The Interaction of Complexity and Management

The Interaction of Complexity and Management PDF

Author: Michael R. Lissack

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2002-11-30

Total Pages: 326

ISBN-13: 0313013942

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

What is complexity science? What is management? And how are the two linked? The potential of complexity science in the fields of management and organization studies has been explored before, yet there is little agreement on what complexity science truly is. Lissack and Rivkin, along with a panel of distinguished academics and executives, identify critical topics in the study of complexity science. They reveal complexity science to be a process, one seeking and understanding of the systems we inhabit, and ways of applying that understanding to the management of organizations. Complexity science is not a management fad, and the authors do not treat it as such. Instead, they offer useful and fascinating viewpoints on how work is managed in an age of business uncertainty, and how it can be more successfully managed with the aid of this rapidly evolving new field of science. Their multidisciplinary book combines systems theory, statistical modeling, and individual and organizational learning in an innovative new context. The volume takes a pragmatic approach: if it works, it's right. And complexity science, say the authors, work extremely well. This book is an important resource for upper level executives, specialists in organizational behavior, and their colleagues in the academic community.

The SAGE Handbook of Complexity and Management

The SAGE Handbook of Complexity and Management PDF

Author: Peter Allen

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Published: 2011-04-06

Total Pages: 665

ISBN-13: 1847875696

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This is the substantive scholarly work to provide a map of the state of art research in the growing field emerging at the intersection of complexity science and management studies.

Complexity and Management

Complexity and Management PDF

Author: Ralph D. Stacey

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-01-04

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 1134538979

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Complexity theory is generating increasing interest amongst strategic thinkers. This fascinating book covers issues such as predictability, creativity and relationships as it considers how complexity, and its central principles of emergence and self-organization, are being used to understand organizations. The book: introduces the variety of views put forward by different writers on complexity and management outlines and critiques the way that complexity theory is frequently interpreted purely in the context of systems thinking draws a new perspective on using complexity sciences to understand organizational stability and change by focusing on the emergence of novelty and creativity in the course of everyday processes calls for a radical re-examination of management thinking. Timely and controversial, Complexity and Management is essential reading for anyone interested in strategy, systems thinking, organization and management theory, and organizational change.

Structural Complexity Management

Structural Complexity Management PDF

Author: Udo Lindemann

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2008-09-24

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 3540878890

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Product design is characterized by a steady increase in complexity. The main focus of this book is a structural approach on complexity management. This means, system structures are considered in order to address the challenge of complexity in all aspects of product design. Structures arise from the complex dependencies of system elements. Thus, the identification of system structures provides access to the understanding of system behavior in practical applications. The book presents a methodology that enables the analysis, control and optimization of complex structures, and the applicability of domain-spanning problems. The methodology allows significant improvements on handling system complexity by creating improved system understanding on the one hand and optimizing product design that is robust for system adaptations on the other hand. Developers can thereby enhance project coordination and improve communication between team members and as a result shorten development time. The practical application of the methodology is described by means of two detailed examples.

Complexity and Organizational Reality

Complexity and Organizational Reality PDF

Author: Ralph D. Stacey

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-12-18

Total Pages: 695

ISBN-13: 1135188661

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Approaches to leadership and management are still dominated by prescriptions – usually claimed as scientific – for top executives to choose the future direction of their organization. The global financial recession and the collapse of investment capitalism (surely not planned by anyone) make it quite clear that top executives are simply not able to choose future directions. Despite this, current management literature mostly continues to avoid the obvious – management’s inability to predict or control what will happen in the future. The key question now must be how we are to think about management if we take the uncertainty of organizational life seriously. Ralph Stacey has turned to the sciences of uncertainty and complexity to develop an understanding of leadership and management as the ordinary politics of daily organizational life. In presenting organizations as a series of complex responsive processes, Stacey’s new book helps us to see organizational reality for what it actually is – human beings engaged in many, many local conversational interactions and power relations in which they negotiate their ideologically based choices. Organizational continuity and change emerge unpredictably, rather than as a result of any overall plan. This is a radically different picture from the one painted by most of the management literature, which explains "organizational continuity and change" as the realization of the global plans and choices of a few powerful executives within an organization. Providing a new foundation for understanding complexity and management, this important book is required reading for managers and leaders wanting to understand the reality of complexity in organizations, including those engaged in postgraduate studies in leadership, organizational behaviour and change management.

Complexity Theory and Project Management

Complexity Theory and Project Management PDF

Author: Wanda Curlee

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2010-10-01

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 0470769742

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

An insightful view on how to use the power of complexity theory to manage projects more successfully Current management practices require adherence to rigid, global responses unsuitable for addressing the changing needs of most projects. Complexity Theory and Project Management shifts this paradigm to create opportunities for expanding the decision-making process in ways that promote flexibility—and increase effectiveness. It informs readers on the managerial challenges of juggling project requirements, and offers them a clear roadmap on how to revise perspectives and reassess priorities to excel despite having an unpredictable workflow. One of the first books covering the subject of complexity theory for project management, this useful guide: Explains the relationship of complexity theory to virtual project management Supplies techniques, tips, and suggestions for building effective and successful teams in the virtual environment Presents current information about best practices and relevant proactive tools Makes a strong case for including complexity theory in PMI®'s PMBOK® Guide Complexity Theory and Project Management gives a firsthand view on the future of complexity theory as a driving force in the management field, and allows project managers to get a head start in applying its principles immediately to produce more favorable outcomes. (PMI and PMBOK are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.)

Complexity and Ecosystem Management

Complexity and Ecosystem Management PDF

Author: Marco Janssen

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2002-01-01

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 9781781957240

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The quality of ecosystems is affected by the actions of different stakeholders who use them in a variety of ways. In order to understand this complex relationship between humans and nature, it is vital to understand the complexity of the interacting agents. The authors in this book attempt to do this by applying multi-agent systems to the problems of ecosystem management. The multi-agent approach to ecosystem management is a relatively new and rapidly developing field which takes a formal computational approach towards the interaction of humans with their environment. The authors highlight some of the promising new methodologies which are emerging in the field from disciplines such as computer science and computational social science. They move on to address a number of important topics including diffusion processes, common-pool resources, land use change and the participatory use of models, in an attempt to solve contemporary management issues. They clearly demonstrate the potential utility of multi-agent systems in the context of theoretical problems and practical case studies.

School Leadership and Complexity Theory

School Leadership and Complexity Theory PDF

Author: Keith Morrison

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1135140537

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Interest in complexity theory, a relation of chaos theory, has become well established in the business community in recent years. Complexity theory argues that systems are complex interactions of many parts which cannot be predicted by accepted linear equations. In this book, Keith Morrison introduces complexity theory to the world of education, drawing out its implications for school leadership. He suggests that schools are complex, nonlinear and unpredictable systems, and that this impacts significantly within them. As schools race to keep up with change and innovation, he suggests that it is possible to find order without control and to lead without coercion. Key areas: * schools and self-organisation * leadership for self-organisation * supporting emergence through the learning organisation * schools and their environments * communication * fitness landscapes This book will be of interest to headteachers and middle managers, and those on higher level courses in educational leadership and management.

Managing Institutional Complexity

Managing Institutional Complexity PDF

Author: Sebastian Oberthur

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2011-08-19

Total Pages: 371

ISBN-13: 0262297434

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Experts investigate how states and other actors can improve inter-institutional synergy and examine the complexity of overlapping environmental governance structures. Institutional interaction and complexity are crucial to environmental governance and are quickly becoming dominant themes in the international relations and environmental politics literatures. This book examines international institutional interplay and its consequences, focusing on two important issues: how states and other actors can manage institutional interaction to improve synergy and avoid disruption; and what forces drive the emergence and evolution of institutional complexes, sets of institutions that cogovern particular issue areas. The book, a product of the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change research project (IDGEC), offers both theoretical and empirical perspectives. Chapters range from analytical overviews to case studies of institutional interaction, interplay management, and regime complexes in areas including climate change, fisheries management, and conservation of biodiversity. Contributors discuss such issues as the complicated management of fragmented multilateral institutions addressing climate change; the possible “chilling effect” on environmental standards from existing commitments; governance niches in Arctic resource protection; the relationships among treaties on conservation and use of plant genetic resources; causal factors in cross-case variation of regime prevalence; and the difficult relationship between the World Trade Organization and multilateral environmental agreements. The book offers a broad overview of research on interplay management and institutional complexes that provides important insights across the field of global environmental governance.

Complexity and the Nexus of Leadership

Complexity and the Nexus of Leadership PDF

Author: J. Goldstein

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Published: 2011-05-09

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780230622289

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The authors present a new approach to leadership based on findings from complexity science. Integrating real case studies with rigorous research results, they explore the biggest challenges being faced in fast-paced organizations, and provide a host of concrete tools for leading during critical periods.