Learning through Complexity
- 1 September 1999
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Management Learning
- Vol. 30 (3) , 301-320
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1350507699303003
Abstract
This article outlines the rationale behind work carried out by three global high-technology corporations seeking to develop an enlightened approach to management development and learning. Academically the broad frame of reference is metaphorical, the idea being to challenge the assumption that all business problems can be analysed in a systematic `scientific' fashion, and rationalist solutions applied. Rather, there are many different interpretations of, and solutions to, organizational problems, and a metaphorical frame of reference allows an open mind to be kept in selecting the best way forward within any manager's given complexity. The article gives two examples (case histories) from the many workshops conducted by the companies which indicate the complexity of complexity.Keywords
This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Problems and Prospects of Postmodern Management DiscourseManagement Learning, 1996
- How Do Managers Think?Management Learning, 1996
- Flexible intelligent relationship management: the business success paradigm in a stakeholder societyThe Learning Organization, 1996
- The stakeholder approach to the firm: a practical way forward or a rhetorical flourish?Career Development International, 1996
- Consumer and nonconsumer stakeholder orientation in U.K. companiesJournal of Business Research, 1996
- Managing Today and TomorrowPublished by Springer Nature ,1991
- Middle managers and strategy: Microdynamics of inclusionStrategic Management Journal, 1990
- What is Happening to Middle Management?British Journal of Management, 1990
- STUDIES OF MANAGERIAL JOBS AND BEHAVIOUR: THE WAYS FORWARDJournal of Management Studies, 1989
- WHAT DO MANAGERS DO? A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE EVIDENCEJournal of Management Studies, 1986