Modern Management: concepts and skills, 14/e

The System Approach

The system approach to management is based on general system theory. Ludwig von Bertalanffy, a scientist who worked mainly in physics and biology, is recognized as the founder of general system theory.43 The main premise of the theory is that to fully understand the operation of an entity, the entity must be viewed as a system. A system is a number of interdependent parts functioning as a whole for some purpose. For example, according to general system theory, to fully understand the operations of the human body, one must understand the workings of its interdependent parts (ears, eyes, and brain). General system theory integrates the knowledge of various specialized fields so that the system as a whole can be better understood. ...