| Like a human organism, an organization is a system. | | | | system. Once a watch is wound or a battery is in |
| Just as the nerves, digestion and blood circulatory | | | | place, the interdependent parts move continuously and |
| systems are interdependent in the human body, people, | | | | precisely. As long as the watch has sufficient energy |
| tasks and the management are interdependent in an | | | | stored within it, its system is independent of the |
| organization. A change in any of these aspects may | | | | external environment. |
| affect all the other parts to some degree. This is called | | | | An open system, on the other hand, is characterized |
| "ripple effect," which influences the organizational | | | | by interaction with the external environment. |
| effectiveness. To visualize these consequences | | | | Information and material are exchanged with the |
| between the various segments of the business, | | | | environment. Thus, an open system is one that |
| managers need an overall perspective. Business | | | | constantly comes into contact with the environment. |
| process management software plays a pivotal part in | | | | Because of such close and constant interaction, it |
| this regard. | | | | must be capable of adapting to the environment for its |
| Managers need to know not just their own jobs, but | | | | continued existence and operation. |
| also how their jobs and all others fit into what the | | | | An organization as a whole is a system, and the |
| organization is trying to achieve. Thinking about an | | | | various components or parts within it are called the |
| organization this way is an exercise in using the | | | | subsystems. The subsystems in an organization like |
| systems approach. For business process | | | | departments or divisions and different levels of |
| management software to be successful it is | | | | management - all play a crucial role in the organization, |
| necessary that software work on both open and | | | | just as your body's subsystems of circulation, digestion, |
| closed systems. | | | | nerves and skeleton do. Since all are linked, a |
| A closed system has fixed boundaries; its operation is | | | | malfunction in even the smallest subsystem can affect |
| relatively independent of the environment outside the | | | | the overall system. That's why it's very important that |
| system. A watch is a familiar example of a closed | | | | software be treated like a system. |