The purpose of this paper is to link the concept of the subsystem, namely the
training system effectiveness, to its environmental characteristics. This emphasises
the same philosophical issue as that of Lawrence and Lorsch's (1969) Organisation
and Environment, which seeks answers to the elusive concept of organisational
effectiveness and its relationship to the environment. Environmental characteristics
in this research are overall organisational effectiveness, organisational climate and
the state of the immediate environment of the training department.
The study indicates that a correlational relationship exists between training system
effectiveness and its environmental characteristics as perceived by participants of
the study. The correlationship suggests that training system effectiveness is related
to the overall organisational effectiveness. Training system effectiveness is not directly
related to organisational climate or the state of the immediate environment. This
web of relationships suggests that the training system's interface with the external
environment is through the organisational structure.
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