SYSTEM (State-maintaining)
Charles François (2004). SYSTEM (State-maintaining), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics, 2(2): 3409.
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3409 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
According to R.L. ACKOFF, a system is state-maintaining if:
- “1) it can react in only one way to any one external or internal event but
- “2) it reacts differently to different external or internal events, and,
- “3) these different reactions produce the same external or internal state” (1972, p.85).
The following comment by this author seems to show that self-maintenance is different from organizational closure: “Such a system only reacts to changes; it cannot respond because what it does is completely determined by the causing event. Nevertheless it can be said to have the function of maintaining the state it produces because it can produce this state in different ways under different conditions” (Ibid).