium.
The major concepts are

I. Boundary & environment

II. II. Subsystem
III. III. Interface
IV. IV. Feedback control
V. V. Black box
I. Boundary & environment:
Every system has its limits that determine the sphere of influence & control.
This is called the Boundary of the system. Everything within the circumscribed
space is called system & everything outside it is the environment. Flow from
environment to the system is its input while a flow from system to its
environment is the output.
So, as soon as we identify a system, we define a boundary:
what is inside the boundary belongs to the system, everything
outside the boundary is not part of the system. However, most
systems do not exist in isolation. Systems, or their components,
interact with the world outside their boundary. The part of the
outside world with which the system interacts is called the
system’s environment.
Boundary of the system may exist physically or conceptually.
II. Subsystem:
A complex system is difficult to implement when consider as a
whole. However, if we divide it into smaller functional units which
are of manageable sizes then every small function unit becomes a
subsystem.

The subsystems resulting from this process generally

form hierarchical structures. In the hierarchy, a
subsystem is one element of a suprasystem (the
system above it). In the formation of subsystems, the
components performing same or similar functions are grouped.
For example: In a business organization system, marketing,
production, sales can be considered as subsystems.
Module: A collection of function or data. In other words,
module encapsulates related functions. Ideal module is
that module which can be reused in other development
projects.
The general principle in decomposition which
assumes that system objectives dictate the
process is functional cohesion. Components
are considered to be part of the same
subsystem if they perform or are related to
the same function
The level of detail with which you study a
given system is called the granularity
III. Interface: The interconnections & interactions among the
subsystems are termed as interfaces. In fact each interface implies a
communication path. Number of interfaces increase with number of
subsystems.

IV. Feedback control: In order to improve the performance of any

system feedback control mechanism can be used as a tool or device
to control or modify the input of the system after analyzing the
output properly.
Control is the mechanism whereby the system
is able to modify the processes and activities
(behaviour).

This ‘round trip’ of using output signals and

using them to modify input signals is called a
feedback loop, and the whole process is one
of feedback control.

There is always a slight delay before the output

can be “interpreted”, the consequent control
changes are effected and the system behaviour
is adjusted. This delay is called the (time) lag.
IV. Black box: Black box is the subsystems at lowest level
where the inputs are defined, outputs are determined but
the processor of the system is not defined making it
difficult to understand how the transformation of input to
output takes place.
 TYPES OF THE SYSTEM
We will have comparative study of different types of system.
1 Conceptual & Physical system
1. Conceptual (abstract) system is an orderly arrangement of independent
ideas. For example: Economic theory, Theory of relativity.
2. Physical system: These are the concrete operational systems made up of
people, material, machines energy & other physical things. For example:
Management information system.
Physical systems being operational systems can display activities or behavior.
While conceptual system works on different ideas or concepts and displays
theoretical structures.
2. Closed and Open Systems
◦ A closed system is defined in physics as a system
which is self-contained. It does not exchange
material, information or energy with its
environment. An example is a chemical reaction
in a sealed, insulated container. Such closed
systems will finally run down or become
disorganized. This movement to disorder is
termed an increase in entropy

◦ In organizations and information processing, there

are systems that are relatively isolated from the
environment but not completely closed in the
physics sense. These will be called closed
systems, meaning relatively closed.
Open systems can be said to be those systems which
interacts with its environment. For example: Any business
organization system exchanges its material, manpower,
money & information with its environment.
And Closed systems are those systems which do not
interact with its environment. It has only controlled & well-
defined input & output. For example: Television is itself is
closed system which controls its sharpness, brightness
automatically with sensors
3. Deterministic and Probabilistic
Systems
◦ A deterministic system operates in a predictable
manner. The interaction among the parts is
known with certainty. If one has a description of
the state of the system at a given point in time
plus a description of its operation, the next
stage of the system may be given exactly
without error. E.g. Computer system.

◦ The probabilistic system can be described in

terms of probable behaviour, but a certain
degree of error is always attached to the
prediction of what the system will do. E.g.
Inventory replenishment system, Weather
forecasting system.
4. Natural & Artificial systems
1. Natural systems: All the naturally occurring systems are called as
natural systems For example: Solar system.
2. Artificial system: All man-made systems are called as artificial systems.

5. Integrated system
System integration is the combination of related subsystems to form a
larger subsystem or total system. For example: Airline reservation
system
6. Dynamic vs Static Systems
◦ A dynamic system is a system that has at
least one (and usually many) activity or
process; as opposed to a static system,
which has no activity, whatsoever

7. Continuous vs Discrete Systems

◦ A continuous system is a system where
inputs (and outputs) can be varied by
extremely small amounts or quantities.
◦ Discrete systems are systems where the
inputs or outputs can take on only certain
discrete or distinct values.
TheSystems View and Systems
Thinking

◦ The definition of a system is, however,

somewhat of an academic exercise. The real
essence of systems theory is being able to
look at the world from a different
perspective.

◦ The systems view involves adopting the

reference framework and the terminology of
systems theory, trying to apply various
analogies with other systems and checking
which of the systems laws and theories hold
Why is this systems view so important?

Can we not just learn about the

technology of information systems and
dispense with more philosophical
matters?

The problem with the purely technical

approach is that it often fails to take
into account the inter-relation of
problems and proposed solutions, which
is incorporated in the systems view
Structure and Hierarchy
◦ The interactions between the various sub-
systems and components of a system
display some pattern or regularity. In this
sense the observer can identify certain
relationships, which contribute to the overall
behaviour of the system. The entire set of
relationships is referred to as the structure
of the system.
◦ Smaller sub-systems are thus embedded
within the system, which in turn may be a
sub-system of yet another, larger system:
the supra-system. This nesting of systems
within systems within systems is referred to
as a system hierarchy
Holism and Emergent Properties
◦ The perspective which claims that many
aspects of a system can be understood only
in terms of its entirety, and not necessarily
be reduced to the characteristics of its
components, is called holism (the opposite
of reductionism).

◦ This is often expressed in the popular saying

that a system is more than the sum of its
parts.

◦ Holism also implies that it is important to be

aware of the inter-relation between the
The holistic systems view implies that a
system has certain properties, qualities
or attributes which cannot be reduced
to or understood from its components
alone. These properties are called the
emergent properties of a system.
Entropy
◦ An important measure of a system is the
amount of order (in the case of matter or
information) or potential energy it contains.
◦ The measure for disorder or energy
degradation is entropy: the higher the level
of disorder, the higher the entropy level.
◦ All systems change over time and, unless a
system can draw on resources from the
environment, it will tend to become more
disorderly or lose energy (“run down”) i.e.
entropy increases.
Organizational Efficiency And
Effectiveness
◦ Systems concepts suggest two major classes
of performance measurement:
Effectiveness and Efficiency.

Effectiveness is a measure of actual

output against desired output. It
represents the reason the system exists.
It is a measure of the extent to which a
system achieves its goals and can be
computed by dividing the goals actually
achieved by the total of the stated goals
Efficiency is a measure of the relative
cost of producing output. It is the use of
inputs to produce output. It is a
measure of what is produced divided by
what is consumed.

Organizations tend to measure and

control efficiency more than
effectiveness.
The reason is that efficiency
measurements tend to be easier to
obtain and more precise in formulation
often leading to the production of wrong
Information system development for
applications may be measured by
adherence to budget and development
standards (efficiency) with no attention
to how well the application meets the
needs of the customers (effectiveness).

A word processing centre monitors

keystrokes, errors, and lines produced
(efficiency) but not whether the
documents produced have higher
quality than typewritten documents
(effectiveness).
 Organizations as Systems
 Let’s use a business organization to
illustrate the fundamental components of a
system, as well as several other system
characteristics.

In the next diagram, the system exchanges

inputs and outputs with its environment.
Thus, we could say that it is connected to its
environment by input and output interfaces.
 Finally, a system that has the ability to
change itself or its environment to survive is
an adaptive system.
A system does not exist in a
vacuum; rather, it exists and
functions in an environment
containing other systems.
If a system is one of the components
of a larger system, it is a subsystem,
and the larger system is its
environment.
Some of these systems may be
connected to one another by means
of a shared boundary, or interface.
A business is an example of an
organizational system in which
economic resources (input) are
transformed by various business
processes (processing) into goods
and services (output).
Information systems provide
information (feedback) about the
operations of the system to
management for the direction and
maintenance of the system (control)
as it exchanges inputs and outputs
with its environment.
 Ifwe apply our understanding of general system
concepts to information systems, it should be easy to
see the parallels.

 Information systems are made up of interrelated

components:
People, hardware, software, peripherals, and
networks.

 These have clearly defined boundaries:

Functions, modules, type of application, department,
or end-user group.:

 Allthe interrelated components work together to

achieve a common goal by accepting inputs and
producing outputs in an organized transformation
process:
• Using raw materials, hiring new people, manufacturing
products for sale, and disseminating information to
others.

 Information systems make extensive use of feedback and

control to improve their effectiveness: Error messages,
dialog boxes, passwords, and user rights management.

 Many information systems are designed to change in

relation to their environments and are adaptive: They
include:
Intelligent software agents, expert systems, and highly
specialized decision support systems.

Information systems are systems just like any other

system. Their value to the modern organization,
however, is unlike any other system ever created.