International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

1) The set of actual or possible interrelations between the components of a system.

(or, for human organizations) "The entire set of relationships it has with itself and its stakeholders" (I.I. MITROFF and H.A. LINSTONE, 1993, p.142).

2) A system made of interconnected functional elements or subsystems, generally in various hierarchical levels.

H. Y. LERNER, quoted by J. ESPOSITO notes that: "The concept of organization is very difficult to define accurately, but from intuition it is clear that organized systems are far from being in "thermodynamic equilibrium". For instance, a gas consisting of molecules moving at random can be considered as having a zero degree of organization, whilst organisms capable of maintaining their existence and reproducing themselves have a high degree of organization" (1972, p.8).

J.L. ESPOSITO comments that, lacking equilibrium, organizations must necessarily engage in exchanges with a specific environment. He adds that: "In nature there may be nothing corresponding to a zero degree of organization, for an unconfined gas, like a frictionless surface, may remain only a theoretical ideal. From these remarks, then, it is clear that closure, control and exchange are necessary conceptions in any definition of organization" (1975, p.134).

And still: "An organization will be seen to constitute a balance between activator and inhibitor factors corresponding in general to the contrast between negentropy/informationgain and entropy/information-loss. In such a contrast can also be found the dual and biperspective nature of organization as both object and process" (p.135).