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Analogies and Organisations: The Debt of Systems Theory to Thermodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Ian Roos
Ian Roos*
Affiliation:
Department of Business Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, AustraliaTel: (03) 9905 2302, Fax: (03) 9905 1201, Email: ian.roos@buseco.monash.edu.au
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Abstract

Organisation theory makes extensive use of analogies to encourage diversity in thought and explanation of complex phenomena. Analogies are able to provide insights about the internal and external behaviour of organisations of organisations. This is readily observed in the use of the systems concept in the description of organisations.

Systems thinking is often seen as unifying; spanning the physical, biological, and social sciences. The term systems theory is perhaps a misnomer in that in its general form it is neither testable, falsifiable nor predictive. However, most of the theories or laws describing the physical universe use the concept of a system. It can be argued that it fits Kuhn's concept of a paradigm.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , March 1997 , pp. 12 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 1997 

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