System Types

Systems can be classified into different types based on their characteristics. The following table illustrates the different system types and their primary characteristics.

System Types and Primary Characteristics

A single system can belong to many different system types based on their characteristics. Let us revisit our example of the school (viewed as a system). Is the school a simple or a complex system? Is the school an open or a closed system? Is the school a stable or a dynamic system? Is the school an adaptive or a nonadaptive system? Is the school a permanent or a temporary system?

It is important to note that system designers sometimes model complex systems as simple systems to better understand these systems. This process is called abstraction.

Viewing Organisation as a System

So far we have seen a school being considered as a system. Similarly, you can consider other examples for systems . If we look in our surroundings, we see many organisations: such as shops, medical centres, communication centres, theatres, universities and others. All of these organisations have goals, components, inputs, processing and outputs. They can be viewed as systems and analysed to identify system boundaries, system types, environment in which they operate. This study will provide us a better understanding of systems and their workings.

Now that we have learnt and gained an understanding of what a system is, we will focus our attention to the next section, which is Information Systems.