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Introduction to the Special Issue: Applications of Complexity Theory to Organization Science

Author

Listed:
  • Philip Anderson

    (Amos Tuck School, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755)

  • Alan Meyer

    (Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1208)

  • Kathleen Eisenhardt

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305)

  • Kathleen Carley

    (Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Andrew Pettigrew

    (Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, England)

Abstract

The seven articles that appear in this special issue concerning applications of complexity theory to organizations push our field forward significantly, not simply by importing ideas from an emerging interdisciplinary area, but by using them to inform rich, theoretically-grounded depictions of how organizations operate. Each emphasizes how the interaction of elements in a system produces surprising, emergent behavior that can be understood through formal models, even if those models cannot necessarily predict how a given system will evolve. Together, they constitute a foundation for a new way of thinking about how to model nonlinear behavior in organizations.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Anderson & Alan Meyer & Kathleen Eisenhardt & Kathleen Carley & Andrew Pettigrew, 1999. "Introduction to the Special Issue: Applications of Complexity Theory to Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(3), pages 233-236, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:10:y:1999:i:3:p:233-236
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.10.3.233
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Tammy E. Beck & Donde Ashmos Plowman, 2014. "Temporary, Emergent Interorganizational Collaboration in Unexpected Circumstances: A Study of the Columbia Space Shuttle Response Effort," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(4), pages 1234-1252, August.
    2. Wilkinson, Ian & Young, Louise, 2002. "Marketing theory in the next millennium: Looking backwards and forwards," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 81-85, February.
    3. Nicolaj Siggelkow & Jan W. Rivkin, 2005. "Speed and Search: Designing Organizations for Turbulence and Complexity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 101-122, April.
    4. Daniel J. Lacks, 2005. "Dynamics of Team Member Replacements from Complex Systems Theory," Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 335-347, January.
    5. Suresh Cuganesan & John C. Dumay, 2009. "Reflecting on the production of intellectual capital visualisations," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(8), pages 1161-1186, October.
    6. Jan W. Rivkin & Nicolaj Siggelkow, 2003. "Balancing Search and Stability: Interdependencies Among Elements of Organizational Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(3), pages 290-311, March.
    7. Wilkinson, Ian & Young, Louise, 2002. "On cooperating: firms, relations and networks," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 123-132, February.
    8. Arie Y. Lewin & Henk W. Volberda, 1999. "Prolegomena on Coevolution: A Framework for Research on Strategy and New Organizational Forms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(5), pages 519-534, October.
    9. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2454 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Grumadaitė Kristina & Jucevičius Giedrius, 2017. "Preconditions for Emergence of Lithuanian Clusters: from Informal Cooperation to Its Legitimation," Management of Organizations: Systematic Research, Sciendo, vol. 77(1), pages 37-56, June.
    11. Bill McKelvey & Benyamin B. Lichtenstein & Pierpaolo Andriani, 2012. "When organisations and ecosystems interact: toward a law of requisite fractality in firms," International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(1/2), pages 104-136.
    12. Gounaris, Spiros & Chatzipanagiotou, Kalliopi & Boukis, Achilleas & Perks, Helen, 2016. "Unfolding the recipes for conflict resolution during the new service development effort," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4042-4055.
    13. Ellinas, Christos & Allan, Neil & Johansson, Anders, 2016. "Project systemic risk: Application examples of a network model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 50-62.
    14. Matthijs J. Janssen & Koen Frenken & Elena M. Tur & Alexander S. Alexiev, 2022. "The perils of pleasing: Innovation-stifling effects of customized service provision," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1231-1264, September.
    15. Jonathan Levie & Benyamin B. Lichtenstein, 2010. "A Terminal Assessment of Stages Theory: Introducing a Dynamic States Approach to Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 34(2), pages 317-350, March.
    16. Sally Burford, 2011. "Complexity and the practice of web information architecture," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 62(10), pages 2024-2037, October.
    17. Patrycja Klimas & Ali Ashraf Ahmadian & Morteza Soltani & Meisam Shahbazi & Ali Hamidizadeh, 2023. "Coopetition, Where Do You Come From? Identification, Categorization, and Configuration of Theoretical Roots of Coopetition," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.
    18. Tamara Galkina & Irina Atkova, 2020. "Effectual Networks as Complex Adaptive Systems: Exploring Dynamic and Structural Factors of Emergence," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(5), pages 964-995, September.
    19. Andrew H. Van de Ven & Ricky Leung & John P. Bechara & Kangyong Sun, 2012. "Changing Organizational Designs and Performance Frontiers," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1055-1076, August.
    20. Gonçalo Pacheco-de-Almeida & Peter Zemsky, 2007. "The Timing of Resource Development and Sustainable Competitive Advantage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 651-666, April.
    21. Tan, Justin, 2007. "Phase transitions and emergence of entrepreneurship: The transformation of Chinese SOEs over time," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 77-96, January.
    22. Andréa Sonenberg & Hillary Knepper & Joyce Pulcini, 2015. "Implementing the ACA: The Influence of Nurse Practitioner Regulatory Policies on Workforce, Access to Care, and Primary Care Health Outcomes," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(4), pages 336-356, December.

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