Articulating a strategic approach to face complexity in design projects

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca SIMEONE ◽  
David DRABBLE ◽  
Giorgia IACOPINI ◽  
Kirsten VAN DAM ◽  
Nicola MORELLI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Uncertain Environment ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Design Projects

In today’s world of global wicked problems, constraints and imperatives imposed by an external and uncertain environment render strategic action a quite complex endeavour. Since the 1990s, within community initiatives and philanthropic projects, the construct of Theory of Change has been used to address such complexity. Theory of Change can be defined as the systematic and cumulative study of the links between the activities, outcomes, and context of an intervention. The area of focus for this paper is to explore whether Theory of Change can support more strategic approaches in design. In particular, the paper examines how Theory of Change was applied to DESIGNSCAPES - a project oriented, among other things, toward offering a supporting service for all those city actors interested in using design to develop urban innovation initiatives that tackle complex issues of broad concern.

scholarly journals Managing ambiguity in business. A holistic and innovative approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 843-851
Author(s):  
Oana Pop
Keyword(s):  
Systems Thinking ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Soft Systems Methodology ◽  
Complexity Science ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Systems Methodology ◽  
Soft Systems ◽  
Entrepreneurial Organization ◽  
Systemic Interventions ◽  
One Year

Abstract This article will look at the hurdles of dealing with ambiguity and the wicked problems that organizations are struggling with, by providing key insights from a one year team coaching program that the author had the opportunity to deliver in a Romanian entrepreneurial organization. Based on the actual methods used and highlighting the findings and impact of the program, we will reflect on how ambiguity manifests in organizational settings and how wicked problems can be defined. The methods employed are within the range of complexity science and are holistic approaches to systemic interventions within organizations that combine soft systems methodology, paradoxical theory of change, complex responsive processes approach with important concepts from systems thinking such as archetypes, feedback loops and modeling. One of the key objectives of the article is to reunite different academic approaches and link them to a case study as a way of adding value to these approaches and to reiterate that research needs, to find its rightful place in the practitioners’ toolkit and have a more meaningful and direct impact on the real struggles that business is faced with. The author’s expertize in systemic interventions is based on extensive practitioner experience, having been trained and certified as a systemic coach and facilitator, and therefore draws upon the work of other skilled practitioners that support companies in finding successful ways to address complexity. Although the article can be easily put in the complexity science and systems thinking area of academic interest, the research questions and insights are intended to serve the learning and the evolution of organizations.

Pressure to perform: female CEOs and firm community engagement

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nongnapat Thosuwanchot
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Female Ceos ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeThis study examines the impact of female CEO on firm community engagement. By drawing on the stakeholder-agency paradigm, the author proposes that female CEOs feel more pressure to deliver favorable firm performance, thus resulting in less community engagement in firms with female CEOs. The author also examines circumstances surrounding the CEO as boundary conditions that can promote the extent that female CEOs engage in community initiatives.Design/methodology/approachThe author collected panel data on a sample of firms listed in the S&P 500 index during the years 2009–2013. The author tested the hypotheses using firm fixed-effects models.FindingsThe results show that firms with female CEOs pursue less community engagement. CEO career horizon and CEO unexercisable stock options are boundary conditions that weaken the negative relationship between female CEOs and community engagement, while board independence does not have a significant moderating effect.Originality/valueThis study sheds light on the roles of female CEOs on firm community engagement as a distinct firm strategic action. Furthermore, this study provides a better understanding of the relationship by examining different factors that can promote community engagement by female CEOs, which include CEO career horizon and compensation incentive.

A Theory of Learning for the Creation and Management of Knowledge in Learning Communities and Organizations

2013 ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
Ton Jörg
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
The Past ◽  
Communities Of Learners ◽  
Educational Crisis ◽  
Fundamental Challenge ◽  
Long Time

Social sciences have been in crisis for a long time, partly by being the captive of the Newtonian paradigm, and partly through the effects of this paradigm on practice. This crisis was recognized in the past by the Russian psychologist and philosopher Lev Vygotsky, and continues to this day. The educational crisis is just one instance. It is hard to imagine how to escape this crisis, and a real shift of paradigm is needed. In this article, such a shift toward the paradigm of complexity is advocated. The shift implies a reframing of complexity and a new kind of thinking in complexity. The new paradigm implies the development of a causally generative complexity theory of change and development. Ultimately, the fundamental challenge is to harness the complexity of complex, generative learning in the communities of learners in learning organizations.

An examination of evaluation users’ preferences for program- and actor-oriented theories of change

Evaluation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 172-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuval Ofek
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Simulation Based ◽  
Public Sector Employees ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
Theories Of Change ◽  
Evaluation Approaches

As programs and policies have grown in complexity, theory of change evaluation approaches and methods have become increasingly popular. While the academic literature often adheres to program-oriented theories of change, it is gradually being exposed to actor-oriented theories of change, which aim to enhance the flexibility of evaluations in order to adapt to growing complexity. Aside from the methodological considerations of when to use which approach, it is generally accepted that to increase their influence, evaluation approaches and methods should be suited both to the evaluated program and the preferences of intended users. But do we really know what approaches intended users prefer? Using a simulation-based survey and interviews with 148 public-sector employees in Israel, this article aims to provide an initial answer to this question. The results suggest that there is room to reconsider current perceptions of what intended users think. The findings have implications for the types of theories of change evaluators can suggest to intended users, with the ultimate goal of increasing the influence of evaluations.

A Theory of Learning for the Creation and Management of Knowledge in Learning Communities and Organizations

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ton Jörg
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
The Past ◽  
Communities Of Learners ◽  
Educational Crisis ◽  
Fundamental Challenge ◽  
Long Time

Social sciences have been in crisis for a long time, partly by being the captive of the Newtonian paradigm, and partly through the effects of this paradigm on practice. This crisis was recognized in the past by the Russian psychologist and philosopher Lev Vygotsky, and continues to this day. The educational crisis is just one instance. It is hard to imagine how to escape this crisis, and a real shift of paradigm is needed. In this article, such a shift toward the paradigm of complexity is advocated. The shift implies a reframing of complexity and a new kind of thinking in complexity. The new paradigm implies the development of a causally generative complexity theory of change and development. Ultimately, the fundamental challenge is to harness the complexity of complex, generative learning in the communities of learners in learning organizations.

scholarly journals Complexity Science as a Frame for Understanding the Management and Delivery of High Quality and Safer Care

2020 ◽  
pp. 375-391
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Braithwaite ◽  
Louise A. Ellis ◽  
Kate Churruca ◽  
Janet C. Long ◽  
Peter Hibbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Complexity Science ◽  
Healthcare Organisation ◽  
Quality And Safety ◽  
High Quality ◽  
The Past ◽  
Multi Agent

AbstractOver the past two decades, prominent researchers such as Greenhalgh [1], Plsek [2], Leykum [3], Lanham [4], Petticrew [5] and Hawe [6, 7] and their colleagues and teams have promoted using complexity theory to describe and analyse the various dimensions of healthcare organisation [8–12]. Internationally, in parallel, governments have recognised the need to ‘think differently’ about healthcare policy and service delivery, but without much traction on how that might be done and what it might mean. Nevertheless, it has now become more common—but by no means universal—to apply a complexity lens to understanding healthcare services and to improving them. This involves greater appreciation of elaborate, intricate, multi-faceted care networks, healthcare ecosystems, layered parts in composite settings, contextual differences across care settings, clinical cultures, multi-agent environments, and the convoluted, challenging, wicked problems [13] these systems throw up. However, with some relatively limited exceptions, the quality and safety fields’ interest in complexity has, to date, been largely superficial, both theoretically and empirically [1].

scholarly journals Ad hoc solutions to wicked problems: Pandemics and other challenges in context

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Alexios Brailas
Keyword(s):  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Bifurcation Point ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Wicked Problems ◽  
Tipping Point ◽  
Wishful Thinking ◽  
Problematic Situation ◽  
The Road ◽  
Full Speed ◽  
The Universe

Wicked problems are considered to be any social, cultural, or other challenges that are difficult to address and hard to devise an effective and sustainable solution for. The utopic wishful thinking humanity relied on for so many decades, that technology and science alone, like a new Deus ex machina, would ultimately save us from any problematic situation we would ever face, and from any possible catastrophe we would ever confront, proved to be unrealistic. Catastrophe is a compound Greek word, literally meaning “approaching a turn”. If you are heading at full speed toward a turn, you either have to slow down and turn toward the road again to save life, or you are going to crash. Unless, of course, you prefer to rest upon an external magical aid, a Deus ex machina, to rescue you at the edge of the cliff. A Catastrophe can be realized as a bifurcation point in terms of complexity theory, a point of chaos and unpredictability, or a tipping point. Behind fueling wicked problems and deadlocks lies a Newtonian conception of reality, where the universe is realized as a mechanical automaton, a timeless space where an infinite knowledgeable entity can predict and leverage everything.

Editorial: COVID-19 Chaos and Complexity in Universities

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. v-vii
Author(s):  
Jairos Kangira ◽  
Judith Hall
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
School Leadership ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Theory Of Change ◽  
Turbulent Environments ◽  
The World

When the devastating COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, universities had to pragmatically deal with change and adaptation in order to survive. Up to now, our universities are still adapting to the change in every respect because of the pandemic which is still amongst us. We have witnessed remarkable ways in which students, staff and stakeholders have adapted to the complexities brought by the pandemic. It has been established that in organisations, there is a strong relationship between evolution, adaptation and survival. Keith Morrison in the ‘School Leadership and Complexity Theory’ discussion (2002) suggests ‘Complexity to be a theory of change and adaptation detailing how change occurs in systems as well as the principles and mindsets needed to flourish in turbulent environments’ that has not changed since 2002. Morrison’s theory is applicable to the situations our higher education institutions are in, especially now during the troubled time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Food Safety Security: A new Concept for Enhancing Food Safety Measures

2012 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 216-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Venkatesh Iyengar ◽  
Ibrahim Elmadfa
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Hazard Analysis ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Fine Tuning ◽  
Strategic Action ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Measurement Systems ◽  
Critical Control Points ◽  
The Impact

The food safety security (FSS) concept is perceived as an early warning system for minimizing food safety (FS) breaches, and it functions in conjunction with existing FS measures. Essentially, the function of FS and FSS measures can be visualized in two parts: (i) the FS preventive measures as actions taken at the stem level, and (ii) the FSS interventions as actions taken at the root level, to enhance the impact of the implemented safety steps. In practice, along with FS, FSS also draws its support from (i) legislative directives and regulatory measures for enforcing verifiable, timely, and effective compliance; (ii) measurement systems in place for sustained quality assurance; and (iii) shared responsibility to ensure cohesion among all the stakeholders namely, policy makers, regulators, food producers, processors and distributors, and consumers. However, the functional framework of FSS differs from that of FS by way of: (i) retooling the vulnerable segments of the preventive features of existing FS measures; (ii) fine-tuning response systems to efficiently preempt the FS breaches; (iii) building a long-term nutrient and toxicant surveillance network based on validated measurement systems functioning in real time; (iv) focusing on crisp, clear, and correct communication that resonates among all the stakeholders; and (v) developing inter-disciplinary human resources to meet ever-increasing FS challenges. Important determinants of FSS include: (i) strengthening international dialogue for refining regulatory reforms and addressing emerging risks; (ii) developing innovative and strategic action points for intervention {in addition to Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) procedures]; and (iii) introducing additional science-based tools such as metrology-based measurement systems.

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