System Design in Management Final Exam April 29, 2019

Direction: Answer the following questions as indicated.

1. Three common ways of thinking are: analytical thinking, statistical thinking, and
systems thinking. Discuss fully the nature of each. Are all 3 useful?

2. One of the key elements in systems thinking is feedback. What are the 2 kinds of
feedback and how does each affect the system? Include diagrams to enrich your
discussion.

3. In systems thinking, two important concepts come up: synergy and emergence.
Discuss the similarity and difference between these two concepts. Give examples as
needed.

4. Systems thinking has always been seen as important in understanding something

especially in management. But systems thinking is also important in design like in
coming up with a product or a service. Discuss a specific example of a product design
or service design anchored on systems thinking. (Just choose one; it should be
different from those presented in class).

5. In your own kind of work, discuss a problem that has arisen because of failure to
think in terms of a system.