Internal and External Environments on Both an Individual and Group Level - Essay Example

The outputs entail preferred organizational culture and employee behaviour. I believe an organizational system is a machine since it relies on strict rules, guidelines and procedures and allows for no flexibility in the changes of the processes (Burke, 2011.

I have experienced a system breakdown in the past. The breakdown entailed a breakdown in communication in the organization between the management and employees. The scenario entailed high employee grievances, anxiety and stress due to fear of job losses due to changes in the economic operating environment. The slowdown in economic growth and decline in consumption incomes led to a decline in the product demand in the market thus creating a need for restructuring the jobs in the organization. In this case, the management proposed layoffs of some employees thus creating anxiety and aggression among the employees.

The organizational system provides certain outcomes and circumstances to both the internal and external environment. Organizational systems have a feedback mechanism that outputs information to both the internal and external environments. However, the closed systems do not interact with the external environment and assume that it is stable and predictable (Morgan, 2007). Closed systems ignore the impact of technological, legal and political changes. Closed systems provide feedback on internal environments such as changes in management practices, and employee behaviors (Burke, 2011.

On the other hand, open systems interact with the external environment and adjust to changes in the external environment such as economic changes, technological innovations, demographic changes and legal changes. Open systems factor the external environment in the planning, resource allocation and evaluation processes. In this regard, open systems will consider the needs of the customers, creditors, trade unions and government in the business activities (Burke, 2011). The organizational system ignores the needs of an individual and focuses on the attainment of group goals. In this case, the employees are expected to work in harmony through following standardized practices in order to attain the group objectives. Accordingly, systems ignore the diversity and personality of individual employees and focus efforts on group goals.

Conclusion
‘Machine” can be used to describe an organizational system since machines have many interrelated parts that work using certain processes to attain standardized and predetermined outputs. Organizational systems follow strict organizational rules and procedures in order to attain the specified outputs. Open systems interact with the external environment and attain certain outcomes that satisfy the external stakeholders such as high product quality, adherence to the regulatory environment, technological innovations and better customer service. On the other hand, closed systems only meet the needs of internal stakeholders such as better salaries for employees and stable management practices. Read More