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Embracing complexity : strategic perspectives for an age of turbulence / Jean G. Boulton, Peter M. Allen, and Cliff Bowman

Author
Boulton, Jean G.
Published
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.
Edition
First edition.
Physical Description
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white)
Additional Creators
Allen, Peter M. (Peter Murray), 1944- and Bowman, Cliff
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Contents
Machine generated contents note: 1.Introduction -- 1.1.What is this book about and why are we writing it? -- 1.2.For whom are we writing this book? -- 1.3.Complexity thinking in brief -- 1.4.Limits to knowledge -- 1.5.What this book is not -- 2.The Nature of a Complex World -- 2.1.The life cycle of forests -- 2.2.When the environment is relatively stable -- 2.3.When the environment is not stable -- 2.4.A word of warning: the social world is not so neat and tidy -- 2.5.Messiness and variety are key -- 3.Unpacking Complexity -- 3.1.Introduction -- 3.2.The world really is complex -- 3.3.The key insight: the future is a dance between patterns and events -- 3.4.The birth of complexity theory: Prigogine and open systems -- 3.5.What is a complex system? -- 3.6.Characteristics of a complex world -- 3.7.So where does this take us? -- 4.Have We Thought Like This Before? -- 4.1.Introduction -- 4.2.Flow, change, particularity, and emergence -- 4.3.Plato and Aristotle -- 4.4.Newton and mathematical laws -- 4.5.Statistical mechanics and thermodynamics -- 4.6.Evolution and Darwin -- 4.7.The impact of Darwin's thinking -- 4.8.The emergence of systems thinking and complexity theory -- 4.9.Almost full circle back to pre-modernism -- 5.The Complexity of Complexity Theories -- 5.1.Introduction -- 5.2.Models and equations -- 5.3.A trip into state space -- 5.4.The rocky road from reality to anticipated understanding -- 5.5.Evolutionary, complex models -- 5.6.Probabilistic dynamics: the Master Equation -- 5.7.Assuming stationarity -- 5.8.Dynamical systems -- 5.9.Discussion: what we are trying to emphasize -- 6.Complexity and the Social World -- 6.1.Can we be sure complexity theory is relevant for the social world? -- 6.2.Complexity theory and human systems: are humans different from molecules? -- 6.3.Researching the complex world in the flesh! -- 6.4.We are not dismissing the place of large-scale research -- 7.Complexity and Management -- 7.1.Introduction -- 7.2.Methods for exploring implicit beliefs and worldviews -- 7.3.What does complexity thinking imply for managing change? -- 7.4.Complexity-informed management behaviours -- 8.Complexity and Strategy -- 8.1.What is strategy? -- 8.2.Starting outside-in -- 8.3.Dynamics of the strategy landscape and implications for practice -- 8.4.Strategy in practice: a case study -- 8.5.Deliberate and emergent strategy -- 8.6.Advice to the strategist from the complexity perspective -- 8.7.Pause for thought: the issue of dominance -- 8.8.Complexity and strategy: concluding comments -- 9.Complexity and International Development -- 9.1.This chapter: a personal view -- 9.2.Turkana through a complexity lens -- 9.3.Savings groups -- 9.4.Context analysis -- 9.5.Conclusions -- 10.Complexity and Economics -- 10.1.Introduction -- 10.2.A very brief history of economic thought -- 10.3.A complexity/evolutionary perspective -- 10.4.What is wrong with neo-classical thinking? -- 10.5.Implications -- 10.6.Conclusion -- 11.Final Reflections: What We Hope You Take Away from This Book -- 11.1.Introduction -- 11.2.We start with modelling -- 11.3.A focus on `local' -- 11.4.Mindsets and principles, not tools -- 11.5.Empiricism -- 11.6.The pesky topic of self-organization -- 11.7.A concluding comment.
Summary
This text discusses the concept of complexity. It describes what it means to say the world is complex and explores what that means for managers, policy makers and individuals. The authors cover the theory and ideas of complexity and explore issues of complexity in the fields of management, strategy, economics and international development.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780191821943 (ebook)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
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