Elements of a System

Let us learn some new terms about systems. A system usually interacts with the external world or environment. The system boundary separates the system from its environment. A system’s boundary tells us what is inside and what is outside the system.

A school (viewed as a system) illustrating the system boundary

Let us consider our example of a school and identify the system boundary.

In the above example, the system boundary clearly illustrates the components inside the school (that is, principal, teachers, students etc.) and components outside the system (that is, parents, Department of Education, etc.).

As stated earlier, a system performs a task or accomplishes a goal. To perform a task or accomplish a goal, a system receives input (from the environment), processes and returns output (to the environment).

 

Input, Processing and Output

In our school example, we can identify goals, input, processing and output as follows:
                        System:                  School
                       Goal:                       Education of students
                        Input:                     Children, teachers, funds
                        Processing:            Teaching and learning
                       Output:                    Educated students