Showing papers on "Complex adaptive system published in 1997"
TL;DR: In this article, a series of case studies is used to test an emerging theory of complex adaptive systems that forms the basis for explaining the interrelated dynamics of ecosystems, institutions and society.
Abstract: This volume uses a series of case studies to test an emerging theory of complex adaptive systems that forms the basis for explaining the interrelated dynamics of ecosystems, institutions and society. It deals equally with institutional organization and ecosystem structure.
1,434 citations
TL;DR: The purpose of this paper is to forge a unified description of complex adaptive systems from several sources, and then investigate the issue of change in a business organization via the framework ofcomplex adaptive systems.
Abstract: The study of complex adaptive systems has yielded great insight into how complex, organic-like structures can evolve order and purpose over time. Business organizations, typified by semi-autonomous organizational members interacting at many levels of cognition and action, can be portrayed by the generic constructs and driving mechanisms of complex adaptive systems theory. The purpose of this paper is to forge a unified description of complex adaptive systems from several sources, and then investigate the issue of change in a business organization via the framework of complex adaptive systems. The theory of complex adaptive systems uses components from three paradigms of management thought: systems theory, population ecology, and information processing. Specific propositions regarding the nature of dynamical change will be developed, driven by the complex adaptive systems model. Supporting evidence for these propositions is then sought within the existing management theory literature. In doing so, the complex adaptive systems approach to understanding organization change will be better grounded in domain-specific theory, and new insights and research areas will come to light.
602 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the implications of ideas from the study of complex adaptive systems that suggest that living systems co-evolve to far-from-equilibrium conditions, "at the edge of chaos".
Abstract: Suggests that consultants have tended to understand organizational systems in terms of organic metaphors of equilibrium adaptations between system and environment. Examines the implications of ideas from the study of complex adaptive systems that suggest that living systems co‐evolve to far‐from‐equilibrium conditions, “at the edge of chaos”. Takes this perspective for understanding the interactions occurring simultaneously in an organization’s designed or formal network of relationships, and in its self‐organizing or shadow networks. Provides illustrations from the author’s consulting practice to suggest how such a perspective may inform OD intervention in organizational culture change.
125 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine applications of complexity theory within the behavioral and social sciences and give specific attention to the fundamental characteristics of complex adaptive systems (CAS) and their application in the behavioral domain.
Abstract: This article examines applications of complexity theory within the behavioral and social sciences. Specific attention is given to the fundamental characteristics of complex adaptive systems (CAS)—s...
96 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a distributed control system for the electric power grid based on the complex adaptive systems (CAS) model, which can exhibit global change almost instantaneously as a result of local actions.
Abstract: Research in complex adaptive systems (CAS) has begun to achieve an understanding of complexity in natural systems as a phenomenon that emerges from the interaction of multiple, simple, but adaptive, agents. The computer experiments, or simulations, used in this research have led to the development of mathematical and computational techniques that are equally applicable to the design of distributed control systems based on the model of a complex system composed of multiple, autonomous, intelligent agents, competing and cooperating in the context of the whole system's environment. The electric power grid, made up of many, geographically dispersed components, is itself a CAS that can exhibit global change almost instantaneously as a result of local actions. The new availability of very high voltage active control devices makes the grid a prime candidate to benefit from a distributed control system based on the CAS model. Such a control system for the grid may be not only useful, but necessary, in order to make feasible the current worldwide trend toward free competition in electric power, which, carried to its ultimate extreme, requires the substitution of coordination by individual agents in a free market for centralized control from a single command site. Using autonomous, adaptive agents to model and simulate the corporate entities, involved in this free competition, can also evolve new business strategies for internal reorganization, external partnerships, and market penetration.
72 citations
01 Jan 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the subject matter of environmental law as a complex adaptive system and explain why environmental law thus must "think like an adaptive system" in order to accomplish its objectives.
Abstract: This article is the fourth in my series of articles exploring the application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to legal systems. It applies the model built in the three prior installments (in the Duke, Vanderbilt, and UC-Davis law reviews) to the specific context of environmental law. The work describes the subject matter of environmental law as a CAS and explains why environmental law thus must "think like a complex adaptive system" in order to accomplish its objectives.
46 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of an international agency for technical assistance illustrates the points made in sections 2 and 3: people in that organization spontaneously self-organized to form a learning system out of which a new strategic direction for their organization and governance emerged.
41 citations
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TL;DR: The third in a series of articles exploring the application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to legal systems is presented in this article, where the authors argue that the administrative state is becoming too resource intensive and burdened by a proliferation of rules.
Abstract: This article is the third in my series of articles exploring the application of complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory to legal systems. Building on the model outlined in the first two installments (in the Duke and Vanderbilt law reviews), this work examines the "arrow" or direction of the legal system in the context of the administrative state. Drawing from diverse work such as Burke's study of history's nonlinearity and Tainter's classic study of the collapse of complex civilizations, we argue that the administrative state is becoming too resource intensive and burdened by a proliferation of rules.
28 citations
TL;DR: An expansionist/context-sensitive system (CSS) paradigm, that includes the traditional reductionist/mechanistic view as a subset, is shown to facilitate understanding and designing complex adaptive systems (GAS).
Abstract: During the last ten years scientists in diverse fields such as economics, biology, and systems science have been asking the question, "What is it that makes some systems complex?" The traditional reductionist/mechanistic paradigm has failed to answer this system complexity question satisfactorily. An expansionist/context-sensitive system (CSS) paradigm, that includes the traditional reductionist/mechanistic view as a subset, is shown to facilitate understanding and designing complex adaptive systems (GAS). An expansionist system design and evaluation methodology, based on CSS theory, has been applied in a number of CAS applications, including distributed vehicle traffic control that is discussed in this paper as an example.
17 citations
27 Jul 1997
TL;DR: The authors characterize the CAS and investigate whether the CAS construct is transferrable to business organizations and call a business enterprise matching the criteria of a CAS an "evolutionary organization".
Abstract: Based on concepts of the complex adaptive system (CAS) from system theory and complexity studies, the authors characterize the CAS and investigate whether the CAS construct is transferrable to business organizations. A scale is developed to rate a business organization's similarity to a CAS. The call a business enterprise matching the criteria of a CAS an "evolutionary organization". Short case studies of three high-technology companies (Microsoft, Intel, and Netscape) lead to an evaluation of these companies as evolutionary organizations. Limits of the transferability of this method are noted.
01 Nov 1997
TL;DR: Oekerman et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a framework for facilitating and learning at the edge of chaos in the context of experiential education, where a complex adaptive system consists of networks of large numbers of agents that interact with each other and with their environment according to a set of rules, and when the system is operating in the narrow zone between order and chaos, called a phase transition, it is operating at its highest level of functioning.
Abstract: Significant recent discoveries within a number of scientific disciplines, collectively referred to as the science of complexity, are creating a major shift in how human beings understand the complex, adaptive systems that make up the world A complex adaptive system consists of networks of large numbers of agents that interact with each other and with their environment according to a set of rules This set of rules contains two subsystems: a dominant, or legitimate, subsystem that encompasses the system's primary task, and a recessive, or shadow, subsystem that operates outside of the system's primary task, providing the arena for play, exploration of new behaviors, and creativity The shadow subsystem also seeks to undermine or modify the dominant subsystem through change These two subsystems coexist in dynamic tension, and when the system is operating in the narrow zone between order and chaos, called a phase transition, or "the edge of chaos," it is operating at its highest level of functioning Here is where the system creates space for novelty, where the greatest information processing takes place, where risks are taken and new behavior is tried out Five factors that determine whether a system can move into the edge of chaos are identified Practitioners of experiential education, working with and within complex human systems, already intuitively understand many aspects of complex system dynamics, and are ideally suited to use their skills in broader applications Organizations and institutions shifting to the new paradigm of complex systems will operate from a conceptual framework with which experiential educators are already skilled Includes suggestions for further reading (Author/TD) ******************************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document * ******************************************************************************** Facilitating and Learning at the Edge of Chaos: Expanding the Context of Experiential Education Carl Oekerman, MS 809 Liberty St Bellingham, WA 98225 USA Phone: (360) 671-2412 Fax: (360) 734-2302 Email: hanaok@aolcom ABSTRACT US DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1:114114 document nas been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction qualityUS DEPARTMENT OP EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1:114114 document nas been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in thus docu ment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY
TL;DR: A framework for and a computational model of organizational behavior based on an artificial adaptive system (AAS) is presented that enables organizational decision making in a dynamic environment to be modeled as a satisficing process and not as a maximization process.
Abstract: A framework for and a computational model of organizational behavior based on an artificial adaptive system (AAS) is presented. An AAS, a modeling approach based on genetic algorithms, enables the modeling of organizational learning and adaptability. This learning can be represented as decisions to allocate resources to the higher performing organizational agents (i.e., individuals, groups, departments, or processes, depending on the level of analysis) critical to the organization's survival in different environments. Adaptability results from the learning function enabling the organizations to change as the environment changes. An AAS models organizational behavior from a micro-unit perspective, where organizational behavior is a function of the aggregate actions and interactions of each of the individual agents of which the organization is composed. An AAS enables organizational decision making in a dynamic environment to be modeled as a satisficing process and not as a maximization process. To demonstrate the feasibility and usefulness of such an approach, a financial trading adaptive system (FTAS) organization is computationally modeled based on the AAS framework. An FTAS is an example of how the learning mechanism in an AAS can be used to allocate resources to critical individuals, processes, functions, or departments within an organization.
TL;DR: Analysis of data for a singular predictive instance of systemic learning: warfare frequencies finds that the data support the hypothesis that the real‐world system is, indeed, a complex adaptive learning system.
Abstract: Evaluates the hypothesis that the real‐world political system constitutes a complex adaptive learning system. Abstracts relevant parameters of this system to create a computer model, which is utilized to generate data for a singular predictive instance (SPI) of systemic learning: warfare frequencies. Compares these data with corresponding real‐world empirical data for this SPI. A finding that the two sets of data are closely correlated allows for extrapolation of model systemic findings to the real‐world system. Discovers that the data support the hypothesis that the real‐world system is, indeed, a complex adaptive learning system.
01 Aug 1997
TL;DR: An agent‐based system architecture is proposed that will satisfy the requirements for such an intelligent system and a facilitator agent that manages communication, coordination, and collaboration is proposed as a part of this architecture.
Abstract: A methodology for bringing intelligent, Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) into being is discussed, and the requirements for such intelligent systems are summarized. An agent-based system architecture is proposed that will satisfy the requirements for such an intelligent system. A facilitator agent that manages communication, coordination, and collaboration is proposed as a part of this architecture. A goal-directed behavior process is included as part of the facilitator agent to satisfy many of the intelligent system requirements.
TL;DR: The linkage of learning, whole-thinking and health is suggested as a viable model of organizational health for chiropractic educational institutions.