Key Fundamentals of Systems Theory - Literature review Example

Project and Systems Theory Name Institution Course Date Table of Contents Part I: Key Fundamentals of systems theory 2 Part II- Practical Application 7 Description of the Project 7 Fuel system 8 Avionic System 9 Interdependence of systems 9 Describe 2 management techniques / process/ tools by which the project system may be coordinated. 10 External Environment 11 Part III: Reflection 13 Part I: Key Fundamentals of systems theory The universe is full of systems that play different roles in their environment. The solar system, biological systems, management systems and engineering systems are some of common systems that are self-evident in any environment. While some of the systems are simple and easy to understand, others are complex and could take a lot of effort to understand them. The need to understand complex projects, systems and individual elements in the systems is what gave birth to the systems theory, a number of centuries back. The purpose of this literature review is to describe the key fundamentals of systems theory. Systems theory traces its origin from the work of early Greek scholars. Aristotle, in his biological systematics, presented a vision of hierarchic order in nature. His work was a represent of advanced systems thinking of the time, which was to become the beginning of the system theory. Many centuries later, Fredrish Hegel focused his attention in the study of systems and brought some contribution to the development of the systems theory (Fredrish, 2009). Some of his statements concerning the systems are: The whole is more than the addition of the parts. The whole defines the nature of the parts. Individual parts cannot be understood by studying the whole. The parts are dynamically interdependence and interrelated. A number of philosophers such as Wolfgang Goete, Ferdinard de Saussure and Jan Smuts made significant contribution to the development of the theory. However, the development of the modern systems theory started in 1964 when Kenneth Boulding formulated five postulates which have come to be regarded as the beginning point of the systems theory. The five postulates deal mostly on order and regularity in systems (Boulding, 2009). Today, the systems theory is much of Ludvig Von Bertalanffy and Joseph Litter works who formulated the hallmark of the modern systems theory. Their work captures most of the key fundamentals of the system theory namely interrelationship and independence, holism, goal seeking, transformation, inputs, outputs and hierarchy just to mention of few (Bertalanffy, 2009). The Philosophers offered a wide view of systems and their work captured most of the studies that had been done before in regard to systems theory. The definition of the term system originates from Greek where is used to refer to a regular or connected whole. However, different scholars and philosophers have used different definition to refer to the term. Paul Weiss defined the system as anything that is unitary enough to deserve the name. Kenneth Boulding defined the system as anything that is not in chaos. West Churchman, in his work defines the term as the structure that has organized components that interact to perform a certain function (Churchman, 2011). However, the most commonly used definition is that system is a set of interacting units or elements that form an integrated whole aimed at perform a certain function (Hamilton, 1997). As apparent from the definition of the term, one of the key fundamental of the systems theory is that a system consists of elements that that are interdependent on each other. Hamilton defines elements as fixed parts of system that are connected in a certain way to form a system. West Churchman adds that, elements in a system should be assembled in a certain manner in order to accomplish a certain function (Churchman, 2009). Lack of order in assembly of the elements does not qualify to be referred as system. A combination of elements first forms subsystems, which are connected to form a system. A sub-system is a group of elements that are interconnected to form a picture of the structure of a system (Hamilton, 1997). For instance, in an organization marketing department, research and development department, and finance department can be referred to as subsystems in a system (the entire organization) Systems theory cannot exist without interdependence and interactions of elements. A system consists of elements and subsystems. Every subsystem has different function or role to play in the whole system. The role cannot be performed by any other subsystem in the system. Therefore, the entire system depends on different subsystems for its operation. This interdependence is achieved through interactions of different elements and subsystem (Forrest, 2009). For instance, in an organization (system), the procurement department requires finance to purchase items. However, the finance issues are handled by the finance department. Therefore, the procurement department depends on the finance department for its effective operation. The production department needs some law materials which should be supplied through the procurement department. Consequently, the production department is dependent on the procurement. This interdependence, therefore, forms the central part of the systems theory. Interrelation in systems theory is not limited to components of a system. Different systems in a project exhibit a high level of interdependence and interaction. In project, the functioning of one system is dependent on another system. Decision on one system affects the function of other systems in the project (Hamilton, 1997). For instance, the digestive system in a human body affects all the other systems such as reproduction system, breathing system and blood circulation system among others. A failure of digestive will affect the breathing system, blood circulation system and the other body systems. The example shows that systems in a project are interrelated and interdependent. Systems theory is grounded on four main components namely inputs, throughputs, outputs and management. All systems require inputs in order to operate. Different systems require different inputs depending on the output expected. However, most of the inputs are either human input or materials. Money has also become a common input in most system. With the presence of inputs, a system processes or transforms the inputs to the desired output. Sometimes, the process produces undesired outputs which are referred to as system unintended output. The connection between the output and the output through the throughput process is made possible by management which consists of feedbacks and initiators (Gray & Rizzo, 2011). The management provides command to the processor on how to transform input to output. Systems exist in certain environments, hence a key fundamental of the systems theory. In order to define environment in respect to system, the term boundary should be known. Boundary is the line that delineating that is in the system and outside the system. It is the region that defines what make the system and that which make the system environment. System boundary is fundamental in the systems theory and forms part of a system hierarchy. Examples of factors in a system environment include government, customers and population among others. There are two types of systems depending on the interaction of a system and its environment. They include the open and closed systems (Gray & Rizzo, 2011). Open system is a system that is open to it environment. The system interacts with factors that form the external environment. Open systems do not have arbitrary boundaries. Since they are open to the external environment, open systems are unstable and depend on the condition of the external environment. The system is very hard to plan for. However, the system can be influenced by altering its external environments. An example of open system is a business organization which has to interact with factors in the external environment namely government, demography and physical factors. Closed system, on the other hand, is a system that is self-contained with no environmental influence. The system does not interact with the external environment as it has a clear boundary that delineates the system and its environment. This kind of system is very stable and is not possible to influence it outcome. Some philosophers, however, argue that a closed system is open to input but does not give output depending on the input fed into it (Parsons, 2008). The last key fundamental of systems theory is the system thinking. System thinking refers to the process of understanding how one system affects the other systems in a given project. It is grounded on the knowledge that systems in a project are interrelated. System thinking is current used an approach to problem solving in project management. The thinking view a problem as part of the entire project rather than concentrating on the system affected. For instance, failure of a motor vehicle engine can be approached through fuel system or oil system rather than concentrating on the engine alone (Parsons, 2008). Part II- Practical Application This part describes the application of the systems theory in real situation. Having taken place in an avionic project, which involved construction and flying a small aircraft, the application of the systems theory in the project was apparent. This part will describe the application of the systems theory in the project. Description of the Project An aircraft is a complex project that involves interconnection of systems designed to produce a body that can fly through air. It involves interaction and interdependence of systems that work together to produce a safe aircraft mission. The mission of this aircraft is to fly people from one destination to another. The systems involved in the projects include avionic system, landing gear system, fuel system, oil system, fire extinguisher systems and hydraulic systems and air conditioning systems. The paper will describe two systems namely Fuel system, power plant system and Avionic system Fuel system Fuel system in an aircraft consists of a group of components that store and transport fuel from fuel tank to the power plant system. It consists of components such as fuel tanks, fuel pumps, fuel valves, fuel vents, drains and strainers, metering devices, fuel jettison subsystem, monitoring devices and fuel lines. The fuel system process starts in the fuel tanks where the fuel is stored. When an aircraft is starting, fuel is allowed to flow from the tanks to the power plant to start the engines. Fuel flows through fuel valves which control the rate of the flow of the fuel out of the storage tank. The vents have drain and strainers that filters the fuel to prevent flow of unnecessary substance such as water and solid particles (United States, 2008). The fuel flows through the fuel lines to the power plant system where they start the engine. There is a steady flow of the fuel throughout a fight as the power plant run though the flight period. The fuel lines are connected with metering devices and monitoring devices that allows the flight crew to keep track and control of the amount of fuel. The system is connected with aircraft avionic systems which make it possible to control the system through signals. Fuel jettison subsystem is used to damp fuel when landing especially in the case of emergence landing (United States, 2008). Avionic System Avionic system is a complex system that consists of numerous subsystems. The system is provided to enhance safe and effective operate of the aircraft. Some of the major subsystems include communication, navigation, air data and flight management system subsystems. The aircraft crew feeds the flight data to the aircraft which controls the operation of the aircraft from the departure to the intended destination. The data fed are translated to signal then to mechanical force. For instance, it provides the distance to be covered, the cruise speed, the altitude to cruise at and the altitude of the destination. The aircraft follows the command provided by the avionic system right from the take-off to landing, executing various commands given to the system. Communication subsystems allow communication between the flight crew and other flight systems and control centers (Flouris & Lock 2008). Interdependence of systems The systems in the aircraft project are interdependent on each other. Effective operation of one system is dependent on the other systems. A decision on one system affects not only one but all the systems in the project in one way or another (Luhmann, 2012). In order to demonstrate how systems are interdependent, let consider a decision in one system and how it affects the other systems. Consider a case where the flight crew instructs the avionic system that the aircraft is landing. This will affect the power plant system as it has to reduce the thrust provided by the engine. The power plant provides the thrust required to propel the aircraft. Since the aircraft is landing, it has to reduce the thrust and land smoothly. Therefore, when the avionic system indicates that the aircraft is landing, the power plant system will reduce the power provided by the engines. The reduction of the power from the engine will affect the fuel and the oil systems. At low power, the engines do not need a lot of fuel and oil, and therefore, these systems will be affected. The reduction in the fuel system will send a signal to the avionic system to command the elevators to be lowed and cause the aircraft to lose attitude. The loss of the altitude will retract the landing system so that they can support the landing of the aircraft. The movement of the landing systems will send a signal to the avionic system so that it can actuate the hydraulic system which is used in aircraft breaking (Flouris & Lock, 2008). Let consider another problem where the aircraft run out of fuel when still flying. Power plant system cannot operate without fuel and hence its will stop operating. This will reduce the thrust and the aircraft will begin to lose attitude and descend. The power used by the avionic system is provided by the power plant system and hence when engine system stop the avionic system will not get the power. The reduction in the power in the avionic system will send back a signal to the power plant to actuate the auxiliary power units which provide power to avionic system when the main engines fail. The loss of the altitude will make the avionic system to retract the landing system as the aircraft prepares to crash. Describe 2 management techniques / process/ tools by which the project system may be coordinated. In order to achieve a predetermined goal, all the systems in a project must be coordinated in certain way that every system performs a certain role. Failure of one system to operate normally will affect other systems and may cause the failure of the entire project. A management tool or process helps to foster the coordination of various systems in order to achieve the desired result. Example of the management tools and system in the aircraft project is fight crew and autopilot. Autopilot is a tool in the avionic system that fosters coordination of various systems in the aircraft. All aircraft systems such as avionic, power plant and fuel among others are connected to the autopilot. The subsystem controls the aircraft operation following the command gives by the pilot during take-off. The subsystem also detects diversion from the give command and takes the necessary measures to compensate. For instance, if the aircraft stability is disturbed, the subsystem moves the relevant control services such that the aircraft achieve the initial stability. Therefore, this subsystem is a management tool that helps to coordinate the systems in the aircraft (Fielding, 2009). The flight crew is a management tool in the aircraft. An aircraft equipped with autopilot will operate without the input from the flight crew. For instance, the autopilot control all the operations in an aircraft such as taking off, cruising, giving direction, speed and the power required among others, without the flight crew intervention. However, the fight crews are very vital for the flight mission to ensure that all the systems operate as expected. Sometimes, the autopilot does not operate as expected and the flight crews are required to disengage the subsystem and operate the aircraft manually. Therefore, the fight crew coordinates the operation of various systems in the aircraft in order achieve the expected outcome (Fielding, 2009). External Environment Any project works in an environment. The project involves flying an aircraft environment with factors that effects aircraft operation. One of the examples of the effect of external environment is effect of turbulence on the aircraft. The aircraft will operate in atmosphere which is sometimes characterized by rotating winds or turbulence. Turbulences have member of effects on aircrafts. It reduces the power supplied by the power system and strain the hydraulic system in retaining the control system at their initial position. The reduction in the thrust produced by the power system makes the avionic systems to initiate an increase in the engine power in order to compensate the loss in thrust. Consequently, the fuel system has to provide more fuel to the engines (United States, 2008). Air density is a major factor in the environment will affect the operation of aircrafts. Aircrafts operate at different air densities which affects the operation of the performance of engines. At high density, the power plant system produces the maximum thrust and hence the aircraft operate at optimum level. At high attitude, the air density is very low and the power plant system produces less power (United States, 2008). In order to counter the effect of the air density, the avionic system must increase the engine power in order to maintain the same thrust as the one at the high density. Part III: Reflection It is apparent that systems theory is a major tool of project management. One of the practical uses of the systems theory to a manager is in understanding complex project, and therefore, planning for implementation. Some projects are very complex to understand as a whole. However, systems theory approach project by classifying it to individual parts and subsystems. The approach makes it possible for project managers to understand complex projects and hence plan for every subsystem. The knowledge of how systems are interconnected and interdependence also fosters understanding of the complex project. Systems theory is useful to project manage in identifying sources of problem. Systems theory include the application of system thinking is projects. System thinking is current used to identify problem in projects and hence formulating solutions. Therefore, it is a tool that can be used by the project manager to identity problems in projects and devise solutions (Hamilton, 1997). Additionally, the systems theory includes the study of the effects of environment on projects. This knowledge can be used by project managers to identify the best or the optimum operating environmental condition for the systems. For instance, in the projected described above, the project manager can determine the best altitude at which the aircraft will have the best performance. References Anderson, R. & Lowe, G. 2008, Human behavior in the social environment (5th ed.).New York: Aldine de Gruyter. Atesmen, M., 2008, Global engineering project management [i.e. management]. Boca Raton: CRC Press. Bender, M., 2009, A manager's guide to project managment: Learn how to apply best practices. Upper Saddle River, N.J.?: FT Press. Boulding, K., 2009, The social work dictionary. Washington, DC: NASW Press. Bertalanffy, L. 2009. General system theory: Foundation, development, application. New York: George Braziller. Fredrish H, 2009, Information systems: Theory and practice. New York: Wiley. Flouris, T. G., & Lock, D., 2008, Aviation project management. Aldershot, England: Ashgate. Fielding, J., 2009, Introduction to aircraft design. New York: Cambridge University Press. Forrest, J. 2009, General systems theory: A mathematical approach. New York: Kluwer Academic. Gray, W., & Rizzo, N, 2012, General systems theory and psychiatry. Boston: Little Brown. Gray, W., & Rizzo, N. 2011. Unity and systems theory concept. New York: Braziller. Hamilton, A., 1997, Management by projects- achieving success in a changing world, Thomas Telford: London. Heerkens, G., 2006, The business-savvy project manager: Indispensable knowledge and skills for success. New York: McGraw-Hill. Hall, A.D., & Fagen, R., 2010, Definition of system. General Systems, Yearbook of the Society for General Systems Research (SGSR - now ISSS). Leondes, C. 2009. Fuzzy theory systems: Techniques and applications. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Luhmann, N., 2012. Social systems. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Kundu, A. K., 2010, Aircraft design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Meyer, C., 2012, Social work practice (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press. Parsons, T., 2008, The social system. Glenco, IL: Free Press. Taube, M., & United States, 2007, Information storage and retrieval: Theory, systems and devices. New York: Columbia Univ. Press. United States, 2008, Operation of aircraft engines. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc. Churchman, W, 2011, Applied control theory for embedded systems. Burlington, MA: Newnes. Read More