Donde P. Ashmos

Organizational responses to complexity: The effect on organizational performance

This paper uses a complex adaptive systems view to examine two different organizational responses to turbulent, complex environments. We examined the internal make‐up of eight organizations that saw their environment the same way – as rapidly changing, complex and requiring aggressive change strategies. Half of these organizations chose a complexity absorption response to environmental turbulence, and half chose a complexity reduction response to environmental turbulence and complexity. The organizations pursuing a complexity absorption response outperformed those organizations with complexity reduction responses.

What a Mess! Participation as a Simple Managerial Rule to ‘Complexify’ Organizations

This paper adopts a view of organizations as complex adaptive systems and makes a case for making organizations more complex internally through the use of a fairly simple managerial rule - using participative decision making. Participation in decision making enhances connectivity in organizations, which in turn, gives the organization the opportunity to self-organize and co-evolve in more effective ways than when there is minimal connectivity (i.e., autocracy). The paper uses a specific body of research to support the arguments about why participation can benefit the practice of management in modern organizations.

Participation as a complicating mechanism: the effect of clinical professional and middle manager participation on hospital performance.

One way hospitals complicate themselves is by increasing the participation of clinical professionals and middle managers in making strategic decisions. Using a survey methodology this article investigates the relationships between the participation of clinical professionals (MDs and RNs) and middle managers with hospital costs, as well as the possible moderating effect of strategic complexity.

Contrasts in enacting TQM: Mechanistic vs. organic ideology and implementation

Abstract A qualitative longitudinal study of the enactment of TQM in two semi-conductor supplier firms revealed that adoption, implementation, and institutionalization of TQM in one firm was mechanistic, with a ritualistic use of specific TQM methods, procedures, and language while the other firm used an organic approach in which a local adaptation of TQM emerged as people learned and adapted concepts and tools to fit their specific needs. Results suggest that how TQM is implemented affects its institutionalization. Specifically, changes achieved through mechanistic approaches to TQ implementation may produce only short-lived conforming behaviors while organic implementation appears more likely to produce lasting change.

Physicians and Decisions: A Simple Rule for Increasing Connections in Hospitals

When hospitals are viewed as complex adaptive systems, simple rules can lead to behavior that emerges as complex and that enables creative, adaptive organizational responses. Based on empirical findings from a decade of research on hospital strategic decision making this article offers the simple rule of letting physicians help decide strategic issues. Seven managerial guidelines for implementing this rule are presented.