What is "systemness"

n. The essential attributes that constitute a system

Systemness is the state, quality, or condition of a complex system, that is, of a set of interconnected elements that behave as, or appear to be, a whole, exhibiting behavior distinct from the behavior of the parts. The term is new and has been applied to large social phenomena and organizations ( healthcare and higher education) by advocates of higher degrees of system-like, coherent behavior for delivering value to stakeholders.

In sociology, Montreal-based Romanian academic Szymon Chodak (1973) used "societal systemness" in English to describe the empirical reality that inspired Emile Durkheim.

The healthcare-related usage of the term was as early as 1986 in a Dutch psychiatric research paper. It has recently been adapted to describe the sustainability efforts of healthcare institutions amidst budget cuts stemming from the 2008–2012 global recession.

The higher educational use appears to have featured in professional discussions between sociologist Neil Smelser and University of California Chancellor and President Clark Kerr in the 1950s or 60s; in the foreword to Kerr's 2001 memoir, Smelser uses the term in inverted commas in recalling such discussions. The term's overt operationalization, however, was instituted by The State University of New York's (SUNY) Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher in the State of the University Address on January 9, 2012. Zimpher noted systemness as "the coordination of multiple components that, when working together, create a network of activity that is more powerful than any action of individual parts on their own."