Here is a term paper on ‘System’ for class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short term papers on ‘System’ especially written for school and college students.
Term Paper on System
Term Paper Contents:
- Term paper on the Introduction to System
- Term paper on the Definition of a System
- Term paper on the Characteristics of Systems
- Term paper on the Classification of System
- Term paper on Sub-Systems
- Term paper on the Theory of System
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1. Introduction to System:
In our daily life we often use the word system, sometimes even incorrectly to refer to different kind of groups of people or things or workings. A music lover, with all his electronic gadgets used in recording / playing music calls it a music system.
On the other hand referring to the administrative set up of the government with different levels of posts filled up with various persons and having different rules and regulations for their guidance, we call it a bureaucratic system.
Then again, referring to earth and other planets which revolve round the sun, we call it a solar system. Thus the word system has wide usage, covering inanimate to animate objects, living to non-living things and even containing a mixture of the two. But, a system is not merely a group of people or things — otherwise we would use the term football system instead of calling the eleven players assembled together as a football team.
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2. Definition of a System:
In the simplest possible terms, a system is a set of elements, such as concepts, things and people which are related to achieve a common or mutual goal. The important thing is that there must be some relation between the elements of a system and some inter dependence, all of which having a common objective.
Hence, an enlarged and proper definition of system would be:
A system may be defined as a unified whole of a number of inter-related and inter-dependent elements having a definite identity, boundary, existence and purpose.
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So, firstly a system must have a clear identity, which is defined by its boundary and it has a purpose. It must have a definite existence with a definite purpose. If we take the education system of the country as a whole, we find it exists to impart education to all citizens of India in formal or informal manner.
It comprises a large number of teaching institutions with different laws, rules and procedures governing their functions, means to provide the money and other resources needed to keep the system active and there is considerable inter-dependence, as well as inter-relation between different components of the total system. For example, the input of students to the colleges come from the schools and if the schools do not exist, the colleges cannot function — the colleges are dependent on schools.
Again when we talk of education system, we certainly do not mean the quantity of the rice produced in India as its element because there is no relation between rice and the objectives of the education system — though the students and teachers have to eat rice to be able to carry out their respective duties of studying and teaching.
Obviously there has to be a relation between an element of a system and the objective of that system, to treat the element as part of the system. If under the agricultural system, where producing rice is a major objective, the know-how to cultivate rice, the knowledge required for better cultivation, definitely comes under the education system as it is concerned with educating farmers by imparting appropriate knowledge to them.
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We can then call the agricultural education as an element of the education system or a part, or a sub-system of the main education system. Again, if the objective of the agricultural system also includes training and development of farmers to enable them to grow more rice, then this part of the education could be an element or subsystem of the agricultural system.
So, there can be overlapping of system’s purposes and objective if enough thought is not given on how a man-made system would exist and operate — absence of this can certainly create confusion.
Invariably, there are certain tasks binding the elements of a system, which could be natural or man-made. The rotation of the planets in the solar system is governed by natural laws and this is called a Natural System, and here we can do nothing. But, for those systems which are formed by human beings and called Artificial Systems, their success or failure as a system depend on how well the inter-relationships and other parameters like purpose, boundary, etc. have been defined and followed.
Let us take the case of the Indian railway system, which is fairly a successful system, the purpose of which is to carry passengers and goods from one place to another in exchange of money. To serve the purpose of the system, it has been further divided into a large number of smaller systems to make it manageable. For example, India being a vast country, the total country has been divided into different zones like Eastern Railway, Northern Railway, Western Railway, etc.
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Each of these zones also have the same major objective as the total railway system — so we can call the railway zones as the sub-systems of the main railway system, or conversely, the railway system will be a Super-system as compared to the zonal systems. Again, for better efficiency and effectiveness, the zones have been divided into divisions; each zone having more than one division.
These divisions, in relation to the zones in which they belong are the sub-systems of the respective zones, which again is a sub-system of the total railway system. This we can say is a case of vertical integration of sub-systems to form a total system, the whole purpose being to achieve the purpose of the railway system in a better way.
Again, looking from another point of view, to serve the purpose for which it is created, namely carrying passengers and goods, the railway systems have different functional groups. One group lays down and maintains the railway tracks, another group gets the tickets printed and sold to passengers, another group arranges for booking of luggage and delivery, another group looks after the wagons and so on.
These functional grouping, which are again sub-systems of the railway system are available in each zone – we can call it a horizontal integration of sub-systems to form the main railway system, which is again the super-system of the functional sub-systems.
3. Characteristics of Systems:
i. Open and Closed Systems:
A system is called a Closed System when it does not interact with the environment, it does not take proper or no input from the general environment, which is outside it, and consequently does not deliver proper output to the environment. Closed systems have high probability of system disorder because they do not change with the changes in the environment.
For example, if an industrial organisation is not sensitive to changes in its customers’ tastes, ultimately it will be unable to sell its products and get the input money to continue. Some Closed Systems operate in limited way in some industrial control systems. For example, take the case of a torch battery, which is an electro-chemical system. Here by chemical reaction DC Voltage is generated.
This is a typical case of a Closed system, where no input is taken from the environment and as a result, after using it for certain hours, it fails to generate the output, we call the battery is discharged. An Open System is just the opposite of the Closed System — it continuously changes by deliberate modifications to ensure that it is in line with what the current situation is. Again take the case of a car battery.
Here it is given electricity from outside which is stored as a chemical energy, the process being called charging of the battery. Hence, it continues to serve by providing the required output. All industrial systems have to be Open Systems if the organizations have to be profitable and survive in the long run.
ii. Deterministic / Probabilistic [Stochastic] System:
A system is called Deterministic in its behaviour if the outcome of the system in relation to different input can be clearly predicted. In a computer system, in many cases, when we give a definite input, we can say what output the system will generate. Take the simple case of an electronic calculator, where if we give two numbers with the plus key pressed between them and then press the result key, we will get the summation of these two numbers, which we can predict.
The opposite of this type is called Probabilistic System, where the behaviour is such that the outcome cannot be clearly predicted in advance. This is generally the case with non-machine systems. One can never say with conviction, how much sales can be achieved in an industrial organisation by making certain advertisement campaigns.
iii. Stable / Unstable System:
A Stable System is one which is capable of maintaining its stability when by some reason or other, the system stability is threatened to be disturbed. For example, a voltage stabilizer, within a certain range of changes in supply voltage, automatically takes corrective measures and tries to maintain the output voltage at a steady level. In the stable systems, feedback, that is information from the output, is taken to adjust the input parameter, so that the output levels are maintained. This is frequently used in machine systems.
The opposite of this is an Unstable System, which by itself cannot maintain the system’s stability, extraneous intervention becomes necessary to bring back stability. In industrial organizations, it is the responsibility of the management to maintain system stability and the whole purpose of the management information system is to give the required feedback to different levels of management, as per their needs, so they can maintain system stability.
iv. Static / Dynamic System:
A Dynamic System is one which experiences changes with changes which may be external or internal. A machinery system is a Dynamic System because by constant use wear and tear takes place and so its performance over long run suffers. A Static System does not encounter any such changes.
Generally these are procedures, frameworks defining how certain things are to be done, like filling up of the application form for sitting in some examinations. In reality, all the artificial systems created to achieve some physical output or services, comes under the category of dynamic system. Our human body is also a dynamic system.
v. Physical / Abstract System:
A Physical System is one which deals with tangible things like Circulating System, Weapon System, Transport System, Costing System, Computer System, etc. Whereas an Abstract System deals with orderly argument of inter-dependent ideas, like the System of Theology which contains ideas about God and His relationship with human beings.
To summarize, we can say, to qualify as a system, the following criteria should be met:
i. Objective or Purpose:
There must be one or more clearly defined objective, which will define the purpose for which the system has been created. No matter, what elements are formed or whatever rules and regulations are defined, it must always keep in mind the purpose of creating the system. Every system must have a clearly defined objective for which it is created.
ii. Elements:
A system is formed only when it involves more than one element or component, which can be sub-systems formed and integrated horizontally or vertically, but, the sub-systems also contributing to fulfilling the objective of the main system.
iii. Entity:
Each system must form a separate entity with clearly defined boundaries to avoid any confusion. It must be structured in such a way that under no circumstances there can be any confusion as to what it has to do or not do. For example, under the education system, an university is a sub-system for imparting higher level of education, which has clearly defined jurisdiction specifying which colleges are under its control; obviously a school cannot come within the jurisdiction of any university. The recent trend to treat some colleges as a Deemed University, is a move converting sub-systems to a full-fledged system, moving it out of the main system to make it more effective.
iv. Relationship:
The elements of a system have to be related to each other in some way — the passengers travel in railway coaches which move on railway tracks, provided they purchase the appropriate tickets, all are inter related.
v. Interdependence:
Not only the elements have to be related, but they must be interdependent, otherwise the elements of the group will not form a system. For example, in the railway system, the railway coaches and wagons are dependent on railway tracks for their movement from one place to another.
vi. Input / Output:
Each man made system should be designed in such a way that until the objective of the system is fulfilled, which may be of short term and long term, the system maintains itself by absorbing proper input to deliver the required output. If the railway system was designed with the purpose of carrying passengers and goods and no provision was made to get the money required to buy wagons, pay salaries, etc. obviously the system would not function, it will just collapse.
The periodic rise in railway fares, whether justified or not to the extent increased, for which a provision has been made in the Railways Act, is such a measure to ensure that the railway system regulates itself to continue to provide the service. Again, if no person used the railway system or sent their goods by using the railway system, it would just collapse.
So both input and output, taking into account the purpose of the system, must be properly provided to ensure system stability. It is quite obvious, as the system ceases to exist as a system, unless it has relevant input and output.
vii. Life Cycle:
In case of many systems, like say a human being, where inside the body a complex biological system exists, there is birth, growth, decay and death, which is inevitable. But, in most of the cases of the man-made systems the death is not inevitable as the elements of the system can be replenished. For example, take an industrial system, which is almost like a living system, where the plant and machineries used or the people engaged can be replaced from time to time to keep the system going for ages together.
Even in case of planetary system, nobody knows how it came into existence, or whether one day the system will die out. But if the artificial system is not created properly, then its stability in the long run gets threatened leading to its collapse. So many industrial organizations in India has become sick, because their managerial system has become unstable or even failed.
There is a beautiful poem by M. D. Mesarovic on what is a system, in his book titled as views on General System Theory, which is reproduced below:
A system is a big black box
Of which we can’t unlock the locks
And all we can find out about
Is what goes in and what comes out.
Perceiving input-output pairs
Related by parameters,
Permits us, sometimes, to relate
An input, output, and a state.
If this relation’s good and stable
Then to predict we may be able
But if this fails us — heaven forbid!
We’ll be compelled to force the lid.
4. Classification of System:
Systems can also be classified by their nature as:
i. Conceptual System:
It is a system which deals with theoretical structure, which may or may not be in existence in the real world. For example, a theory of economic control propounded by an economist.
ii. Empirical System:
It is a system which is operational in nature and is composed of people, energy, machinery, information, etc.
iii. Natural System:
A system which is of natural occurrence, like planetary system. The living things, like human body is also a natural system.
iv. Manufacturing System:
A system dealing with conversion of raw materials to finished products. In almost all industrial organizations, whether with a batch or processing operations, ultimately it boils down to converting raw materials to the finished products to increase its value.
v. Social System:
A system which exclusively deals with people, like clubs and other social organizations.
vi. Man-Machine System:
As the name suggests, it involves both people and machinery, typical case of different departments and sections in industrial organizations.
vii. Permanent System:
A system which exist for a fairly long time running in to decades.
viii. Temporary System:
A system created for short duration for a specific assignment.
ix. Stationary System:
It is a system whose elements and operations either do not vary significantly or else vary in repetitive cycles, like say college education system, water transport system for crossing rivers, etc.
x. Non-Stationary System:
Where everything changes over time like research and development activities.
xi. Adaptive System:
It is a system which is pro-active or reactive in such a manner that it changes with change in environment to improve its functioning, stability, etc. Even the viruses are said to belong to adaptive systems.
xii. Looped System:
These are systems where there is provision of feedback for controlling performance. The feedback could be of closed-loop or open-loop type, the former providing for adaptation without external intervention, like that in a voltage stabilizer.
The open-loop system needs regular external intervention to control performance — in fact, this is what the management is supposed to do when for some reason or other, the financial stability of a business organization gets threatened.
5. Sub-Systems:
Sub-systems of a particular level build up the system at the next higher level, as if the sub-systems are the children of a system, which is the parent, also called super-system.
The need for creating sub-systems arise from three reasons:
i. Simplification:
Generally, barring a few, the systems are quite complex with large number of inter-dependent and complexly inter-related elements. To simplify the design, operation and control of the systems, these are broken down to systems of smaller sizes of same types, called sub-systems, the process being called simplification.
For example, the total material management system of an industrial organization, may be broken down to purchase (sub)system, which deals with purchasing; storage (sub)system, which deals with receipt, storage and issue of materials, and so on.
ii. Decoupling:
The basic object of decoupling is to remove direct dependence of one part of a system on the other. For example, suppose some housewife cooks rice which is delivered by a person everyday and she does not keep any rice in stock — her cooking of rice can be said to be directly coupled with the vendor for supply of rice. If for some reason the vendor does not come one day, she would not be able to cook.
This can be avoided by keeping some rice in stock, which would decouple cooking system from supply system. Sometimes sub-systems are created to provide for decoupling, one example being the inventory system, storage of raw materials, stores and spares, work- in-progress, finished goods, etc.
iii. Decomposition:
This is again a process of breaking down a system into different levels of hierarchical subsystems, which could be vertical or horizontal or both, for effective and efficient management of the Total System, as in case of the Indian Railway System.
Synergy Effect:
It is often said that two heads are always better than one, because by interaction between two persons, one can achieve better performance or make better decisions. This is technically described as Synergy effect. When sub-systems are created within a system, the basic objective is to make the total system more effective and efficient in terms of performance, by mutual interaction.
It is for this reason these days so much emphasis is being laid on team effort, each member helping other and working” together. But if the elements of the system or its sub-systems are at cross purposes then there is no synergy effect, on the contrary, the whole thing fails. In a football match, the objective being scoring goals by overcoming the obstruction of the opposing team members, synergy comes into play by proper coordination and planning and so often a team with average players defeat teams with brilliant players where there is individual excellence but not synergy effect because of improper mutual interaction.
In industrial organizations, often some departments or sub-systems are concerned with their own performance, ignoring the role of interaction and this results in sub- optimization — may be excellent performance is achieved in that area but the organisation as a whole suffers and the system collapses.
6. Theory of System:
The Black Box Concept:
Under the systems theory, to simplify the design of a proper system from the scratch, it is proposed that one should take the total system as a black box, meaning that initially, we should not bother about the functioning of the system, how it is going to work. What we should do is first define the output from the system, specifying clearly what we desire to get from the system.
Then, we concentrate on the input items, which would be necessary to provide the desired output. Once this is finalized, then we open the lid of the black box, that is, look into it to decide the way the system will convert the inputs to the output. In fact, this approach is highly scientific in all cases, including implementing computerized management information systems.
