Change Escalation Processes and Complex Adaptive Systems: From Incremental Reconfigurations to Discontinuous Restructuring

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Girod, Stephane J. G.; Whittington, Richard
• 署名单位: University of Reading; University of Oxford
• 刊物名称: ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1047-7039
• DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.0993
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 1520-1535
• 关键词: complex adaptive systems; organizational restructuring; reconfigurations

摘要

This study examines when incremental change is likely to trigger discontinuous change, using the lens of complex adaptive systems theory. Going beyond the simulations and case studies through which complex adaptive systems have been approached so far, we study the relationship between incremental organizational reconfigurations and discontinuous organizational restructurings using a large-scale database of U.S. Fortune 50 industrial corporations. We develop two types of escalation process in organizations: accumulation and perturbation. Under ordinary conditions, it is perturbation rather than the accumulation that is more likely to trigger subsequent discontinuous change. Consistent with complex adaptive systems theory, organizations are more sensitive to both accumulation and perturbation in conditions of heightened disequilibrium. Contrary to expectations, highly interconnected organizations are not more liable to discontinuous change. We conclude with implications for further research, especially the need to attend to the potential role of managerial design and coping when transferring complex adaptive systems theory from natural systems to organizational systems.