Systems Approach in Development Communication

The economic realities of the 1980s have made communications an indispensible tool for increasing productivity, profitability and competitiveness. Deregulation makes the benefits of private communications ownership both possible and desirable. Advancing technology offers more-effective ways to conduct business while reducing costs through applications such as videoconferencing and electronic mail.
A relatively recent approach that has enriched thinking about communication considerably the concept of “systems”. A system is any set of interacting parts that maintains boundaries while exchanging influences with its environments. Introducing the systems concept in the theoretical study of development communication has had several positive consequences. It helps for careful analysis of problems at the planning stage for development communication programmes.
A close look at how human systems works has shown that the communication is the very essence of these systems: it supplies information about environmental needs and conditions; facilitates internal interaction and coordination through information exchange- channels- through outgoing messages- the system influences on the environment; and brings back through- feedback- information about the environments reactions and its changing needs.
Important byproducts of systems approach are having a deep and beneficial effect on development communication. For instance, one very important trend growing out of this approach is an interest in formulating policies and plans. In other words, the more careful analysis the systems approach has promoted in the designing given development communication programme has an analogue in the examination of the totality of communication activities-what they are now and what they should be.