A unified open systems model for explaining organisational change - Information Systems Foundations: Constructing and Criticising - page 134

ment. By doing this, a negative entropy condition can be maintained. It has been under-
stood for a long time that entropy is a quantification of randomness, uncertainty, and
disorganisation, and negative entropy therefore corresponds to (relative) order, certainty,
and organisation (Bertalanffy, 1973; Kramer and De Smith, 1977; Nicolis and Prigogine,
1977; Prigogine and Stengers, 1984; Miller, 1978; Van Gigch, 1978, 1991; Flood and
Carson, 1993). However, the mechanics underlying this idea had not been clear until it
was explained in the work of Nicolis and Prigogine (1977), Prigogine and Stengers (1984),
and Jantsch (1980) in the theory of dissipative structure and order that exists in the non-
equilibrium condition.
According to the theory of dissipative structure, an open system has a capability to
continuously import free energy from the environment and, at the same time, export
entropy. As a consequence, the entropy of an open system can either be maintained at
the same level or decreased (negative entropy), unlike the entropy of an isolated system
(i.e. one that is completely sealed off from its environment), which tends to increase to-
ward a maximum at thermodynamic equilibrium. This phenomenon can be represented
in quantitative terms as follows (Nicolis and Prigogine, 1977; Jantsch, 1980; Prigogine
and Stengers, 1984). According to the second law of thermodynamics, in any open system,
change in entropy dS in a certain time interval consists of entropy production due to an
irreversible process in the system (an internal component) d i S and entropy flow due to
exchange with the environment (an external component) d e S . Thus, a change in entropy
in a certain time interval can be represented as dS = d e S + d i S (where d i S > 0). However,
unlike d i S , the external component ( d e S ) can be either positive or negative. Therefore,
if d e S is negative and as numerically large as, or larger than, d i S , the total entropy may
either be stationary ( dS = 0) or decrease ( dS < 0). In the former case, we can say that the
internal production of entropy and entropy exported to the environment are in balance.
An open system in a dissipative structure sense can be viewed as shown in Figure 11.4.
Figure 11.4. An open system's entropy production and dissipation.
It can be concluded that order in an open system can be maintained only in a non-
equilibrium condition. In other words, an open system needs to maintain an exchange
of energy and resources with the environment in order to be able to continuously renew
itself.
Entropy and sustainability of dissipative systems
The internal structure and development of dissipative systems, as well as the process
by which they come into existence, evolve, and expire, are governed by the transfer of
energy from the environment. Unlike isolated systems (or closed systems in a broader
sense), which are always on the path to thermal equilibrium, dissipative systems have
a potential to offset the increasing entropic trend by consuming energy and using it to