STUDENT: Moraru Gabriel

Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi Faculty of Civil Engineering and Building Services Master Program: Structural Engineering (in English) Topic: Advanced Earthquake Engineering

Home Work No.1

Systems Theory

Master student: Moraru Gabriel

May 2014
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STUDENT: Moraru Gabriel

Systems theory

1. Definition 1.1 Systems theory or general systems theory or systemics is an interdisciplinary field which studies systems as a whole. Systems theory was founded by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, William Ross Ashby and others between the 1940s and the 1970s on principles from physics, biology and engineering and later grew into numerous fields including philosophy, sociology, organizational theory, management, psychotherapy (within family systems therapy) and economics among others. Cybernetics is a closely related field. In recent times complex systems has increasingly been used as a synonym. 1.2 Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research. The term does not yet have a well-established, precise meaning, but systems theory can reasonably be considered a specialization of systems thinking, a generalization of systems science, a systems approach. The term originates from Bertalanffy's general system theory (GST) and is used in later efforts in other fields, such as the action theory of Talcott Parsons and the social systems theory of Niklas Luhmann. 1.3 Systems theory is a science which has the comparative study of systems as its object. There are different types of systems: organisms (animals, humans, particularly cognitive mechanisms in organisms), machines (particularly computers), physicochemical systems, psychic systems and social systems. Such a comparative research program for heterogeneous types of systems presupposes a highly general concept of systems, for which numerous features have been proposed: the interdependency of the parts of a system; the reference of any structure and process in a system to the environments of the system; equilibrium and adaptedness and continuous re-adaptations to environmental demands as core elements of the understanding of a system; self-organization of a system as the principal way it responds to external intervention; complexity as trigger mechanism for system-formation and as the form which describes the internal network structures of connectedness among system elements.

STUDENT: Moraru Gabriel

2. Clasification In the branch concerned with work in the systems sciences as such, we can distinguish between the purely theoretical development of systems ideas and their interrelationships, and work aiming to develop systems ideas useful to interpreting and/or handling real-world situations. General evolution theory is an example of the former, while the development of social systems design methodology is an example of the latter. There are others examples as well, leading to a three-fold distinction: 2.1 hard systems approaches (such as are employed in systems engineering), 2.2 soft systems approaches (such as are drawn upon in humanistic psychology), and mixed systems approaches such as those employed in operations research used as an aid to decision-making. The classification of systems into hard and soft represents an effort to draw attention both to the degree of knowledge about a system, and about the system's aims or purposes. Checkland developed this classification to represent two ends of a continuum. Hard systems are more easy to define and have more clear-cut aims or purposes. They are typically the subject matter of engineers concerned with real-world problem-solving: mechanisms, machines, aircraft, and power plants are examples. Simplicity of purpose and clarity of boundary, however, do not necessarily mean ease of design, operation, or maintenance: hard systems, as we know, can indeed be highly complex. At the other extreme are soft systems, characterized by human beings as their principal components. Such systems are difficult to define; they do not have clear-cut and agreed aims or purposes. At the level of the individual psyche there are multiple processes of perception, interpretation, representation, explanation, and communication that push and pull at our individual and collective cognitive maps as they shape our subjective image of phenomena and events. At the level of a multiperson organization there are frequently different and conflicting aims operating simultaneously. In both cases, the images and the aims of the system, even if agreed upon, may change over time.

2.1.1

Systems engineering

The term systems engineering can be traced back to Bell Telephone Laboratories in the 1940s. The need to identify and manipulate the properties of a system as a whole, which in complex engineering projects may greatly differ from the sum of the parts' properties, motivated the Department of Defense, NASA, and other industries to apply the discipline. Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach and means for enabling the realization and deployment of successful systems. It can be viewed as the application of engineering techniques to the engineering of systems, as well as the application of a systems
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STUDENT: Moraru Gabriel

approach to engineering efforts. Systems engineering integrates other disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort, forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation and disposal. Systems engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers, with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how to design and manage complex engineering projects over their life cycles. Issues such as reliability, logistics, coordination of different teams (requirement management), evaluation measurements, and other disciplines become more difficult when dealing with large, complex projects. Systems engineering deals with work-processes, optimization methods, and risk management tools in such projects. It overlaps technical and human-centered disciplines such as control engineering, industrial engineering,organizational studies, and project management. Systems Engineering ensures that all likely aspects of a project or system are considered, and integrated into a whole.

3. 3.1

Systems Theory Terms: Problem

A problem can be a question looking for an answer, a situation (such as an existing information system) that isn't working properly and needs improving, or a new opportunity or idea that is worthy of further consideration. In other words, when we speak of a "problem" in systems analysis and design, we don't necessarily mean that there is something wrong. We mean that there is a situation that needs to be understood and a solution to be determined. 3.2 System

From your text: A system is a set of related components that work together in a particular environment to perform whatever functions are required to achieve the system's objective. 3.3 Goal Seeking

A system is goal-seeking by definition. When the definition of a system says that a system's components work together to achieve a common objective it means that the system seeks to complete a goal. For example, the objective of the digestive system is ensure that food is digested, with some byproducts going into the related circulatory system to nurture the body and
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other byproducts being expelled. The objective of a payroll system is likely to be to produce complete, correct and timely output in the form of cheques, reports, and updated history files. It is important to be able to identify the objectives of any existing or new system to be able to understand it and evaluate its effectiveness. In an information system, the components include people, procedures, data, software, and hardware. Paper artifacts are part of this, such as manuals, forms, and reports. 3.4 Input Every system has input. 3.5 Output

Every system has output. It is fair to say that a system may be evaluated by determining if its output results in the achievement of its objective. 3.6 Feedback

To be effective and efficient a system needs a feedback mechanism that can ascertain whether the outputs of the system are what they should be. If not. a system should have the ability to adjust its inputs or processes to improve the outputs. An ideal system is self-regulating. The feedback mechanism in an information system may be automated or may be manual. 3.7 Entropy

Entropy is a measure of the degree of disorder in a system. It is a familiar term in thermodynamics, when considering chemical systems, and is also relevant to information systems. The concept of entropy says that any system will tend towards disorder. Knowing that, we can put checks in place to monitor the correctness of the output of a system. 3.8 Internal Environment

A system operates in an environment with both internal and external components. Its internal environment it that part of its environment over which it has some control. If some aspect of the internal environment is causing some difficulty for the system, that aspect can be altered. For example, a particular information system operates in a particular office environment. If a requirement of the information system is that its users must collect data that hasn't been collected previously, this new activity can be asked of them. 3.9 External Environment

A system's external environment is that part of its environment over which it has no control, but it still affects the requirements of the system. For example, in a payroll system, the provincial and federal tax laws affect the procedures in the system. The tax laws must be reflected in the system, and if the laws change, the system must change to accommodate those
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changes. So an analyst must be aware of the requirements of both the internal and external environments in which an information system will work. 3.10 Subsystem

A system is usually composed of self-contained but interrelated systems that are called subsystems. It is important to be able to recognise these subsystems, because understanding this interdependence is vital to developing acomplete system.

3.11

Super-system

A system composed of two or more systems may be called a supersystem of those systems. 3.12 System Boundary

A system boundary may be thought of as the point at which data flows (perhaps as output) from one system to another (perhaps as input). The degree to which data is free to flow from one system to another is known as the permeability of the boundary. A permeable boundary allows data to flow freely, resulting in an open system. An impermeable boundary is one which strictly controls (or even restricts) the acceptance or dispensing of data, resulting in a closed system. 3.14 Interdependence

One of the most important concepts in Systems Theory is the notion of interdependence between systems (or subsystems). Systems rarely exist in isolation. For example, a payroll system has to access and update a personnel system. It is important for an analyst to identify these interdependence early. It may be the case that changes you make to one system will affect another in ways you haven't considered, or vice versa.

STUDENT: Moraru Gabriel

References: Ashby W. R. (1956). Introduction to Cybernetics, Methuen. Bertalanffy, L. v. (1968). General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications Systems Theories:Their Origins, Foundations, and Development-By Alexander Laszlo and Stanley Krippner Reflections on Ludwig von Bertalanfys General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications by Shelia Guberman