ABSTRACT
Systems Theory in the natural sciences, or more accurately, the reinforcement of existing functionalist tendencies in management theory. By adapting Systems Theory management theorists could then presuppose that "as in such biological analogies ... system parts (or sub-systems) are interconnected and each are functional to the viability of the organization" (Thompson and McHugh, 1995: 367, emphasis added). The dangers of this were highlighted as early as 1975, Bertalanffy recording his "fear" that "system theory is indeed the ultimate step towards the mechanisation and devaluation of man and towards technocratic society" (Bertalanffy, 1975, quoted in Giddens, 1979: 270). Nonetheless, many systems theorists in management have since embraced and indeed continue to aspire to the technical rationality of its source in the natural sciences, again reinforcing positivist tendencies in the field.
