May 12, 2004
Managers Should Pay Attention to Complexity,
says McDaniel
|
According to Reuben McDaniel, a management science and
information systems professor and the Charles
and Elizabeth Prothro Regents Chair in Health Care Management,
life is not simple. In fact, it is complicated in almost every
respect.
“Systems at all levels—individual, group, organization, and
industry—are complex adaptive systems,” he says. “Today’s
business students need to understand the properties of these
systems, so they can develop personal and organizational
strategies for success.”
Common-sensical ideas such as these have given rise to the
academic field of complexity science, which considers the role
of complexity in almost every field
In April, McDaniel co-chaired a workshop on “Complexity Science
and Exploration of the Emerging World,” which was held at The
University of Texas at Austin and sponsored by the Prigogine
Center for Statistical Mechanics and Complex Systems, the IC2
Institute, and the Prothro Chair. The event drew participants
from several countries and a host of disciplines, including the
arts, psychology, engineering, physics, biology and business.
According to McDaniel, such an interdisciplinary array of
speakers and participants reflects the need to look at complex
adaptive systems from a wide variety of perspectives, including
that of business.
“Complexity science is a rapidly emerging field with many useful
insights for business managers,” he said. “Complex adaptive
systems are characterized by non-linear relationships within the
system and between systems. This non-linearity leads to
unpredictable self-organization and emergence.” There is a need
for organizations and their managers to be ready for surprises,
said McDaniel, and managers who understand that can contribute
greatly to their organization’s success.
In his remarks at the workshop, "Complexity Science and Analysis
of Health Care Delivery Systems," McDaniel discussed how this
general idea pertains to his field of expertise. “Complexity
science has proven to be particularly useful in the study of
health care, because it gives analysts a way to think creatively
about the difficult questions facing health care management
today,” he said. They have found, for example, that developing
and maintaining a complex set of relationships, as opposed to
the more traditional authoritarian management style, improves
clinical and financial outcomes in both hospital and nursing
home settings.
“Many corporations are exploring complexity science to solve
difficult scheduling problems and to help in strategic thinking.
The U.S. military has been particularly receptive to complexity
science tools as it attempts to deal with an ever more complex
world,” McDaniel continued. “And we have just begun to explore
the potential of complexity science in modern organizations.”
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
