Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2014
Abstract
Complex adaptive systems provide essential insights about the existence of interactive relationships within an organization, their roles, and how these influential relationships can substantially affect change in formal systems. An array of elements can influence these relationships that develop between managers, employees, and union representatives, creating the landscape of a complex adaptive system. This study identifies three distinct elements of interactive situational moments that, when present, influence the complex adaptive system to stimulate the innovation–change process. In this brief paper we explore these elements, identified as degrees of connectivity, through qualitative study of a company with a unionized labor workforce adapting in a competitive and regulatory challenging industry and the innovation–change process that arises in addressing the elements of environmental turbulence. We examine the three interactive elements, agent communication, technical validity and emergence, and discuss the influence of these elements, which stimulate resulting changes to the formal system. We also present a conceptual model, implications, and suggestions for future inquiry.
Keywords
complexity, complex adaptive systems, innovation, change, emergence, employee inclusion, informal communication, labor organization
Rights
© The Author(s). This is an open access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Department/Center
Design & Innovation
Recommended Citation
Rah-Khem, Shabazz A., "Tapping the Power of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS): What Influence Can Informal Interactions Have on CAS and the Resultant Innovation-Change Process?" (2014). Student Scholarship. 418.
https://commons.case.edu/studentworks/418