Download or read book Harnessing Complexity written by Robert Axelrod and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2008-08-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Harnessing Complexity will be indispensable to anyone who wants to better comprehend how people and organizations can adapt effectively in the information age. This book is a step-by-step guide to understanding the processes of variation, interaction, and selection that are at work in all organizations. The authors show how to use their own paradigm of "bottom up" management, the Complex Adaptive System-whether in science, public policy, or private commerce. This simple model of how people work together will change forever how we think about getting things done in a group. "Harnessing Complexity distills the managerial essence of current research on complexity. "A very valuable contribution to the emerging theory of competition and competitive advantage."-C.K. Prahalad, University of Michigan, coauthor of Competing for the Future "A brilliant exposition that demystifies both the theory and use of Complex Adaptive Systems."-John Seely Brown, Xerox Corporation and Palo Alto Research Center

Download or read book Harnessing Complexity written by Michael D Cohen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2000-05-12 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent advances in the study of complexity have given scientists profound new insights into how natural innovation occurs and how its power can be exploited. Now two pioneers in the field, Robert Axelrod and Michael D. Cohen, provide leaders in business and government with a guide to complexity that will help them make effective decisions in a world of rapid change. Building on evolutionary biology, computer science, and social design, Axelrod and Cohen have constructed a unique framework for improving the way people work together. Their approach to management is based on the concept of the Complex Adaptive System, which can describe everything from rain forests to the human gene pool, and from automated software agents to multinational companies. The authors' framework reveals three qualities that all kinds of managers must cultivate in their organization: Variation What is the best way to manage the development of software? Should the problem be broken up into small pieces for programmers working independently, thus enhancing variation, or should there be a centralized hierarchy of programmers ruled by a chain of command? The authors show how the decentralized creation of variation combined with the centralized maintenance of standards was the key to the success of the Linux "open source software" project, which brought together thousands of volunteers in cyberspace to produce an operating system that can outperform Microsoft's. Interaction Why did northern Italy prosper while southern Italy remained poor? Recognizing the internal interactions of a Complex Adaptive System -- be it a national region, a company, or a nonprofit group -- reveals vital networks of trust. Axelrod and Cohen explain that in successful adaptive systems, rich networks of horizontal linkages foster cooperation and provide an advantage over other less cooperatively networked groups. In the case of Italy, voluntary associations created networks of trust in the Middle Ages that became northern Italy's critical advantage over the south. Selection Is a Pulitzer Prize better than a National Book Award? How can foundations and corporations design competitions that have a positive effect on the evolution of excellence? The authors' framework makes clear that the worst selection processes are mired in orthodox standards that have not adapted to a new environment. The best selection processes, on the other hand, are created and run by leaders who understand how the standards they use can transform their organization and its environment. This simple, paradigm-shifting analysis of how people work together will transform the way we think about getting things done in a group. Harnessing Complexity is the essential guide to creating wealth, power, and knowledge in the 21st century.

Download or read book Harnessing Complexity for Better Outcomes in Public and Non profit Services written by Max French and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2023-02-23 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. How can public services and social interventions create and sustain good outcomes for the populations they serve? Building on research in public health, social epidemiology and the social determinants of health, this book presents complexity theory as an alternative basis for an outcome-oriented public management praxis. It takes a critical approach towards New Public Management and provides new conceptual inroads for reappraising public management in theory and practice. It advances two practical approaches: Human Learning Systems (a model for public service reform) and Learning Partnerships (a model for research and academic engagement in complex settings). With up-to-date and extensive discussions on public service reform, this book provides practical and action-oriented guidance for a radical change of course in management and governance.

Download or read book Designing for the 21st Century written by Tom Inns and published by Gower Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2007 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of emergent roles for design and the 21st century designer explored through the work of 21 research teams. Over a twelve-month period each of these groups held a series of workshops and events to examine different facets of future design activity. Each of the contributions describes the context of enquiry, the journey taken by the research team and key insights generated through discourse. Editor and Initiative Director, Tom Inns, provides an introductory chapter that suggests ways that the reader might navigate these different viewpoints.

Download or read book New Thinking in Complexity for the Social Sciences and Humanities written by Ton Jörg and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-08-09 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The underlying idea and motive for the book is that the notion of complexity may humanize the social sciences, may conceive the complex human being as more human, and turn reality as assumed in our doing social science into a more complex, that is a richer reality for all. The main focus of this book is on new thinking in complexity, with complexity to be taken as derived from the Latin word complexus: ‘that which is interwoven.’ The trans-disciplinary approach advocated here will be trans-disciplinary in two ways: firstly, by going beyond the separate disciplines within the fields of both natural sciences and social sciences, and, secondly, by going beyond the separate cultures of the natural sciences and of the social sciences and humanities.

Download or read book Knowledge Management Organizational Intelligence And Learning And Complexity Volume III written by L. Douglas Kiel and published by EOLSS Publications. This book was released on 2009-08-25 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Knowledge Management, Organizational Intelligence and Learning, and Complexity is the component of Encyclopedia of Technology, Information, and Systems Management Resources in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The Theme on Knowledge Management, Organizational Intelligence and Learning, and Complexity in the Encyclopedia of Technology, Information, and Systems Management Resources provides the latest scientific insights into the evolution of complexity in both the natural and social realms. Emerging perspectives from the fields of knowledge management, computer-based simulation and the organizational sciences are presented as tools for understanding and supporting this evolving complexity and the earth's life support systems. These three volumes are aimed at the following a wide spectrum of audiences from the merely curious to those seeking in-depth knowledge: University and College students Educators, Professional practitioners, Research personnel and Policy analysts, managers, and decision makers and NGOs.

Download or read book The Open Society and Its Complexities written by Gerald Gaus and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mere two decades ago it was widely assumed that liberal democracy and the Open Society it created had decisively won their century-long struggle against authoritarianism. Although subsequent events have shocked many, F.A. Hayek would not have been surprised that we are in many ways disoriented by the society we have created. As he understood it, the Open Society was a precarious achievement in many ways at odds with our deepest moral sentiments. His path-breaking analyses argued that the Open Society runs against our evolved attraction to "tribalism" that the Open Society is too complex for moral justification; and that its self-organized complexity defies attempts at democratic governance. In his final, wide-ranging book, Gerald Gaus critically reexamines Hayek's analyses. Drawing on diverse work in social and moral science, Gaus argues that Hayek's program was manifestly prescient and strikingly sophisticated, always identifying real and pressing problems. Yet, Gaus maintains, Hayek underestimated the resources of human morality and the Open Society to cope with the challenges he perceived. Gaus marshals formal models and empirical evidence to show that our Open Society is grounded on moral foundations of human cooperation originating in our distant evolutionary past, but has built upon them a complex and diverse society that requires us to rethink both the nature of moral justification and the meaning of democratic self-governance. In these fearful, angry and inwardly-looking times, when political philosophy has itself become a hostile exchange between ideological camps, The Open Society and Its Complexities shows how moral and ideological diversity, so far from being the enemy of a free and open society, can be its foundation.

Download or read book Co Innovation Platforms written by Tammy L. Madsen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-01-01 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Strategies and practices for growing ecosystems are increasingly important in shaping industries and markets. Sustaining productive innovation is not just about you. It depends on others as well as your willingness and ability to collaborate effectively. This book is about how to use, as well as develop, a co-innovation platform to accelerate innovation and sustain ecosystem growth. It will show how you, your team and your organization can create and foster collaborative innovation among a diverse set of organizations that are located outside of your company’s hierarchy. A co-innovation platform provides an environment where firms can combine or recombine ideas to generate novel solutions. A distinctive feature of the co-innovation platform is its resource-open and hands-on approach to innovation. For many organizations, resource limitations, organizational obstacles and/or time constraints kill an idea before it takes shape. By providing access to demand-side and supply-side resources and capabilities to facilitate co-innovation, the platform solves this problem and shapes the ecosystem’s innovation trajectory from the ground up. This book provides strategic and practical guidance for orchestrating collaborative problem solving and ecosystem growth.

Download or read book Handbook on Theories of Governance written by Christopher Ansell and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2016-06-24 with total page 593 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past two decades, governance theories have arisen semi-independently across multiple disciplines. In law and regulation, planning, democratic theory, economics, public management, and international relations, among other disciplines, scholars have sought to describe new strategies of governing. As a result, the notion of governance is now one of the most frequently used social science concepts in the world. No single theory encompasses this diverse body of work, but rather multiple theories with different aims and perspectives. The Handbook on Theories of Governance collects these theories of governance together as an analytical resource for governing in an increasingly complex, fragmented and dynamic society.

Download or read book Knowledge Based Intelligent Information and Engineering Systems written by Rajiv Khosla and published by Springer. This book was released on 2005-08-25 with total page 1473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dear delegates,friendsand membersofthe growingKES professionalcommunity,w- come to the proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and IntelligentInformationandEngineeringSystemshostedbyLa TrobeUniversityin M- bourne Australia. The KES conference series has been established for almost a decade, and it cont- ues each year to attract participants from all geographical areas of the world, including Europe, the Americas, Australasia and the Paci?c Rim. The KES conferences cover a wide range of intelligent systems topics. The broad focus of the conference series is the theory and applications of intelligent systems. From a pure research ?eld, intel- gent systems have advanced to the point where their abilities have been incorporated into many business and engineering application areas. KES 2005 provided a valuable mechanism for delegates to obtain an extensive view of the latest research into a range of intelligent-systems algorithms, tools and techniques. The conference also gave de- gates the chance to come into contact with those applying intelligent systems in diverse commercial areas. The combination of theory and practice represented a unique opp- tunity to gain an appreciation of the full spectrum of leading-edge intelligent-systems activity. The papers for KES 2005 were either submitted to invited sessions, chaired and organized by respected experts in their ?elds, or to a general session, managed by an extensive International Program Committee, or to the Intelligent Information Hiding and Multimedia Signal Processing (IIHMSP) Workshop, managed by an International Workshop Technical Committee.

Download or read book Agile Business written by Bob Gower and published by Rally Software. This book was released on 2013-05-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An introduction to Agile development from a business perspective. This book contains practical real-world advice from over 30 coaches, executives, developers and managers who are actively using Agile in their organizations and helping others achieve Agility.

Download or read book Embracing the Black Swan written by Khalil Dindarian and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-07-31 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our world is becoming ever more complex. Among the geopolitical and macroeconomic issues currently facing mankind, with serious ramifications for our future, are digitalization and technology, climate change, and globalization. Political upheaval, wars, natural disasters, economic recessions, and pandemics, have all had massive negative impacts on our society. In this new world, various governmental and organizational decisionmakers – including managers, international agencies, NGOs, political leaders, economists, science & technology innovators, and medical professionals – must all learn to anticipate and deal with these emergent risks, the integration of which, along with the management of ‘black swan’ events, has assumed paramount importance. This is the huge challenge now facing us. This book, aimed at both academics and practitioners, shows how a framework for resilience can be created to help modern organizations to not only survive but to thrive. The author considers some of the organizations and bodies that can be said to be highly resilient and examines how ‘Resilience Thinking’ affects different disciplines and environments. He addresses the question of how resilience works and how it is applied in practice. The relationship between resilience and other knowledge areas such as complexity theory, strategy, and risk management – from both top-down and bottom-up perspectives – is examined. Situations are identified where there is a particular need for resilience, and an overview of the best ways of implementing a resilience process is offered.

Download or read book Organizing for Sustainable Healthcare written by Susan Albers Mohrman and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2012-07-30 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Health care is currently not sustainable. Health care systems in the developed world are encountering increased demand for high quality health care but facing societal resource limits. The volume explores the change capabilities and learning mechanisms that health care systems need in order to implement fundamental change to improve over time.

Download or read book Enacting Research Methods in Information Systems Volume 3 written by Leslie P. Willcocks and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-05-20 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited three volume edition brings together significant papers previously published in the Journal of information Technology (JIT) over its 30 year publication history. The three volumes of Enacting Research Methods in Information Systems celebrate the methodological pluralism used to advance our understanding of information technology's role in the world today. In addition to quantitative methods from the positivist tradition, JIT also values methodological articles from critical research perspectives, interpretive traditions, historical perspectives, grounded theory, and action research and design science approaches. Volume 1 covers Critical Research, Grounded Theory, and Historical Approaches. Volume 2 deals with Interpretive Approaches and also explores Action Research. Volume 3 focuses on Design Science Approaches and discusses Alternative Approaches including Semiotics Research, Complexity Theory and Gender in IS Research. The Journal of Information Technology (JIT) was started in 1986 by Professors Frank Land and Igor Aleksander with the aim of bringing technology and management together and bridging the ‘great divide’ between the two disciplines. The Journal was created with the vision of making the impact of complex interactions and developments in technology more accessible to a wider audience. Retaining this initial focus, the JIT has gone on to extend into new and innovative areas of research such as the launch of JITTC in 2010. A high impact journal, JIT shall continue to publish leading trends based on significant research in the field.

Download or read book Transdisciplinary Engineering Design Process written by Atila Ertas and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-06-28 with total page 832 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking text book that presents a collaborative approach to design methods that tap into a range of disciplines In recent years, the number of complex problems to be solved by engineers has multiplied exponentially. Transdisciplinary Engineering Design Process outlines a collaborative approach to the engineering design process that includes input from planners, economists, politicians, physicists, biologists, domain experts, and others that represent a wide variety of disciplines. As the author explains, by including other disciplines to have a voice, the process goes beyond traditional interdisciplinary design to a more productive and creative transdisciplinary process. The transdisciplinary approach to engineering outlined leads to greater innovation through a collaboration of transdisciplinary knowledge, reaching beyond the borders of their own subject area to conduct “useful” research that benefits society. The author—a noted expert in the field—argues that by adopting transdisciplinary research to solving complex, large-scale engineering problems it produces more innovative and improved results. This important guide: Takes a holistic approach to solving complex engineering design challenges Includes a wealth of topics such as modeling and simulation, optimization, reliability, statistical decisions, ethics and project management Contains a description of a complex transdisciplinary design process that is clear and logical Offers an overview of the key trends in modern design engineering Integrates transdisciplinary knowledge and tools to prepare students for the future of jobs Written for members of the academy as well as industry leaders,Transdisciplinary Engineering Design Process is an essential resource that offers a new perspective on the design process that invites in a wide variety of collaborative partners.

Download or read book Urban Health and Wellbeing Programme written by Franz W. Gatzweiler and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-01-23 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a compilation of the policy briefs produced by the International Science Council’s program on Urban Health and Wellbeing: A Systems Approach over the past five years. Intended for urban decision-makers at all levels, it highlights policy-relevant findings and research insights to encourage the co-creation of knowledge for healthy urban environments and people. The book shows how variations on the systems approach developed and promoted by the program have been implemented in regions around the world and contributed to improving urban health. These policy briefs summarize research findings and scientific events concerning urban health-related topics that are relevant for public health professionals, urban planners, urban stakeholder groups and the public at large.

Download or read book Role Theory and the Cognitive Architecture of British Appeasement Decisions written by Stephen G. Walker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-10-23 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Appeasement is a controversial strategy of conflict management and resolution in world politics. Its reputation is sullied by foreign policy failures ending in war or defeat in which the appeasing state suffers diplomatic and military losses by making costly concessions to other states. Britain’s appeasement policies toward Germany, Italy, and Japan in the 1930s are perhaps the most notorious examples of the patterns of failure associated with this strategy. Is appeasement’s reputation deserved or is this strategy simply misunderstood and perhaps improperly applied? Role theory offers a general theoretical solution to the appeasement puzzle that addresses these questions, and the answers should be interesting to political scientists, historians, students, and practitioners of cooperation and conflict strategies in world politics. As a social-psychological theory of human behavior, role theory has the capacity to unite the insights of various existing theories of agency and structure in the domain of world politics. Demonstrating this claim is the methodological aim in this book and its main contribution to breaking new ground in international relations theory.