Complex adaptive system

About: Complex adaptive system is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3190 publications have been published within this topic receiving 111947 citations. The topic is also known as: Complex adaptive system, CAS.

Sustainability and Business in a Complex World

Abstract: Sustainability is a topic of growing importance today in all aspects of organizational life. Businesses and managers are increasingly considering ways to incorporate a balance among economic, ecological, social, and cultural value creation into their business models. At the same time, the world is becoming exponentially more complex. Indeed, complexity theory and thinking are now apparent in academic and practice accounts of sustainability in business, as scholars and practitioners recognize the limitations of traditional reductionist approaches to systemic problems. To date, however, a more theoretical framing of sustainability lags behind accumulating practical evidence. The purpose of this article is to address this gap by developing a complexity-based framework for understanding and managing sustainability in complex adaptive systems. We aim for simplicity, wholeness, and practicality in our approach, taking a qualitative rather than quantitative perspective on complex systems. Using several contemporary case examples, the article describes the important qualities of complex systems and develops them into a working framework that integrates principles and parameters of sustainability. In doing so, we create an approach to sustainability issues and dilemmas called “sustainability thinking.” The article concludes with more generalized sustainability action strategies for managers and recommendations for future researchers.

Building Resilient Regions: Complex Adaptive Systems and the Role of Policy Intervention

Abstract: The notion of resilience is being utilised by an increasing number of authors keen to understand the dynamics of local and regional economies and particularly how they deal with economic shocks and recessionary crises. Within the burgeoning literature however, fairly limited attention has been paid to date to developing a robust conceptual understanding of what role policy-makers, particularly at sub-national level, might play in building economic resilience in regions. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap. Drawing on resilience literatures which employ a complex adaptive systems perspective, the paper seeks to develop a conceptual framework within which policy action, particularly at the subnational level, can be theorised and understood. It identifies three critical dimensions which frame the role and scope for policy intervention in the management of regional economic resilience: the modes and structures of governance, the types of policy interventions which help build resilience, and the horizons or timings for appropriate intervention. The paper concludes by considering what this framing means for the nature and scope of subnational policy intervention for regional economic resilience.

Modelling and simulation of complex sociotechnical systems: envisioning and analysing work environments

Abstract: Accurate comprehension and analysis of complex sociotechnical systems is a daunting task. Empirically examining, or simply envisioning the structure and behaviour of such systems challenges traditional analytic and experimental approaches as well as our everyday cognitive capabilities. Computer-based models and simulations afford potentially useful means of accomplishing sociotechnical system design and analysis objectives. From a design perspective, they can provide a basis for a common mental model among stakeholders, thereby facilitating accurate comprehension of factors impacting system performance and potential effects of system modifications. From a research perspective, models and simulations afford the means to study aspects of sociotechnical system design and operation, including the potential impact of modifications to structural and dynamic system properties, in ways not feasible with traditional experimental approaches. This paper describes issues involved in the design and use of such models and simulations and describes a proposed path forward to their development and implementation. Practitioner Summary: The size and complexity of real-world sociotechnical systems can present significant barriers to their design, comprehension and empirical analysis. This article describes the potential advantages of computer-based models and simulations for understanding factors that impact sociotechnical system design and operation, particularly with respect to process and occupational safety.

The Corporation is Ailing Social Technology: Creating a ‘Fit for Purpose’ Design for Sustainability

Abstract: Designed to facilitate economic development, the corporate form now threatens human survival. This article presents an argument that organisations are yet to be ‘fit for purpose’ and that the corporate form needs to be re-designed to reach sustainability. It suggests that organisations need to recognise their agent status amongst a much wider and highly complex array of interconnected, dynamic economic, environmental and social systems. Human Factors theory is drawn on to propose that business systems could be made sustainable through re-design. They could fit their environment more appropriately by improving: Efficiency, Adaptability and Social Cohesion. Leaders of organisations would also need to take a holistic approach to alter the organisation proactively to adapt to the systems within which it is embedded.