Complex Responsive Processes in Organizations

Ralph Stacey

ISBN 10: 0415249198 / ISBN 13: 9780415249195

Published by Taylor and Francis Ltd, GB, 2001

About this Item

The past decade has seen increasing focus on the importance of information and knowledge in economic and social processes, the so-called 'knowledge economy'. This is reflected in the popularity amongst practicing managers and organizational theorists of notions of learning, sense-making, knowledge creation, knowledge management and intellectual capital in organizations and more recently, of emotional intelligence as an important management skill. This insightful book:argues that the information processing view of knowledge creation held by systems thinkers is no longer tenabledevelops the alternative perspective of Complex Responsive Processes of relating, drawing on the complexity sciences as a source for analogies with human actionplaces self-organizing interaction at the centre of the knowledge creating process in organizations.Learning and knowledge creation are seen as qualitative processes of power relating that are emotional as well as intellectual, creative as well as destructive, enabling as well as constraining, and the result is a radical questioning of the belief that organizational knowledge is essentially codified and centralized. Instead, organizational knowledge is understood to be in the relationships between people in an organization and has to do with the qualities of those relationships.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780415249195

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Complex Responsive Processes in Organizations
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd, GB
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0415249198
• ISBN 13: 9780415249195
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 422 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The past decade has seen increasing focus on the importance of information and knowledge in economic and social processes, the so-called 'knowledge economy'. This is reflected in the popularity amongst practicing managers and organizational theorists of notions of learning, sense-making, knowledge creation, knowledge management and intellectual capital in organizations and more recently, of emotional intelligence as an important management skill. This insightful book:

• argues that the information processing view of knowledge creation held by systems thinkers is no longer tenable
• develops the alternative perspective of Complex Responsive Processes of relating, drawing on the complexity sciences as a source for analogies with human action
• places self-organizing interaction at the centre of the knowledge creating process in organizations.

Learning and knowledge creation are seen as qualitative processes of power relating that are emotional as well as intellectual, creative as well as destructive, enabling as well as constraining, and the result is a radical questioning of the belief that organizational knowledge is essentially codified and centralized. Instead, organizational knowledge is understood to be in the relationships between people in an organization and has to do with the qualities of those relationships.

About the Author

Ralph Stacey is Professor of Management and Director of the Complexity and Management Centre at the University of Hertfordshire, and a member of the Institute of Group Analysis. He is also consultant to managers at many levels accross a range of organizations and the author of a number of books and articles on strategy and complexity theory in management.