Journal Information

Article Information

Abstract

In recent times, the study of complex systems and complex-systems thinking has influenced research and approaches to research in business. While business has benefited from this influence, this paper suggests that ideas from the study of management can, and should, be applied to the study of complex systems. In particular, much of the complex-system literature is oriented around self-organization, in which individual agents in a system organize themselves, with no external influence, in such a way as to produce interesting and useful emergent system behaviors. In most business organizations, however, central organization plays a significant role in the organization’s performance. It is suggested here through numerous examples and a naïve mathematical model that the study of complex systems could benefit from examining the role and impact of central organization, and leadership in particular.