Complexity: A Key Idea for Business and Society (Key Ideas in Business and Management)

Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
1 Introduction: The Predictable Unpredictability of the World
	Overview of the Book
		Chapter 2 – Complex Models
		Chapter 3 – Complex Action
		Chapter 4 – the Complex Self
		Chapter 5 – Complex Communication
		Chapter 6 – Complex Knowledge, Complex Knowing
		Chapter 7 – Complex Authority
		Chapter 8 – Complex Ethics
		Seven Types of Complexity – Combining Natural and Social Sciences
	Thinking Without a Bannister: the Importance of Reflection and Reflexivity
	Notes
	References
2 Complex Models: Radical Challenge to Management Orthodoxy
	How Might Any of this Be Helpful to Managers in Organizations?
	Thinking About the Model Again
	Varieties of Complexity Models and How They Are Constructed
		Simplifying by Assuming Stability of the Elements and Average Behaviour Between Them
		Simplifying by Assuming Structural Stability
		Simplifying by Assuming the Most Probable Events
	Advantages and Disadvantages of Drawing on Complexity Models
	Taking the Insights Further
	Summary of the Argument and Key Implications for Managers
	Notes
	References
3 Complex Action: The Uncertain Outcomes of Individuals Negotiating in Groups
	Magico-mystical Thinking
	Disaggregating and Recombining
	Transaction and Transformation
	Game Analogies
	Negotiating Constraints in Organizations
	Power in the Organizational Literature
	Hannah Arendt of Power, Politics and Human Plurality
	Summing Up for Managers – Why the Experience of Organizing Always Leads to Unexpected Outcomes
	Notes
	References
4 The Complex Self: The ‘I,’ ‘Me’ and ‘We’
	The Social Self – a Reprise
	Making the Individual Prior
		The Entrepreneurial Self – the Current Phase of Individualization
	Complex Selves in Organizations
	Summing Up for Managers – Why Our Sense of Self is Complex and Sometimes Indeterminate
	Notes
	References
5 Complex Communication: Persuading and Being Persuaded
	The Unpredictability of Communicating
	Imposing a View to Settle the Uncertainty
		Managerialist Ways of Imposing Order
		Organizational Development Interventions
	Dwelling in Uncertain Speech – Rhetoric and Judgement
		The Importance of Rhetoric
	Summing Up – Why Speech Will Always Be Complex: Implications for Managers
	References
6 Complex Knowledge, Complex Knowing
	Hierarchies of Knowledge
		Some Similarities and Differences Between Critical Theory, Pragmatism and Process Theories
	Knowing Involves Dialogue, Dialectic, Politics and Ethics
		Dialogic Knowledge
		Dialectical Knowledge
		Political Knowledge
		Ethical Knowledge
	Developing Reflexive Criticality – the Importance of Groups
	Summing Up for Managers – Why Finding Out About Our Lives is a Complex Undertaking
	Notes
	References
7 Complex Authority: The Leader in the Group and the Group in the Leader
	Thinking About Leadership as a Longer Term Social Trend
	Uncertainty, Authority and Group Dynamics
	Summing up the Importance of Group Process in Thinking About Leadership
	Recognizing and Being Recognized – the Leader and the Group, the Group and the Leader
	Summary of Complex Authority – Implications for Managers
	Notes
	References
8 Complex Ethics: Widening Our Circle of Concern
	Ethics in the Concrete and the Minute Particulars
	Thinking Sociologically About Ethics
	On Deliberation in Groups – Revealing Competing Goods and Becoming Visible to Each Other
	The Complex Characteristics of Narrative as a Medium for Exploring Ethics
	Concluding Thoughts on Complex Ethics and the Implications for Managers
	Notes
	References
9 Conclusions: Towards Greater Humility and Humane Ways of Working
	On the Strengths and Limitations of Models
	Complex Action
	Complex Selves
	Complex Communication
	Complex Knowledge, Complex Knowing
	Complex Authority
	Complex Ethics
	So What Does it Mean for Managers to Take Complexity Seriously?
	Notes
	References
Index