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The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of the innovation literature, with special focus on studies applying a complexity perspective. As a contribution in its own right to the innovation literature, the review clarifies the concept of complexity, explores possible points of relevance and the “added value” gained from complexity theory (CT) to the study of innovation, and identifies some of the applications of the theory.

A literature search was conducted which yielded 20 relevant articles. These articles were analyzed by focusing on the key concepts of complexity and studying their applications in the context of innovation research.

Based on the approach adopted, the literature was divided into three categories, namely research focusing on microdynamics, macrodynamics, and leadership and management. The key complexity concepts identified in the innovation literature were “edge of chaos”, “phase shift”, “emergence and self-organization”, “(co)evolution”, and “complexity regulation”. The articles reviewed differed in terms of their perspectives on complexity and, accordingly, their operationalization of the complexity concepts. Key areas of development suggested by the authors include forging a stronger link with existing innovation theory and giving greater weight to empirical evidence.

While a systematic review strategy was adopted to identify all relevant research on “open innovation” and complexity, a selective snowball strategy was deemed the only feasible approach to cover research conducted on “innovation” and complexity.

Practitioners can learn to put CT-based research in context and also learn to recognize the value of CT for innovation management. The authors distilled three important lessons for practice from the research done: embracing complexity, embracing ambidexterity, and embracing failure.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge no review has as yet been undertaken to encapsulate the current state of applications of CT to innovation research.

Assuming that organizations are open and have increasingly permeable boundaries, one risks overlooking the strategies employed by organizations to defend their own logics and routines, as illustrated by the example of the implementation of active labor market policies. It is often assumed that only open, networked organizations can fulfill the demand of offering individualized employment and social services to citizens. On the basis of an in-depth case study, we show how a jobcenter organization dealt with these challenges by developing its own decision-making criteria on a procedural, structural, and personal dimension. This implies not only cognitive openness but also operational closure and increased internal “requisite variety,” in the language of systems theory.

On many occasions, organizational science research has been referred to as fragmented and disjointed, resulting in a literature that is, in the opinion of many, difficult to navigate and comprehend. One potential explanation is that scholars have failed to comprehend that organizations are complex and intricate systems. In order to move us past this morass, we recommend that researchers extend beyond traditional rational, mechanistic, and variable-centered approaches to research and integrate a more advantageous pattern-oriented approach within their research program. Pattern-oriented methods approximate real-life phenomena by adopting a holistic, integrative approach to research wherein individual- and organizational-systems are viewed as non-decomposable organized wholes. We argue that the pattern-oriented approach has the potential to overcome a number of breakdowns faced by alternate approaches, while offering a novel and more representative lens from which to view organizational- and HRM-related issues. The proposed incorporation of the pattern-oriented approach is framed within a review and evaluation of current approaches to organizational research and is supplemented with a discussion of methodological and theoretical implications as well as potential applications of the pattern-oriented approach.

Although a large contingency of theory and research has been conducted in the area of individual and interpersonal communication, relatively few theoreticians have focused on the broader character of communication at the organizational level of analysis. With the increasing emphases on total quality, leadership, adaptive cultures, process reengineering, and other organizational change and development efforts, however, the need to understand the process and function of organizational communication at a broader, more systemic level is paramount. The following paper attempts to address this issue by providing: (1) a comparative review and critique of three “classic” theoretical approaches to describing the importance of communication in organizations and the relationship between communication and organizational functioning (open systems theory, the information‐processing perspective, and the communication as culture framework); and (2) a new integrative framework—the CPR model of organizational communication—for conceptualizing and understanding the nature of communication in organizations based on constructs adapted from these three perspectives. The model is then used both in an applied example to help diagnose an organizational system and to stimulate suggestions for future research.

The impact of the e-globalization combined with staggering costs for R & D across industries has resulted in the call for new approach to innovation where openness and interconnectivity is the role. This new approach is designated as “open innovation”. The new paradigm calls for the sharing of knowledge and resources in conducting innovation activities within and among organizations. As such, one needs to re-orient the structure of the organization to meet these new requirements. On the conceptual level, it becomes a significant undertake to try to grasp how our traditional understanding of the organization can be fitted within the requirements of the open innovation when the environment of the e-globalization is taken in consideration. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the question of how organization structure theories can be coupled to the open innovation paradigm. Out of that analysis the authors propose a new theoretical framework of organizational analysis that takes both the classical knowledge and the new economic context of e-globalization.

The contemporary period is recognized by the term “new economy”, as a replacement for the “old economy”. Another term of importance is “globalization”, which is coupled to the issue of economy categorization. Humanity launched the modern age of globalization some decades ago, but we are going through a new type of globalization, e-globalization. In the e-globalization, processes are induced basically by the impact of the new tools of communication and information technologies. These dynamic processes have forced a re-thinking of the traditional innovation practices. In the paper, the authors reflect on the changes in relation to the traditional knowledge about organization structure, using a deductive approach and textual analysis and relate that to the requirements of an open innovation paradigm. In the process, the authors introduce the basics of the “theory of internetisation dynamics” as a new potential organizational theoretical framework.

From the analysis, it was found that some traditional concepts about organization structure and organizing mechanism theories are responsive to the needs of the open paradigm settings while other theories are not. However, each of these is able to contribute to one of the five components of the theory of internetisation dynamics.

The authors argue that by using the correct framework for the analysis of the organizational structure, one can propose a set of strategic steps which would help the companies to re-structure. That would save time and effort for policy-makers and managers of firms, as well as researchers active in this field of organization and organizing processes, who are focused on the open innovation transformation requirements of the firms. Running this analysis would add some input into organizational re-orientation in troubled sectors such as in pharmaceutical industries.

Health-care delivery organizations (hospitals) constitute a complex adaptive system; hence, a contingency perspective is imperative to guide the design of customized approaches to quality management in different health-care settings. Accordingly, this paper aims to propose a contingency framework to advance the understanding of the relationship between situational factors and effectiveness of quality approaches in health-care organizations (HCOs), such as hospitals in India.

Related literature was reviewed to identify existing research and theories related to quality and quality approaches, situational factors of the HCOs (hospitals) and some existing logical evidence on public and private hospitals in India. Then a contingencies framework for quality and quality approaches was conceptualized.

This paper proposes contingent determinants arise out of conceptualization of the HCOs (hospitals) from different system perspective such as rational system, natural system, open system and integrative system; uncertainty because of physicians’ behaviour, nurses’ approach and a dual line of authority; and the task environment such as patients, competition and economic pressure. These determinants represent situational constructs to the quality enhancement of any attempt at quality approaches. While these determinants have an influence on the quality and quality approaches of the HCOs (hospital), it is imperative to build any quality improvement strategy to work effectively, i.e., quality approach is dependent on determinants of the contingencies of the hospital’s environment, be it external or internal. Propositions for future research are also incorporated.

This paper proposes a conceptual model as well as research propositions that need to be validated and confirmed empirically. It advances the research and theory related to quality and quality approaches in a health-care setting. It can enable policymakers, hospital managers to analyze and gauge the appropriateness of quality approaches in a given context before implementing them and could help to improve the introverted quality approaches and quality dimensions currently followed in HCOs (hospitals).

Contingency framework is a new approach for research on the effectiveness of quality approaches in hospitals. The fundamental idea behind this framework is that effectiveness of quality approaches can be understood best by examining its contingent determinants. Thus, it has the capacity to contribute to the efforts of government and policymakers to make the quality of care affordable to all in India. Essentially, we examine the contexts and variables that determine the effectiveness of quality approaches.

This paper aims to analyse the open data business models (ODBMs) as a source of knowledge and innovation to generate economic and social value. A framework for understanding ODBMs is presented. First, the knowledge structure of the ODBMs literature is identified. Second, a conceptual model for analysing the ODBMs is proposed. And finally, the future trends in ODBMs research are discussed.

In this paper, co-word analysis is performed to identify the topics related with ODBMs.

The ODBMs structure of knowledge is articulated in five themes: business model, smart city, business ecosystem, decision-making and innovation. Based on these results, a five-step model for analysing ODBMs is proposed. Finally, a discussion of the future trends of ODBMs focussed on a knowledge management perspective, open data ecosystems and business intelligence is presented.

The paper presents a picture of what, where, for whom and for what ODBMs have been studied and develops a new model to explain the value creation process of ODBMs. Taking a step further, applying the principles and models of knowledge management and business intelligence to ODBMs is also recommended in order to transfer and transform open data into valuable knowledge that can be used for developing apps. In that context, the importance of encouraging collaboration between different agents in the so-called open data ecosystem is presented.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new business model logic, highlighting value processes in and properties of platform business models to inform business model thinking from a systemic and dynamic perspective. It challenges the idea of firms managing, influencing and controlling entire activity systems.

The study traces the evolution of different approaches to business models and assesses theories that explain value cocreation and systemic value capture to develop a new business model logic.

Business model thinking has evolved away from Porter’s value chain to a new logic based on open networks and platforms. This study develops a framework for understanding platform business models from a systemic perspective. Derived from service-dominant logic, this new business model logic responds to phenomena in contemporary business environments characterized by increasing connectivity and sociality among actors.

The framework, developed from an extensive body of business model literature, has yet to be subjected to empirical investigation. Future research may involve the exploration of business model design processes and business model innovation from a systemic perspective.

Managers who aim to design their business models based on the logic of platform businesses require an understanding of their organization’s collaboration potential, technological interfaces and potential to leverage network relationships. This research guides start-ups and incumbents to evaluate their platform potential.

This study systematically emancipates the business model logic from a firm-centered, inside-out perspective, focuses on network relationships beyond the customer–firm dyad, explains value processes beyond organizational borders and rethinks value capture from a systemic perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework conceptualizing the relative openness of a supply chain and its impact on organizational performance.

The literature on system theory and the attributes of supply chain management are used to develop a framework describing the relative openness of a supply chain.

Different supply chain terminologies – such as adaptive supply chain network, best value supply chain, and open inter-organizational system – partially draw upon the basic premises of an open system. The relative openness of a supply chain and, consequently, the dynamics of different supply chain attributes remain understudied. This supports the idea that an open system perspective of the supply chain is imperative to improve the understanding of the influence of supply chain openness on organizational performance.

The conceptual framework posits that different supply chain attributes affect the openness of supply chain to a varying degree which ultimately influences the organizational performance. The proposed framework and research propositions will serve as a springboard for conducting future empirical studies.

The systems psychodynamic perspective was used to explore the functioning of a management team at one of the plants of a South African production company experiencing change. The focus was on the impact of social defenses on the leadership style being exercised. During a day long consultation session with the team a dynamic of control and dependency was observed. The transactional culture that can be regarded as “normal,” in this environment, actually became part of a defense strategy, resulting in dependency and a lack of authorization that limited the use of transformational leadership. A lack of clarity in terms of role and boundary definitions furthermore resulted in a struggle in terms of interrelatedness and a lack of interdependent functioning at a system's level.