It would not be a rare occurrence in our lifetime to engage in some type of group, or group activity. We could encounter these groups in the work force, a social activity, or in the educational setting. However, it does not matter what type of group we may encounter, the entity of the group itself will remain the same. Each group will be a system composed of parts that, in all reality, affect each other and the system as a whole. That is why as parts of a group we must understand different ways the "interconnected" parts can influence the groups we may engage in (Rothwell, 28). In fact, there are specific ways in which these parts can influence a group such as the ripple effect, synergy and boundary control.
             Three Main Concepts about Systems Theory
             The ripple effect is a great analogy for describing how one single part of the system can influence the entire system. The ripple effect would extend across the entire system just as if you were to take a rock and throw it into a pond. The initial force of the rock would cause not just one ripple throughout the pond, but also many ripples that would expand throughout the entire pond. For instance, let's just say I'm a truck driver for Wal-Mart, and my delivery must be delivered exactly at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning. Unfortunately, my itinerary was disturbed because I hit a big rock in the middle of the road and blew out two of my tires. Consequently, the product in my truck was not delivered on time. This one incident would cause many ripples throughout the Wal-Mart system. The shipping and receiving department schedule would be totally distorted, the stockers that stock the shelves would be set back in their daily routine, and the consumers would suffer because the product that they went to buy may not have been on the shelves yet; possibly leading to frustration and ultimately forcing them to buy from another store. This theory of the "ripple effect" may often go unnoticed, however, i...