Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Chapter 4 analysis-LAPORCHE CARLISLE

Analysis
In Chapter 4 the text talked about interdependent systems and what it means to function as a whole instead of separate parts in an organization, whether it has to do with people or Biology. There was a term used called “distributed intelligence” , which was defined as all members playing a significant role in the organization of a system. This made me think of teamwork and how college teaches students to coexist in groups/teams instead of working alone all the time.
Also in chapter 4 the text was basing some of its points about the contemporary world on the quote of an Observer by the name of Senge. He said that “The unhealthiness of our world today is in direct proportion to our inability to see it as a whole”. This stuck out because going back to teamwork, all people in a group need to contribute something or another aspect of the group may not go so well. Another credible mind by the name of Ludwig von Bertalanffy developed the “General systems theory” which talked about living systems and the point where there is more than one way to accomplish different goals of an organization. This theory had an hierarchy that was made up of different things such as animals and humans, which were right by each other. He broke down their individual description on how they function and next to it placed their theories. I believe chapter 4 had useful points that are meant to give the reader an understanding of what it means to work together and that it is important to understand what is going on with all parts of the organization even if they don’t think they are directly connected.
Questions and answers
1.Why did the book mention that the systems theory appeals to people who are interested in organizational communication?
- I think this a good question because I question if it only appeals to people that are into organizational communication. People are involved in a system whether they realize it or not. There are just different ways to understanding a system, but once something goes wrong in a workplace for example, then people find ways to replace it or work around it to fix the system.
2. Why was Biology a good example of a system?
- Biology was a good example because it talked about subsystems and connections and how biology can not be explained without referring to most parts. The systems approach to me, was better understood after reading the pat about biology.

No comments: