ACADEMIC INSTITUTION AS A SYSTEM AND SYSTEMS' APPROACH TO THEM AND ATTRIBUTES OF THEIR EXCELLENCE

The System approach views the organization as a unified and purposeful system consisting of parts and subparts, which are interrelated. This helps a manager to understand it better. Activity in any part may affect all other parts of the organization. A system can be organisational, economic, biological, physical, social, governmental etc. The concept of systems approach was initiated in ancient Indian system of medicine. During World War II, this concept was applied to education technology. The body of people which constitutes an academic institution is influenced by the environment of society, other institutions, industry, government and politicians. Hence to consider a holistic approach an academic institution must be viewed as a system. Pupils entering the academic institutions are the input and results and their placements are the output of academic Institutions. Feedback and diagnosis of the result are activities influenced by the environmental elements. Attributes of an academic institutions from systems approach should be its Interdependence, Holism - emergent properties, Goal seeking, Open system, Transformation, Entropy, Regulation, Hierarchy, Equifinality, Multifinality.