Cited by 599Chaos, Complexity, and EducationLeadership and Management in OrganizationsComplex Systems and Decision Making

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Organizations as complex adaptive systems: Implications of Complexity Theory for leadership research

Schneider, Marguerite, Somers, Mark·2006·The Leadership Quarterly

DOI 10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.04.006

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“The ability of the system to do the latter depends on its ability to adapt to its changing environment through “the emergent characteristics of self-organisation” (Schneider & Sommers, 2006, p. 355).”
Background
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“As organizations have become more knowledge-intensive and as they operate in an increasingly fastpaced environment, the traditional leadership models, often bureaucratic and centralized in nature, have been seen as insufficient (Marion & Uhl-Bien, 2001; Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
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“Two processes inherent in inter-dependent complex system are especially noteworthy: the diffusion and sharing of internal control (Marion, & Uhl Bien, 2001) and the diffusion and sharing of inter-agent accountability (Marion & Uhl Bien, 2001; Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
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Jones, R., & Corner, J. L. (2012) · Human Relations · doi:10.1177/0018726711430556 · Cited by 31
“CAS are open systems ‘that interact with their environment in a transformation process’ (Schneider and Somers, 2006: 356).”
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“Highly chaotic systems also tend to fail, as they have too few stable components to buffer them and small forces tend to result in system disruption (Schneider and Somers, 2006).”
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“The complex system that defines the global economy of today [93], on the one hand, and the progresses registered towards the encapsulation of complexity into a theory of its own, with multiple valences and applications [94], on the other hand, have introduced complexity economics [95] and the approach of “organization…”
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Olmedo, E. (2010) · International Journal of Complexity in Leadership and Management · doi:10.1504/ijclm.2010.035790 · Cited by 27
“This is a multidisciplinary science, compounded by different interrelated blocks and, as Schneider and Somers (2006) points out, there are three inter-related building blocks of complexity science: non-linear dynamics, chaos theory and adaptation/evolution.”
Background
On principles and rules in complex adaptive systems: A financial system case study
Polacek, G. A., Gianetto, D. A., Khashanah, K., & Verma, D. (2012) · Systems Engineering · doi:10.1002/sys.21213 · Cited by 27
“[W]e offer that leadership might affect the variables indirectly, through the mediating variables of organizational identity and social movements [Schneider and Somers, 2006, p. 357].”
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“To further proceed in this direction, it is necessary to introduce a somewhat new philosophy based on the paradigm of complexity and the associated theory of self-organization [6,16,17].”
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“…important source of information uncertainty in upply chains ( Levner and Ptuskin, 2018 ) and a prominent force f disorganization or disintegration ( Schneider and Somers, 2006 ). ccording to Wu et al. (2017) , the degree of disorganization temming from information complexity is actually related to…”
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“…over the emergent societal problems arising from their interactions with the environments, many leaders discover that there are a lot of complexities in leadership practices (Sinha, 1984; Jackson, 2000, 2003; Zagorsek et al., 2004; Grint, 2005; Schneider and Somers, 2006; Anderson and Sun, 2017).”
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“Here change is non-linear and unpredictable; events only become knowable when they occur, and not in advance (Schneider & Somers, 2006, p. 354).”
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“Such studies present a new set of ideas that transcend the physical, biological, and social sciences ( Schneider and Somers, 2006”
Background
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“Recently, researchers have been directed to address system-level analyses to explain leadership challenges and subsequent effectiveness (Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
Background
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“…agents, which refers to various types of agents, who in ﬂ uenced by the leader, working jointly and independently toward the systems common goal (Schneider & Somers, 2006; Smith & Bedau, 2000), and (c) self-organized adaptive response (SOAR), which refers to individual agents conducting and…”
Background
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“Against this backdrop, and in line with the conceptualisation of organisations as complex adaptive systems (Schneider and Somers 2006), here we put forward and test the hypothesis that response diversity is a crucial mechanism for companies to address their transition challenges and balance…”
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“proposed that in complex adaptive systems, leaders indirectly influence organizations through mediating variables of organizational identity and social movement [6].”
Background
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“Organizations are often described as complex adaptive systems within which occupational health issues are embedded (Dooley, 1997; Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
Background
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“Pluralistic frame of reference is pertinent for interdependent organizations because such form of organization characterizes the plural nature of interests, conflicts, and power structures in organizations (Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
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“In this aspect, those systems were labeled as chaordic for the moment that the behavior that ema-nates from those components’ interactions creates structures that are new (M. Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
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“The leadership function is dispersed throughout the non-linear interaction and the connectivity among the workers and a new behavior or new mode of operating emerges (Cooksey, 2003; Marion, 1999; Martin & Ernst, 2005; Pascale et al., 2000; Plowman et al., 2007; Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
Background
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“…(Morgan, 1997) and biological comparatives, for example, cells of an organism with organizational knowledge (Miles, Snow, Mathews, & Miles, 1997) and behavioral characteristics of a group of organisms known as complex adaptive systems, or with organizational leadership (Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
Background
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“Nielson, W., Triggs, V., Clarke, A., & Collins, J. (2010).”
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“Therefore, perceived insignificant variables or inputs in a system might fundamentally change the operation of a system, while major inputs or variables might have no impact in changing the system (Schneider and Somers 2006; Plsek 2001).”
Background
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“Schneider and Somers (2006) argue that, "Highly ordered systems are too rigid to coordinate new behaviors and likewise tend to fail.”
Background
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“As a paradigm shift and a new framework relative to traditional science 78 , complexity theory seeks to explore behavioral patterns and dynamic relationships within complex systems, particularly how systems experience nonlinear, transformative changes rather than linear, incremental ones 79 .”
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“Later, Katz and Kahn (1978) drew attention to the application of ‘open’ systems theory to organisation theory, in describing its emphasis on relationships, structure, and interdependence (Schneider and Somers, 2006).”
Background
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Background
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“These are nonlinear dynamics, in which structures are characterised by high states of energy exchange with the environment and extreme instability (Hickman, 2010); chaos theory which is nonlinear, deterministic (rather than probabilistic), sensitive to initial conditions, and continuous irregularity in the behaviour o…”
Background
Regulatory Imperatives for the Future of SADC's "Digital Complexity Ecosystem"
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“Important considerations for addressing complexity include non-linear thinking (Anderson, 1999; Schneider & Somers, 2006) and non-linear regulatory design; regulatory approaches that understand the digital economy as a complex adaptive system (Akgün, Keskin & Byrne, 2014); and the application of…”
Background
Virtual technologies adoption to sustain quality in agricultural sector: An emerging economy perspective
Kumari, S., Venkatesh, V. G., & Shi, Y. (2023) · Journal of Cleaner Production · doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.135988 · Cited by 13
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“…operations, policies, stakeholders and services, and public sector organisations can be viewed as complex adaptive systems engaged to adapt and evolve without collapsing when dealing with shocks and disturbances (Rhodes and MacKechnie 2010; Schneider and Somers 2006; Arnania-Kepuladze 2014).”
Reducing Risk Through Strategic Flexibility and Implementation Leadership in High-Velocity Markets
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Knowledge sharing in the organizational context: Using Social Network Analysis as a coaching tool
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“Schneider and Somers (2006) associate the Complexity Theory notion of self-similarity with organisational identity.”
Background
E-Leadership and Trust Management
Jawadi, N. (2013) · International Journal of Technology and Human Interaction · doi:10.4018/jthi.2013070102 · Cited by 19
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“Because emphasis is on emergent dynamical behavior of systems caused by nonlinear interactions among massive numbers of parts (a pervasive phenomenon also found in fields such as physics, biology, sociology, psychology, economics, engineering, and computer science), advances in modeling complex systems may be applied…”
Background
Capturing non-linear temporally embedded processes in organizations using recurrence quantification analysis
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“In order not to overload the focus of our article, we concentrate on individuals, dyads, and teams as systems but acknowledge that the broader management literature also considers entire organizations as complex adaptive systems (e.g., Dooley, 1997; Schneider & Somers, 2006).”
Background
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“This is a key feature of the “complex adaptive system” (Schneider & Somers, 2006) that maximizes the functional potential of a less centralized and more distributed approach to dealing with uncertain situations.”
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“Organization may advocate for stronger industry regulations as the culture strengthens, thereby reinforcing systematic practices (Schneider and Somers 2006).”
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“In recent years, there has been a growing impetus to acknowledge and manage complexity at a systems level for complex-adaptive systems such as organizations (Schneider and Somers 2006).”
Background
Strategic Lean Organizational Design: Towards Lean World-Small World Configurations through Discrete Dynamic Organizational Motifs
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“Organizations are complex systems [6] that, from an information exchange perspective [12], can be considered as networks under the “organizational network” paradigm [13].”
Background
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“Adaptive capacity and leadership development in Indonesia The resilience of a system is measured by its ability to adapt and change in the context of environmental complexities (Schneider and Somers 2006).”
Background
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“Empirically testingmodels derived from complexity theory can be very difficult (Schneider and Somers 2006), and systems theory is also difficult.”
Background
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“Ports as complex adaptive systems generate emergent behaviors through the self-organization and interaction of internal technological, organizational, and environmental factors, which in turn affect carbon emission efficiency (M. Schneider and Somers 2006).”
Contemporary Leadership: The Perspective of a Practitioner
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Resilience Engineering: A State-of-the-Art Survey of an Emerging Paradigm for Organisational Health and Safety Management
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Authors: Schneider, M., & Somers, M.
Affiliations: New Jersey Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author: Schneider, Marguerite
ORCID: Somers, Mark
Venue: The Leadership Quarterly
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2006-08
Volume: 17
Issue: 4
Pages: 351-365
ISSN: 1048-9843 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2006.04.006
OpenAlex: W2156313615
Cited by: 599
References: 123
Citations by year: 2026: 26 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 41 · 2017: 30 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 39 · 2014: 39 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 23
FWCI: 10.15
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
www.elsevier.com/legal/tdmrep-license (tdm)
Locations: The Leadership Quarterly (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Education › Chaos, Complexity, and Education
Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Leadership and Management in Organizations
Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Complex Systems and Decision Making
Keywords: complex adaptive systems, complexity theory, leadership, general systems theory, organizational identity, social movements, leadership process, dynamic system simulation, artificial neural networks, nonlinear models, organizational change

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