Systems Theory
Dr. Len Elovitz
Chapter 4 in Owens & Valesky

General Systems Theory
 Biologically speaking
 What is an organism?
 An integrated system of interdependent structures and functions

Organization


General Systems Theory
 An organization is constituted of groups and a group consists of persons who must work in harmony. Each person must know what the others are doing. Each one must be capable of receiving messages and must be sufficiently disciplined to obey. . . .
F.K. Berrian
 Two central concepts: subsystems and multiple causation.

Peter Senge and The Fifth
Discipline




Peter Senge wrote a popular book in 1990 titled, The
Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning
Organization.
Proposed 5 disciplines that must be studied and put into place to promote the organization’s ability to learn
The five disciplines are: personal mastery, mental models, team learning, shared vision, and systems thinking.
The fifth discipline, Systems Thinking , is essential for integrating the other four disciplines in making the organization effective.

School


Organization


Types of Systems
 Open -
 Interact with their environment
 Maintain a steady state
 Are self-regulating
 Closed - do not Interact with their environment
 Balanced aquarium

Are schools open or closed systems?
 Inputs from society
 Educational process
 Outputs to society

Are schools open or closed systems?
 Knowledge, Values, Goals, Money
 Curriculum & Instruction
 Graduates

 Is this how things really happen?
 Does the Educational process ever effect the inputs?
 Do the outputs ever effect the inputs?

Social System Model for Schools
Environment
Transformation
Inputs
Environmental constraints
Human and capital resources
Mission and board policy
Materials and methods
(Bureaucratic Expectations )
Cultural
System
(Shared
Orientations)
Political
System
(Power
Relations)
Individual System
(Cognition and Motivation)
Outputs
Achievement
Job satisfaction
Absenteeism
Dropout rate
Overall quality
Discrepancy between
Actual and Expected
Performance
W. K. Hoy © 2003, 2008, 2011

 For schools, we define closed systems as those organizations that tend to limit the influence of the community and tend to proceed as though unrelated to the larger real world in which they exist.



Administration:
Subsystem
Organization:
System
Environment:
Suprasystem

School
School
District
Community

School
Department
Community

Where does the individual fit in?
 The individual is functioning in the organization not only as an individual but also as one who occupies a certain role within the social system in the organization.

Where does the individual fit in?
 The individual is functioning in the organization not only as an individual but also as a teacher within the department in the School.

The
Culture
The
Organization
The
Work Group
The
Role
The
Individual or Self

The
Community
The
School
The
Department
The
Teacher
The
Individual or Self

 The individual shapes his/her role and is also shaped by it.

Role Theory
 The dynamic interaction of people with varying psychological makeups in the organizational setting is the domain of role theory.

Useful Terms


Role – Expectations of behavior held by the individual and others
Role description – Actual behavior of the role incumbent


Role Prescription - Behavioral norm of what is expected
Role Expectation – the expectations that one individual has for the behavior of others

 Role Perception – the perception that an individual holds for another’s perception about his/her role expectation
 Manifest Role – The obvious and prime role of an individual
 Latent Role – A role that is not expressed at a given time

Can lead to role conflict
 Two people are unable to establish a satisfactory or reciprocal relationship.
 Role expectations may conflict with the personality needs of the role incumbent.

 Role Ambiguity – role prescription contains contradictory elements or is vague

 Role Set - can be described in graphic terms which includes all players important to the role perception and role expectations of any particular role.

Superordinate
1
Pivotal role player
Superordinate
2

Superordinate
1
Superordinate
2
Colleague
1
Subordinate
2
Subordinate
1
Pivotal role player
Colleague
Subordinate
3
2

Getzels and Guba
 We conceive of the social system as involving two major classes of phenomena, which are conceptually independent and phenomenally interactive.

Getzels and Guba
 There are, first, institutions with certain roles and expectations that will fulfill the goals of the system.

Getzels and Guba
 Second, inhabiting the system are the individuals with certain personalities and needdispositions , whose interactions comprise what we generally call
“social behavior.”

ORGANIZATIONAL (Nomothetic) DIMENSION
Social
System
Institution Role
Personality
Expectation
Need-Disposition
Observed
Behavior
Individual
PERSONAL (Idiographic)DIMENSION

B = f(R x P)
Where B = observed behavior
R = institutional role, and
P = personality of the role incumbent

a
Role
Personality b

Role a
Army Private
Personality
Artist b

Getzels & Thelen

Please Read Social Behavior and the
Administrative Process
By Getzels and Guba


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Equilibrium - Needs of the organization and those of the Individual
 Schmidt ($1.15 for 12.5 tons - $1.85 for 47.5 tons)
 Collective bargaining
Homeostasis - Schools adapt and deal effectively with changes in the environment
Feedback - Circular pattern of information

Role Related to Social Systems
Theory (continued)
 Changes in the environment stimulate a reaction that is either static or dynamic:
 In Static reactions, the organization responds to maintain status quo.
 Dynamic equilibrium is characterized by subsystem changes to steady the system
( i.e., homeostasis).

Role Related to Social Systems
Theory (continued)


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Systems that do not have sensitive antennae picking up accurate feedback information or that do not provide information to decision makers, find it difficult to react appropriately to environmental changes.
Such systems tend to be in a static, rather than in a dynamic, equilibrium with their environments. They tend to lack the self-correcting, homeostatic processes essential to maintaining themselves in environments characterized by change.
These organizations will decline over time.

Why did so many high schools adopt block scheduling?
 Reaction to feedback
 1. Too many topics to concentrate on at one time
 2. Some lessons require more than 45 min class
 3. Students are carrying too many books
 4. Too much homework

What do you need to do to effectively implement block scheduling?

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Structure
 Schedule


Facilities
Contract
Task

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Teach for 90 min
Staff Development

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Technology
 Curriculum
 Materials
People



Buy in
Abilities
Training needs

Sociotechnical Systems Theory
Owens and Steinhoff
 A change in one subsystem will affect the other subsystems.

Contingency Theory
 Different beliefs in organizational theory, such as classical, human relations, or human resources, will lead to competing advocacy positions.
 None of the three approaches is superior in all situations. - Do you agree?

Contingency Theory (continued)


Organizational structure and management methods can be identified as being most effective under specific situational contingencies.
Three basic propositions underlie the contingency approach to organizational behavior in schools:

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There is no one best universal way to organize and administer school districts or schools.
Not all ways of organizing and administering are equally effective in a given situation: effectiveness is contingent upon appropriateness of the design or style to the situation.
The selection of organizational design and administrative style should be based on careful analysis of significant contingencies in the situation.

Contingency Theory (continued)

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Organizations that deal successfully with uncertain environments tend to differentiate internally more than less successful organizations do; yet they are able to maintain high levels of integration between the various subunits.
New technological developments, typically developed externally, of every description tend to alter the contingencies that affect the internal arrangements of the school.
The school system or school, as a sociotechnical system, is in constant dynamic interaction with the larger external environment in which it exists.

THE QUESTION
 What style will likely yield the most productive behavior (in terms of achieving organizational goals) from subordinates in this situation?
 Different administrative styles will evoke predictably different responses from individuals

The Effective Leader
 Is able to match leadership style to the contingencies of the situation in order to achieve the behavior on the part of subordinates that will contribute most to achieving the goals of the school district or the school.

 Research indicates that the most effective organizations are those in which human resources leadership is prime.