Complexity in business environments

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept of complexity from an epistemological point of view, drawing a distinction between complexity (contextual complexity) and complication (procedural complexity). This article explores some organizational consequences of increasing complexity in organizational environments as management must cope with complexity at three different levels - internal, transactional environment, and contextual environment. The authors propose a model of managerial competencies in terms of complexity requirements and overview some consequences of this model for organizational learning and competence building processes. © 2009 Elsevier Inc.