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Niklas Luhmann's Social Systems

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The newer systems theory of Niklas Luhmann ("theory of social systems") views organizations as complex social systems that reproduce through decisions. A central element of this theory is the autopoiesis of systems - this is, self-reproduction of the elements of a system by the elements of the system. Luhmann derived the originally biological concept of autopoiesis by Maturana and Varela to a general concept applicable to two additional types of autopoietic systems: social systems and psychic systems. Here social systems reproduce themselves through their communications, which are elements of meaning. Besides, there are three types of social systems: societies, organisations and interactions between people (see Figure 3 2). Figure 3 2 Types …show more content…

As an “organisation exists only as long as its autopoiesis continues and decisions are reproduced from decisions” (Luhmann, 2003, p. 34). Hence, the social systems approach is more suitable to understand how SEOs manage internally the competing logics. The creation of the communication decisions is a matter of structural decisions or decision premises. Luhmann conceptualises social structures as expectations (Luhmann 1995a). In every situation certain communications are expected and not others. Expected premises for decision-making are valid for more than one decision. On the basis of the systems theory we define organisations (complex social systems) with the following characteristics (Luhmann, 2003, Chapter 3; Boos & Mitterer, 2014, p. 25): • There is no objective reality. Reality is created by the own standards and design principles of the system. • The basic element of organizations are not people, but the communication of decisions. • They exist as long as they make decisions (i.e. reproduce themselves). • The decisions separate systems from their environment, which allows the survival of the organisation. • An organisation and its environment are inseparable and connected with each other. There is no organisation without its

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In Alan Dawley’s, “Class and Community”, Dawley portrays the transformation of Lynn, Massachusetts through the depiction of shoemakers and how the Industrial Revolution shaped their community’s overall way of life, and how a simple town of artisans became an epicenter for a nation the was becoming an industrial powerhouse. “Equal Rights” and community went together in Lynn as they both demand respectability and living up to certain standards. Before the central shop, most any land or building was a means of production, but once they came into the picture, they became the symbol for production. The pursuit of “equal rights” in Lynn made them a “microcosm of the industrial revolution” because everyone was fighting for the same cause, not just men, but both sexes. The treatment of the employees by factory owners was so unjust that people set aside other problems and struggles and came together under one cause, to fight something bigger than themselves.

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