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What is open systems theory?

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What is open systems theory?
How can open systems theory be used to understand an organization?
How can open systems theory might apply to USAA (Fortune magazine's top 100 companies to work for?

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This solution explains the importance of open systems theory. The sources used are also included in the solution.

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Open systems theory refers to the concept that organizations are strongly influenced by their environment. The environment has several other organizations that create pressures of political, economic, technological, or social nature. The environment also is the source of important feedback, information, and important resources that enable the organization to survive, grow and adapt. The crux of the modern open systems theory is to create a systems based theory that designs healthy, innovative, and resilient organization in turbulent environments. Open systems theory points out that as businesses carry out their operations they influence and change their environment, and simultaneously get influenced by external changes in local and global environments. For instance, an organization that makes smart phones affects the external environment through its activities. The users adapt their activities to new features of the smart phones. At the same time the organization gets influenced by new technologies being introduced in the market, customer feedback about their smart phones, and changes in competition. The main driver of this change is the increasing rate of change in people's values and expectations in the external environments. People's decisions about their purchase decisions affect ...

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