The role of information and models in regulating complex commercial systems

Abstract

The unsophisticated bartering systems of the past have been replaced with money and highly complex business systems. This has also required the need for management systems to direct and steer these complex business systems through commercial space seeking profitable and sustainable lineages. However, not all lineages will continue to be survival worthy, imposing pressures on businesses to seek out alternative pathways. Unfortunately, the management structures of these businesses fail to manage the complexity of the evolving operational substrate. These structures are hierarchically based and use metrics that cannot be adequately disposed through the structure that created them, resulting in the inability to effectively direct and steer the business. This paper looks at the evolution of these structures and the primary role of information and regulation to sustain value propositions in modern day commercially oriented enterprises.

Citation

Brewis, S. (2004), "The role of information and models in regulating complex commercial systems", Kybernetes, Vol. 33 No. 3/4, pp. 577-589. https://doi.org/10.1108/03684920410523580