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Originating in biology, systems theory was developed in the 1950s against the backdrop of a need to have a set of systematical theoretical constructs to discuss the empirical world (Boulding, 1956; von Bertalanffy, 1951).“General systems theory is the skeleton of science in the sense that it aims to provide a framework or structure of systems on which to hang the flesh and blood of particular disciplines and particular subject matters in an orderly and coherent corpus of knowledge”(Boulding, 1956, p. 208). Another origin of systems theory came from cybernetic systems theory in mechanical engineering (Ashby, 1954; Wiener, 1948). The term cybernetics refers to control and communication in the machine system (Almaney, 1974). Similar to general systems theory, the concepts of cybernetic systems theory were found useful in explaining the behaviors of social systems extended from machine systems. Specifically, cybernetic systems rely on different feedback or control mechanisms to help the system maintain a stable state. For example, if an organization’s marketing strategy fails to increase the sales record, the feedback from the consumers and the market will force the organization to change its strategy in order to survive and maintain its desired goal of keeping up its sales performance. The disruptions or variations in the environment will thus force the system to respond and adjust in order to maintain this state of equilibrium. The third source of systems theory in organizational communication research is structural functionalism (Parsons, 1951). It emphasizes the functions fulfilled by system components as the system responds to environmental …