herent entity that can be distinguished from its environment and may comprise a hierarchy of subsystems, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Much of what has been written about systems draws upon General Systems Theory, a meta-theory that offered a way to conceptualise phenomena in any disciplinary area. Very importantly, the systems approach does not argue that social phenomena are systems, but rather that they can be modeled (conceptualized, thought about) as though they had systemic properties. The concept of system used in the social sciences is, therefore, a very abstract kind of metaphor. Morgan (1986) and Senge (1990). 2:1Open Systems Systems may be 'open' (like biological or social systems) or 'closed' to their environment, like many physical and mechanical systems. As shown in Appendix 1, the open system imports from, exchanges with, its environment what it needs to meet its goals and to survive, and converts or transforms these inputs into a form that sustains its existence and generates outputs that are returned to the environment and can be used to exchange for further inputs, along with waste products. The environment itself comprises other systems that are also drawing in inputs and discharging outputs. Changes in remote parts of any given system's environment can, therefore, ripple through its environment to affect it eventually. There is a feedback loop that enables the system to make appropriate modifications to its subsystems in the light of the changing environment. Thus the system constantly adjusts to achieve equilibrium internally and with its environment. Reflecting upon the TKA management approach, we can now recognise that the scientific management, human relations and perhaps also the humanistic approaches treated the organization as a closed system, whereas the human resource approach recognises it as open to its environment. Brunsson (1989) identifies of the 'action' and 'political' organiz...
