Abstract
All systems are located in space and time of a certain environment. The system exchanges material, energy and information with the external environment. The performance of a system depends upon its internal structure and function on the one side, and also depends upon its active adaption to its external environment on the other side. Moreover, the system also has impact to the environment where it is existed. It should be emphasized that the relationship between system and environment is relative in sense from the nature of hierarchy of a system. For example, in the hierarchical system of social organization, it includes the effect of the international system, the national system, the enterprise system, the family system, etc. Meanwhile, the enterprise system and the national system can also become an environment of the family system.
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- 1.
Note: HPH had a network comprised 48 ports globally in 2016.
- 2.
Note: This function of social system and S&T system can be drawn separately.
- 3.
Source: Sills and Merton 1968.
- 4.
Source: Whiltehead (2003).
- 5.
Note: Symbols comprise the capability of characters, pictures, human’s postures, works, music notes, etc.
- 6.
Note: Ethnography is a multi-discipline endeavor, which makes descriptive study on human specific society through social investigation and comparison of various racial societies.
- 7.
Note: Yang Fengbin had written the preface of the book The Analects of the book series of the Library of Chinese Classics (Chinese, English).
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Wang, H., Li, S. (2018). Boundary, Environment and Social Change of a Social System. In: Introduction to Social Systems Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7040-2_8
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