Systems Theory and Human Relations Essay Example for Free

Systems Theory and Human Relations Essay Systems theory within organisations states that businesses retrieve inputs from the external environment, transform these inputs from processes and procedures and then out put them back into the environment. Below is a diagram to illustrate this with examples of each. The inputs generally come from other organistaions outputs, and the outputs of organisations tend to become inputs for other organisations. Within the organisation as a system, each of the different transformation activities may themselves may be looked at as individual sub-systems with their own inputs-transformations-outputs. They may also be looked at to interact with different sub-systems. The 5 main sub-systems are as follows: †¢Task – goals and objectives of the company †¢Technology – the tools and knowledge in which are used to carry out tasks †¢People – attitudes, skills, needs etc Structure – both formal and informal, flow of authority, grapevine etc †¢Management – co-ordination of the other 4 sub-systems and interactions with outside world Human relations approach pays greater attention to the social factors at work and the behaviour of employees. Employees come to work for more than just monetary needs, they come to interact with each other also. Therefore employees need to be able to interact with each other and not be excluded, Hamiltons work plan enables this and also encourages this. One way by which Hamilton uses this approach is by humanising the workplace, recognising the importance of the informal structure and also giving concern for the manufacturing staff. Hamilton does many things to humanise the workplace, such as: †¢Regular walk abouts by directors †¢Quarterly updates/briefs †¢Nights of social events such as Christmas funded by the company †¢Attend certain MDW meetings †¢Works council to communicate to management about certain issues on shop floor †¢Birthdays always celebrated †¢Weddings and anniversarys celebrated †¢Shop sales Child care vouchers †¢Easter eggs provided by company These policies and procedures that are representative of the human relations approach, all help with the management of change within Hamilton. Below are some point and how they help with managing change: †¢Communication – By communicating with staff through quarterly briefs, team meetings and notice boards, all staff are aware of changes and why they are going to be made. †¢Multiskilling – By Hamilton training staff on at least 3 machines in the factory, this enables Hamilton help to manage production planning. It also helps make the employee feel needed by investing in them. †¢Production planning – Enables Hamilton to prduce there good more efficiently and to help cut down on set-up times and change over’s. †¢Works Council – Helps staff to communicate any issues with changes that are being made before they are being introdced. This then means they can rectify these issues which the staff have. †¢Social Events – Help keep staff morale high and help build relationships and work teams within the business. As I looked at one of the subsystems of management and how it relates to the external environment and how it manages changes in the environment, I realised Hamilton is effected a lot by external factors such as: †¢Social attitudes †¢Government policies – taxes †¢Trade unions †¢Customers †¢Other organisations †¢International relations †¢Economic climate – exchange rates †¢Suppliers †¢Technoligical innovations – dulux paint pod †¢Providers of finance One of the biggest external factors is the economic climate, the exchange rate with China is very poor at the minute. As you can see from the graph above Hamilton has seen a major drop in the exchange rate within the last 12 months. This therefore creates high production costs within the company, to try and reduce the impact the management has undertaken numerous actions such as: †¢Improve communications with suppliers †¢Improve technology internally and externally †¢New suppliers †¢Longer term agreements †¢Reduced spending †¢Production planning †¢Aggressive with suppliers †¢Re-structured sales force