The purpose of this research is to make evident the inadequateness of concepts and language based on industrial knowledge still used in current practices by managers to cope with…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to make evident the inadequateness of concepts and language based on industrial knowledge still used in current practices by managers to cope with problems of the post‐industrial societies characterised by non‐linear process of emergence and acquisition of properties. The purpose is to allow management to use language and concepts more appropriate to deal with complexity, i.e. to represent, induce and orient processes of chance, and second, to outline a theory of practice guiding their efforts. The purpose is also to underline the urgency of a new general management education.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on contrasting concepts and their linguistic representations of the industrial age to the related post‐industrial ones. The approach is based on representing processes by using a more appropriate language, cultural aspect of science of complexity, able to deal with processes of emergence.
Findings
Suitable, appropriate and open linguistic representations allow effective management of complex social systems where processes of emergence, i.e. acquisition of properties, occur. Current educational process for managers should be rethought. Learning relates to design new suitable models.
Research limitations/implications
One limit of this approach is given by the fact that it is not easy to implement, it cannot be considered a tool and imbalances are inevitable due to differences and inhomogeneous assumption of this new thinking.
Practical implications
It is a potential guide in helping practitioners in recognizing, inducing and managing complexity of processes and change.
Originality/value
The paper presents a new way to recognise and see reciprocal‐relational forces within a cultural‐social‐political context by using suitable translations of concepts and approaches introduced in science of complexity, such as in physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry.
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Keywords
This article aims to outline the scope of this Special Issue and of the six papers.
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to outline the scope of this Special Issue and of the six papers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper outlines the concepts and approaches within the knowledge domain which are the focus of the present issue and themes of the papers.
Findings
The paper outlines the scope of the Special Issue and of the papers.
Originality/value
The value of this paper is to introduce the concepts and approaches which are the focus of the present issue and themes of the papers.
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Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to describe fundamental concepts and theoretical challenges with regard to systems, and to build on these in proposing new theoretical frameworks…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe fundamental concepts and theoretical challenges with regard to systems, and to build on these in proposing new theoretical frameworks relevant to learning, for example in so‐called learning organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper focuses on some crucial fundamental aspects introduced in the literature in order to establish a general rather than generic usage of the systems concept. Issues of definition and theoretical frameworks are clarified before introducing new theoretical challenges for Systems Thinking, such as the perspective of a General Theory of Emergence (GTE), new modelling approaches and new concepts including Multiple Systems (MSs) and Collective Beings (CBs).
Findings
New approaches for modelling management and corporate learning are described. The paper also explains the Dynamical Usage of Models (DYSAM) developed to deal with MSs and CBs for managing learning systems able to self‐design evolutionary strategies.
Originality/value
The paper expands understanding of the notion of system and underlines the relevance of systems thinking in modelling and facilitating corporate learning.
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The aim of this contribution is to describe a new methodology for designing strategic plans and how it was implemented by ATM, a public transportation agency based in Milan, Italy.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this contribution is to describe a new methodology for designing strategic plans and how it was implemented by ATM, a public transportation agency based in Milan, Italy.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology is founded on a new system theory, called “quantum systemics”. It is based on models and metaphors both of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. It provides a real conceptual guide to creating profoundly participative strategic plans which are self‐implementing. In synthesis this methodology is a new operational model for “strategy government”.
Findings
The output of this experience has been the validation of the methodology: the strategic plans have been self‐implemented and planned objectives have been reached. As by‐product, taking part in this process enabled all the fundamental communicative and relational skills to be developed.
Originality/value
The originality consists in the “foundation” of methodology (quantum physics). The value consists in the process which generates very participative and, because of that, self‐implementing strategic plans.
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The purpose of this article is to expound the view that knowledge of a special kind, which the author terms open knowledge, has a central place in the conduct of human activities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to expound the view that knowledge of a special kind, which the author terms open knowledge, has a central place in the conduct of human activities at the global level.
Design/methodology/approach
The author advances the concept of open knowledge in a global context by examining key constructs in the field, such as knowledge, management, learning and complexification, considering some consequences and implications, and applying his personal experience, interpretations, and insights.
Findings
The paper finds that this particular kind of knowledge, open knowledge, is becoming increasingly important due to operational complexities associated with global outreach. Appearance of and application of open knowledge brings consequential modifications of familiar and established local‐regional managerial practices.
Originality/value
The author expounds the concept of open knowledge which is “knowledge proven useful regardless of field of study and discipline to know how best and effectively to manage global processes of human activity defining global organizations”.
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The aim of this contribution is to describe a new complexity‐science‐based approach for improving safety, quality and efficiency and the way it was implemented by TenarisDalmine.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this contribution is to describe a new complexity‐science‐based approach for improving safety, quality and efficiency and the way it was implemented by TenarisDalmine.
Design/methodology/approach
This methodology is called “a safety‐building community”. It consists of a safety‐behaviour social self‐construction process management method that makes it possible to significantly reduce the frequency and severity of on‐the‐job accidents and meet the company's commitment to safety.
Findings
This new approach to spontaneous‐organisation management has generated remarkable effects. Improved spontaneous organisation promises to boost production quality and efficiency, two aspects which had fallen into a major slump when spontaneous organisation was not working properly.
Originality/value
The paper examines through TenarisDalmine's experience a method that enabled the company to go beyond traditional behavioural approaches and increase the workers' commitment to safety, sharing the common zero‐accident goal.
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Alberto F. De Toni, Gianluca Biotto and Cinzia Battistella
In the stream of works studying complexity from an organizational viewpoint, literature is focused mainly on describing new organizational forms (holonic organization, circular…
Abstract
Purpose
In the stream of works studying complexity from an organizational viewpoint, literature is focused mainly on describing new organizational forms (holonic organization, circular organization, virtual corporation, …) and on conceptual works identifying new managerial principles to manage emergence (job enrichment, de‐regulation, …). But literature still lacks “actionable knowledge” on management of emergent processes. Therefore, the authors seek to propose an empirical analysis with the aim of finding the organizational design drivers that enable self‐organization. As creativity could be understood as an important precondition for both adaptation and innovation in an age of complexity, the authors focus on creativity emergence process.
Design/methodology/approach
The analysis is based on a framework of self‐organization principles. The authors derived it from the literature and used it to empirically analyse open innovation web‐based platforms for creativity. They are deemed particularly important because their open and collaborative innovation process is often self‐organized and their collaboration relationships seem to be loosely coupled. Therefore, they are a good ground to investigate the alternatives to managerial hierarchy and the knowledge‐based organizations associated with emergence and self‐organization.
Findings
The results highlight important organizational design choices to enable self‐organization process: organic structure composed by activity systems to enable reconfiguration; roles enlargement and enrichment and cognitive diversity to enable redundancy; collaboration and participatory decision‐making and social capital and networking to enable interconnection; values adaptation, motivations and rules to enable sharing principle.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the empirical knowledge on emergence process, translating the principles of self‐organization in managerial actions.
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Véronique Bouchard and Léon del Forno
Management practices and education are presently in a stage of reappraisal and a growing number of scholars and experts are suggesting that managers should be taught and adopt the…
Abstract
Purpose
Management practices and education are presently in a stage of reappraisal and a growing number of scholars and experts are suggesting that managers should be taught and adopt the approach and methodologies of designers. The purpose of this paper is to imagine the impact of this move and to try and foresee whether “management as design” is an inescapable evolution or just another management fad.
Design/methodology/approach
Once the notion of management as design is defined, a thought experiment is proposed to the reader under the guise of a forged business case whose various implications are progressively exposed and discussed.
Findings
The adoption of a design approach holds profound transformative potential for the positioning, offer, value chain and processes of firms but it also implies a substantial re‐arranging of the relations between co‐workers, and between managers and subordinates. Beyond the initial shock that the introduction of a radically different approach inevitably entails, management as design is exposed to three perils: the reduction of design approaches and methods to a mere set of tools in the hands of self‐appointed experts; the rejection of its open‐ended and inclusive methods on account of their lengthy and time‐consuming nature; the inherently hard‐to‐manage relations between traditional managers, on the one hand, and managers as designers, on the other.
Originality/value
The article uses the power of a fictional narrative to explore and draw some of the firm‐level and individual‐level implications of the adoption of “management as design” approaches and methodologies by a hypothetical company.