Dooley1997

Dooley, K. J. (1997). A complex adaptive systems model of organization change. Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology and Life Sciences, 1(1), 69-97.

Study of complex adaptive systems (CASs) has yielded insight into how complex, organic-like structures can evolve order and purpose. Business organizations, typified by semi-autonomous organizational members interacting at many levels of cognition and action, can be portrayed by the generic constructs and driving mechanisms of CASs theory. Dooley forges a unified description of CASs from several sources and investigates the issue of change in a business organization via the framework of CASs. The theory of CASs uses components from 3 paradigms of management thought: systems theory, population ecology, and information processing. Propositions regarding the nature of dynamical change are developed, driven by the CAS model. Supporting evidence for these propositions is sought in management theory literature to better ground in domain-specific theory the CASs approach to understanding organization change.