Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people’s ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can’t be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity through mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity &amp; Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems that is informed by this research. This 2005 Annual includes articles from Max Boisot, Ken Baskin, Robert E. Ulanowicz, Heather Höpfl, Victoria Alexander, and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of four reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems: “Futurology and the Future of Systems Analysis” by Ida R. Hoos (originally published in 1972) “A Form of Logic Suited for Biology” by Walter M. Elsasser (originally published in 1981) “Beyond Open Systems Models of Organization” by Louis R. Pondy (originally unpublished conference paper from 1976) “The Architecture of Complexity” by Herbert A. Simon (originally published in 1962)

Emergence: Complexity & Organization (2005 Annual)

Business & Money

Kurt A. Richardson

David Snowden

Jeffrey A. Golstein

Peter M. Allen

Management & Leadership

ISCE Publishing

Following the success of the previous ANZSYS conferences and “Managing the Complex” events, it was a pleasure to announce the 11th Annual ANZSYS/Managing the Complex V Conference. The conference was held in the city of Christchurch in New Zealand from 5-7 December 2005, and was co-hosted by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research Limited (ESR), New Zealand, and the Institute for the study of Coherence and Emergence (ISCE), USA. A lively forum for discussion and debate was provided for a wide range of academics and practitioners in the fields of systems thinking, complexity science and management. People from other disciplines who have an interest in the application of systems thinking and complexity approaches were also invited to participate. We brought together thinkers and practitioners in the fields of systems and complexity as it seemed to us that there has been a significant international resurgence in these areas in recent years. It would appear that this has been driven by at least four simultaneous forces: 1. people right across the public, private and voluntary sectors looking for new ways to manage or deal with increasingly complex and multi-faceted problems; 2. the obviously systemic character of many high-profile issues that transcend national boundaries, from global warming to international violence; 3. the popularization of a number of systems approaches in the mid-1990s, especially among managers and policy makers; 4. and the simultaneous popularization of complexity science, sparking major interest in new approaches to managing uncertainty. The fields of systems and complexity have many similarities, yet they are being developed by two overlapping research communities that have unique insights to bring to bear on the management of ‘wicked’ problems. We believe that, by providing forums, such as this conference, in which people working at the frontiers of complexity and systems thinking can learn from one another, significant new insights for action can emerge. At the end of the day, it is important to the vast majority of those working with complexity and systems ideas that they are able to make a positive difference in people’s lives. It is therefore vitally important that we share our insights and build a community of practitioners that can take the research agenda forward. Our aim is to bring together as many people as possible who are engaging with complex environmental, social and business issues, with the intention of promoting an intense and lively debate with real implications for systems and complexity! practice. Our hope is that this conference was a step in the right direction.

Systems Thinking and Complexity Science: Insights for Action

Wendy J. Gregory

Gerald Midgley

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people’s ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can’t be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity through mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems that is informed by this research.

Emergence: Complexity & Organization (2004 Annual VOLUME 6 2nd Edition)

Havana's Instituto de Filosofia's First Biennial International Seminar on the Philosophical, Epistemological and Methodological Implications of Complexity Theory, was held in January 2002 in Havana, Cuba's capital city. The seminar was aimed at familiarizing Cuban researchers and professors in a more direct way with some of the current trends - and widespread scope - of the expanding field of complexity thinking, affording them the possibility of personal contacts with some of the people engaged in that effort. The seminar was attended by specialists from fifteen countries, ranging from Chile to Australia along the West-East axis, and from Norway to South Africa along the North-South one. There were participants from developed and underdeveloped countries. This book contains selected papers from the 'Complexity 2002' seminar, edited by Fritjof Capra (author of 'The Tao of Physics', 'The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems' and 'The Hidden Connections: A Science for Sustainable Living'), Alicia Juarrero (author of 'Dynamics in Action'), Pedro Sotolong, and Jacco van Uden (author of 'Complexity and Organization'). The papers have been organized in four parts: I. Sources of Complexity: Science and Information; II. Philosophical, Epistemological and Methodological implications; III. Organizational Implications; IV. Global and Ethical Implications. The papers in Part I can be said to approach the phenomenon of complexity at a very basic level. Here the issues being addressed revolve around the very fundamental question of why the complexity sciences are so important: What are the most fundamental lessons to be learned from studying complex systems? Papers included in Part II engage in a broader, philosophical investigation of some of the most general ontological, epistemological and methodological implications of the complexity approach, showing how very old questions are currently being reformulated and/or reinterpreted in the light of co

Reframing Complexity: Perspectives from the North and South (Exploring Complexity)

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people's ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can't be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity through mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems that is informed by this research. This 2005 Annual includes articles from Max Boisot, Ken Baskin, Robert E. Ulanowicz, Heather Höpfl, Victoria Alexander, and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of four reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems: "Futurology and the Future of Systems Analysis" by Ida R. Hoos (originally published in 1972) "A Form of Logic Suited for Biology" by Walter M. Elsasser (originally published in 1981) "Beyond Open Systems Models of Organization" by Louis R. Pondy (originally unpublished conference paper from 1976) "The Architecture of Complexity" by Herbert A. Simon (originally published in 1962)

Emergence: Complexity & Organization 2005 Annual

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people's ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can't be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity through mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems that is informed by this research. This 2004 Annual includes articles from Isabelle Stengers, Julie Klein, Sandra Mitchell, Glenda Eoyang, Bill McKelvey, William Sulis and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of four reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems: "Principles of Self-Organizing Systems" by Ross Ashby (originally published in 1962) "General Systems Theory: The Skeleton of Science" by Kenneth Boulding (originally published in 1956) "Science and Complexity" by Warren Weaver (originally published in 1948) "Emergence" by Stephen Pepper (originally published in 1926)

Emergence: Complexity & Organization 2004 Annual

Systems Thinking and Complexity Science: Insights for Action: Proceedings of the 11th Anzsys/Managing the Complex V Conference (Held in Christchurch,

This pre-proceedings contains the all the papers submitted for the two-day Complexity and Philosophy workshop held 22nd-23rd February 2007, in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The event was co-hosted by Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), ISCE Events, and the Cathedra for the Study of Complexity (Instituto de Filosofia de La Habana). As with previous meetings, the aim of this workshop was to explore the philosophical implications of the science and thinking of complex systems. Attendees were encouraged to submit papers on the following topics: - Status, limits and legitimacy of knowledge regarding complex systems; - Relationship between linear and nonlinear philosophies; - Complexity-based ethics; - Frameworks for the analysis of complex systems; - Complex limits to theories of everything; - Complexity and the social sciences; - Complexity and globalization; - Complexity and human subjectivity. CONTENTS Editorial - Kurt A. Richardson & Paul Cilliers WORKSHOP PAPERS 1. Foucault, complexity, and myth: Toward a complexity-based approach to social evolution (a.k.a. history) Ken Baskin 2. Complexity-based ethics: Martin Buber and dynamic self-organization Deborah P. Bloch & Terrence Nordstrom 3. Gaia, complexity, and American Indian Tribes: Common ground for compatible theories Nicholas C. Peroff 4. What is there in a word?: Heterarchy, homoarchy, and the difference in understanding complexity in the social sciences and complexity studies Dmitri M. Bondarenko 5. Wittgenstein s Ladder in Prigogine s Universe Tapio Muhonen 6. To catch a falling star: Opening the middle path s hands of humility to science Graham Schliebs 7. Rhythmic entrainment, symmetry and power John Collier 8. The complexity of design as a wavefunction Johann van der Merwe 9. A-causality: A quantum ontology for complex systems Walter Baets 10. Modeling rationality and emergence in dynamic networks Remo Pareschi 11. Homeostasis, complexity, and the problem of biological desig

Explorations in Complexity Thinking

Science & Math

Organizations of all kinds struggle to understand, adapt, respond and manipulate changing conditions in their internal and external environments. Approaches based on the causal, linear logic of mechanistic sciences and engineering continue to play an important role, given people's ability to create order. But such approaches are valid only within carefully circumscribed boundaries. They become counterproductive when the same organizations display the highly reflexive, context-dependent, dynamic nature of systems in which agents learn and adapt and new patterns emerge. The rapidly expanding discussion about complex systems offers important contributions to the integration of diverse perspectives and ultimately new insights into organizational effectiveness. There is increasing interest in complexity in mainstream business education, as well as in specialist business disciplines such as knowledge management. Real world systems can t be completely designed, controlled, understood or predicted, even by the so-called sciences of complexity, but they can be more effective when understood as complex systems. While many scientific disciplines explore complexity principally through abstract mathematical models and simulations, Emergence: Complexity & Organization explores the emerging understanding of human systems from both the 'hard' quantitative sciences and the 'soft' qualitative perspectives. This 2006 Annual includes articles from Elizabeth McMillan, Daniel Solow, Kathleen Carley, Paul Cilliers, Ysanne Carlisle, James Hazy, and many more, which explore a range of complexity-related topics from philosophical concerns through to the practical application of complexity ideas, concepts and frameworks in human organizations. Also included are a series of three reproductions of classical papers in the fields of complexity and systems, each with critical introductions that explore their modern relevance: "The Philosophic Functions of Emergence" by Charles A. Baylis (orig

Emergence: Complexity & Organization 2006 Anuual

Classic Complexity: From the Abstract to the Concrete (Exploring Complexity)

With a field so broad in both breadth and depth as that making up the contemporary study of complex systems, it is well nigh impossible to cover all the bases underlying the development of well argued, robust and relevant understanding of these systems. That is one of the reasons why the international journal Emergence: Complexity and Organization has offered a Classical Paper in each issue. Now, in this current volume we have made available in one publication venue the diverse Classical Papers that have been published so far in E:CO. These papers are offered not only to enrich our current understandings by exhibiting the historical background to many of today's leading complexity-based ideas, perspectives, and methods. They are also gathered here to help address some of the difficulties confronting not only complexity thinkers, but for that matter any thinker sincerely trying to grasp the novel situations and novel difficulties we face in modern times. CONTENTS Editorial: On the importance of Classic Papers Kurt A. Richardson & Jeffrey A. Goldstein Section 1: Complexity and Philosophy 1. Emergence Stephen C. Pepper (with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Goldstein) 2. Novelty, Indeterminism, and Emergence W. T. Stace (with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Goldstein) 3. The Philosophic Functions of Emergence Charles A. Bayliss (with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Goldstein) 4. A Form of Logic Suited for Biology Walter M. Elsasser (with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Goldstein) Section 2: Complexity and General Systems Theory 5. Principles of the Self-Organizing System W. Ross Ashby (with an introduction by Jeffrey A. Goldstein) 6. General Systems Theory: The Skeleton of Science Kenneth E. Boulding (with an introduction by Kurt A. Richardson) 7. Science and Complexity Warren Weaver (with an introduction by Ross Wirth) Section 3: Complexity and Organization 8. The Architecture of Complexity Herbert Simon (with an introduction by Paul Cilliers) 9. Futurology a

Jeffrey Goldstein

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the ISCE Publishing publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by ISCE Publishing