The Reluctant Resurrection:New Complexity Methods and Old Systems Theories

Abstract

Abstract: Nonlinear tools and concepts (derived from the relatively recent computational advances in the physical, biological, and cognitive sciences) offer valuable insights into the evolution and behavior of human as well as natural systems. Hence, of late, organizational studies have begun to apply both the methods, as well as the metaphors, of nonlinear dynamical systems (known by the popular terms “chaos” and “complexity”). While these various studies often allude to unique epistemological features, full-blown theoretical developments are rare indeed. Moreover, this lack of a coherent foundation leads to a number of misconceptions, not the least of which is the belief that the results of nonlinear analysis can be integrated easily with existing social theories. In reality they present significant theoretical challenges. Specifically, they rely upon its concepts of holism and emergence, as well as alternative perspectives of sociocultural evolution and collective rationality. Thus, serious theory building requires a revival of elements from earlier Systems Theories, including the development of certain hybrid concepts such as “Systemic Choice” (which seeks to reconcile human agency and institutional processes).

Notes

1. Polley, D.Turbulence in organizations: New Metaphors for Organizational Research. Organization Science, 1997, 8 (5), 445–458; Brown, S.; Eisenhardt, K. Competing at the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos. Harvard Business School Press: Boston, 1998; Battram, A. Navigating Complexity: The Essential Guide to Complexity Theory in Business and Management. The Industrial Society: London, 2002.

2. Bruderer, E.; Singh, J.V. Organizational Evolution, Learning, and Selection: A Genetic-Algorithm-Based Model. Academy of Management Journal, 1996, 39(5), 1322–1348. Carley, K. Advances in the Formal Methods for Representing and Analyzing Organizations. Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, 1998, 4 (1), 3–15. Luna, F.; Perrone, A. An Agent-based Methods in Economics and Finance: Simulations in Swarm. Kluwer: Boston, 2001.

3. For excellent nontechnical discussions see: Gleick, J. Chaos: The Making of a New Science. Viking Press: New York, 1987; Waldrop, M.M. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos. Simon and Schuster: New York, 1992.

4. Kiel, L.D. Managing Chaos and Complexity in Government, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, 1994. Comfort, L.K. Shared Risk: Complex Systems in Seismic Response, Pergamon Press: New York, 1999. Daneke, G.A. Systemic Choices: Nonlinear Dynamics and Practical Management, University of Michigan Press: Ann Arbor, 1999.Axelrod, R.; Cohen M.D. Harnessing Complexity: Organization Implication of the New Scientific Frontier, The Free Press: New York, 2000.

8. Comfort, L.K. Rethinking Security: Organization Fragility in Extreme Events. Public Administration Review. 2002, 62 (Sept.), 98–107.

10. von Bertalanffy, L. The Theory of Open Systems in Physics and Biology. Science, 1950, 111:23–29. von Bertalanffy, L. General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications. Braziller, New York: 1968; Churchman, C. W. Challenge to Reason. McGraw-Hill: New York, 1968.

For example note the review in Ashmos, D.P. & Huber, G.P. The Systems Paradigm on Organizational Theory: Correcting the Record and Suggestions for the Future. Academy of Management Review, 1987, 12 (4), 607–62.

Drawing mostly on the work of Hebert Simon, see: Simon, H.A. Models of Bounded Rationality: Behavioral Economics and Business Organization. MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass., 1982.

32. Ibid, 148.

33. Ibid, 149.

See: Amburgey T. L.; Rao, H. Organizational Ecology: Past, Present, and Future Directions.Academy of Management Journal, 1996, 39 (5), 1265–1286.

40. Prigogine and Allen, 38.

47. Ibid, 312–331.

49. von Neumann, J. The General and Logical Theory of Automata. Reprinted in Modern Systems Research for the Behavioral Scientist, Buckley, W., Ed., Aldine, Chicago: 1968. For a discussion of present day implications, see Theory and Applications of Cellular Automata, Wolfram, S., Ed., Singapore: World Scientific, 1986.

For a discussion of present day implications, see Theory and Applications of Cellular Automata, Wolfram, S., Ed., Singapore: World Scientific, 1986.

52. Ibid, 46–47.

56. Hoos, I. Systems Analysis of Public Policy: A Critique. University of California Press. Berkeley, 1974; Berlinski, D. On Systems Analysis. MIT Press: Cambridge, 1976.