Question 1 OR (b)

The systems approach to management and how it differs from the contingency approach

9 marks

Time to write: About 18 minutes
Topic: Management theories: classical to contingency
Notes: Crux notes

Question

Question 1 OR (b) · 9 marks

With the help of an example, describe the System Approach to Management. How does it differ from the Contingency Approach?

Reworded from the university paper; the task is the same. The original paper belongs to the University of Delhi. See DU's question bank.

Before you write

Read off the question and its marks

18 minfor 9 marks

Read from the question

How does it differSet the differences out in a table, basis by basis, not as two separate essays.
exampleExamples are asked for: one short example with each point.

Write it in this order

Read; underline the asks; jot your points 1 min
1 Systems approach and its concepts 3½ marks 6 min
2 Example 2 marks 4 min
3 Difference from the contingency approach 3 marks 5 min
4 Conclusion ½ mark 1 min
Check: every ask answered, key terms underlined 1 min

1234

Short on time? Trim steps 1–3 evenly rather than skip one: each is capped at its own marks. End with step 4 in a line or two.

Try it first. About 18 minutes for 9 marks. Write it out, then open the solution.

Solution

Hover or tap a marked figure, like 72,000, to see how it is made and where else it appears.

The systems approach to management

A system is a set of interrelated and interdependent parts arranged so that they form a unified whole and work towards a common purpose. The systems approach, taken up by modern management thinkers after the classical and human-relations schools, views an organisation as such a system. Managers are urged to see the organisation as a whole and to recognise that a change in one part affects the others and that the organisation depends on its environment.

Main concepts

Subsystems. Inside, the organisation is made of parts, production, marketing, finance, human resources, each with its own inputs and outputs. A weak part drags the others down, so the parts have to be managed together.
Open system. The organisation trades continuously with customers, suppliers, government and competitors. What it gets back depends on how its outputs are received: a firm whose products disappoint finds buyers, lenders and good staff going elsewhere, so it must keep watching its surroundings and adjusting.
Inputs, transformation, outputs and feedback. The organisation takes in inputs from the environment (people, materials, money, information), transforms them through its processes (production, services), and returns outputs (products, services, profits, satisfaction, also waste). Feedback on outputs guides adjustment.
One part of something bigger. Looking outward, the firm sits inside an industry, a society and a legal order, and has to work within their rules and expectations.

Example

A hospital is a system. Its inputs are doctors, nurses, medicines, equipment, funds and patients' information; its transformation processes are diagnosis, surgery, nursing and administration; its outputs are treated patients, medical records and research; and feedback comes from patient outcomes, complaints and audits. Its subsystems, emergency, pharmacy, laboratory, billing, are interdependent: if the laboratory delays reports, surgery and discharge are delayed too. A new government health-insurance scheme (environment) changes patient numbers and payment procedures, and the hospital must adapt.

Difference from the contingency approach

Basis	Systems approach	Contingency approach
Central idea	The organisation is a whole of interrelated parts interacting with its environment	There is no one best way; practice must fit the situation
Nature	Conceptual, a way of seeing the organisation	Practical, a guide to action
Focus	Interrelationships and integration of subsystems	Relationship between situational variables and management practices
Prescription	Gives no specific prescription	Specifies which practices suit which conditions (if–then)
Environment	Recognised as the source of inputs and receiver of outputs	Treated as a key variable deciding the right practice
Level of abstraction	Broad and general	More concrete and situational
Relationship	Provides the framework	Builds on the systems view to give specific answers

Conclusion

The systems approach teaches managers to see the whole organisation and its links with the environment; the contingency approach takes this further by telling them to choose practices that fit the particular situation. Together they form the basis of modern management thought.

Where the 9 marks sit

#	Component	Marks
1	Systems approach and its concepts	3.5
2	Example	2
3	Difference from the contingency approach	3
4	Conclusion	0.5
	Total	9

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