Homeostasis is a process whereby critical variables are held within acceptable limits by self regulatory processes. The standard example of homeostasis is the maintenance of body temperature at a constant of 98.6° F. in an environment in which temperature varies considerably. If the self-regulatory processes fail, the system or organism goes into a state of catastrophe. If the temperature control processes in the human body fail, the result is a state of catastrophe called hyper or hypothermia, which rapidly threatens the body's viability. It is perhaps a measure of the lack of common understanding of this process that rescue workers have such a difficult time convincing people that they must take emergency measures at the first sign of hypothermia. It is characteristic of homeostasis that the processes usually involve complex coordination among different parts of the system to achieve this steady state. Living systems, including both organisms and organizations, generally indude many control devices and processes to maintain the stability of their essential variables.
Cybernetician Ross Ashby built a device called a Homeostat which returns to a stable state after absorbing randomly generated disturbances from the environment Experiments with this device led to valuable insights on the nature of self regulation and the apparent simplicity with which complex responses may be generated. Control systems in management serve as homeostats by adjusting to meet changing environmental conditions with changes in its internal state.
# SOURCE Cannon first described homeostasis as the complex coordination of physiological processes in: Cannon, W. (1932). The Wisdom of the Body. New York: Norton. Ashby's work with the homeostat is in: Ashby, R. (1960). Design for a Brain. London: Chapman and Hall.
# EXAMPLES • the maintenance of a given level of concentration of glucose in the blood • the tendency to maintain the relationship between production costs and price • the balance of trade between nations • the management of inventory levels • keeping a constant pressure in the cabin of an aircraft
# NON-EXAMPLES • government regulation of private conduct • consistent overeating • accumulation of toxic chemicals • the sharing of wealth among the world's peoples • hyper or hypothermia
# PROBABLE ERROR • Imposing external regulation on a process that is already self regulating, • Not creating such a procedure when it would be more appropriate than direct intervention • Not checking for the malfunction or absence of a homeostat when a process goes out of control.