Session Summary

Session Number:169
Session ID:S64
Session Title:Organization Science Forum on Complexity Theories of Organizational Change
Short Title:Is Making Change Complex?
Session Type:Theme Session
Hotel:Swiss
Floor:LL3
Room:Gball I
Time:Tuesday, August 10, 1999 9:00 AM - 10:10 AM

Sponsors

AA  (Peter Smith Ring)pring@popmail.lmu.edu 310-338-7411 

General People

Organizer Anderson, Philip  Dartmouth College Philip.Anderson@Dartmouth.edu (603) 646-2725 
Organizer Meyer, Alan  U. of Oregon ameyer@oregon.uoregon.edu 541-346-5178 

Submissions

Organizations as adaptive systems in complex environments: The Case of China 
Presenter Child, John  U. of Cambridge jc3@eng.cam.ac.uk 44-1223-339616 
Presenter Boisot, Max  U. of Pennsylvania max.boisot@bcn.servicom.es 34-93-894-89-15 
Landscape design: Designing for local action in complex worlds 
Presenter Warglien, Massimo  U. of Pennsylvania    
Presenter Levinthal, Daniel A. U. of Pennsylvania levinthal@wharton.upenn.edu (215) 898-6826 
View from the Santa Fe Institue, the Cradle of Complexity Theory 
Presenter Cohen, Michael  U. of Michigan mcohen@umich.edu 734-763-0098 
Complexity Theory and Contemporary Managerial Applications 
Presenter Meyer, Chris  Ernst & Young LLP chris.meyer@ey.com 617-761-4000 

Abstract

The editors of Organization Science have encouraged discourse on complex systems theory among organization scholars over the past several years. Philip Anderson will describe this recent history and introduce four presentations which form the heart of the proposed symposium. The first, by Max Boisot and John Child, begins by linking complexity theory to culture-based theories of organizing. In their paper, "Organizations as adaptive systems in complex environments: the case of China," the authors introduce a new framework for thinking about adaptation and examine how Chinese Culture shapes the nature of complexity in China. The second, by Daniel Leventhal and Massimo Warglienis titled, "Landscape design: designing for local action in complex worlds." Their paper introduces a new set of concepts derived from Kauffman's nk landscape models, and explores how alternative organizational designs influence fitness landscapes, trading off ease of exploration against ease of coordination. The third presentation is by Michael Cohen who will describe the view from the Santa Fe Institute, the cradle of complexity theory. If this line of work is to develop into a permanent source of valuable ideas for organizational research, rather than to prove a passing fancy, we must assess the promise and limitations of complex systems theories in the study of organization. The last presentation asks if complex systems theory has applicability to living organizations. Chris Meyer, head of Ernst & Young's Center for Business Innovation, will describe contemporary managerial thinking about applications of complexity theory to practice.