Use of Open Systems Thinking on Learning Organizations
Learning organizations allow employees to act independently and learn through experience and peers. The environment in such organizations is so conducive that employees can learn from others and give their insights without the fear of being judged. By learning from each other, employees can collaborate to pursue common goals. Learning organizations essentially benefit from creativity and autonomy, two vital factors that bolster employee performance. Apart from bolstering internal performance, continuous learning is also meant to help organizations catch up with the ever-changing external business environment.
Healthcare organizations have become more agile in today’s competitive business world. Continuous changes in the healthcare organization demand the response to changes via open systems thinking and the overall concept of learning organizations. The concept of learning organization plays a vital role in an organization by encouraging and facilitating learning to adapt to the rapid changes in the competitive business environment (Senge, 1990). Further, learning organizations share common characteristics.
Characteristics of learning organizations
Learning organizations are characterized in a way that helps managers and employees respond to internal and external environmental changes that affect the performance of organizations. Characteristics of learning organizations are tools of vision and teamwork in any organization. Learning organizations have five characteristics: thinking systems, personal mastery, mental models, shared vision, and team learning (Senge, 1990).
Systems thinking
System thinking is a collaborative learning culture. Successful learning organization honors every individual as they play an essential role in a comprehensive framework. Since organizations are made up of several units, the learners should understand such small units, for they are the ones that make the whole system. For instance, employees and managers must comply with the company’s policy of wearing safety boats to ensure safety. Managers and employees should respect every idea to enhance smooth running and working systems.
Personal mastery
Personal mastery involves a mindset. A positive-thinking mindset is required in any learning organization. Positive minds attract continuous growth as the skills and knowledge acquired can be applied in real-world situations. For example, employees can use the skills and knowledge gained to improve customer relations in the organization.
Mental models
Mental models are the keys to innovation. These mental models enable learners to evaluate their performance and test the new ideas and approaches that lead to innovation. It allows employees to learn from their mistakes and improve. For instance, the apparent mental model is that poor productive employees are lazy. This change can be affected by discovering models and improving such models.
Shared vision
Positive-thinking leaders are important in a learning organization. Successful management in any learning organization starts with top officials. Management should solve mistakes made by corporate learners fairly to enhance shared vision. Organizations promote shared vision through regular team meetings, online discussions, and staying active on social media platforms. When making decisions, managers should give room to other employees to contribute before making a final decision. Shared ideas lead to wise decisions in an organization. When juniors are given opportunities to express their views, they feel respected and honored, bringing a sense of belonging and teamwork to workplaces.
Team learning
Team learning promotes knowledge sharing. Learning organizations that encourage teamwork to achieve their goals with little effort easily solve problems. For example, shared links in online training enhance the dissemination of information amongst learners.
Open Systems
An open system is an organizational system that rapidly interacts with the external environment by consuming inputs and giving out inputs. Organizations that operate open systems give and receive information within departments. Open systems allow exchanging and borrowing ideas/information from other departments to solve problems when they arise. For instance, allowing the finance department to consult the sales department about market trends could help solve the problem of resource allocation on product promotion. Open systems exchange information with the surroundings, analyze the feedback, adjust the internal systems to achieve the system’s set goals, and then give back the necessary information to the surroundings (Weber, 2017).
Subsystems of an open system
The subsystems of an open system include inputs, processes, outputs, environment, and feedback.
| The Environment |
| Inputs Processes Outputs |
| Feedback |
Fig 1: An overview of subsystems of an open system in an organization
Inputs into the organization
Inputs are the materials and ideas that an organization uses to enhance production, for example, employees, time, money, facilities, technology, and location. In the business context, inputs create products or services for consumption. The market demand determines the type of inputs to use in production. Organizations should first understand the customer’s needs before purchasing inputs.
Transformation (processes) subsystem
The transformation process involves the use of inputs to create products and services. The transformational process takes place with the help of employee activities, managerial activities, and operational methods. For the production process to be effective, teamwork and information sharing should be encouraged. High management knowledge and skills are also required in the production process. Managers should be trained and equipped with the necessary skills to manage the production processes. Methods of operation should be up-to-date technologically to meet the changing market demands.
Product (outputs) subsystem
Outputs are the results of the transformation processes. Generally, outputs are products or services, financial results, information, and human results. Today’s business world has become competitive, hence the need for organizations to produce high-quality products and services to survive the competition. Organizations should produce the required products and services and make them available to the market in a timely manner to meet customer demands. Outputs from an organization can, at times, include wastes such as sewage and emissions that negatively affect the surroundings. Such wastes should be properly disposed of to reduce environmental pollution.
Feedback subsystem
Information from the final customer influences the whole production process. For example, unconsumed products are a sign of a wrong product. Generally, results from outputs determine the inputs in the production cycle. Revenues from sales are the ones used for the purchase of raw materials/ inputs. When products remain unsold, the whole production process is affected. Information from the final consumer plays a vital role in the production process. It helps organizations know what the customer needs and produces what is required to avoid waste of resources. Information from those that surround an organization is also crucial. For instance, the community might complain about an organization’s solid wastes and atmospheric emissions. Through complaints from community members, the organization is pressured to adopt protective measures of waste disposal to protect the environment.
The environment subsystem
The environment is composed of the internal and external factors that affect the organization’s resources, operations, and performance. The internal environment entails activities and factors that affect the performance within an organization. Examples of internal environmental factors that affect an organization’s performance include employee behaviors, leadership styles, and organizational culture. Organizations should adopt leadership styles that value employees and respect the organization’s culture. The external environment consists of factors that surround an organization. The external environments include clients, government, and competitors. Organizations should face and adhere to government regulations for the smooth running of the business. For example, organizations should register with the government and be licensed for the business they want to venture into. Organizations should also be tax-compliant. Organizations should understand the customer needs and avail quality products at an affordable price. Lastly, organizations should engage in healthy and fair competition without threatening their competitors.
Importance of healthcare managers in promoting team learning, problem-solving, and innovation
Healthcare managers have significant roles in healthcare organizations. Some of their roles involve promoting innovation, problem-solving skills, and team learning. All these various roles are significant in influencing employee performance in healthcare organizations. Through team learning, peers benefit from skills and expertise shared by team managers. Sharing knowledge and skills makes it easier for learning organizations to achieve the set goals by combining different ideas. Forward-thinking leadership has alternative approaches to solving problems in organizations. Shared-vision leadership styles value employees and respect their decisions. Allowing employees to contribute to decision-making empowers them to become future leaders. Healthcare managers encourage self-reflection among learners and set good examples of how to solve problems when in leadership positions. Strategies used by managers to solve problems should be copied by juniors and used in the future. A successful healthcare manager encourages learners to evaluate their performance and test new ideas and approaches, which leads to innovation. Lastly, leadership allows the sharing of ideas, which brings innovation.
References
Senge, P. (1990). Peter Senge and the learning organization.
Weber, K., & Waeger, D. (2017). Organizations as policies: An open systems perspective. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 886-918.
Ziemiańczyk, U., & Krakowiak-Bal, A. (2017). Learning organizations as a part of the process of building competitiveness and innovativeness in rural areas. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 9(1), 19-32.
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Question 
Your healthcare manager is concerned about the rapid changes in the healthcare organization. She came to you for information. She wants to know more about open-system thinking and learning organizations.
Use of Open Systems Thinking on Learning Organizations
You tell her that open systems thinking has gained wide use in healthcare organizations. The application of systems thinking helps organizations respond effectively to internal and external environmental demands. Continuous learning is a trait of effective healthcare managers and organizations. She asks you to prepare and present a report about this topic.
In this week’s assignment, you are going to examine the attributes of learning organizations and their importance in healthcare organizations. Write a 5-page report that covers the following:
Identify the 5 characteristics of learning organizations by Peter Senge.
Briefly describe each characteristic.
Explain open systems and the 5 subsystems of open systems.
Provide a summary of the important role of healthcare managers in promoting team learning, problem-solving, and innovation in a healthcare organization.
Deliverable Requirements