Systemic approach

The systems approach to management studies the organization as the sum of its interactions.

Differences with systems theory

Although systems theory is a source of inspiration, the systems approach cannot be reduced to it. Systems theory is a kind of external analysis of a system, while adopting it as part of a structure means placing oneself as an integral part of it.

The first, more theoretical approach, is a tool for understanding the company from the outside. The systems theorist studies a model that is foreign to him, from which he remains distant. The systemic approach, on the other hand, is more practical: it includes a more in-depth look at interactions and encourages the theorist to invest in his environment, his system, by focusing on the consequences and reciprocity of his practical actions. The systemic approach therefore involves studying one's own interactions, i.e. one's own place in a system.

What systems theory has in common

Like systems theory, the systems approach analyzes the place of an entity in its environment, seeking to identify in all their complexity the interactions that exist around that entity.

In concrete terms, this approach conceives of a whole, the place of an element in this whole, and all the links that may exist around this element as well as with it.

For example, an employee in a company is much more than a simple link in a decision-making chain, placed between two hierarchical levels. His decisions have a much wider impact than his direct supervisors, just as he is concerned by realities with which he may have no direct contact.

The systems approach, like systems theory, deconstructs the idea of compartmentalization in the study of an organization's components.

Everything is connected and interconnected, even when these links are not explicitly apparent.

Understanding the reality of these connections enables us to define a system's operation more precisely and, subsequently, to administer that system more wisely and appropriately.