Complexity and organization : readings and conversations

311 Pages·2006·8.105 MB·English

by  MacIntosh, Robert

Complexity and Organization
Readings and conversations
Edited by
Robert Macintosh, Donald MacLean, Ralph Stacey and Douglas Griffin
Complexity and Organization
Since the mid-1990s, complexity-based thinking has exerted increasing, yet somewhat
controversial, influence over management theory and practice. This has in some part been
due to the influence of a number of high-profile articles and the not inconsiderable hype
which accompanied them. Another feature of the subject's development has been the
diversity of the origins of the thinking and the claims whicn have been made for it in terms
of managerial and organizationa implications.
Complexity and Organization is the first text to bring this thinking together,
presenting some of the most influential writing in the field and showing how the subject
has emerged, developed and continues to influence managerial thinking. Seminal
contributions to the field have been brought together in a single volume, a towing readers
to access what might otherwise appear a very diffuse literature. Moreover, the editors,
who represent some of the leading thinkers and writers in this field, have combined these
readings with a unique commentary, not only indxating the significance of the articles but
also teasing out the subtle deferences and similarities between them. These commentaries
take the form of a discussion between the editors, debating the contribution that each
reading has made to the field and the in+luence it has had on management think'ng.
Providing a unique overview, this informative and thought-provoKing Reader will be
an essential resource fo- anyone interested in complexity based approaches.
Robert Macintosh began his academic career as a researcher at the University of
Strathclyde and completed his PhD in engineering before moving to a post in the Business
School at the University of Glasgow. In 2004, he returned to Strathclyde where he is now
a Professor in the Business School.
Donald MacLean is a Professional Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow. He is a
faculty member of the Complexity and Management Centre of the University of
Hertfordshire, a member of the faculty of the Institute of Directors in Scotland and an
associate of the Glasgow Centre for Population Health.
Ralph Stacey is Professor of Management and Director of the Complexity and
Management Centre at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire.
Douglas Griffin is Associate Director of the Complexity and Management Centre
at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire. He is also an !ndependent
consultant.

Complexity and Organization
Readings and conversations
Edited by
Robert Macintosh, Donald MacLean,
Ralph Stacey and Douglas Griffin
II Routledge
fi % Taylor & Francis Croup
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2006
hv Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016
Rouiledge is an imprint of (he Taylor Francis Group, an informa business
Transferred to Digital Printing 2006
© 2006 Selection and editorial malter, Robert Macintosh, Donald MacLean, Ralph Stacey
and Douglas Griffin; individual readings, their contributors (as specified in the
acknowledgements page).
Typeset in Perpetua and Bell Gothic bv
Keystroke, Jacaranda Lodge, Wolverhampton
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
hriush library Cataloguing in PuWicafion Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Complexity and organization : readings and conversations / [edited by] Robert Macintosh . . . |et al]
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 -41 5-55240 1 (hard cover) - ISBN 0-415-35241-X (soft cover) 1. Management.
2. Organization. 3. Complex organizations Management. 4. Complexity (Philosophy)
I. Macintosh, Robert.
HD31.C6184 2006
658.4—dc22
2005018893
ISBN 10: 0 415-35240-1 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0 415 35241 X (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978 O 41S-35240-6 (hbk)
ISBN1 3: 978-0-415-35241-3 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-134-52719-9 (ebk)
Publisher^ Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint
but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent
Printed and bound by CPI Antony Rowe, Hast bourne
Contents
About the Editors vii
Acknowledgements ix
INTRODUCTION 1
PART ONE
Chaos theory and dissipative structures: direct applications
of complexity thinking 5
Editors' introduction and commentary 7
1 David Levy
CHAOS THFORY AND STRACFGY: THEORY, APPt ICATIOM, AND
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS 9
2 Robert Macintosh and Donald MacLean
CONDITIONED EMERGENCE: A DISSIPATIVE STRUCTURES
APPROACH TO TRANSFORMATION 27
3 Richard T. Pascale
SURFING THE EDGE OF CHAOS 56
4 Ralph Stacey
THE SCiENCE OF COMPLEXITY: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE
FOR STRATEGIC CHANGE PROCESSES 74
5 Margaret J. Wheatley
CHAOS AND THE STRANGE ATTRACTOR OF MEANING 101
Editors' discussion of the readings in Part One 115
Vi CONTENTS
PART TWO
Categorizing complexity 131
Editors' introduction and commentary 133
6 Peter M. Allen
EVOLVING COMPLEXITY IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 134
7 Douglas Griffin, Patricia Shaw and Ralph Stacey
SPEAKING OF COMPLEXITY IN MANAGEMENT I HEORY AND
PRACTICE 162
8 Jeffrey Goldstein
EMERGENCE: A CONSTRUCT AMID A THICKET OF CONCEPTUAL
SNARES 185
Editors' discussion of the readings inP art Two 200
PART THREE
Complexity in social settings 207
Editors' introduction and commentary 209
9 Robert Chia
FROM COMPLEXITY SCIENCE TO COMPLEX THINKING:
ORGANIZATION AS SIMPLE LOCATION 210
10 Ralph Stacey
LEARNING AS AN ACTIVITY OF INTERDEPENDENT PEOPLE 237
11 Haridimos Tsoukas and Mary Jo Hatch
COMPLEX THINKING, COMPLEX PRACTICE. THE CASE POR A
NARRATIVE APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONAL COMPLEXITY 247
Editors' discussion of the readings in Part i hree 277
Concluding remarks 289
Index 293
About the Editors
Robert Macintosh began his academic career as a researcher at the University of
Strathclyde and completed his PhD in engineering before moving to a post in the
Business School at the University of Glasgow. His main research interests lie in the
area of strategic change. He has researched the application of complexity thinking to
managerial and organizational issues for a number of years and has published on these
topics. He has performed funded research for a range of funding bodies, is sub-theme
chair in the European Group for Organization Studies and is a member of the Council
for the British Academy of Management. At the moment he is working on a range
of projects with the National Health Service in Glasgow. He lives in Glasgow with
his wife Anne and their children Euan, Eilidh and Eva. He is happiest when he is at
home and in their company. Undermining his credibility as a management researcher,
however, is his status as a shareholder in Aberdeen Football Club - not the wisest
investment decision, but one filled with hope!
Donald MacLean received his PhD from the University of Cambridge and spent
ten years working in the optoelectronics industry and a further fifteen lecturing
in strategic management. He is now a Professorial Research Fellow at the University
of Glasgow. His interests iie in the development of alternative conceptions of the
process, purpose and nature of organization and management. He is a faculty member
of the Complexity and Management Centre of the University of Hertfordshire, a
member of the faculty of the Institute of Directors in Scotland and an associate of the
Glasgow Centre for Population Health. He lives with his wife and two sons, near Oban,
on the West Coast of Scotland.
Ralph Stacey is Professor of Management and Director of the Complexity and
Management Centre at the Business School of the University of Hertfordshire. He is
the author of a number of books and articles that have been translated into other lan­
guages. These include Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics (Pitman,
4th edition, 2003), Complex Responsive Processes in Organisations (Routledge 2001)
and Complexity and Group Processes: a radically social understanding of the
viii ABOUT THE EDITORS
individual (Routledge 2003). He Is co author of Complexity and Management: fad or
radical challenge to systems thinking (Stacey, Griffin and Shaw, Routledge 2000).
He is a Member of the Institute of Group Analysis.
Douglas Griffin is an independent consultant, Visiting Professor at the Business
School of the University of Hertfordshire and Associate Director of the Compexity
and Management Centre. He has worked as an independent organization consultant
since the mid~1980s and has also been employed with 3M Germany in strategic
personnel development and organizational learning services. His current research
interests are in the cultural and ethical implications of taking analogies from the
complexity sciences to challenge our understanding of social interaction and
organizational change.
Acknowledgements
The editors would like to thank all those who helped to bring this project about.
The idea of creating a Reader for complexity writing in organizations had been in
circulation for some time. Jacqueline Curthoys prompted us to move the project
forward and, critically, she suggested that collaboration between Glasgow and
Hertfordshire might produce a far more authoritative text - we feel sure that she was
right, though you must judge this for yourself. In addition, Emma Joyes has kept the
project on track, providing invaluable advice on formatting arid finishing the manu­
script. Also, we are indebted to Cherisse McLaren at Glasgow University for patiently
transcribing our commentaries on the readings in each part.
We would like to offer our sincere thanks to the authors of the pieces gathered
together in this Reader. We greatly enjoyed rereading the articles and are grateful for
the opportunity to reprint them here. In particular, we would like to thank Jeffrey
Goldstein for helping us with securing copyright on his article here. This was a
complicated process and we are grateful for his persistent and conscientious approach
to dealing with something that was really our problem, not his.
The publishers would like to thank the following for permission to reprint their
material:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc., 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco,
CA 94104-2916
Wheatley, M. (1992/1999) Chaos and the Strange Attractor of Meaning, in
Leadership and the New Sciences: discovering order in a chaotic world, 2nd
edition, Chapter?: 114-134. Berrett-Koehler, San Francisco, CA.
Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 60/62 Toller Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire,
BD8 9BY
Stacey, R. (2003) Learning as an Activity of Interdependent People, The
Learning Organization, 10 (6): 325-331.