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Emergence is the kernel concept of complexity science. Lack of precision when people refer to “emergent properties” hinders the research of complex systems. The purpose of this paper is to develop a formal definition of emergence to make it intrinsic to a system and to integrate different views on emergence.

Based on the modeling framework of entity grammar systems (EGS), a formal definition of emergence is proposed and a theorem is obtained for exploring the producing conditions of emergence. With the definition and theorem, three views on emergence are unified using the same formalism of EGS.

The concept of emergence can be formally defined in the framework of EGS to integrate the “downward causation” and “upward causation” views of emergence and makes emergent properties intrinsic to a system. It is possible to control the production of emergence when the system is analyzed using the formalism of EGS.

A formal definition of emergence is proposed in this paper. This work combines the modeling power of EGS with the formal analysis of emergence, which will prompt the further application of EGS in modeling, simulation, and analysis of complex systems in many fields and will provide practical tools for complexity research.

The purpose of this paper is to address the problem of designing artificial complex adaptive systems, like information systems and organisations, by developing a proof‐of‐concept conceptual proto‐agent model.

The paper develops an exploratory proto‐agent model and evaluates its suitability for implementation as agent‐based simulation.

The paper focuses on understanding the effect of emergence when designing artificial complex adaptive systems and produces a proto‐agent model that identified agents and their behavioural rules for modelling.

In deferred action, agents act in emergent organisation to achieve predetermined goals. Since emergence cannot be predicted, information systems and organisation design approaches that cater for emergent organisation are required.

The deferred action construct is a synthesis of planned approaches and contingency approaches to design information systems. It recognises the effect of emergence on information systems.

This chapter addresses two identified weaknesses in entrepreneurial ecosystem studies: there is a lack of focus on the relationships between the components of entrepreneurial ecosystems and little understanding of the underlying processes that determine how entrepreneurial ecosystems change over time. Both entrepreneurial ecosystems and solutions ecosystems from social entrepreneurship studies are place-based complex adaptive systems that are emergent in nature. While neither of these ecosystem types can be controlled, they can be influenced and guided to follow a direction by designing conditions for emergence and transitions. In this chapter, the proposition that an online tool, that is used to strengthen solution ecosystems and support their emergence and transition, could also be used to strengthen entrepreneurial ecosystems and guide their emergence and transition is examined. Two cases are used to investigate this proposition: a food security solution ecosystem case study that demonstrates how the online tool is used for solution ecosystems, and an impact economy entrepreneurial ecosystem case study that highlights how the online tool could be used for an entrepreneurial ecosystem. It is demonstrated in this chapter that the online tool can be used to address the current weaknesses of entrepreneurial ecosystem studies. In addition, it is suggested that by combining solution ecosystems with an impact economy entrepreneurial ecosystem, the online tool can be used to support the creation of conditions for social entrepreneurial places to emerge that are capable of addressing the most pressing problems that places face including the sustainable development goals.

Agile software development helps software producing organizations to respond to manifold challenges. While prior research focused on agility as a project or process phenomenon, the authors suggest that agility is an emergent phenomenon on the team level. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Using the theory of complex adaptive systems (CASs), the study captures the multiple influencing levels of software development teams (SDTs) and their interplay with self-organization and emergence. The authors investigate three agile SDTs in different contextual environments that participate with four or more different roles each.

The results suggest self-organization as a central process when understanding team agility. While contextual factors often provide restriction on self-organization, they can help the team to enhance its autonomy.

The theoretical contributions result from the development and test of theory grounded propositions and the investigation of mature agile development teams.

The findings help practitioners to improve the cost-effectiveness ratio of their team’s operations.

The study provides empirical evidence for the emergence of team agility in agile SDTs. Using the lens of CAS, the study suggests the importance of the team’s autonomy.

Swarm controlled emergence is proposed as an approach to control emergent effects in (artificial) swarms. The method involves the introduction of specific control agents into the swarm systems. Control agents behave similar to the normal agents and do not directly influence the behavior of the normal agents. The specific design of the control agents depends on the particular swarm system considered. The aim of this paper is to apply the method to ant clustering. Ant clustering, as an emergent effect, can be observed in nature and has inspired the design of several technical systems, e.g. moving robots, and clustering algorithms.

Different types of control agents for that ant clustering model are designed by introducing slight changes to the behavioural rules of the normal agents. The clustering behaviour of the resulting swarms is investigated by extensive simulation studies.

It is shown that complex behavior can emerge in systems with two types of agents (normal agents and control agents). For a particular behavior of the control agents, an interesting swarm size dependent effect was found. The behaviour prevents clustering when the number of control agents is large, but leads to stronger clustering when the number of control agents is relatively small.

Although swarm controlled emergence is a general approach, in the experiments of this paper the authors concentrate mainly on ant clustering. It remains for future research to investigate the application of the method in other swarm systems. Swarm controlled emergence might be applied to control emergent effects in computing systems that consist of many autonomous components which make decentralized decisions based on local information.

The particular finding, that certain behaviours of control agents can lead to stronger clustering, can help to design improved clustering algorithms by using heterogeneous swarms of agents.

In general, the control of (unwanted) emergent effects in artificial systems is an important problem. However, to date not much research has been done on this topic. This paper proposes a new approach and opens a different research direction towards future control principles for self‐organized systems that consist of a large number of autonomous components.

This chapter establishes the conceptual and analytic framework for the book. It relates not only to much of the existing work in evolutionary and institutional economics, but also to work in cultural science and cultural semiotics domains as well as in media convergence and transmedia studies. The central concept it first deploys is ‘innovation systems’ as applied in national, regional, international and sectoral contexts. It then builds on the general theory of economic evolution by Kurt Dopfer and Jason Potts and reviews the tools this theory provides to carry out a meso-level analysis of industries co-innovating and converging. It then proposes a new concept – ‘cross-innovation’ – to refer to the emergence of new structures and ‘rules’ at the boundaries of existing industries.

It has recently been shown that an approach termed emergence system has gained popularity in a variety of fields, however, emergent computation in decentralized spatially extended systems, such as in cellular automata, is still not well understood. To accept that a system is displaying emergent behavior, the system should be constructed by describing local elementary interactions between components. This is achieved in a different way by describing global behavior and properties of the running system over a period of time. This paper introduces the emergent computational paradigm, and discusses its theoretical formulation using a new general model of cellular automata. We have also developed a technique to study the structure of the state transition of cellular automata in the limit of large system size.

Autopoiesis is a concept originally used to define living systems. However, no measure for autopoiesis has been proposed so far. Moreover, how can we build systems with a higher autopoiesis value? The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Relating autopoiesis with Ashby’s law of requisite variety, self-organization is put forward as a way in which systems can be designed to match the variety of their environment.

Guided self-organization has been shown to produce systems which can adapt to the requisite variety of their environment, offering more efficient solutions for problems that change in time than those obtained with traditional techniques.

Being able to measure autopoiesis allows us to apply this measure to all systems. More “living” systems will be fitter to survive in their environments: biological, social, technological, or urban.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of actors that allow them to relate to others actors in the system through shared intentionality (orientation) and the nature of the A4A relationship and the results that such interactions bring to the emergent system based on this shared purpose (finality).

The topic is approached by theoretical analysis and conceptual development of three integrative frameworks: the sociological perspective, service-dominant logic and a particular perspective of system thinking: the viable system approach (vSa).

The A4A relationships involve value co-creation based on actors integrating their resources and acting with intentionality to obtain value by providing benefits to other parties and by belonging to the emergent viable system; actor acts for other actors directly involved in the relationship generating positive effects for the whole system in which it is contextualized.

Future empirical research might better support findings.

Many social implications deriving from an augmented role of actors engaged within social relationships in co-creation exchanges. From the title of the paper A4A over on the manuscript describes numerous social inferences of actors in co-creation.

A4A is a relationship formed by actors that interact for the benefit of the whole system in which are involved. They find own benefit from the benefit created for the system in which they live and act. In A4A relationships the value of the single actor comes from the participation to the viability of the whole system.

This paper is concerned with an exploration of crises within the service sector. The paper proposes setting out a thesis that places “management”, as both a function and a process, at the centre of crisis generation and response rather than simply in terms of “continuity management” or service recovery. The paper argues that the nature of interactions within a service sector context generates significant problems of emergence that, in turn, create vulnerability within organisations. The paper aims to conclude by offering suggestions regarding the various points of intervention that are available to organisations.

The paper explores the nature of crisis with particular reference to the service industries. The paper is conceptual in its scope, although it draws on a number of research‐ and consultancy‐based investigations.

This paper has sought to identify three of the key elements of the crisis management literature: namely vulnerability, emergence and the barriers to learning. Each of these offers quite fundamental challenges to the practice of service recovery by highlighting the need to address both the prevention and response dynamics of the crisis process. The paper outlines the theoretical aspects of failure and outlines the process of vulnerable pathways within organisations.

The conceptual framework needs to be applied to specific cases of crisis in order to validate the framework.

The interdisciplinary approach seeks to outline key issues facing practitioners around the development of contingency plans and the limitations that such plans have embedded within them.

The paper seeks to develop understanding of the nature of vulnerability within organisations and outlines a conceptual framework for the analysis of escalation within organisations.